Yes, garlic is keto.
Recipes usually use garlic to add flavor as opposed to making up a large portion of the dish so the carbs in garlic won’t affect your macro intake.
The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carb diet.
Medically, it can be used to treat children with epilepsy.
Studies have shown that this diet can assist weight loss and provide health benefits.
This diet involves reducing carb intake and replacing it with fat, reducing carbs puts the body in a state called ketosis.
When ketosis happens, the body becomes very efficient at burning fat for energy.
Being in ketosis can also turn fat into ketones in the liver, this then supplies energy for the brain.
There are various types of keto diets including the standard keto diet, which is around 70% fat, 20% protein, and 10% carbs.
A variety of this would be a targeted keto diet, which allows for carbs to be consumed around workouts.
The high protein keto diet involves including more protein, so the ratio is usually 60% fat, 35% protein, and 5% carbs.
Only the standard and high protein keto diets have been studied comprehensively.
Most of the information or the benefits that arise from a keto diet are based on the standard diet.
On a keto diet sugar foods, grains, most fruit, beans, legumes, root vegetables, unhealthy fats, alcohol, and some condiments are reduced or avoided altogether.
Carb-based foods should be avoided completely.
Keto diets do carry some risks including extra fat in the liver, kidney stones, and micronutrient deficiencies.
More research is being carried out to determine the effects of being on this diet long-term.
Around 1 teaspoon of garlic has about 0.01g of fat, 0.03g sugar, 0.18g protein, and 0.93g carbohydrates.
Despite garlic technically being carb-heavy, garlic is still keto because a significant amount of it is not usually consumed.
Even if it is, the amount of carbs is relatively low and would not affect ketosis and would therefore be considered keto.
Is Garlic Spread keto friendly?
Yes, garlic spread is keto friendly due to the high-fat content.
Butter is a high-fat food which makes it suitable for a keto diet as keto diets are high-dat, low carb diets.
Garlic spread is made up of garlic and butter.
Garlic is keto-friendly as it has a relatively low level of carbs and butter is high in fat which means it should be considered keto-friendly, right?
There is actually some debate around whether or not butter should be consumed on a keto diet.
Whilst butter is high in fat and has virtually 0 carbs, butter is dairy and this can come with its own negative side effects.
Butter is keto-friendly however not everyone on the keto diet should be consuming it.
Firstly,e for those with lactose and casein intolerance should avoid butter.
Consuming butter as part of a ketogenic diet will only cause problems for those who have this intolerance.
Many people follow the keto diet with the primary aim to lose weight.
Because dairy is so calorie-rich, it can mean that it’s easy to overeat which can drastically affect weight loss.
If you’re a fan of garlic butter and want to consume it whilst on the keto diet, you are welcome to do so, just ensure you don’t have food intolerances and that you keep an eye on how much you’re consuming.
Some substitutes for butter include ghee and coconut oil.
Ghee is essential butter but most of the lactose and casein have been removed, making it a better choice for those with these intolerances.
Ghee tastes fairly similar to butter so it’s a good substitute.
Coconut oil on the other hand may be more difficult to sub, especially in garlic spread as the taste may not be to everyone’s liking.
How Many Carbs Are In Garlic?
- 1 clove of garlic has around 0.99 grams of carbs.
- 1 teaspoon of garlic has 0.93 grams of carbs.
- 1 oz of garlic has 9.37 grams of carbs, and ¼ cup of garlic has 11.24 grams of garlic.
The more garlic you consume, of course, the more carbs you will be ingesting.
However, it is unlikely you will be consuming ¼ cup of garlic in one day.
Garlic is used to flavor food and usually, a teaspoon or two is enough to provide a good amount of garlic.
Garlic is potent and a small amount goes a very long way.
A keto diet is focused on consuming high-fat, low-carb foods.
This includes meat, eggs, fatty fish, butter and cream, cheese, healthy oils, avocados, and low-carb veggies.
Low carb veggies include bell peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, spinach, zucchini, cauliflower, lettuce, green beans, kale, cucumbers, tomatoes, celery onions, and radishes.
Does garlic have sugar in it?
On a keto diet, sugar intake is limited, as consuming sugar causes blood sugar levels to increase.
When this happens, it can be harder for the body to stay in ketosis.
When the body has used up all of the carbs usually used for energy, it then begins to burn ketones.
Ketones are a form of energy made from fatty acids.
It can take a few days for the body to completely enter ketosis.
As the body enters ketosis, side effects can occur which are known as the “keto flu”.
Symptoms can include fatigue, headache, dizziness, and stomach pain.
These symptoms will begin to decrease when the body has adjusted to burning ketones and not carbs.
Many people will regularly check to see if their body has entered ketosis, the most accurate way is to test blood or urine with test strips.
There are some ways to try and reduce these symptoms when you first start eating keto.
One way is to try a regular low-carb diet, as this helps your body slowly adjust and burn more fat before you drastically reduce carbs.
When eating keto, your water and mineral balance in the body can change, so you may need to add extra salt to your meals or water or take mineral supplements.
Whilst in ketosis, eating sugar can cause some side effects as well as cause the body to go back to using carbs as its source of fuel and fall out of ketosis.
If you’ve been in ketosis for a while, your body may struggle to digest high-carb foods again.
If you have fallen out of ketosis you don’t need to start from scratch but it could take you a few days to get back into ketosis.
You may experience some “keto flu” symptoms as your body adjusts to getting back into ketosis.
An occasional sugary meal won’t completely derail your progress, it may just mean that you will need to be diligent about getting your body back into ketosis for the next few days.
It might be best to follow the tips mentioned above, and ensure the water and mineral balance is correct to minimize side effects.
I’m Chris Watson & the Founder of EatForLonger.com. I’m a food and wellbeing enthusiast researching and sharing foodstuffs and simple food-based concepts, such as fasting and clean eating.
I hope it inspires you to make tiny changes to what you eat and when you eat while optimizing your healthspan and all-around well-being.
Read more About Me here.