Keto Sugar-Free Drinks to Help You Curb Cravings
Sweet cravings on keto can seem relentless, irresistible, and overwhelming, but you can shake your cravings and satisfy your sweet tooth with keto alternatives. When you’re hankering after a sugary soda, go for a sweet-tasting, keto-approved, sugar-free drinks instead.
Top Keto-Friendly Sugar-Free Drinks!
Try these sugar-free beverages to delight your taste buds without kicking you out of ketosis:
1) Unsweetened Sparkling Water
Unsweetened sparkling water or carbonated water is a good keto alternative. Carbonated water refers to water that’s been infused with carbon dioxide gas under pressure to produce a bubbly drink. Sparkling water is also known as club soda, fizzy water, and seltzer water. You can choose a brand like La Croix, Aha, or Bai Bubbles for a sweet keto-friendly drink with a bold taste and aroma.
You could also go for a natural sparkling mineral water, such as San Pellegrino or Perrier. These natural waters are captured from a mineral spring and typically contain sulfur compounds and minerals.
They’re also usually carbonated. Spruce up your natural spring water or carbonated drink with a squeeze of fresh lemon!
Tonic water is another type of carbonated water containing a bitter compound called quinine. Always check the label to make sure there’s no added sugar or high-fructose corn syrup.
2) Diet Soda
Diet soda certainly isn’t the healthiest choice, but it might appease your urges for sweet treats once in a while on keto. While diet soda consumption in moderation on keto might be okay for some people, there is growing research that consuming these artificially sweetened beverages might increase cravings in some, as well as other health concerns. [1,2]. If you find that sugar-free drinks like diet soda actually increase your cravings, avoid it!
3) Diet Fruit Juices
Traditional fruit juices are typically off the keto menu, but some sugar-free drinks like diet fruit juices are available. Keep in mind that most of these diet fruit juices contain unnatural and artificial ingredients, additives, and food colorings that aren’t always the healthiest choice.
4) Infused Water
Sometimes simple berry-infused water can do the trick and deliver just enough sweetness to get over your craving. Infused water refers to a combination of fruits, vegetables, or herbs immersed in water. This infuses the water with the flavor and color of the fruit, herb, or vegetable.
To make your own infused water, you need fresh produce and cold water. Choose your flavor, wash and chop your produce, and add it to your water. You can experiment with the ratio of water to berries to tinker with the flavor. The more produce you add and the longer you let it soak or infuse, the more intense the flavor.
Some foods like cucumber, melon, and mint add flavor right away, while other foods like berries and ginger might need to soak longer or overnight for optimal taste. If you’re infusing for longer than 2 hours, it’s best to place your water in the fridge. You can usually achieve a potent flavor and watercolor in just 3-4 hours in the fridge.
5) Low-Carb Hot Chocolate
When you want a sweet drink, a warm and comforting low-carb hot chocolate might do the trick. The coconut cream or heavy dairy cream and unsweetened cocoa powder can add plenty of sweet and creamy flavor. Still, if you want more sweetness, you can always add a keto-friendly sweetener like monk fruit, stevia, or erythritol. You might also like this keto mocha frappuccino or pumpkin spice latte.
6) Keto Alcohol
On occasion, you might want to celebrate with sweet-tasting, sugar-free alcoholic drinks. Try one of our simple keto drink recipes like these tangy keto margaritas, keto blood orange margaritas, or keto strawberry daiquiri!
What Are Your Favorite Sugar-Free Drinks on Keto?
Comment below and let us know how you satisfy your sweet tooth.
References
1) Imamura, F., O’ Connor, L., Ye, Z., Mursu, J., Hayashino, Y., Bhupathiraju, S. N., & Forouhi, N. G. (2015). Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, artificially sweetened beverages, and fruit juice and incidence of type 2 diabetes: Systematic review, meta-analysis, and estimation of population attributable fraction. British Medical Journal, 21(351), h3576. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.h3576
2) Choudhary, A. K., & Pretorius, E. (2017). Revisiting the safety of aspartame. Nutrition Reviews, 75(9), 718-730. DOI: 10.1093/nutrit/nux035
