The short answer is yes, soju can be keto-friendly, but moderation is key. Soju is carb-free, meaning it won't significantly impact your daily net carb allowance. However, its alcoholic content requires mindful consumption within a ketogenic lifestyle.
Understanding Soju
Soju is a clear, distilled alcoholic beverage originating from Korea and widely enjoyed across East Asia. Traditionally crafted from rice, modern production often incorporates barley, wheat, or even sweet potatoes, resulting in a slightly sweet and smooth profile. With an alcohol content ranging between 16-25%, its lighter concentration compared to other spirits makes it a popular choice during social gatherings or meals.
Soju and Ketosis
Carb Content
Soju is carb-free, which is a significant advantage for those following a ketogenic diet. To stay in ketosis, it is important to limit your net carb consumption to 20g - 30g per day. You can calculate your ideal daily net carb allowance by using a keto macros calculator. Since soju contains no net carbs, it won't consume your net carb allowance for the day.
Alcohol Content
Soju is alcoholic, so it should be consumed in moderation even if it is low in carbs. It is recommended to limit your alcohol intake to 1 - 2 drinks per day. Excessive drinking may slow down fat burning and cause weight gain. Individuals with fatty liver disease should avoid alcohol as it has negative effects on liver health.
General Guidelines for Alcohol on Keto
There are plenty of low-carb alcohol options you can have on a keto diet. If you’re going to drink alcohol while on a keto diet, be smart about it, and plan to take extra precautions. Alcohol increases circulatory levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL cholesterol). Key Point: Overall, we can see alcohol has both positive and negative effects.
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Keto-Friendly Alcoholic Beverages
- Clear Spirits: Vodka, gin, rum (especially light rum), tequila, and whiskey are generally low in carbs.
- Dry Wines: Choose dry wines that have very little sugar left after fermentation and are therefore low in carbs. Dry red wines include cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, and merlot. Dry white wines include pinot blanc, pinot grigio, and sauvignon blanc.
- Champagne: There are several keto-friendly wine and champagne options. A flute of brut champagne clocks in under 3 grams of carbs, and brut sparkling wine normally contains less than 2 grams of carbs.
- Absinthe: Absinthe is one of the best alcohol choices for a low carb diet. However, be careful when it comes to Absinthe!
- Brandy: Brandy is a spirit usually made from grapes. Brandy is traditionally consumed as an after-dinner drink. Typically, brandy has an alcohol content starting at 35%, but it can be up to 60% ABV.
- Sake: Not as significantly known in the West, sake is the national drink of Japan. It’s also strong; the average bottle ranges from 13 to 20% alcohol by volume.
Alcoholic Beverages to Avoid
- Beer: At 13 grams of carbs per serving, the average beer is difficult to fit into a keto diet.
- Cider: Cider is a fermented crushed fruit drink usually made from apples. There are several different varieties of cider on the market. The best thing to do is to look for traditional dry cider, as it is lower in sugar. In summary, the carbohydrate content of cider can vary a lot.
- Mead: Mead is one of the oldest alcoholic drinks on earth, if not the very oldest. An 8oz (240ml) serving of mead contains a staggering 40g carbs.
How Alcohol Affects Ketosis
Your body treats alcohol as a toxic substance. Everything else hits the pause button to take care of the alcohol, including digesting the high-carb foods you may have eaten in preparation. Since your body is busy filtering out alcohol, it also stops using fat for energy like it normally does when you are in ketosis. Rather than breaking down fatty acids to create ketones for energy, your body uses the empty calories you drank for fuel. If you’ve been struggling to reach ketosis, start by reducing or eliminating your alcohol intake.
Empty Calories
Alcohol is packed with empty calories. You won’t feel full, and you’ll be more likely to overeat unhealthy foods since your inhibitions are lowered. Also, you’ll imbibe a large number of calories getting there. Alcohol has double the number of calories per gram as protein, though it does nothing to improve your body. For the same amount of calories, you could give your body something much healthier, like a serving of avocado or a collagen protein smoothie. Alcohol contains 100 percent empty calories. Repeat this too often, and your weight may start tipping in the wrong direction. You can certainly drink some types of alcohol on a ketogenic, low-carb diet without guilt.
Prioritizing Alcohol Metabolism
Your body treats alcohol as a toxic substance. Everything else hits the pause button to take care of the alcohol, including digesting the high-carb foods you may have eaten in preparation. Since your body is busy filtering out alcohol, it also stops using fat for energy like it normally does when you are in ketosis. Rather than breaking down fatty acids to create ketones for energy, your body uses the empty calories you drank for fuel.
Tips for Drinking Alcohol on Keto
- Eat Before Drinking: Carb-loading before a night of drinking is not your best option. Fat and protein are your friends before a couple of keto-friendly drinks. This powerful combination helps slow the effects of alcohol, so it delivers less of a metabolic strike to your system.
- Monitor Portions: If you enjoy alcoholic beverages at home, you can monitor your alcohol portions. Do this enough, and you’ll be able to gauge whether that glass of white wine at your favorite restaurant came with a heavy pour.
- Consider Net Carbs and Calories: On a keto diet, counting net carbs is more critical than counting calories, but alcohol is the exception to the rule.
- Stay Hydrated: Both dehydration and electrolyte imbalance can occur when you drink alcohol and when you’re in ketosis, creating the perfect storm for intense hangovers.
- Be Mindful of Tolerance: When you’re in ketosis, alcohol hits your system faster and stronger than it did when your body was housing more carbohydrates. Typically, people have plenty of glycogen stored in their bodies, thanks to carb-heavy diets which serve as a cushion for metabolizing alcohol.
- Take Breaks: If you’re new to the keto lifestyle or haven’t reached ketosis yet, consider taking a break from alcohol to help you get there. If you decide to imbibe, take it easy. A friendly reminder: Don’t consume too many drinks each week or in one sitting.
- Choose Low-Carb Mixers: When it comes to keto mixed drinks, you want to be sure you’re choosing a low-carb mixer as well as low-carb alcohol.
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