Are Carrots Keto-Friendly? (2024)

FAQs

Are Carrots Keto-Friendly? ›

"Carrots can be eaten on a keto diet, but in smaller quantities because they're higher in sugar than leafy greens," says Abby Langer, R.D., author of Good Food, Bad Diet. Since sugar counts as carbs on the keto diet, your average 1 cup of carrots has 12 grams of carbs, 4 of which are fiber.

However, you'll need to stick to a reasonable portion. With 1 cup (122 grams) of carrots containing 9 grams of net carbs, a single portion can use up nearly half of your net carbs for the day if you're aiming for a standard allotment of 25 grams of net carbs daily.

- Starchy Vegetables: Potatoes, peas, sweet potatoes, yams, corn, cassava, artichoke, etc. - Refined Carbs: Bread, pasta, pastries, tortilla, sandwich, etc. Due to the high-carb content of these food items, they are not keto-friendly.

Plenty of low-carb vegetable options include arugula, asparagus, bell peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, mushrooms, spinach, and tomatoes. Those vegetables provide other benefits like reducing the risk of certain chronic diseases, containing antioxidants, and providing filling fiber.

Carrots contain about 7 grams of net carbs per 100 grams. On a keto low-carb diet (below 20 grams per day) you may want to avoid carrots completely. But they can be OK on a moderate or liberal low-carb diet (if you're aiming to stay below 50 or 100 grams of carbs per day).

Cucumber is another popular salad vegetable. It contains many essential nutrients, including vitamin K. Cucumber is also suitable for the keto diet, as its carb content is just 3.63 g per 100 g. To make the carb content lower, a person can peel the cucumber before eating it.

Foods you can eat on the keto diet include fish and seafood, meat and poultry, non-starchy vegetables like bell peppers, broccoli, and zucchini, avocados, berries, nuts and seeds, eggs, high-fat dairy products, olive oil and other oils, and high-cocoa chocolate.

You can eat a variety of salads on keto, as long as they contain healthy fats and proteins and are low in carbs. Egg salad, grilled chicken salad, shrimp salad, cauliflower salad, arugula salad, cucumber salad, antipasto salad, Greek salad, Caprese salad, and spinach salad are just a few keto-friendly salads to enjoy.

Peanut butter can definitely be part of a keto diet, but it's best to stick to plain options that are free of extra flavors and sweeteners. Almond butter is a good choice, too, and it's slightly lower in carbs. Additionally, you should be mindful of your portion size if you're trying to lose weight.

Which beans are best for keto? ›

On a strict keto diet, your best bet for beans is to choose either green beans or black soybeans. While green beans are typically prepared more like a vegetable than a bean, black soybeans are a great alternative to other, starchier beans in soups, bean dips, refried beans, or other recipes.

Keto fruits by definition are low in carbohydrates. You still need to exercise portion control with most keto-friendly fruits to be within the limits of a keto diet. Keto-friendly fruits include avocados, watermelon, strawberries, lemons, tomatoes, raspberries, peaches, cantaloupe, star fruit, and blackberries.

Cabbage is delicious when stuffed into keto fajitas, used in soups, or made into coleslaw with a rich, creamy high-fat dressing that's keto-friendly. It has 2 grams of net carbs per cup shredded, so you can eat a lot in one sitting without falling out of ketosis, says Dixon.

Botanically speaking, tomatoes are considered a fruit. However, unlike other fruit, they're considered keto-friendly. That's because tomatoes contain around 2–3 grams of net carbs per 3.5 ounces (100 grams) — or up to 10 times fewer net carbs than most fruit — regardless of their variety ( 5 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ).

Meat, fish, seafood, fats and oils are the most common no-carb foods but the list doesn't end there. There are beverages, seasonings, condiments, sweeteners, and snacks that are also zero carb, but you have to know which ones.

Vegetables have carbohydrates. And that means that you have to watch how much of them you eat — even lettuce. If you're not careful or are eating them as a free-for-all, you could overconsume carbs and kick yourself out of ketosis.

Foods you can eat on the keto diet include fish and seafood, meat and poultry, non-starchy vegetables like bell peppers, broccoli, and zucchini, avocados, berries, nuts and seeds, eggs, high-fat dairy products, olive oil and other oils, and high-cocoa chocolate.

Carrots help lose weight since they are naturally low in calories. One cup of raw carrot sticks contains 50 calories. However, mindful eating and portion control is the key to weight loss. Health professionals advise eating no more than one to two medium-sized carrots daily.

Yes, you can eat 3 meals a day on keto and can still lose weight.