What's the best milk for the keto diet?

Following the ketog enic diet whilst also having a plant-based lifestyle can bring some unexpected challenges.

Especially when a lot of keto friendly recipes revolve around high fat dairy products such as butter, cream and cheese.

Not only are you having to find plant-based alternatives to these ingredients but also choose low carb and high fat options.

When following the ketogenic diet, you are restricted to only 25-30g of net carbs a day. Therefore, its crucial for keto friendly ingredients to contain zero to very low net carbs.

A popular breakfast choice that fits into this is the Bulletproof coffee. However, most bulletproof coffee recipes are full of dairy products with no clear plant-based alternatives, such as bulletproof coffee with ghee.

This article will outline all the main plant-based milk alternatives so you can make a vegan bulletproof coffee.

What is a Bulletproof Coffee?

For those of you who are new to the ketogenic world a Bulletproof coffee is a high fat breakfast alternative, made with butter, ghee or coconut/MCT oil.

They have become increasingly popular in the last few years as they are convenient for an ‘on the go’ lifestyle. However, adding butter to your coffee is no easy task. Stirring only causes the fat to separate, making your first sip a very buttery one, plus, if you leave your coffee to cool the butter will solidify!

That’s why, when using our Nespresso compatible pods , the complicated process is gone and it becomes a convenient way to start your morning routine, with guaranteed tasty results and no carbs.

Although our keto coffee pods taste great without, plant-based milk is an easy way to increase the fat content even further.

fresh coconut milk and coconut oil for keto coffee

Milks to Avoid

Milk and milk alternatives are a tasty ingredient in many drinks and recipes. However, some milks are less keto friendly than others.

Cow’s milk should be avoided for anyone following the keto diet, even those who aren't plant-based. It naturally has high amounts of lactose which are broken down into sugars in the gut. Even whole milk (the highest fat dairy milk) has 12 grams of net carbs per cup (240ml)!

Oat milk has a very similar taste and mouthfeel to cow’s milk. This makes it a great plant-based alternative to regular cow’s milk. However, with 17g of net carbs per cup it is one to avoid!

Rice milk is similar to oat milk as it is naturally full of sugar. Just one cup has a net carb value of 25g, making it definitely not a keto friendly option!

Keto Friendly Milks

Coconut milk is one of the best milks for the keto diet. This rich, creamy plant-based milk is high in fat as well as low in net carbs (1g of net carbs per 240ml cup).

Almond milk is another commonly used plant-based milk by people following the keto diet. With only 1.4 grams of net carbs per cup it is clear why, but also it has a great flavour, mouth feel and is inexpensive.

Soy milk is also an acceptable choice for the keto diet as it only has 2 grams of net carbs (per cup). However, a slightly less popular version due its lower fat content.

Top Keto Tips

When choosing keto friendly plant-based milk is to always check the label and make sure you are not buying a sweetened version. Sweetened versions will be full of carbs and could kicked you out of ketosis.

Even if its not for bulletproof coffee recipes, choosing the right plant-based milk is important for your recipe as they will all have very different flavours from each other and cow's milk.

When following the keto diet it is also very important to measure out ingredients that contain carbs to make sure you aren't going over your carb limit for the day.

By Alex Warmisham ANutr - Nutritionist at Rejuvenation Water