Can You Drink Wine On A Keto Diet? All About Keto Wine

Explore the compatibility of wine with a ketogenic diet in this detailed guide. The article explains how certain wines can fit into a low-carb lifestyle, focusing on keto-friendly options that are low in sugars and carbohydrates. It provides a comprehensive list of wine types that are suitable for the keto diet, including specific varietals and brands, and offers tips on how to enjoy wine without compromising your dietary goals. Whether you’re a wine aficionado or a keto dieter, this guide is an essential resource for integrating wine into a health-conscious lifestyle.

What Is Keto Wine?

Keto wine refers to wine that is friendly to a keto diet, i.e., it won’t disrupt ketosis. Basically what this translates to is wine that is low in carbs.

As you probably know if you’re reading this, the keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat and moderate protein diet that aims to burn fat by keeping your body in a state of ketosis. When your body enters ketosis, your liver uses stored and consumed fat to produce ketone molecules for energy, thus making you lose weight.
If you are thinking of going on this diet, make sure to consult with your doctor first as it is not safe for everyone.

How Is Keto Wine Made?

The most important stage in the winemaking process is fermentation, when the yeast ferments the sugars in the grapes to produce alcohol. For dry wines, the fermentation stage is longer to allow the yeast to ferment almost all the sugars, while for sweet wines, some residual sugars are allowed to remain. Therefore, if you are on a keto diet, it’s best to stick to dry wines.

Some wines also include sugars that have been added during or after fermentation, to speed up the process or change the flavor. These are mostly cheaper, mass-produced wines, but note that champagne includes a small amount of sugar added just before bottling.

Can You Drink Wine On A Keto Diet

If you are new to the keto diet, it may be best to avoid wine entirely for the time being. This is because whenever you drink alcohol, your liver drops whatever else it is doing to process the alcohol as quickly as possible. As a result, during that time, your liver won’t be burning fat.

However, as long as you stick low-carb wines, it won’t disrupt ketosis, just temporarily delay it. If you’re well into your keto journey, it’s totally fine to indulge in some keto wine.

How To Drink Wine On A Keto Diet

If you’ve been on the keto diet for some time and you’re confident in your progress, you can totally begin to reintroduce wine into your diet. However, there are some caveats. First of all, you need to make sure it is low-carb, keto friendly wine. Secondly, it should always be in moderation.

Moderation is the key to healthy and enjoyable wine drinking for anyone. That means no more than one glass per day for women, and no more than two per day for men.

But this is especially true if you’re eating keto – not just because it will slow down ketosis, but also because the lack of carbohydrates in your body lowers your alcohol tolerance and can make your hangover worse the next day. Also, the lowered inhibition that comes from being drunk or tipsy makes it easier to overeat and reach for those forbidden foods! So if you are committed to keto, we recommend sticking to one glass of keto wine just a few nights a week.

Best Keto Wines

If you’re still confused about which wines you can drink on the keto diet, here is a list of the best keto friendly wines.

Best Keto Red Wines

1. Pinot Noir: In general, red wines are slightly higher in carbs than white wines. However, Pinot noir is one of the most keto-friendly red wines you can drink, coming in at just 3.4 grams of carbs per serving size.
2. Merlot: Merlot is second in line when it comes to low-carb red wines, containing 3.7 grams per 5 oz serving.
3. Cabernet Sauvignon: Coming in just after merlot at 3.8 grams of carbohydrates per serving, cabernet sauvignon is still safe to drink in moderation on a keto diet.

Best Keto White Wines

1. Pinot Blanc: If you want to stay as low-carb as possible, Pinot Blanc may be your best bet. One serving size contains no more than 2.8 grams of carbs!
2. Sauvignon Blanc: Sauvignon Blanc is one of the most popular white wines, which is lucky for those on a keto diet, because it’s also one of the lowest in carbs. One 5 oz glass contains only 3 grams!
3. Pinot Grigio: If you’re more into Pinot Grigio, fear not – it ties with Sauvignon Blanc at 3 grams of carbs per serving size.
4. Chardonnay: At 3.1 grams of carbs per glass, Chardonnay is still definitely a keto wine and one of the best choices for people wanting to maintain ketosis.

Best Keto Sparkling Wines

1. Brut Or Extra Dry Champagne: Brut is the driest champagne you can get, which makes it a very keto-friendly wine at only 2.8 grams of carbohydrates per serving. If you can only get Extra-Dry, this is fine in moderation – it usually contains around 3.8 grams per serving.
2. Prosecco: If you’re committed to keto, it’s safest to stick to Brut when it comes to sparkling wine. If you can find Brut or Extra-Dry prosecco, this is very similar to champagne when it comes to carbs.

Wines To Avoid On A Keto Diet

These are the wines to avoid at all costs if you want to stick to your keto diet and maintain ketosis.

1. Dessert Wines: Any dessert wine is packed with sugar and therefore carbs – as much as 30-40 grams per serving!
2. Madeira Wine: After dessert wines, madeira wine is the number one wine to avoid on a keto diet, coming in at a whopping 20 grams of carbs per 5 oz serving size.
3. Port And Other Fortified Wines: Port wine usually contains around 9 grams of carbohydrates per serving.
4. Sherry Wine: Right up there with port wine at 9 grams of carbs.
5. Moscato: Moscato contains around 7.8 grams of carbs for every 5 ounces.
6. Suss/Doux Wine: Typically contains about 7.5 grams of carbohydrates.