How Much Sugar Can You Have on the Keto Diet? This Expert Explains

By now, you’re probably familiar with the keto diet — the high-fat, moderate-protein, super-low-carb diet has helped people lose weight, gain energy, and transform their lifestyles. But as popular as the diet is, there are still many misconceptions about it.

For starters, many people think you can’t eat any carbs at all in order to get into your body’s fat-burning state of ketosis. In reality, some carbs are allowed: about 50 grams or fewer per day. But what about sugar? Keto dieters have all but eschewed the sweet stuff in favor of calorie-free sweeteners like stevia. Just look at this roundup of keto fat bombs: they’re all sugar-free or incredibly low in sugar.

To find out just how much sugar you can eat on the keto diet, we asked Brittanie Volk, PhD, RD, senior clinical and patient engagement specialist at Virta Health, for answers.

“To achieve the many health benefits that a ketogenic diet has to offer, one needs to consume only the amount of carbohydrates that the individual can tolerate to stay in nutritional ketosis,” she told POPSUGAR. “This amount differs from person to person but is generally less than 50 grams of total carbohydrates per day. That means all sources of carbohydrate, including refined sugar, should be limited to as little as possible to avoid the impact carbohydrates can have on blood sugar and insulin levels.”

So while sugar is a carb and does count toward your 50 grams or fewer a day, you should still limit sugar intake so as not to spike your blood sugar. Yes, you can still have it, but make sure that sugar, combined with all your other sources of carbohydrates, stays below your threshold of about 50 grams a day.

How Much Sugar is Allowed on the Keto Diet?

Sugar and the keto diet don’t get along, and that’s not good news for fans of ice cream, black forest cake, and Swiss chocolate.

But just because sugar and keto are at odds with each other, it doesn’t mean you need to send your sweet tooth off to the retirement home and resign yourself to a life of walnuts and coconut oil.

Finding a way to accommodate the sweeter side of life is one of the significant challenges facing anyone on the keto diet, but it’s not an impossible dream. All it takes is a bit of persistence, a bit of imagination and some of today’s fantastic sugar substitutes.

If you want to stay in ketosis you will do well to make sure you eliminate the following foods from your diet:

Wheat, rice, corn or cereals

Potatoes, yams and the like

Excessive amounts of fresh fruit such as apples and oranges

Sugar and common sugar substitutes like honey and maple syrup

When it comes to the keto diet, the problem with sugar is easy to define: if you ingest sugar in sufficient quantities, your body will decide it has enough glucose to fuel it and will exit ketosis in a hurry to resume its default power producing mechanism.

That’s it.

So if you want to enjoy the many benefits of ketosis, then the question, “How much sugar per day on keto?” has a simple answer: “Zero.”

That’s the bad news.

The good news is, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to say goodbye to sweets. Just a particular kind of desserts.

And of course, you’ll want to take up exercise as well.

Exactly How Much Sugar on the Keto Diet?

The recommended daily sugar intake to stay on the keto diet is 0g.

This is because sugar will rapidly fill up your entire carbohydrate allowance for the day and can potentially kick you out of ketosis.

We’ll explain: To stay keto compliant you want to limit carbs to about 20 grams per day. But just one tablespoon of sugar is 12.5 grams of total carbs already.

If you think you’ll get around that with honey, think again. A tablespoon of honey is even worse at 17 grams of total carbs. By consuming only a bit of sugar or honey you have nearly used up your entire allotment of carbs for the day — just like that.

You’ll then be forced to watch your carb intake from other sources like a hawk or you’ll be bumped out of ketosis.

So how much sugar can you have on keto? You should aim for zero.

But, as we said, that doesn’t mean you can’t indulge your sweet tooth.

The secret to enjoying sweets on the keto diet is to be smart about it — to acknowledge the reality rather than deny it and to keep the bigger picture in mind at all times.

So just what is the reality when it comes to sugar and keto?

Is it Possible to Have Sugar Cravings on Keto?

Sugar cravings on keto are not only possible — they’re likely. Especially if you have always had a bit of a sweet tooth.

As such, it’s crucial to the long term success of your keto diet efforts that you find low-carb ways to satisfy your cravings for sweets.

That might sound like an impossible dream, but it’s not really.

All it takes is an open mind and a little patience. Because patient repetition is the key to establishing new habits.

How Do I Stop Sugar Cravings on Keto?

Sugar cravings on keto can be stopped, but it might take a bit of time.

For some folks, substituting any of the below-listed alternatives for sugar does little but make them pine for the real thing.

For these people, nothing short of eliminating sweets altogether from their diet will do.

The good news is that if you want to go the no-sweets route, it is possible, but it’s going to take commitment and time.

What you’ll need to do is find acceptable substitutes to reach for during the time when the cravings are at their most intense.

Some people lean on flavored teas or waters. Other people swear by pickles. A kosher dill, for instance, has about 3 grams of carbs and is rich in vitamins and minerals. Just be sure to choose pickles that don’t have sugar added.

Remember, if you are still open to indulging your sweet tooth but just want to eliminate sugar, try any of the sugar alternatives we detailed in the section below. They’ll more than satisfy your cravings while keeping you keto compliant.

What Can You Eat on a Keto Diet When Craving Sweets?

As we’ve seen already, the keto diet and sugar have something of an adversarial relationship. That’s because just a single teaspoon of sugar can max out your carb intake for an entire day.

The problem is that many of us in the West are raised on sweets, so eliminating them entirely from our diet in order to maintain ketosis and enjoy its benefits seems like asking a lot.

And in a way, it is. But it doesn’t have to be an endless walk across burning coals. It can be fun and tasty and extremely satisfying.

In this section, we’re going to delve a bit deeper into non-sugar options that will enable you to indulge your cravings (within reason) while staying keto compliant.

Let’s start with 3 incredibly simple low carb desserts that will rock your keto world.

Our Final Thoughts:

The bottom line when it comes to how much sugar on keto is acceptable is zero. Especially since there are several high-quality sweeteners available today that will act as more than adequate stand-ins for sugar without bumping you out of ketosis in the process.

Hopefully this article brings you the guidance you need in order to make your keto lifestyle successful as well as help you understand that it is not the end of your love for desserts and all good things in life.