Going keto can be challenging. First, you have to deal with limited food options for your diet. Second, some of these options might not even be an ideal fit to attain ketosis!
The same is the case with the ever-popular beets. These rooted veggies could seem excellent nutritious items at the first look. However, they are not keto-friendly. Beetroots contain carbs and simple sugars, which are not ideal for a keto diet.
So, should you avoid munching on these pleasing red-hued roots altogether?
The answer lies in a grey area. Although beets contain carbohydrates, they also have fiber, choline, and other valuable nutrients. So, if you are happy with your body weight, beets in small quantities won’t impact your ketosis diet negatively.
Interested in knowing more? Scroll ahead to understand everything about beets and their potential inclusion in your keto routine.
A Quick Look at Beetroots or Beets
The ketosis diet pushes your body to use fats as fuel instead of glucose. Now, since your body utilizes carbohydrates for glycogen conversion, the number of carbs is pretty less in the keto diet.
You need to be picky about what you 'root' for with daily consumption during your fat loss journey. A glance at the nutritional blueprint of beetroots will help you identify the correct manner of inclusion in your diet.
Here's all you get with beets:
Carbohydrates
If you plan to consume a cup of boiled beetroots, you shall supplement your diet with a mere 60 calories. Out of the entire caloric budget, 8-10% is fixed for carbohydrates.
On top of this, the roots contain simple sugars such as fructose and glucose in their nutritional arsenal. That's to say; your body will take some time to convert and digest the sugars, so your blood sugar remains steady.
Note: You can measure the overall effect on your body with beet consumption through the glycemic load, which is only 5.
Fiber
The main reason to consume beetroots lies in their fibrous composition. Each cup can provide you 2-3gms of fiber. Essentially, the component can single-handedly take care of your dietary fiber needs for the regular meal.
Micronutrients
From Folate to Vitamin C, every beet is a promise to you for a wholesome micronutrient composition. Besides, the essential nutrients ensure that your overall body health remains fantastic with a balanced diet.
Benefits of Beets
If there's one thing you must be extra cautious about during your ketosis, it's the cell damage. Beets prevent tissue damage in the body, but that's not all!
- Beets are an amazing source of nitric oxide, which ensures higher stamina for your exercises.
- All thanks to Folate, you can prevent high blood pressure and avert heart strokes with a beet-licious diet!
- Improved gut health is synonymous with healthy fiber in your diet, which beets are high in!
- The micronutrient, Betalain reduces inflammation in your body and even decreases your chance of getting cancer.
Beets and Carbohydrates: Should You Strictly Avoid Them for Keto Lifestyle?
Yes and no!
Since beets are filled with fibers, they do not make a suitable vegetable for a strict keto diet. However, if you aim to follow a low-carb routine, these roots will bring the addition of perfect macros to your regime.
A Brief Look at Macro Keto Diet
Macros seem like a jargon straight from the economy classes. But, unlike their appearance, the macros are the essential nutrients you need to keep yourself brimming with energy.
Macros or macronutrients are fats, carbohydrates, and proteins that supplement your diet with an energy value.
Fats
During your ketosis journey, your body takes up all fat in your body as the fuel source. Now for your keto macros, you need to include fatty foods as the primary source of energy supply. Each gram of fat will carry 9 calories for you.
Carbohydrates
Carbs are the pivotal culprit behind making your body store fat. That's the main reason why you're supposed to keep them on the lower spectrum in your keto macros.
Proteins
Protein is essential as part of the keto macros diet to maintain the lean body mass and repair the tissues. For one gram of nutrient, you will receive 4 calories.
Carbohydrates in Beets
The number of carbohydrates in your beets depends on the form in which you can take them.
- One cup of raw beet will carry 13gm in the raw form.
- With the boiled beets, you will receive 8.5gm of total carbs.
- If you can pick your carbs from pickled beets, your intake will be approximately 16gms.
- Your one cup of beet juice will offer you 13gm in your nutritional palate.
- If you prefer beetroot powder in your diet, you will consume 2gm of carbs in one tablespoon.
- The beet greens in your diet will aid your nutrition with only 4.3gm with one cup intake.
After closely seeing through the nutritional proportions of each of your beet choices, greens are a fantastic option to include.
Beet Greens and Other Related Substitutes on Keto
If you are looking for a minimally processed yet highly nutritious food item to include, beet greens are fantastic for keto macros.
No Harmful Ingredients
Your greens are abundant with crucial nutrients, but they also carry no unsafe additives like artificial sweeteners. That's why your insulin spike will stay within the healthy range.
Low in Carbohydrates
With every cup of beet greens, you will consume 2.56gm of net carbs. Keeping this in mind, you can't go overboard in your daily beetroot consumption. Essentially, you can take 20-30gms in a day during your ketosis journey.
Low in Fats
Much like the regular beetroots, the greens are also low in fats. So, you can add nutritious fatty food choices to your daily routine.
Wholesome Nutrition
Your beet greens are full of healthy macro and micronutrients from iron to trace elements like manganese. Hence, you can lose weight without worrying about skipping out on essentials in your diet.
Have green beets made you excited for your keto diet? There're more vegetables that you can add to your regimen.
- Radishes are your low-carb food item with 0.2gm in a medium-sized root.
- The sweet and savory red cabbage will add 7.9gm of carbs with one cup volume consumption.
- The salad-friendly juicy red tomatoes are perfect for your keto diet with only 2-3gms carbs in 100gms portions.
How to Avoid High Consumption of Beets on Keto
Consuming a balanced number of beets can be excellent for your ketosis. However, most people face the trouble of limiting their intake to align with the fat to carb ratio.
Here're a few ways for you to keep the intake to the minimum with a low-carb regimen!
- Plan: Have you forethought the manner and the amount of beet inclusion in your diet? Planning will not only help you limit your intake but also optimize the macros in your keto diet.
- Bowl Volume: One of the best methods to restrict your consumption is in the bowl. Essentially, you must eat only the amount which you can have in one serving to keep the balance intact.
- Conscious Eating: Usually, an individual can consume more than the appetite if the focus lies on other activities during a meal. So, if you want to lessen your beetroot intake, ensure that you're only eating and not binge-watching at the same time.
- Prefer Substitutes: Green beets and powder are great alternatives for the raw root inclusion in your diet. You can pick these options instead of regular beetroots if you crave the vegetable but can't limit yourself.
- Don't Buy: If you find your weight out of control and ketosis without direction while eating beets, you must stop. There's no other choice other than not consuming beetroots at all if you can't restrict the intake.
Summing Up
The red-hued and sweet-tasting roots can attract anyone with their nutritious index. The beets are high in essential micronutrients such as manganese but, at the same time, are full of carbs.
So, the vegetable consumption depends on the stage of ketosis you're at. If you want a healthy addition to your ketosis diet, you can introduce fibrous food to your plate.
However, if you strictly prefer to follow your ketosis regimen, the roots have to be out of your food chart. The key to beetroot consumption on keto is moderation. The more balanced your intake will be, the better the outcomes your body will see.
