Is Milk Keto Friendly?

The carbohydrates in milk is sugar in the form of lactose, which for a lot of people with lactose intolerance will have digestion and gut problems. If you are lactose intolerant, then you should stay away from milk or have lactose free milk. Lactose free milk is actually just normal milk, but with the lactase enzyme added which helps your body break down the lactose into simple sugars.

Lactose intolerance is actually normal in adult human biology. As children, we are unable to eat normal food and our mothers create breast milk which has all the nutrition it needs to help us grow quickly past this phase to eventually transition to our parent’s diet.

Our body will subsequently create less lactase, the enzyme which breaks down the milk sugar, because we don’t need them anymore. After humans developed animal agriculture, cow’s milk became a staple in our diet due to it helping us survive in times of famine. Many humans benefited from this helping them survive. These genetics became selected for through the generations and the ability to produce the lactase enzyme through into adulthood became normal in many people today.

Exercise and intermittent fasting are tools you can use to increase your carb limit on a ketogenic diet. On average, an hour of exercise can use up 100 grams of carbohydrates.

Intermittent fasting allows your body to stay in the fasted state for longer, making your body more insulin sensitive and allowing your body to naturally use up its storage of carbohydrates and producing ketones at the same time. This usually involves 16 hours fasting and a 8 hour eating window which is normally just skipping breakfast and finishing your last meal before 8pm.

Many people combine these by skipping breakfast and then doing a workout before their first meal. Both these methods allow your body to use up its carbohydrate storage instead of topping it up before it is able to use it up.

A ketogenic diet is a diet which allows our body to generate ketones and use those for fuel. There are many ways to achieve this but for simplicity, everyone is told to eat less than 25 grams of carbohydrates a day to remain in ketosis. Realistically, this number is different for everyone and it is based on how much glycogen, sugar in its storage form, is stored in your body. If you don’t eat enough carbohydrates to replenish your storage, then your body will produce ketones to provide you with enough energy.

When starting out on your weight loss journey, it is best to minimize drinking milk. The nutrients in milk promote growth and fat storage to serve its original purpose to allow newborn children to grow faster for better survival. It may already take weeks to even get the scale moving initially and drinking milk will often make this process even longer.

If you must have some milk, at most have 1 cup and don’t drink it every day. Take into account other carbs you eat during the day as well. One useful tip is to keep all your carb intake to one meal a day, this will help your body better maintain ketosis.

If you have reached your weight goal and are using a ketogenic diet for weight maintenance, then milk is perfectly fine to have. Combine with exercise and intermittent fasting for better results.

Nutritionally, high fat dairy milk is best for any diet and especially for keto. If you want to enjoy some milk in your diet choose whole milk. Other great dairy options which are keto friendly include half & half, light cream and heavy cream. You see the pattern here, high fat options are the most nutritious and better for the keto diet.

Fairlife Whole Milk

Fairlife milk may be an option to try on a ketogenic diet as it has higher protein, lower carb and added lactase enzyme to make it lactose free. The amount of carbs found in fairlife milk is around 6 grams, half the amount compared to normal dairy milk. This may be a good option for people looking for a lower carb option.

Is lactose free milk lower in carbs?

No, lactose free milk has the same or similar amount of carbs to normal milk. The only difference is that they add lactase enzyme to the milk to help your body breakdown the lactose to simple sugars.

If you are looking to maximize weight loss, then trying alternative plant based milk options have fewer carbs and calories to allow your body to burn its own fat. These options don’t replace dairy milk in terms of nutrition as many varieties are enriched with vitamins and minerals.

Unsweetened Almond Milk

Firstly, if you have a nut allergy then you should avoid almond milk. Almond milk may be a good option if you want something with the lowest carbs and enjoy almonds. Although we don’t recommend store bought almond milk as they usually will contain additive ingredients such as “natural flavors”, gums and thickeners which may not be healthy. Try this homemade almond milk recipe with only 4 ingredients.

Coconut Milk

Coconut milk is lower carb compared to dairy milk but higher than almond milk. This is a good option as the fats contained in coconuts are medium chain triglycerides which are readily converted into ketones by our liver which is very compatible with the ketogenic diet. Store bought varieties may have additives as well so check the ingredients label and choose the ones with only the main ingredients which is usually water and coconut.

Full fat milk has 1:1 protein to fat ratio with 7.98 grams of protein and 7.69 grams of fat. Dairy milk is a good source of Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B12, Vitamin A, calcium, phosphorus and selenium.

Although milk is not keto friendly for weight loss, you can still enjoy some milk on exercise days which can help with energy levels, but keep the amount to a single cup. If you are looking to maximize fat loss, then try alternative milk options like fairlife milk, unsweetened almond milk and coconut milk.