Anyone who has ever been on the keto diet knows the struggle of finding a suitable milk substitute.
Oat milk often comes up in the conversation.
Oat milk is a popular non-dairy milk that closely matches the taste and consistency of regular milk, but is it keto-friendly?
Time to clear this up once and for all — is oat milk keto?
Is Oat Milk Keto?
Because oat milk is high in carbohydrates, it is not keto-friendly. The amount of net carbs in one cup of oat milk is almost half of your entire day’s net carbs on the keto diet.
If you consume half of your day’s carbs in just one cup of oat milk, it will be a struggle to go the rest of the day with so few carbs left in your plan.
If you want to drink oat milk on a keto diet, you’ll have to cut carbs in other places so as not to go over your daily recommended limit.
For instance, if you drink a cup of oat milk in the morning, you can only eat 5-30 grams of net carbs for the rest of the day.
If you leave enough carbs un-eaten at the end of your day, you can indulge in a spoonful of oat milk ice cream, as long as you don’t go overboard.
Related: Is Oat Milk Paleo?
How Many Net-Carbs Are in Oat Milk?
To calculate net carbs, subtract total fiber from total carbohydrates.
Oat milk has 16 grams of carbs and 2 grams of fiber, giving it 14 net carbs.
This means it does not fit well into the keto diet, as the diet only allows for 20-50 grams of carbohydrates daily.
Keto-Friendly Alternatives to Oat Milk
Just because oat milk isn’t keto-friendly does not mean you have to abstain from milk altogether. There are plenty of alternatives, both with and without dairy, that fit into the keto diet.
Cashew Milk
Cashew milk is slightly sweet and has a creamy texture, similar to cow’s milk. It has just 3 grams of net carbs, making it suitable for a keto diet.
Almond Milk
Almond milk is thin compared to other kinds of milk and has a neutral but slightly nutty flavor. Unsweetened almond milk only has 1 gram of net carbs, perfectly fitting into the keto diet.
Related: Is Almond Milk Keto?
Soy Milk
Soy milk has a neutral flavor and a consistency similar to cow’s milk. Unsweetened soy milk contains 2 grams of net carbs, so you can easily incorporate it into your keto diet.
Coconut Milk
Coconut milk contains just 2 grams of net carbs, making it keto-friendly. Coconut milk does taste like coconuts, though, and is not to be confused with coconut water (that liquid inside of coconuts).
Flax Milk
Flax milk contains just 1 gram of net carbs. Its flavor is slightly nutty and earthy.
Heavy Cream
Heavy cream has only 3 grams of net carbs per cup. It is also high in fat, which bodes well for your keto diet. Of course, it isn’t dairy-free, but it works if you don’t have milk on hand.
You’ll notice that 2% cow’s milk is not on this list.
Cow’s milk is high in sugar, which you want to avoid if you’re on the keto diet.
Heavy cream is the part of milk that separates to the top of unprocessed milk.
The nutritional composition is thus different from the rest of the milk, and it ends up being lower in sugar and higher in fat.
Oat Milk on a Ketogenic Diet?
Oat milk is a popular milk alternative that’s well-loved for its creamy consistency and environmental sustainability.
Though it fits into a plant-based, dairy-free diet, it sadly is not compatible with the ketogenic diet.
Oat milk has far too many carbs for the keto diet, but you can use other kinds of milk like almond, cashew, coconut, or flax instead.
