If you’re into healthy eating and drinking, a little bit of coconut water seems like a nice idea. But what if you’re on the keto diet?
The fact is that if you’re trying to remain faithful to the ketogenic diet, produce ketones, and enjoy the subsequent health benefits – consuming anything with carbohydrates can throw a monkey wrench into your plans. To understand why isn’t that hard, after all, coconut water contains carbs. There’s no way around it.
But does that mean you absolutely cannot ever have coconut water? No. You can. But you will have to count your carbs closely, and accept the possibility of falling out of ketogenesis.
Is Coconut Water Keto & Can I Have it Without Dropping Out of Ketosis?
At this point, we’ve laid out the challenge fairly clearly. Taking on carbs while trying to remain in ketogenesis is walking a thin line. You can do it, but you have to plan well, use self-control, know what you’re consuming, and be ready to accept the risks. For clarity, asking if you can consume carbs without falling out of keto is like asking, “Can I carry an extra 20 pounds while rock climbing without falling to my demise?”
The answer to any question like that has got to be, “I don’t know, can you?” The question is, how much carbs can your system take while remaining in ketosis? To find that out, you’ll have to do some trial and error.
How Many Carbohydrates Can Your Keto State Sustain?
Just as everybody is visibly different on the outside, every metabolism is exponentially different on the inside. That means a number of carbs that would kick one person out of ketosis might not do the same to another person.
In reality, there is no solid, limit on carbs. The amount of carbs you can consume while remaining in ketosis is different from that of any other person. Also, your carb-cut-off point will change with age, fitness, diet, and even time of day. Generally speaking, the more metabolically healthy you are, the fitter, and the more well-rested, the more carbs you should be able to sustain. Likewise, the more athletically talented you are, the more likely you will be to be successful in competitive sports. All these things are fluid and relative.
To find your carb limit, you’ll have to experiment. To do that, the best place to start is to find out exactly what is in coconut water.
What’s in Coconut Water?
Every experiment has to start with some standardized facts that we can use to form a baseline and introduce some kind of predictability. It might not be possible to know exactly what your personal carb limit is, but we can try to regulate it somewhat, at least in the beginning.
The nutritional content of a 100 ml serving of coconut water should look something like this:
Calories 46
Total Fat 0.6 g
Saturated Fat 0.5 g
Carbohydrates 8.9 g
Sugars 6.3 g
Dietary Fiber 2.5 g
Protein 1.7 g
Sodium 255 mg
Potassium 610 mg
Keep in mind that different brands will be different. Some may contain things they don’t exactly openly admit to using in their products. For best results, stick to one high-quality brand, and drink your coconut water at the same time each day.
What we’re concerned with most is that nearly 9 grams of carbohydrates in the average 100 ml of coconut water. Now, if this was the only source of carbs in your daily diet, chances would be pretty good that you would remain in ketosis and be fine. However, there is always the off chance that some of that protein and fat (or whatever else is hidden in your beverage) might be partially processed into carbohydrates in the liver, the blood, or other filtering organs. Even still, if you’re not eating anything else with carbs in it, and you’re keeping up with your exercise regimen, this minuscule amount of carbs will probably not kill your ketosis.
Keep in mind, this is no guarantee. Unfortunately, we can’t offer you anything resembling rock-solid certainty. But there are a few widely agreed upon numbers that you might be able to base your trials on.
Setting Your Keto Baselines
A good place to start to discover your personal carb limit would be to set a 50- gram carb per-day limit. This is about an average carb limit for health-conscious people with a regular fitness schedule. People with a poor diet, poor to inconsistent fitness habits, or health conditions should probably cut that limit in half.
To do this, and do it well, you will have to have successfully experienced ketosis and know what it feels like. Doing blood tests may be necessary, but developing sensory experience is cheaper and more pleasant. You will have to accept the fact that you are probably going to fall out of ketosis at some point in your initial trials. You will experience keto sickness, or “keto flu,” over and over as you experiment. This process could last for weeks or months.
If you want to skip all of this unpleasantness, then experimenting with sugary drinks in the first place might not be the best option.
30- Grams of Carbs is Probably Safe
To have the best chance of successfully drinking coconut water while remaining in ketogenesis, simply keep your total daily carb intake below thirty grams- certainly below forty grams. Avoiding things that metabolize as sugar or carbs can be tough. Therefore, staying at the low end of that range is recommended. To boost your chances of success, even more, incorporate some additional cardiovascular exercise into your daily routine.