Fruit juices are often not good for ketogenic diets but there are exceptions. Discover whether coconut water is keto-friendly or not.
100 grams of unsweetened coconut water contain about 4.24 grams of net carbohydrates (total carbs minus fiber).
While you can likely find a way to stay in ketosis while drinking this amount, it is fair to say that coconut water is generally not that keto-friendly.
This is because 100 grams is only half a glass of coconut water.
Additionally, spending this many of your daily carbs on coconut water will likely leave you feeling hungry and limit how many nutrients you can get from other foods.
Instead, you want to go for one of the more low-carb drink alternatives if you want something different from water on a ketogenic diet.
How many net carbs are there in coconut water?
The number of total and net carbs will influence whether you can fit coconut into a ketogenic diet and in what amounts.
100 grams of unsweetened coconut water contain the following amounts of carbs (1):
- Total carbs: 4.24 grams
- Of which fiber: 0 grams
- Net carbs: 4.24 grams
4.24 grams of net carbs is reasonably low but you want to keep in mind that 100 grams of coconut water are only half a glass.
In turn, you can still say that coconut water is generally not keto-friendly. Even though you should be able to modify your ketogenic diet in a way where 100 grams of coconut water becomes an option.
One cup of coconut water is about 240 grams and contains the following amounts of carbs:
- Total carbs: 10.2 grams
- Of which fiber: 0 grams
- Net carbs: 10.2 grams
One cup is a more reasonable portion size for coconut water.
Unfortunately, this will contain enough carbs to kick most people out of ketosis in combination with other amounts of food.
Other nutrition information about coconut water
The number of carbs in foods and drinks is definitely important on a ketogenic diet but other nutrients still matter too.
Details like fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals still influence whether you stay in ketosis and more importantly, how good your general health will be.
100 grams of unsweetened coconut water contain the following nutrients (1):
- Calories: 18
- Protein: 0.2 grams
- Carbs: 4.24 grams
- Part of the carbs that is fiber: 0 grams
- Fat: 0 grams
- Vitamin C: 17% of the DV (Daily Value)
- Potassium: 5% of the DV
- Thiamin: 2% of the DV
- Magnesium: 2% of the DV
- Phosphorus: 1% of the DV
And some other vitamins and minerals in smaller amounts.
On top of being somewhat higher in carbohydrates, the amounts of vitamins and minerals in coconut water are not that impressive either.
In turn, you likely want to stay away from coconut water on keto unless you really like this drink.
Carbs in sweetened coconut water
You want to be careful with store-bought coconut water when following a ketogenic diet because many brands add sugar and other sweeteners.
100 grams of one example of sweetened coconut water contains the following amounts of carbs (2):
- Total carbs: 9.07 grams
- Of which fiber: 0 grams
- Net carbs: 9.07 grams
As you can see, your choice of coconut water will influence how much you can drink on keto a lot. This sweetened example is typically not keto-friendly.
In simpler words, the best coconut water for keto is any unsweetened brand (although you may still need to limit your portions of these).
Why you could drink small amounts of coconut water on keto
In theory, you could be able to drink small amounts of coconut water while staying in ketosis. To understand why this is and why it is often not recommended, it can be helpful to go over some ketogenic diet statistics.
Any way of eating (and drinking) where you get and stay into ketosis is a ketogenic diet. Ketosis is a state where you mainly burn fat to fuel your body functions (3).
What your diet needs to look like to get into ketosis depends on details like your weight, activity levels, genes, etc.
That being said, there are some general recommendations to give you some idea.
The average person will want to get about 55%-60% of their calories from fat, 30%-35% from protein, and 5%-10% from carbohydrates to get into ketosis.
If you apply these percentages to your diet, you will likely conclude that you can consume about 20 to 50 grams of carbohydrates (not including fiber) a day.
This should make it clear that drinking coconut water would take up a lot of your daily carbs.
Likely to the extent that you are not able to consume enough nutrients in other foods to follow a healthy ketogenic diet.
Substitutes for coconut water on keto
Many people want to know if there is any hope for individuals who want to drink something different from regular water on a ketogenic.
If you are in this category too, you will be happy to learn that there are indeed a few lower-carb substitutes for coconut water. Some of these are:
- Black coffee
- Tea
- Water flavored with a small amount of fruit
- Sparkling water
While this list of keto-friendly substitutes for coconut water is not the biggest, it does allow you to flavor up your fluid intake to some extent.
Should you always care about staying in ketosis?
By now you should understand that coconut water is typically enough to kick you out of ketosis if you eat reasonable amounts of other foods.
Whether or not you should always care about this depends on your goals with your ketogenic diet.
For example, some individuals need/want to stay in ketosis every minute of the day. If you are in this category, you likely want to stay away from coconut water.
On the other hand, people who want to lose weight and get healthier can likely still consider coconut water. Ketogenic diets are not the only ways to achieve these goals.
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FAQ
Is coconut water high in carbs?
Coconut water contains about 4.24 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams. From a 100 grams perspective, coconut water is reasonably low in carbs. However, if you consider that this is only half a glass, it becomes clear that coconut water is not great for ketogenic diets.
Does coconut water break ketosis?
Because it is easy to drink a lot, coconut water can break ketosis relatively easily.
At the same time, it is worth mentioning that you could stay in ketosis while drinking coconut water if you pay enough attention to portion sizes and the other things you eat and drink.
