What Fruits to Eat on a Low Carb Diet

Fruits to Eat on a Low Carb Diet

If you’ve decided keto is a good fit for your wellness goals, and you want to add fruit to your meal plan, choose fruits with the least amount of net carbs, which is the total amount of carbohydrate content in a fruit minus its fiber content (since the body can’t digest fiber), according to the website for the popular low-carb diet Atkins. The keto diet allows for about 25 g of net carbs per day, per the healthy-lifestyle website Ruled.me. Dietitians recommend reaching for the following.

1 avocados

Can’t get enough of avocados? You now have a great excuse to eat more of them. A ½-cup serving of the creamy fruit has almost 12 g of fat and only 2.6 g of net carbs. Avocados are also low in calories (about 138 for the same serving), making them an ideal snack in between meals. One serving also has about 6.4 g of dietary fiber (25.6 percent daily value, or DV), 404 milligrams (mg) of potassium (8.6 percent DV), and only 2.8 g of sugar. Try topping your salad with cubed avocado for a keto-friendly lunch.

2 raspberries

Eating berries such as raspberries is good for your heart. These fruits contain flavonoids, powerful antioxidants that can help reduce blood pressure and promote healthier arteries, lowering your risk of heart disease, according to an article published in March 2010 in Nutrition Reviews.

A ½-cup serving of raw raspberries offers about 3.3 g of net carbs, 4 g of fiber (16 percent DV), and 2.7 g of sugar. Pop a few in your mouth whenever you’re in the mood for something sweet. Also full of nutrients, the same serving contains 16 mg of vitamin C (26.7 percent DV).

3 Rhubarb

If you’ve never heard of rhubarb, it might be time to broaden your palate. Rhubarb tastes tart, and you can enjoy it raw, roasted, or puréed in a small, low-carb smoothie or moderate portion of sauce. A ½-cup serving contains about 1.7 g of net carbs and only about 13 calories. Rhubarb also has 176 mg of potassium (3.7 percent DV), 62 international units (IU) of vitamin A (1.2 percent DV), 4.9 mg of vitamin C (8.2 percent DV), and 52 mg of calcium (5.2 percent DV). Just remember to remove the leaves before eating, as they can be toxic in large amounts.

4 Cantaloupe

Another appropriate fruit on the keto diet, ½ cup of cubed raw cantaloupe has only 5.8 g of net carbohydrates. The same serving size is also low in calories, with 27 g, as well as in sugar, with 6.3 g. Plus,it offers vitamins and nutrients such as 214 mg of potassium (4.6 percent DV), 29.4 mg of vitamin C ( 49 percent DV), and 2,706 IU of vitamin A ( 54.1 percent DV). Cantaloupes are delicious and refreshing, and eating the fruit may help you stay full longer.