Can I drink alcohol on a ketogenic diet?

It’s not recommended. A lot of people think that alcohol is keto-friendly. They say “I drink hard liquor like whiskey, vodka, brandy, tequila, a dry martini – alcohol has no carbs, it has antioxidants and doesn’t turn to sugar, etc. so it’s okay, right?”

Most people do not drink pure ethanol. They consume beer, wine, mixed drinks and coolers that have added carbs.

Alcohol has 7 calories/gram and carbohydrates have 4 calories/gram. These calories have to go somewhere. Despite the fact that alcohol doesn’t turn into sugar or raise your insulin, the alcohol calories will turn into fat. Within one minute, alcohol is already in your bloodstream, up to your brain and to your liver.

Alcohol is a solvent. Your liver considers it to be a toxin. In the liver you have this enzyme that breaks alcohol down into a highly toxic chemical called acetaldehyde. It acts as a poison, killing brain cells and liver cells, causing oxidative stress, inflammation, fibrosis, cirrhosis – and it leads to a fatty liver that is difficult, even impossible, to reverse.

Alcohol depletes your vitamins, dehydrates you, and blocks fat burning. Additionally, ethanol takes priority over burning fat. The liver focuses on ridding the body of alcohol instead.

There are no health benefits to drinking. It actually increases death. If you are okay with these risks, and understand that alcohol will also slow your weight-loss progress, then at least do not drink frequently, and do things to make up for the damage.

If you need a healthy alcohol substitute, you can consume kombucha tea.