Is almond milk okay when going low-carb?

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Almond and Soy milk

Here is some information about the carb content (in grams) in specified serving volumes of various drinks. As you can see unsweetened almond milk has a lower carb-count than cow’s milk. For cow’s milk the carbs are the same whether it is skimmed or full cream. One site lists unsweetened almond milk as having 1.4g in 1 cup/240ml. Sweetened almond milk came in with 16g, a huge difference. I highly recommend the dietdoctor.com website. See some of their links and data below.

Dietdoctor.com has recently changed policy on soy products including soy milk. As long as you do not have an underactive thyroid they see no reason not to consume soy products. It may be that they are trying to appeal to Vegan folk. The carb count in 100ml of unsweetened soy and cow’s milk is 0.5g and 4.5g respectively. Sweetened soy milk it can deliver 12g/100ml.

This policy was news to me however personally I still have ethical and health worries. Most soy is grown in Brazil (where there are real worries about deforestation to increase agricultural land) and the USA (where there are concerns about pesticide residues in the seed). Up to you. https://www.dietdoctor.com/changes-to-the-diet-doctor-soy-policy

The data presented below came from an article on dietdoctor.com. I guess the soy milk listed here is sweetened. (https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto/drinks)

Detailed carb-count list for common drinks

Remember that a strict keto diet, keeps carbs very low. It is typically best to keep carbs from drinks as close to 0 as possible and to use your carb allotment for foods such as fresh vegetables. Below is a detailed list of the number of grams of carbs in a typical serving size of various drinks.

Water 0 (The clear winner)
Water with lemon 0
Tea 0 (one sugar cube adds 4 grams)
Keto iced tea 0 (recipe)
Coffee 0 (milk adds roughly 1-3 grams of carbs)
Diet soft drink 0 (artificial sweeteners cause other problems though)
Wine 2 (5 oz – 14 cl)
Almond milk, unsweetened 2 (8 oz – 25 cl)
Coconut water 9 (1 cup – 24 cl)
Vegetable juice 11 (1 cup – 24 cl). The amount of carbs can vary. Adding fruit juice adds more carbs.
Milk 11 (1 cup – 24 cl). Lactose, the sugar in milk can be problematic for some.
Soy milk 12 (1 cup – 24 cl)
Beer 13 (12 oz – 35 cl). The amount varies (keto beer guide).
Caffè latte 15 (12 oz – 35 cl)
Kombucha tea 10 (12 oz – 35 cl). This is the average of commercial teas. Homemade Kombucha tea varies with the time it has fermented, and may end up somewhat lower in carbs.
Orange juice 26 (1 cup – 24 cl)
Energy drink 28 (8.4 oz – 25 cl)
Vitamin water 32 (12 oz – 35 cl)
Sweetened iced tea 32 (12 oz – 35 cl). This is the average of most commercial iced tea products, which vary in their amount of sweetness.
Soft drink 39 (12 oz – 35 cl)
Smoothie 36 (12 oz – 35 cl). Varies depending on contents. May be low carb, but not typically keto ratios. (Low-carb smoothie recipes).
Frappuccino 50 (12 oz – 35 cl). All sweet coffee drinks are high in carbs.
Milkshake 60 (10 oz – 30 cl). Not part of a ketogenic diet.