Thinking of adopting a keto lifestyle? You may understand the dos and don’ts of specific ketogenic foods, but you may be wondering if you can drink something besides plain old water. When drinking on the keto diet, it’s important to be mindful of hidden sugars that could kick you out of ketosis. This article will explore whether Vitamin Water fits into a ketogenic diet, providing a detailed analysis of its nutritional content and potential impact on ketosis.
Understanding the Keto Diet
The keto diet is all about consuming only high-fat and low-carb foods and drinks. The goal is to shift the body's primary fuel source from carbohydrates to fats, inducing a metabolic state called ketosis. In ketosis, the body becomes very efficient at burning fat for energy. This involves reducing carbohydrate intake to under 50 grams per day and moderating protein consumption.
Keto-Friendly Beverage Options
Before diving into Vitamin Water, it’s helpful to know what drinks are keto-friendly. Certain beverages like water, tea, and bone broth can be consumed in abundance.
- Water: Water is your best option on keto (or any healthy diet) and should be your number one source of hydration. The benefits of drinking water are profound-it helps regulate your body temperature, rids your body of waste and supports healthy blood pressure. Plain water can sometimes get a little boring. If you want something different that's also keto-friendly, load up on sparkling water. Sparkling water options, like La Croix, are a great (and bubbly!) way to hydrate with an added dash of zero carb and zero calorie flavor.
- Coffee: Many people turn to coffee for a morning boost, and it is keto-friendly. On the approved list for the ketogenic diet are both green and black teas, as well as any other low-carb tea you enjoy. Besides sticking to the keto diet, green teas also come with many other benefits, like added phytonutrients. Having your cup-of-energy black or with keto-friendly coffee creamers are both great ways to continue limiting carbs, maintaining a keto diet, and more.
- Tea: Tea contains zero carbohydrates and has been connected to various health benefits for centuries, making it an excellent beverage choice on keto. Unsweetened tea, served either hot or iced, keeps you on track and is a great keto-friendly choice for a warm day. On top of being perfect for your next picnic, this drink is both carb- and calorie-free.
- Carbonated Water: Carbonated water, mineral water, seltzer water, and tonic water contain zero net carbs and are refreshing keto drinks on a low-carb diet. If you’re looking to kick the soda habit, feel like a low-carb cocktail (or mocktail), or simply crave something other than regular water, these beverages are excellent choices.
- Non-Dairy Milk: Most non-dairy milk is a keto-friendly drink option. Double-check the ingredients to make sure they do not contain sweeteners or additives like carrageenan. Whenever you can, always opt for the full-fat option. The best choice is to make them at home. Cow's milk contains lactose, which is a naturally occurring sugar, so it's not keto friendly, but there are many milk alternatives you can still enjoy just as much. Keep in mind that some brands add sugar to their milk alternatives, so it's always a good idea to check the label. Unsweetened cashew or almond milk provides fats and protein without the carbs, making it ideal to consume while on a keto diet.
- Bone Broth: Bone broth may help maintain a healthy gut, restore collagen, and support a strong immune system. Yes, bone broth is a tasty drink to many!
- Keto-Friendly Shakes: Many shakes minimize carbohydrate consumption while providing a quick energy boost. While there are many great keto-friendly options, keep an eye out; some protein shakes contain a lot of extra sugar and carbs. Even better, Atkins shakes offer ready-to-drink shakes in delicious flavors like vanilla, chocolate, and more that work perfectly with your low carb lifestyle!
- Kombucha: Kombucha is a fermented beverage made by combining tea, sugar and a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast). Kombucha needs sugar to ferment. There are varieties of low-carb, low-sugar kombuchas available, so don’t bother purchasing a brand that packs 10 grams of carbs into a single serving size (which is only half the bottle).
- Coconut Water: Coconut water is a hydrating liquid found in the center of green coconuts. As with kombucha, you need to pay extra attention to the label when purchasing this product. Only buy plain coconut water, which should only have one ingredient.
- Homemade Keto Smoothies: For a meal in a glass, make a homemade keto smoothie. There are endless options for a quick, on-the-go meal.
- Alcohol (in moderation): All alcoholic drinks should be consumed mindfully, but practice special caution while on keto. That said, social gatherings are a necessary and enjoyable part of life. Here’s a piece of advice you won’t hear every day: Your best bet is hard liquor. In liquors like tequila or mezcal, the sugar converts to ethyl alcohol. If you want a glass of wine, you're less likely to encounter added sugars if you opt for a dry variety. When it comes to spirits, you're pretty safe from falling off the keto wagon because these options tend to have low to no carbs.
Drinks to Avoid on Keto
There are plenty of drinks that should be avoided at all costs.
- Soda: Soda holds no place on keto or any healthy diet. Non-Diet Soda: One 12 oz. Pepsi may seem relatively innocent, but in reality it has a whopping 41 grams of carbs and could derail any keto-related progress. Diet soda, with its artificial sweeteners, tricks your body into receiving that sugar taste and fulfilling your sugar craving at no caloric cost to you. However, it comes with a price, as diet sodas have been linked with various health issues, including obesity. In fact, a study by Purdue researchers found that the artificial sweeteners in diet soda can trick your body into increasing your cravings for sweet foods.
- Sports/Energy Drinks: These bright-colored drinks can be tempting when searching for an added boost of energy. While living keto, sticking to energy-filled foods is the better option as sports and energy drinks are ridden with sugar and carbs.
- Hot Chocolate: Santa does not follow a keto lifestyle. For those who do, most hot chocolate should not be included in a keto diet due to the carbs and sugars present. Maybe Santa can try these low carb holiday cookies instead.
- Mocha: The typical combination of milk, whipped cream, and mocha sauce may make for a sweet treat, but it also makes for a carb-filled beverage. Any coffee drink made with syrup or flavoring is packed with carbs.
- Fruit Juices: Watch out: An 8 oz. cup of apple juice contains roughly 24 grams of carbs, making it a beverage to steer clear from. Added sugars and low carbs do not frequently come together. Even some vegetable juices should be avoided.
- Lemonade: The neighborhood children may be trying to sell you on this beverage, but don’t fall for it! Typically jam-packed with sugar, those partaking in a keto lifestyle should be wary of the ingredients present in lemonade.
- Beer: Beer is packed with carbohydrates because it’s brewed from cereal grains.
- Cow's Milk: Cow's milk contains lactose, which is a naturally occurring sugar, so it's not keto friendly.
Vitamin Water: A Closer Look
Even though Gatorade, Powerade, Vitamin Water, and energy drinks are advertised as health products, they’re sugar powerhouses. Packed with sugar, standard vitamin water should be avoided in order to stay on a low carb diet.
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Sugar Content in Vitamin Water
As one bottle of Vitaminwater supplies 32 grams of added sugar, that’s 50-100% of your recommended upper limit. Health experts agree that added sugar plays a key role in modern epidemics of obesity and chronic diseases (5, 8). It’s recommended not to consume more than 10% of your total daily calories in the form of added sugars - preferable less than 5%. For a 2,500-calorie diet, this equals 62 or 31 grams of added sugar, respectively.
Health Implications of Added Sugar
Added sugar is strongly associated with type 2 diabetes, tooth decay, heart disease, metabolic syndrome and even cancer (9, 10, 11, 12, 13). This applies mainly to fructose, which can only be metabolized in significant amounts by your liver. Excess fructose consumption may increase your blood cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, insulin resistance, fat buildup around your organs and risk of fatty liver disease (14, 15, 16, 17). These are major risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and obesity (1, 18, 19). Keep in mind that this does not apply to small amounts of fructose you get from fruit. Due to its water and fiber content, fruit has a low energy density - making it difficult to obtain too much fructose from food.
Vitamin Water Zero: A Keto-Friendly Alternative?
Yet, similar options exist without the added sugar. One tasty and keto-friendly alternative is Vitamin Water Zero.
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