Alcohol and Mixers to Avoid when in Keto diet
Now that you know what you can drink, it is time to talk a little about what you should avoid. This is equally important, so that you keep this in mind if you are out and trying to figure out what drink to order.
Mixers
As mentioned in the previous section, you want to avoid mixers that aren’t a diet, low-carb, no-sugar, or water version of a mixer or chaser.
Cocktails frequently use mixers to increase the flavor of the drink, usually making it sweeter.
Avoid mixers like:
- Syrup
- Whiskey sour mix
- Margarita mix
- Grenadine
- Blue buracao
- Midori sour mix
Sweet Drinks
Sweet wines and alcohols also should be avoided if you want to have adult beverages with little to no carbohydrates.
Unfortunately, this means avoiding sweet wine like sangria (unless you have an alternative version below, port, sherry, dessert wine, moscato, and zinfandel.
Also be careful about using juice, fruit in the cocktails, or syrups like coconut cream syrup, chocolate, and whipped cream.
Flavored Liquor
In terms of liquor, a good way to decide on the best one is to avoid anything that has a fancy flavor.
For example, get regular white rum instead of cherry-flavored rum, and go for plain vodka instead of the fancy ‘birthday cake’ vodka.
These are filled with sugar, which increases how many carbs they have. Alcohol like Peach Schnapps and Bailey’s Irish Cream is generally a no-no while on a keto diet.
Tips For Drinking Alcohol While on a Keto Diet
Knowing what to drink is only the beginning of adding in some alcoholic beverages while on the keto diet.
There are also some other things to remember before you start drinking. Here are some important tips to keep in mind.
Don’t Drink in the Beginning – It takes about 21 days to develop a new habit, so at least wait until day 22 of your new keto diet before adding in alcoholic beverages.
By this point, your body and your mind is used to the low-carb diet and it is much easier to make smart drinks without being tempted by the ones you used to enjoy.
The longer you can wait before you start drinking, the better off you will be.
Be Careful With Hangovers – When you are on a keto diet, your brain and your body reacts in different ways. This includes being much more sensitive to stimulants, like alcohol.
You may notice that you get that fun buzz a lot faster, but your hangovers are also going to be harder to deal with.
Make sure you are prepared ahead of time by drinking plenty of water. Drink a glass of water before you start drinking and between each drink if you have more than one.
Finally, have more water after your final glass of wine or cocktail.
Keep Temptations Away – One thing to remember about drinking alcohol is that it often lowers your inhibitions.
This means you might be a little more tempted to go off diet ‘just this once’ and have something with high carbs that is not approved on the keto diet.
This unfortunately can knock you out of ketosis, which then requires more time to reach it again.
You don’t want to get into this cycle, as it will really halt your weight loss a lot.
Drink On a Super Low-Carb Day – To avoid accidentally going over the amount of carbs you have for the day, try to eat a little bit less carbs than you normally would on the day you intend to drink.
If you know there is a party coming up and you want a cocktail, then eat as many zero carb foods as you can so that you don’t go over your amount by the end of the party.