KICKED OUT OF KETOSIS

The Hidden Truth About Energy Drinks And Ketosis

I get it, we all need a pick me up now and then. No matter where you go, energy drinks are lined up at the checkout register at your favorite grocery store and even at every gas station.

But can energy drinks kick you out of ketosis? Energy drinks in and of themselves won't kick you out of ketosis unless they are also filled with tons of sugar. Most sugar-free energy drinks are generally ok when it comes to getting in and staying in ketosis as they contain very little to no calories.

In this article, I'll go over why an energy drink may or may not kick you out of ketosis, what's in most of the popular energy drinks, and things you should look out for to stay in ketosis.

Can energy drinks kick you out of ketosis?

Energy drinks in and of itself don't contain any ingredients that would inherently kick you out of ketosis. The ONLY ingredient that it could potentially contain that would kick you out of ketosis is sugar.

As long as you are getting the no/low-carb version of the energy drink, you should generally be ok to consume it on your ketogenic diet. Your best bet is to check the nutrition label and see if there are added sugars and how many carbohydrates the drink contains if any.

Just as a precaution, of course, because you never know.

In some cases, certain energy drinks will list sugar alcohols under carbohydrates. Still, due to the way sugar alcohols are digested (or better, not digested), they shouldn't impede your ketogenic diet and shouldn't count toward your net carb intake.1

Ketosis is a metabolic state that occurs when the body produces ketones. Your body will only produce ketones when carbohydrates are in short supply, and liver glycogen stores are low, which is usually a result of dietary carb restriction.

What are in energy drinks?

Taking a look at the most popular low-carb energy drinks on the market, you can see that that the main ingredients are generally:

Carbonated water
Citric acid
Sugar alcohol or sweetener of choice
Natural and artificial flavors
Caffeine (The main energy ingredient)

While the other ingredients may vary, you are more or less getting the above ingredients in your energy drink.

As far as proprietary blends or other miscellaneous ingredients in the energy drink, they are usually in such insignificant amounts to make a meaningful difference. The additional ingredients are more for marketing and adding fancy words on the label, then providing any stimulatory or cognitive benefit.

This includes ingredients like:

Taurine
GInseng
L-Carnitine
Guarana
Creatine
BCAA's
B Vitamins
Inositol
CoQ10

This isn't to say that the ingredients don't do anything, but they are in such small quantities that you wouldn't be getting an effective dose. Most of the stimulatory effects you will notice are coming from the caffeine.

That said, none of the ingredients above would have any effect on ketosis to any measurable degree.

Moral of the story, if you want more stimulation, get the drink with the highest amount of caffeine.

But is X energy drink keto-friendly?

Since I know some people will inevitably ask, below are a few of the most popular energy drinks on the market today and how they may or may not affect ketosis.

Is Rockstar zero carb keto-friendly?

I don't know what it is, but Rockstar is my favorite of the low/no-carb energy drinks. Since this is my blog, I get to put it first on the list, and obviously, that will mean that you can drink Rockstar zero carb on a ketogenic diet.

Don't confuse Rockstar zero-carb with Rockstar sugar-free, even though both are acceptable on keto.

Rockstar Pure Zero will generally contain between 240mg and 300mg of caffeine per can with erythritol (sugar alcohol) as its primary sweetener.

While I don't particularly get any stimulatory effect from caffeine, sometimes I like to drink something other than water. Call me weird, but I like the taste of energy drinks.

What's even weirder is that my favorite flavor of the Rockstar pure zero is cotton candy, and, generally, I'm not too fond of cotton candy or birthday cake flavors.

Are Reign energy drinks keto-friendly?

Reign is probably the biggest (newest) energy drink on the market today, brought to you by…

Monster Beverage Corp., the same company that has the popular energy drink, wait for it… Monster Energy.

Bet you didn't see that one coming.

Monster undoubtedly had to come out with another energy drink to compete with the other relatively new energy drink Bang from VPX Sports.

While I can't comment on the different flavors of Reign, I've been getting more and more questions about it as of late and whether or not you can drink Reign energy drinks on a ketogenic diet.

Are reign energy drinks keto friendly? Yes, you can drink Reign energy drinks on a ketogenic diet. An entire can of Reign contains ~2g of carbohydrates, so make sure you count them toward your net carb count for the day.

Reign energy drinks report having 300mg of caffeine per can and sweetened with Sucralose (known by the popular brand name Splenda).

Are Bang energy drinks keto-friendly?

I want to say Bang has been getting all the attention lately. Ever since Bang hit the streets, the amount of people who ask me if they can drink Bang on a ketogenic diet has become too many to count.

Are Bang energy drinks keto-friendly? Yes, Bang energy drinks are keto-friendly as they are listed as having 0 calories and 0 carbohydrates.

Each can of Bang also lists having 300mg of caffeine and sweetened with Sucralose.

Will drinking bang energy drinks kick you out of ketosis? Again, the answer is no.

Is Redline keto-friendly?

Another popular energy drink, mainly among fitness enthusiasts, is Redline.

What most people don't realize is that Redline came way before Bang, and Bang might be kind of a spinoff of Redline from VPX since it has been around for quite a while now.

Bang was VPX's way of getting into the mainstream energy drink game, and they were quite successful at doing so from what I can tell.

Is redline keto-friendly? Similar to Bang, Redline is also keto-friendly. Redline lists as having 0 calories, meaning 0 carbohydrates. The primary sweetener in Redline is Sucralose, and each bottle also contains 300mg of caffeine.

Are Monster energy drinks keto-friendly?

One of the original energy drinks on the block, aside from red bull, is Monster energy.

Are Monster energy drinks keto-friendly? The Monster energy drinks labeled as Monster zero are keto-friendly and may be drinken on a ketogenic diet without worry about being knocked out of ketosis.

Each can of Monster Zero has 140-160mg of caffeine per can and 2g of carbohydrates, with 1g coming from erythritol. Effectively, each can contains 2g of net carbs since there are two servings per can.

Additionally, Monster zero energy drinks are sweetened with both erythritol and Sucralose.

The Takeaway

Most low/zero carb energy drinks on the market are perfectly acceptable to drink while following a ketogenic diet.

There is no need to worry about energy drinks or vitamins preventing or kicking you out of ketosis unless drinking the non-sugar free versions.

For more info about being kicked out of ketosis and some commonly asked questions, check out my other article.

Just make sure and double-check the can before you purchase and drink your energy drink… I'd be lying if I said I didn't find myself drinking the sugar-filled version by accident one time (definitely wasn't paying attention).

Kicked Out Of Ketosis? Here’s Why [The Truth]

So you had your weekly cheat day, an unplanned meal, came back from vacation, or wondering if you were kicked out of ketosis for eating X or Y…

When following a keto diet, the only way to be kicked out of ketosis is by consuming too many carbohydrates. Meaning, the number of carbs someone consumes is the most crucial factor. No specific foods, supplements, or even sugars will cause someone to be kicked out of ketosis.

When people first start a ketogenic diet, this is quite the common question, and in this article, I'm going to attempt to explain why something will or won't kick you out of ketosis and how to get back into ketosis, so you're feeling optimal again.

How Ketosis Is Established

To understand why something will kick you out of ketosis, I must first explain how you enter ketosis.

For starters, ketosis is a metabolic state, not a list of foods. This metabolic state is achieved primarily by restricting carbohydrates from the diet.

A metabolic state is merely referring to the breakdown of food and its transformation into energy. In the case of a ketogenic diet, this energy (food) converts into ketones.

Our brains need ~120 grams of glucose (sugar) per day to function.2 When our brain doesn't have enough glucose, the only alternative energy source our brains can utilize are ketones.

In short, our brains require glucose for energy. When glucose is restricted, the body will make ketones to feed it.

Therefore, the brain will either be using glucose or ketones for fuel. To know if you're still in ketosis, or if you've been kicked out of ketosis, is a matter of figuring if your brain is getting energy from glucose or deriving them from ketones.

The Does X Kick Me Out Of Ketosis Section?

Insulin spikes

Insulin has been getting demonized on and off for decades, but that's beside the point. So does an insulin spike kick you out of ketosis? Kind of.

It would be best if you kept in mind that you may be fluxing in and out of ketosis throughout the day, but it's nothing to worry about.

In the case of insulin levels, it's cleared from the body at such a quick rate that even if you were knocked out of ketosis, it would only be a short period.

There was a study where a male participant had fasted for 50 days and was producing ketones in the 14 mmol/L range (0.5 mmol/L or higher is considered being in nutritional ketosis). The fasting participant was then subjected to an insulin tolerance test by administering insulin intravenously at 0.1 iU/kg.

As shown in the graph, ketones dropped in the 30 minutes following the insulin but shot right back up.

Keto and “too much protein.”

I don't know where this myth started that too much protein would magically turn into a chocolate cake (though that would be nice) and spike your insulin, thus kicking you out of ketosis.

Well, as you may have read from the previous section, EVEN if protein caused an insulin spike, it would be nothing to worry about. Furthermore, the amount of insulin that would be released relative to insulin directly injected into your veins pails in comparison.

What about glucoconeosomethingandsuch that I've heard about?

Gluconeogenesis (GNG) is the process by which our bodies create glucose from non-carbohydrate substrates (amino acids, lactate, glycerol, etc.).

Gluconeogensis literally translates into the ‘production of new glucose.

GNG is a demand-driven process, meaning it only occurs when it's needed.

The other part of gluconeogenesis is that it's continually happening, even on a keto diet. GNG can also occur if you kept protein to minimal levels.

Even though the brain can derive most of its energy from ketones, the brain will always require a small percentage of glucose for fuel. Aside from the small number of carbohydrates you may eat on a keto diet, the rest is created via the process of gluconeogenesis.

Ketosis doesn’t stop just because GNG is ocurring. Both ketogenesis and gluconeogenesis can happen simultaneously. 2

Eating sugar

What happens if you have sugar on a keto diet? Technically nothing happens, so long as you stay at or below your carbohydrate allotment for the day.

Meaning, as long as you're not refilling your liver glycogen, your body will still need to create ketones to provide fuel for the brain.

Does this mean you'll never be kicked out of ketosis, even if you ate straight table sugar? Not always, but similar to spiking insulin, you may flux out and back into ketosis so fast you would never know.

The most critical factor will generally always be your total carbohydrates.

Artificial Sweeteners

No artificial sweeteners will inherently kick you out of ketosis by consuming them. However, certain artificial sweeteners do have a glycemic index and contain more calories, such as Maltitol.

Non-nutritive (no calorie) sweeteners should generally be safe to consume without needing to worry about being kicked out of ketosis.

This includes sweeteners such as:

Aspartame
Sucralose
Monk Fruit
Allulose
Erythritol
Stevia

What about alcohol?

Keto and alcohol, is that allowed together? You'll be happy to know that alcohol INCREASES ketone levels.

As long as you don't consume any carbs with your alcohol, as with the case with hard liquor, you shouldn't be kicked out of ketosis. The same goes for a hard seltzer like white claw which is keto friendly.

The same goes for wine and beer. As long as the wine or beer is relatively low in carbohydrates and fits within your carbohydrate total for the day, you need not worry about being kicked out of ketosis.

When alcohol is consumed, the body's priority is to metabolize and clear it from the body before anything else. Alcohol is metabolized into acetyl-CoA, and the body tries to remove the acetyl-CoA by producing more ketones.

Things That Knock You Out Of Ketosis

Based on what we know by now, you can be going in and out of ketosis daily without even realizing it.

However, the only real way to be kicked out of ketosis is by eating enough carbohydrates to do so. How much carbohydrates that is depends on the individual, but usually comes down to:

Activity level
Muscle mass
Body fat

Meaning, the more active and more muscle you have, the more carbohydrates you can generally consume without knocking yourself out of ketosis.

I've seen highly active individuals and other athletes eat upwards of ~150 grams of carbohydrates and still be able to produce enough ketones to be considered in nutritional ketosis.

In fact, at my leanest, while dieting for a bodybuilding contest, I was able to remain in ketosis, eating upwards of ~200 grams of carbohydrates per day.

Kicked Out Of Ketosis, How Long To Get Back In?

There is a myriad of reasons you may have been kicked out of ketosis.

Maybe you like to have a keto “cheat day” once a week with all your favorite carbs, or perhaps a low carb cheat, but enough to kick you out of ketosis.

How long it takes to get back in ketosis after an influx of carbohydrates or how to get back into ketosis after vacation will depend on a few factors:

How long you've been on a ketogenic diet
How many carbs you consumed
How active you are

Assuming you went off the rails and ate nothing but carbohydrates, by merely fasting for 24-36 hours, ketones production would be elevated.

The liver can hold approximately ~100 grams of carbohydrates. Assuming we have refilled the liver, then getting back into ketosis would be a matter of depleting that ~100 grams of carbohydrates.

Since the state of our liver glycogen will determine whether your body produces ketones or not, it's just a matter of time once you restrict carbohydrates that you should be back to producing ketones.

As I've said earlier, your brain needs about ~100 grams of carbohydrates per day to meet energy demands. When the liver is refilled for any reason, the brain will halt ketone production and begin using glucose as fuel until it runs out again.

Depending on how many carbohydrates you ate, worst-case scenario, you should generally be back in a state of ketosis within 24-72 hours after restricting carbohydrates.

I did a self-experiment myself to see how long it takes to get into ketosis after restarting a keto diet from a prolonged period of carbohydrate intake.

How Long It Takes To Get Out Of Ketosis

How long it takes for you to get kicked out of ketosis depends on how many and what types of carbohydrates you eat.

Generally speaking, if you consume a large number of carbohydrates from fructose, the potential to get kicked out of ketosis is much higher. Fructose metabolizes in the liver; therefore, it will preferentially refill liver glycogen.

If you're wondering the quickest and easiest way how to get out of ketosis, consume a large amount of fructose from fruits or sucrose, which is half fructose and half glucose.

If you're following a cyclical ketogenic diet, consuming fructose before the weekend carb load is tactic often used to shift the body back into a state of burning glucose for fuel.

How Do You Know If You've Been Kicked Out Of Ketosis?

Unfortunately, the only proper way to know if you're in ketosis or not is by measuring your ketone levels.

Depending on which method you choose, different ketone bodies are detected and indicate what your ketone level is at the time of testing.

The gold standard for testing is a blood ketone meter, similar to the glucose meter a person with diabetes would use to check their blood sugar levels. Your blood glucose levels could also be an indication as there is a strong correlation.

One other way would be to use urine test strips, which can be found at your local drug store.

Additional Tips To Prevent Getting Kicked Out Of Ketosis

You wouldn't have to get back into ketosis if you avoided getting kicked out in the first place. Here are a few simple tips that you can use to manage carb cravings and sugar cravings from taking over.

Prep Meals In Advance

Some people underestimate the power of meal prep. The bottom line is that it works, whether you're on your standard American diet (SAD) or a low carb ketogenic one.

Not only will meal prep help with weight loss, but it can keep you compliant with your keto mission of staying on your low carb diet.

Sometimes we use stress or time as an excuse to eat junk, but having a low carb meal or keto snacks already prepared can save you in a pinch. It also takes out the mental work of figuring out what to eat all the time.

Have A Free Meal Not A Cheat Meal

Sometimes people need carb breaks for whatever reason. Whether it's to have something you've been craving or be social with a loved one, we all need these moments now and then.

The problem with always referring to it as a “cheat meal” is its negative connotation. The psychology of calling it a cheat meal emphasizes certain foods being forbidden, which makes you want or crave it even more.

Instead, have your free meal or unplanned meal and move on as it never happened. It doesn't have to be a big deal. I've been there, and it sucks feeling as if you've failed.

Realize Nobody Cares

When it comes to social occasions and social gatherings, there's no need to feel pressured to eat foods that aren't conducive to your goals.

Whether you live a high carb life or a high-fat life, nobody truly cares, so you do you!

Next time you're handed that pecan pie or fettuccine alfredo with cream sauce, say no thank you. I promise it won't hurt their feelings, and they'll forget you even said no in a matter of minutes.

Are There Any Negatives To Getting Kicked Out Of Ketosis?

You might be asking yourself, is there anything bad that can happen with being knocked out. The truth is, there are, but it's not what you might think.

Just because you ate a few carbs doesn't mean that weight loss stops, and you can't drop body fat. Weight loss is dictated by calorie intake, not your carb or fat intake.

You can still easily gain weight while adding too much coconut oil or butter to your coffee if your overall calories are too high.

Increase In Water Weight

When you increase carbohydrates, by accident or on purpose, there's a good chance you'll also see an increase on the scale.

For every gram of carbohydrate you eat, the body will store an additional 3 grams of water.

Carb Crash

When you eat carbohydrates, insulin raises and begins to force energy into muscle and fat cells. However, what also happens to many individuals is the dreaded energy dip that comes with carbohydrates.

After blood sugar and insulin spike, they eventually come crashing down affecting your well being, which can result in brain fog or even some keto flu symptoms.

You may also have some additional carb cravings.

Prevent keto-adaptation

If you're having a carb meal too often when first starting, you'll have difficulty becoming fat adapted. Keto-adaptation or fat-adaptation is when your body becomes sufficient at using fat as a fuel source.

If you're constantly getting kicked out, you're never giving your body a chance to become adapted. Fat adaptation can take a few weeks to a few months, but once you're fat adapted, you'll be able to get back into ketosis that more quickly.

How To Get Back Into Ketosis Quickly

Suppose you are kicked out of ketosis with one too many cheat meals; how do you get back in as quick as possible?

To get back to fat burning, you must deplete your glycogen stores (stored carbohydrates), especially in the liver. There are two ways to expedite this, carb restriction and cardio.

Your diet will mainly handle carbohydrate restriction, but a brisk walk or light jog will suffice for the cardio portion. There's no need to turn into a marathon runner to get back into ketosis.

While not necessary, temporarily increasing fat intake may also help. Including something like MCT oil or MCT oil powder, which is easily converted to ketones may expedite the process.

The Takeaway

The only real way to be kicked out of ketosis is by consuming too many carbohydrates.

There may be foods that take you out of ketosis for a short period, but not long enough to matter in the grand scheme of things.

Worst case scenario, even if you binged for an entire weekend on nothing but carbohydrates, you can be back into ketosis within 24-36 hours if you fasted.

Or, get back on track with the keto diet you were following before you fell off or took a break, you should be back into ketosis within 24-72 hours.

Find Out How Much Sugar Will Kick You Out Of Ketosis

Being quite the self-experimenter, I've always wondered how many carbs I could eat and still maintain a state of ketosis. However, how much sugar will kick you out of ketosis will be different than how much sugar will kick me out.

How much sugar or carbohydrates will kick someone out of ketosis will vary by individual. Common factors that affect someone's carbohydrate limit include overall body size, most notably muscle mass, and activity levels.

In this article, I'll go over how to find your keto carb limit, things that may knock you out of ketosis, symptoms you've been knocked out, and how long it will take to get back into ketosis.

How much sugar will kick you out of ketosis

How Many Carbs Can You Eat And Stay In Ketosis?

I get it. You want to know how many carbs you can get away with and still stay in ketosis. How do I know? Because I had the same question.

The truth is, it's not as black and white as me giving you an exact number since the amount varies widely.

As a general rule of thumb, I like to start people off with limiting their carb intake to no more than 30 TOTAL carbohydrates, but that's just me.

First, let's differentiate a carbohydrate versus sugar. In the most basic of senses, every carbohydrate you consume will break down into glucose (sugar).

Therefore, how many grams of sugar you can have in a day on a keto diet is the same as asking how many carbohydrates can you have. Meaning, if you stay under your carbohydrate limit and want to know what happens if you have table sugar or candy on keto, nothing will happen.

In theory, you shouldn't be kicked out of ketosis.

For your body to start creating a significant number of ketones, your body must first begin to empty its liver glycogen (sugar). On average, it will take ~28 hours of carbohydrate restriction for liver glycogen to become depleted.3

The average adult stores between 80 and 100 grams of carbohydrates in the liver as sort of a “reserve” for bodily functions, including the central nervous system and the brain. Once this reserve depletes, the body begins to create ketones to help fuel the brain.

Now, how much sugar will kick you out of ketosis is dependent on how many carbohydrates you can eat without refilling liver glycogen. Once liver glycogen fills, the body no longer needs to create ketones.

This refilling of the livers glycogen is what halts ketone production, hence kicking you out of ketosis.

Things That Knock You Out Of Ketosis

As I've gone over in the previous section, the main factor that will knock you out of ketosis is the over-consumption of carbohydrates (sugar). Two significant factors help influence how many carbs it takes to knock you out of ketosis:

How active you are
How much muscle you carry

Meaning, the more muscle and more active you are, the more carbohydrates you can generally eat while staying in ketosis. For most individuals, between 20 and 50 grams of net carbs works to establish and remain in ketosis.

However, I've known athletes and very active individuals who can eat upwards of ~150 grams of carbohydrates and still stay in ketosis.

what to eat before a high intensity run on keto

Things That WON’T Knock You Out Of Ketosis

I've been around the space long enough to read all the myths about what will kick you out of ketosis, and most of them are just plain wrong. Some of the biggest myths about what will kick you out of ketosis are:

Eating too much protein

There's this thought that overeating protein will result in the protein magically turning into sugar and spiking your insulin. While marginally true, this couldn't be further from the truth.

Throughout the day, your body is converting non-carbohydrate substrates (fat, proteins, lactate) into glucose through a process called gluconeogenesis. This process is happening continuously, even daily, and while on a ketogenic diet.

Gluconeogenesis is a demand-driven process. Meaning it only occurs when the body needs glucose. While the brain can run efficiently on ketones, it will always require a small portion of glucose to function.

It's almost impossible for the average person to overeat protein where it would prevent them from entering a state of ketosis.

A high protein intake may prevent you from seeing HIGH levels of ketones, but it shouldn't prevent you from entering and staying in ketosis.

In fact, you can eat a diet void of carbohydrates and fat while consuming nothing but protein, such as a protein-sparing modified fast, and enter a state of ketosis.

When it comes to protein, it's better to eat too much than too little.

Artificial sweeteners

Whether you're choosing to indulge in some sugar-free jello or your favorite stevia-sweetened product, artificial sweeteners shouldn't knock you out of ketosis.

As you know, by now, you must over-consume carbohydrates and refill liver glycogen to knock yourself out of ketosis. By nature, artificial sweeteners are virtually calorie-free, meaning it would be nearly impossible to knock you out of ketosis.

While I'm not recommending this, you can chug a 2 liter of Diet Coke, and it should not affect ketosis. If you want to satisfy your sweet tooth with a diet soda or low-calorie sugar-free treat like sugar-free jello, be my guest.

Symptoms Of Getting Knocked Out Of Ketosis

Say you did overeat carbs (sugar) and do get knocked out of ketosis, how would you know?

While the only way to REALLY know if you've been kicked out of ketosis is to measure your ketones with ketone test strips, a blood ketone meter, or a ketone breath meter, there are a few signs you may have briefly exited ketosis.

A sudden increase in hunger

Most people seem to experience a decrease in appetite or claim to not be hungry on keto, even while dieting. If you've experienced a sudden increase in your appetite after having a few carbohydrates, that may be a sign you're no longer in ketosis.

Decreased focus

A lot of individuals utilize a ketogenic diet due to the increased focus and mental clarity they experience. If you've noticed a sudden occurrence of brain fog or a hard time concentrating, this may be another symptom of being temporarily knocked out of ketosis.

Low energy

Are you feeling tired and exhausted on keto? Assuming you're not starving yourself or had a bad night of sleep, people report having plenty of steady energy.

How Long To Get Back Into Ketosis When Kicked Out?

While you don't need to be in a state of ketosis to lose weight, being in ketosis has a wide array of benefits that help people adhere to their diets:

Increased focus
Decreased hunger
Stable energy levels

First and foremost, if you want to lose weight, you must be in a caloric deficit. You must be eating fewer calories than you burn per day. If you have no idea how many calories you should be eating, you can use the keto macro calculator to get a starting point.

Let's say you do get knocked out of ketosis, how long will it take to get back in? Chances are if you've only had a few more carbohydrates than usual, you may exit ketosis for a brief period before finding yourself back in.

However, if you decided to have a cheat day on keto or to come from a prolonged period of eating carbohydrates, it should take you between 24 and 72 hours to re-enter back into ketosis. The longer you've been in ketosis, the easier it seems to be to re-enter if knocked out.

I did an entire self-experiment to see how long it would take me to get back into ketosis after eating a carbohydrate-based diet for a few months.

Here are three things you can do to help expedite the process if you wanted:

Fast or intermittent fasting
Light to moderate intensity cardio and weight training
Reduce carbohydrates more than usual

There's no need to compensate if you fell off the wagon for a bit. Simply continue your ketogenic diet as usual and get back on track.

It's what you consistently do over time that will yield you the results you seek.

The Takeaway

Sugar should be treated like any other carbohydrate when it comes to how much sugar will kick you out of ketosis. If you are staying under 20 grams of net carbs, then you could mostly fill those 20 grams with pure sugar and still maintain a state of ketosis.

I've found that how many carbohydrates you can eat while staying in ketosis will depend highly on how active you are and how much muscle you carry.

While you shouldn't make it a point to consume all of your carbohydrates from pure sugar, doing so once in a while shouldn't have any detriment to your fat loss efforts so long as you control your overall calorie intake.