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. If you’re following the low carb, high fat keto diet, you might wonder what you can drink aside from water. Plenty of ink has been spilled about what to eat on keto. But what about drinks? What happens to your favorite caffeinated morning drink once you start keto? Or your go-to cocktail? Sodas? If you’re following the keto diet, there’s a number of other beverages to drink besides water.
Although water is the healthiest choice because it’s free of calories, carbs, and additives, you may want a beverage to boost your energy, provide some flavor and variety, or replace some of your favorite sugary drinks. You may also be curious about keto-friendly alcoholic drinks.
Here's a guide to keto-friendly drinks, exploring various options to keep you hydrated, energized, and satisfied while maintaining ketosis.
The Importance of Hydration on Keto
Water is your best option on keto (or any healthy diet) and should be your number one source of hydration. Staying hydrated is an important part of any diet, but is especially important when eating low carb to avoid “keto flu.” Plus, water possesses a wide variety of other health benefits, like regulating body temperature and maximizing physical performance. "During the first few days of carbohydrate restriction, the body typically sheds water and minerals at an accelerated rate," Craig Clarke writes on the keto blog Ruled.me. "A couple of days later - when ketone levels increase-even more water will be excreted than usual." So drink up! If you’re looking to jazz up your water a bit, add some lemon or lime.
Sparkling Water
By the aforementioned logic, all no-calorie seltzers are keto as well. That means that going keto won't require nixing your beloved La Croix habit. Sparkling water is another excellent option for those who want a little fizz in their drinks. Brands like LaCroix and Spindrift offer a wide variety of flavors that are sugar free and zero calorie, making them perfect for keto. A lot of keto-dieters love the Sparkling Ice waters, too. "I'm on the keto diet, and I drink these all the time while still losing weight," this Amazon reviewer said. "They taste great, and they really quench my thirst. On top of that, they have 0 carbs and either 0 or 5 calories per bottle." Sparkling water is carbonated either naturally from a mineral spring or during manufacturing by using carbon dioxide gas. Many sparkling water options are flavored, but they’re typically unsweetened - making them an excellent low carb choice. Shop for keto-friendly sparkling waters like Perrier, Aura Bora, and Hint online. 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. 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.
Read also: Easy Low-Carb Cheese Crackers
Keto-Friendly Hot Drinks
Several hot drinks are keto-friendly, though you should be mindful of what you add to them. Suitable additions include half-and-half, heavy whipping cream, unsweetened plant-based creamers, zero calorie sweeteners, and sugar-free flavoring syrups. You’ll want to avoid high carb additions like regular milk, sweetened creamers, sugar, honey, and standard flavoring syrups. Others like bone broth, tea, and coffee can offer various health benefits and can be consumed in abundance on a keto meal plan.
Tea
Another keto-friendly option is tea. Whether you prefer black, green, or herbal, tea is a great choice because it’s low in calories and carbs. Tea contains zero carbohydrates and has been connected to various health benefits for centuries, making it an excellent beverage choice on keto. Teas, sparkling water, and fruit or vegetable juices are all low-carb and keto-friendly.
Black or Green Tea
Tea is a natural option that contains a negligible number of carbs - typically less than 1 gram per cup (240 mL). You can enjoy it iced or hot (1, 2). Black tea is made from aged tea leaves, giving it a more robust flavor, darker color, and higher caffeine content. Meanwhile, green tea is made from fresh tea leaves, lending it a more floral flavor, lighter color, and less caffeine (3). You can also choose white tea, which is made from young tea leaves. It has a very mild, delicate flavor compared with both black and green tea (4). Furthermore, tea is essentially calorie-free and full of polyphenol antioxidants. For example, green tea is rich in epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a powerful antioxidant that may provide anticancer benefits (3). 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.
Herbal Teas
Herbal teas are infusions derived from dried flowers, fruit, leaves, or herbs. As such, you may want to check the carb count of packaged tea products before purchasing them.
Coffee
Many people turn to coffee for a morning boost, but is it keto-friendly? Yes. If you’re a coffee lover, you’ll be happy to know that coffee is also keto-friendly. Just make sure to avoid adding sugar and opt for a low-carb milk (like almond milk) or sugar-free creamer instead. You could also use coconut milk or heavy cream to sweeten your cup of joe and add a bit of richness. Ordering out at Starbucks® or another coffee shop? Any coffee drink made with syrup or flavoring is packed with carbs. 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. Coffee is another nearly calorie- and carb-free favorite that’s safe for the keto diet. Like tea, it can be consumed hot or iced (5). Coffee contains caffeine, which may give your metabolism a slight boost. It also provides chlorogenic acid, a polyphenol antioxidant that may likewise aid weight loss (6). While caffeine is a stimulant and therefore should be monitored, it comes with several health benefits.
Read also: Keto Calorie Counting: A Detailed Guide
Bulletproof Coffee
You can drink your coffee black, sure, but by adding that sweet, sweet (yet low-carb, high-fat) butter, you can hit your calorie goals that much faster. "Bulletproof coffee is coffee made with either butter or ghee, AND either coconut oil or MCT oil," Maya Krampf of WholesomeYum said in a blog post. "My favorite part about adding butter and MCT oil to my coffee is how much energy I get from it. It always fills me up, makes me super alert, and I tend to get a lot done."
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 Soft Drinks
Soft drinks are typically loaded with sugar or potentially harmful artificial sweeteners. However, keto-friendly options exist.
Alternative Diet Sodas
Although diet sodas like Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi are technically keto, they may not be the best choice. That’s because they harbor artificial sweeteners like sucralose and aspartame, which may damage the healthy bacteria in your gut and strengthen sugar cravings - potentially leading to weight gain (7). Conversely, several diet sodas are made with naturally derived zero calorie sweeteners like stevia or erythritol, a sugar alcohol derived from corn that has fewer negative effects than artificial sweeteners (8, 9, 10). Craving a cold soda, cola, or pop? As the use of artificial sweeteners lowers the carb count, diet soda on keto is a permitted indulgence, as long as you’re not overdoing it.
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).
Read also: Magnesium Supplements for Keto
Keto-Friendly Juices
In general, it’s best to avoid juice on keto, but there are a few safe options.
Fruit Juice
Fruit juice is typically loaded with sugar, making it inappropriate for the keto diet. Yet, there are exceptions, including lemon and lime juices, which are low in carbs but full of flavor. You can add them to plain water or other beverages, such as hot or iced tea, to liven up the taste.
Vegetable Juice
Some juiced vegetables are low in carbs and can be included on the keto diet. Still, keep in mind that juicing removes most of the nutritious fiber from the veggies unless you choose to drink the pulp. Some keto-friendly vegetables that can be juiced include (11, 12, 13, 14):
- Celery
- Cucumber
- Leafy greens like kale and spinach
If you don’t have a juicer, store-bought juices are sometimes available. Nonetheless, be sure to check the label on bottled veggie juices, as they may pack sugar or other carb sources. In fact, most contain at least 10 grams of carbs per serving, making them inappropriate for keto.
Flavored Keto-Friendly Drinks
Some keto-friendly beverages are flavored with small amounts of real fruit juice, which adds natural flavor and sweetness while keeping the carb count relatively low - usually 1-5 grams of net carbs per serving. Plus, you can add zero carb liquid or powdered water enhancers to tap or bottled water. They’re available in many flavors, and although they’re typically made with artificial flavors and sweeteners, others are unsweetened or use stevia. Shop for stevia-sweetened options like Stur or unsweetened products like True Lemon online.
Starbucks' Peach Citrus White Tea and Pink Drink
While your regular Starbucks order is axed by the keto diet, don’t worry - many of these sugary drinks have a homemade version. While the OG Pink Drink wasn't keto to start, early keto band-wagoners quickly learned how to make it so. In order give this drink a keto makeover, ask for an unsweetened Passion Tango tea, sugar-free syrup, and heavy or light creamer. Boom. 'Grammable keto.
Keto-Friendly Milk Alternatives
Although cow’s milk isn’t recommended on keto because it contains natural sugar, several plant-based alternatives are perfectly keto-friendly.
- Almond milk
- Coconut milk
- Macadamia nut milk
- Flaxseed milk
These products are great for drinking, pouring on keto-friendly cereals, and various culinary uses. Still, only the unsweetened versions of these milks are keto-friendly. Many plant-based milks are flavored and sweetened, making them inappropriate for keto. Non-Dairy Milk: Dairy milk on keto may need to be sidelined, but nut milk is ready to shine. Unsweetened cashew or almond milk provides fats and protein without the carbs, making it ideal to consume while on a keto diet. Whenever you can, always opt for the full-fat option. The best choice is to make them at home.
Keto-Friendly Energy and Sports Drinks
Energy Drinks
Some energy drinks are keto-friendly, although many popular brands use artificial sweeteners. As such, you may want to choose from a handful that use natural sweeteners like stevia. You should be aware that energy drinks may harm the brain, heart, and liver, especially in adolescents and teens. They’re linked to heart failure in rare cases (19). If you decide to consume these beverages on occasion, keep their caffeine content in mind. Most energy drinks contain 150-200 mg per 16-ounce (475-mL) can, which you can compare with the recommended safe daily caffeine threshold of 400 mg for the general population (20). Shop for keto-friendly, naturally derived energy drinks like EBOOST and Kill Cliff online.
Sports Drinks
Sports drinks like Gatorade and Powerade contain electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium, to help replenish those that are lost through sweat. For people who engage in intense exercise or outdoor workouts in the heat, electrolyte supplements and fluid rehydration are vital. Loss of electrolytes through sweat can exacerbate dehydration and lead to muscle cramping and headaches (21). Electrolyte drinks may also help combat the keto flu, a cluster of symptoms that includes fatigue, headaches, and muscle cramps that may occur when you first start the diet (22). Still, most sports drinks are loaded with sugar. Gatorade Zero and Powerade Zero are solid keto-friendly options, but they use artificial sweeteners. Some alternatives include electrolyte powders sweetened with stevia that you can mix into water.
Keto-Friendly Alcoholic Drinks
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. Although alcohol is likely to hamper your efforts if you’re trying to lose weight on keto, you may still wonder which alcoholic beverages you can drink and remain in ketosis. Keep in mind that these beverages pack calories from fat and alcohol.
Low Carb Beer
Beer is typically high in carbs, as it contains sugars from wheat that aren’t fermented into ethanol. Yet, low carb beer is made by either using less wheat or allowing a longer fermentation process to more completely convert the sugars into alcohol. Some of the lowest carb beers, which clock in at 2-3 grams of net carbs per 12-ounce (355-mL) bottle, are Budweiser Select 55, Michelob Ultra, and Miller 64 (23, 24, 25).
Hard Liquor
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. "Liquors like vodka, whiskey, gin, scotch, rum, and tequila are good choices on the keto diet," the blog Green and Keto said. "They contain zero carbs and sugar when enjoyed on their own." Hard liquors like vodka, whiskey, rum, and tequila are naturally carb-free and therefore appropriate for the keto diet. However, you should be careful with mixed drinks, as they’re often loaded with sugar from fruit juices or soda. You should also check the label on flavored liquors for any added sugars. To keep your drinks low carb, try drinking hard liquor straight or use zero-carb mixers like diet soda or seltzer water. Try to avoid tonic water, as it contains added sugar. Just make sure to not mix them with juices or caloric sweeteners of any sort. Tonics, sugar-free sodas, and seltzers are your best friends when it comes to keto mixers.
Low Carb Hard Seltzer
You can also choose low carb hard seltzers, which are made with flavored seltzer water or sparkling water and added liquor. If you happen to avoid gluten, you’ll want to check the label carefully because many of them are made with malt liquor.
Drinks to Avoid While Eating Keto
There are plenty of drinks that should be avoided at all costs. Whether at the gym or on a lunch break, having the right drink- in terms of both taste and nutritional content-by your side is important. While you may already know how to spot hidden carbs and sugar in food, finding them on the label of your favorite beverage might be a little trickier.
- 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. Soda holds no place on keto or any healthy diet.
- 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. Even though Gatorade, Powerade, Vitamin Water, and energy drinks are advertised as health products, they’re sugar powerhouses.
- Vitamin Water: Packed with sugar, standard vitamin water should be avoided in order to stay on a low carb diet. Yet, similar options exist without the added sugar. One tasty and keto-friendly alternative is Vitamin Water Zero.
- 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. Craving a healthy keto mocha?
- 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. Juices are conspicuously absent from this list. That’s because they tend to have high amounts of both natural and added sugars in them!
- 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.
- Even some vegetable juices should be avoided.
Other Keto-Friendly Options
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!
Keto Chow
Or meal shakes that taste like they’re milkshakes, like Keto Chow. Keto Chow is a meal replacement shake that has 1/3 of your daily recommended nutrients, plus it’s low carb!
Protein Shakes
Now that everyone and their mother is interested in going keto, there are plenty of protein powders designed specifically for the diet. You can make your own, or opt for a shake like this Atkins one. It is super highly rated on Amazon (almost 23,000 five star reviews) and it doesn't taste like "a 'diet' item," a reviewer wrote. "I use this to fulfill my sweet tooth craving that I get every now and then while being on keto."
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.