Skip to Content

Is Shakeology Keto Friendly? (How Many Carbs In Shakeology?)

So, you’re on a keto diet and you want to increase your nutrient intake in an easy way.

Luckily, there are many products available that will help you get your nutrients all in one serving!

One of these products goes by the name Shakeology.

But is Shakeology compatible with the keto diet?

Here is why Shakeology products are keto friendly:

To stay in ketosis, you need to be consuming under 50g of carbohydrates per day (roughly). Since Shakeology products contain between 15g and 18g of carbohydrates, they can be enjoyed as part of a ketogenic diet as long as you minimize your carb intake in other meals.

Man drinking protein shake

In this article, we’ll cover what Shakeology is, what we mean by ‘keto friendly’, the nutritional breakdown of each Shakeology product, and some tips to stay in ketosis.

What is Shakeology?

Shakeology is a superfood nutrition shake created by Beachbody.

It was created with idea of restoring some of the essential nutrients we miss from our diets in a simple shake. These nutrients include:

  • Fiber
  • Enzymes
  • Vitamins
  • Minerals
  • Prebiotics
  • Probiotics
  • Adaptogens
  • Antioxidants
  • Phytonutrients

While Shakeology by itself isn’t considered a meal replacement, it can be part of a meal when mixed with nuts, berries, yoghurt, and other health snacks.

Also, Shakeology is fairly high in protein.

But the difference between Shakeology and your typical protein shake is that protein shakes don’t include nutrients.

So yes, Shakeology is pretty much a protein shake on steroids.

What Does Keto Friendly Mean?

Before we find out whether Shakeology is keto friendly, it’s important to clarify what I mean by ‘keto friendly’.

In my opinion, something is keto friendly if it can practically be included in a ketogenic diet.

What do I mean by practically?

Well, to stay in ketosis, you need to be consuming under 50g of carbs per day.

(Generally speaking.)

So if Product X has 20g of carbs, then that means you can eat 30g of carbs in your other meals of the day.

Which is very achievable by the way.

However…

If Product Y has 45g of carbs, then although it’s below 50g, it means you only have 5g of carbs to play with for the rest of the day.

Unless you’re eating an egg-only diet, this will be super tricky.

And so I wouldn’t consider Product Y being keto friendly, despite it being under 50g of carbs.

It’s also worth mentioning that something doesn’t need to be high in fat to be keto friendly.

Keto is all about carb reduction – not fat gorging.

Is Shakeology Keto Friendly?

The Shakeology product range comes in 4 different flavors:

  • Vanilla Whey
  • Chocolate Whey
  • Café Latte Whey
  • Strawberry Whey

Let’s have a quick look at the nutritional value of each flavor, starting with Vanilla Whey.

Vanilla Whey

Shakeology vanilla whey carbohydrate content

As you can see, each serving of Vanilla Whey provides 15g of carbs.

Going by our definition of keto friendly, this leaves you with 35g of carbs to use up in your other meals, which is very doable.

And so we can conclude that the Vanilla Whey Shakeology is keto friendly.

Chocolate Whey

Shakeology chocolate whey carb content

Looking at the image above, each scoop of Chocolate Whey provides 18g of carbs.

This would leave you with 32g of carbs ‘to play with’ in the rest of your meals of the day.

While this is less than the Vanilla Whey flavor, it’s certainly achievable and so I would argue the Chocolate Whey flavor is suitable for keto too.

Café Latte Whey

Shakeology cafe latte whey carb content

A quick look at the nutrition facts shows that the Café Latte Whey flavor provides 18g of carbs per scoop. Which is the same amount as the Chocolate Whey.

So again, you can enjoy a Café Latte Whey Shakeology on keto, as long as you reduce your carb intake to 32g in your other meals.

Strawberry Whey

Shakeology strawberry whey carb content

If you look at the carb amount, you can see that the Strawberry Whey flavor provides 15g of carbs per serving.

And so you would have 35g to spread out in your other meals, which shouldn’t be an issue if you stick to keto foods.

Is Vegan Shakeology Keto Friendly?

The Vegan Shakeology range comes in 4 different flavors too:

  • Vanilla Plant-Based Vegan
  • Chocolate Plant-Based Vegan
  • Café Latte Plant-Based Vegan
  • Tropical Strawberry Plant-Based Vegan

Let’s have a look at each of their nutritional labels, starting with Vanilla Plant-Based Began.

Vanilla Plant-Based Vegan

Shakeology vanilla plant-based vegan carb content

With each serving of Vanilla Plant-Based Vegan containing 15g of carbs, you would have 35g to use up over the course of the day.

So going by our definition of keto friendly, this definitely ticks the box.

Chocolate Plant-Based Vegan

Shakeology chocolate plant-based vegan carb content

As you can see, each Chocolate Plant-Based Vegan shake provides 17g of carbohydrates.

And so if you were following a keto diet, you could consume this flavor as long as you reduce your carb intake to 33g across your other meals.

Café Latte Plant-Based Vegan

Shakeology cafe latte plant-based vegan carb content

The Vegan Café Latte flavor contains 18g of carbs per scoop.

Therefore it can be considered keto friendly given that you consume less than 32g of carbs in your other meals.

Tropical Strawberry Plant-Based Vegan

Shakeology tropical strawberry plant-based vegan carb content

A single scoop of the Vegan Strawberry flavor provides 15g of carbs.

This means it can be enjoyed as part of a ketogenic diet as long you don’t exceed 35g of carbs for the remainder of the day.

How To Make Shakeology Keto Friendly

So, we’ve established that each flavor of Shakeology can be considered keto friendly.

But to ensure you stay in ketosis when consuming Shakeology, here are some top tips.

Exercise After Consuming Shakeology

When given the option, your body will always burn carbs ahead of fats.

So once you’ve consumed Shakeology, your body will have between 15g to 18g of carbs to burn.

(Depending on the flavor…)

The fastest way to use up these carbs so that your body can burn fat again is to exercise!

Use Water As A Mixer

Many people prefer mixing shakes, like Shakeology, with skimmed milk instead of water.

The reason being it tastes better, and I get that.

But you need to consider that a glass of skimmed milk contains roughly 11g of carbs.

So if you were to use skimmed milk with Shakeology, you’d actually be consuming close to 30g of carbs!

This would leave you with only 20g of carbs to use in your other meals, which can be a real challenge for some people.

And so, I highly recommend mixing Shakeology with good ol’ fashioned H20.

Restrict Carbs In Your Other Meals

The only way you can enjoy Shakeology on a ketogenic diet is if you pay close attention to your carb intake in your other meals.

If you don’t, then you’re much more likely to exceed the 50g limit of carbs which would take you out of ketosis.

Conclusion: Are Beachbody Shakeology Shakes Keto Friendly?

In short, yes – you can enjoy Shakeology shakes on keto, but only if you keep your daily carb intake below 50g.

For those wondering what the best Shakeology flavors for keto are, I’d go for Vanilla and Strawberry as these have the lowest amount of carbs.

Hope this helps!

Robb

Yvonne Basil

Thursday 22nd of July 2021

Thanks for the article on using Shakeology on a Keto diet. Takes a lot of the guess work out of how to use it. I have a bag of the plant-based vegan Vanilla which I have been contemplating using for a few months now. Though I had it after I had worked out(duh), I will now use it prior to my daily strength training. Also, since I have stomach issues with some of the plant based milk alternatives (almond and coconut) I have found one that does work for me (absolutely No stomach issues) and the total carb count for 1 cup is only 1 gram: Flax Milk ( I use Good Karma - Flaxmilk + Protein Unsweetened Vanilla) plus it has 8g Protein & 1200 mg Omega 3, which a lot of people my age are deficient in. And yes, at least to me, it tastes good by itself with no after taste.

Kudos to you and your site!! Yvonne Basil