Strawberries are delicious, nutritious, and packed with essential vitamins and minerals. They are the perfect fruit to add to your meal, salad, or even a snack because they are low in calories. However, are they low in carbs too? Are they keto-friendly?
In this article, we will answer the most common questions about these fabulous red fruits. What are they? How many carbs and calories do they have? Are you allowed to eat them on keto? How many can you eat without affecting ketosis? What kind can you have? What do they go well with? We will even talk about keto-friendly alternatives.
Let’s begin!
Red, tangy and sweet at the same time, strawberries are found in the genus Fragaria. They are cultivated all around the globe, but China is the world’s biggest producer.
Did you know that they are referred to as a “false fruit?” They actually consist of many tiny individual fruits. The white or brown specks that are generally thought of as the seeds, are in fact the actual fruits.
Technically, they are not considered a berry. To be classified as berries, it would have to have just one ovary, while strawberries have several ovaries.
Fun fact! Eggplant, tomatoes, and avocados are classified as berries, botanically speaking.
This delicious small red treat is a good source of folate and potassium and a very good source of fiber, vitamin C, and manganese. It is not only one of the tastiest fruits, but they are also nutrient-dense.
What about the calorie and macro content?
Serving size: 1 cup whole strawberries (144 g)
One cup of strawberries has 8.1 g of net carbs. It has almost no fat content, and it is considered high in fiber with nearly 3 g.
This food is also high in antioxidants. It provides benefits in reducing oxidative stress, which could potentially reduce the incidence of many chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and even certain diseases such as cancer.
Yes!
They are a low-carb fruit that you can include if you are craving something sweet in the keto diet.
However, even if they are low in carbs, it can be easy to surpass your daily limit if you’re not careful. Decide how many carbs you want to dedicate to strawberries, and make sure to measure out your portion.
You also need to think about what you are going to have them with. Avoid sugary or carb-heavy toppings like sugar or syrup, and focus instead on healthy fat sources, like pecans, walnuts, and almonds.
Strawberries have a small number of carbohydrates. The serving size will depend on your total daily limit of net carbs.
Suppose you have a daily allowance of 25 grams per day. In that case, a cup is probably enough without having to limit other carb sources. However, if you want to include other carbohydrates in the day, you could probably go down to half a cup.
On the other hand, if you have a daily allowance of 50 grams of net carbs per day, you can have one cup without cutting too much from other carb sources.
In the end, it depends on your macros and what else you’re eating that day. Remember that 1 cup has 8.1 g of net carbs. Make sure to measure out your serving size and subtract it from your total daily intake.
Although they are sweet, they can be used in several ways. They can add a little bit of acidity to a dish or add a little sweetness.
There are several ways you can add them to your ketogenic diet.
Besides having them in different ways, you can also add them to recipes like these ones:
When baking, remember to use carb-free “flours” and sugar-free sweeteners to prevent adding excessive carbs and sugar to the dishes. You could use nut flours and monk fruit, stevia, or erythritol as sweeteners.
Although they are low in carbs, they have 8.1 g of net carbs per cup. If your carb intake is low (around 25 g), you must be careful about what you have them with.
You can have strawberries with keto granola, in desserts, or even in salads. Try putting them in a green salad with lettuce, spinach, pecans, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.
Here is a list of things you can have with strawberries on the ketogenic diet:
Strawberries are relatively low in carbs. Nonetheless, you might still be looking for other options to them that have a similar carbohydrate content or even lower.
Every color in fruit has a specific benefit and characteristic. Red fruits have different characteristics and nutrients from blue fruits. Hence, it is crucial to have some variety in your diet to have a healthy lifestyle.
Here is a list of keto-safe alternatives to strawberries:
Any fruit you find in the berry family will have more or less the same characteristics. Lemon offers citrus and acid flavor, while peaches are sweet like strawberries.
Do you still have questions about incorporating this tasty fruit into your eating plan? Here you will find answers to the most commonly asked questions.
Organic foods tend to have fewer pesticides, and strawberries tend to absorb more pesticides through their skin. (They form part of the dirty dozen list, which include a variety of fruits and vegetables that have higher concentrations of pesticides than others). This is the main reason why it’s recommended to buy them organic.
Nonetheless, if your budget does not allow for this, the regular variety is still a very nutritious and good fruit to incorporate into your daily life. Make sure to wash them under clean running water before eating.
Strawberries are low in sugar and high in nutrients and antioxidants. This makes them the perfect food to add regularly.
However, remember that the key to a healthy diet has variety. Each food has something different to offer. Make sure to add a range of fruits and veggies to have various nutrients added.
Yes, it can be! It depends on how you make it.
To add strawberry ice cream to your keto diet, make it with coconut milk, Greek yogurt, or even cream. Add some sugar substitute like erythritol, stevia, or monk fruit, and you have the perfect dessert.
Early summer is usually the peak season, but it varies depending on where you live and the variety of the fruit. In the US, April to July is generally the best time, but it varies from region to region.
To pick the ripest berries, you can either taste one, if that’s an option, or check to see that the entire fruit has a vibrant red color (no white parts) and that the top is fresh and green.
Strawberries are low in calories and carbohydrates. They are a perfect fruit to add if you are on a ketogenic diet. They have 8 g of net carbs per cup.
They are low in the glycemic index, which makes them perfect for people trying to control their blood sugar levels as well.
All of them are low glycemic fruits that have a low carb content per cup. Although they are pretty similar, they do have different carb content. Here is the carb content per one cup of food:
Blueberries have the highest carb content. You can include all of them in a keto diet, just subtract the carb intake from your daily carbs.
