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gemberly

Ok, so how I understand it. Your body will burn alcohol before carbs, carbs before fat? Hopefully I understand this right. I eat under 20 total carbs daily. If I were to have alcohol once in a while, does that push me out of ketosis? Or what happens exactly? I don't normally partake, but if I did, I need to know what to expect. Tia!

Dragonwolf

Yes, the body burns alcohol first, then sugar, then fat.

Whether it pushes you out of ketosis is going to depend entirely on what alcohol and how much.

Things like beer, wine, cocktails, and sweet mead have additional carbohydrates in addition to their alcohol content, and are therefore more likely to knock you out of ketosis sooner.

However, hard liquors, like vodka, whiskey, and tequila -- as well as dryer drinks -- don't have the carb content and are pretty much just all alcohol (as far as the ketosis-related ingredients are concerned). They also don't require much to get you buzzed, tipsy, or even drunk entirely (even under "normal" circumstances; that effect happens easier on low carb, so you need even less than you may have used to). As such, you won't likely drink as much in general to get the desired effect and may not get knocked out.

Go out, enjoy once in a while. Get a small glass of a high-quality drink, if you don't want to drop ketosis, or get your favorite drink and accept that you'll lose a day or two of your favorite level of ketosis, and the next day, pick up where you left off with your food and ketosis will follow again.

gemberly

Thanks! That all makes sense!

SteveKroll

A lot of it depends on what you drink. I'm a wine drinker myself. I have a glass of dry red wine almost every night after dinner and it has yet to knock me out of ketosis. It also hasn't had much effect on my weight loss, one way or the other.

gemberly

Great! Thanks for the input!

nicsflyingcircus

I had 4 vodka and soda's last weekend (My first booze since October) and it didn't know me out of ketosis. It did however, give me a pleasant little buzz (which use to take closer to 6-7 drinks)

gemberly

That's a good thing to know!