Being on the keto diet means that you need to know everything about the food you are eating. If you’re starting out on the keto diet, there is probably a lot that you still need to learn.
One of the important things to know about when it comes to this diet is milk.
When on keto, can you drink coconut milk instead of regular milk?
Why shouldn’t you be drinking regular milk on keto in the first place? If you want to learn more about it all, just keep reading!
What Actually Is Coconut Milk?
Let’s start with the basics – what even is coconut milk?
Coconut milk is made from the flesh of mature coconuts and is a plant-based milk. Looking at it, coconut is opaque, and a creamy white color.
The consistency is generally pretty thick, but it can vary a lot depending on brands and recipes. The main ingredient that contributes to the variation of consistency is the oil content.
This popular drink is thought to originate from South and Southeast Asia, as well as potentially East Africa and Latin America.
Throughout the years, coconut milk has come increasingly popular in the Western World, and is now loved by millions across the globe.
In fact, just about any supermarket you visit is likely to have some for you to try out!
Why Not Just Drink Regular Cow’s Milk?
This is a common question for anyone who is new to the keto diet. The simple answer is because cow’s milk contains lactose, which is actually a type of sugar.
As you likely know already, sugar is something that is avoided while on the keto diet because it prevents ketosis.
Is Coconut Milk Healthy?
Coconut is full of nutrients, and it is a super healthy drink. However, just because something is healthy doesn’t mean you should over do it!
This yummy drink is full of copper, manganese, vitamin C, selenium, folate, and iron, among other things.
While on a keto diet, it is known that fats play a very important role. To get into ketosis, the body needs to consume enough fat, while not consuming a lot of carbohydrates or sugars.
So, as a result, coconut milk is great for this because it has plenty of fat – coconut oil. This fat is made up of primarily (between 50-60%) MCTs, or medium-chain triglycerides.
This is good because it is thought that MCTs play a role in helping lower the appetite.
Manganese is a micronutrient that functions as a coenzyme, working in a number of biological processes. Some of these biological processes include things like ammonia clearance, bone formation, brain function, and many more.
What Does It Taste Like?
Coconut milk has a rich, slightly sweet taste. As expected, it tastes like coconut, but isn’t too overpowering.
Once again, however, the taste of this drink can vary depending on the brand and recipe used to make it. The water and fat ratio has a significant effect on the flavor of coconut milk.
Additionally, a lot of coconut milk has additives, preservatives, artificial flavors, and sugars. This is done to appear to a wider audience, but coconut milk with these things should be avoided, especially while on keto.
The best thing to do is to get the unsweetened coconut milk, and always read the label to make sure that you know what is in it.
However, if you want to have full control over what goes into your coconut milk, why not make it yourself? We’ll go through how you can do that, too, so stick with us!
Nutrition Of Coconut Milk
Let’s take a quick look at the nutrition of coconut milk. Once again – these values will vary depending on the recipe used to create the milk, so this isn’t one size fits all.
If you are unsure of your specific coconut milk’s nutrition, be sure to check the label.
With that being said, here is what you might expect to see from a cup (244g) of coconut milk:
Calories – 75.6 kcal
Total carbs – 7.12 g
Net carbs – 7.12 g
Fat – 5.08 g
Protein – 0.51 g
Fiber – 0 g
Should You Drink Coconut Milk While On Keto?
So, if you look at the section above, you will see that 244 grams of coconut milk is likely to have around 75 calories, just over 7 grams of carbs, around 5 grams of fat, and .5 grams of protein, with no fiber.
While saturated fats are typically seen as the “bad” fats, the fats in coconut milk are pretty unique. Why? Because between 50-60% of the fat that you can find in coconut milk is made up of MCTs, or medium-chain triglycerides.
This is good because it is thought that MCTs play a role in helping lower the appetite.
These MCTs are seen to be beneficial because they are thought to be linked to lowering the appetite, which supports weight loss and also lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes.
In terms of the carbohydrates present in coconut milk, 7 grams is not terrible.
While on keto, it is best to restrict the amount of carbs that the body consumes, but 7 grams is acceptable, especially for a whole cup of coconut milk.
What does this mean?
This means that coconut milk is actually a great product to be drinking while on keto! It is a good source of healthy fat, and pretty low in calories, especially when compared to alternative milk options.
How You Can Use It While On A Keto Diet
Now that you know that coconut milk is a great option while on keto (or off keto, it’s delicious!), you might be wondering how you can use it.
Well, lucky for you, there are a hundred things you can use coconut milk for.
You could use it in place of your regular milk or creamer for teas and coffees, you can use it in soups to thicken or thin liquids – anything your heart desires!
Our favorite use for coconut milk has to be the fact that you can use it to add some extra flavor to all your favorite keto friendly pastries.
Using keto friendly flours and other ingredients, you can create some unique and delicious flavors.
Not only that, but you can make some incredible breakfast smoothies using coconut milk, adding that bit of tropical to every one of your favorite classics.
If you feel like you don’t know where to start, we’ve got a great idea for you to try out. Check out some recipes for a keto friendly chocolate mug cake, or a keto hot chocolate on those cold days.
If you want to make use of your coconut milk for dinner, why not try a coconutty baked turkey breast with an irresistible cheese sauce?
In the end, you can use coconut milk as a replacement for dairy milk for just about any recipe. The majority of the time, you can simply use the ratio that you usually would, but in a few rare cases this might not work.
Sometimes, pastries may seem drier than usual, so just keep an eye out for that and alter the amount of coconut milk as needed.
How It’s Made
Okay, we aren’t going to go into the whole factory process here, because it’s pretty boring.
Instead, we are going to go through how you can make coconut milk yourself – at home! Let’s go through what you need to know.
What You Will Need
Shredded coconut flesh (from a fresh coconut)
Fresh, clean water
A blender
Nut-milk bag / cheesecloth
The Method
Get your fresh, shredded coconut and blend with some cool water. The amount of water you add will determine how watery it ends up being, so add a little at a time!
Once all blended together, pour the liquid into the cheesecloth or nut-milk bag. At this stage, you want to separate the liquid from the solid.
Allow the blended coconut and water to seep through the cloth. All the blended coconut that’s left behind can be used, so don’t throw it away! You can use these remnants as a low-carb, ketogenic bread crumb alternative, how cool is that?
Once the liquid has been separated, you should be left with coconut milk that looks creamy, thick, and white.
At this point, you can add some more water to it if you like to achieve your preferred consistency.
You can now use your freshly made coconut milk!
If you don’t have fresh coconut at hand, you can still use shredded coconut that’s dry, but it might not turn out as well.
You will first need to rehydrate it by allowing it to soak in water for a couple of hours.
Once that has been done, you can proceed and make your coconut milk as the steps outline above.
Final Thoughts
And that’s all you need to know! Coconut milk is a great alternative to regular milk, so why not make it a part of your diet today?
One cup only has 7 grams of net carbs, and the flavor is irresistible. What are you waiting for?
Hi, I’m Aubrey, and I have been a chef for close to 8 years. Cooking has always been a passion of mine, as long as I can remember. I loved my play kitchen when I was a kid, and would offer my parents my own (albeit gross) cookie recipes to taste!
Here at ButterandSaltGatherings, I want to offer a wide range of ingredients, flavors, meals and recipes so that you can start living each day to the fullest, and enjoy only the best food.
