Are dates keto friendly?
What is the keto diet?
First, let’s cover some keto basics for those unfamiliar with this diet. The keto diet (short for the keto diet) is a high-fat, low-carb eating method in which you consume about the 60 percent of your daily calories from the fat, 30 percent from protein, and 10 percent from carbohydrates (carbs). That means goodbye to traditional grain-based bread, potato chips, rice, and sugar-laden baked goods!
Are dates keto friendly?
Dates are high in carbohydrates, high in sugar, low in fat, and low in protein. By eating just the three Medjool dates, you’ll exceed the suggested maximum of 50 grams of carbs for a day of keto eating – and that doesn’t include any other food! You’ll also be consuming approximately 50 grams of the sugar.
Simply put, dates are not the keto or low carb. They are the opposite of keto-friendly food.
The nutritional basics of the dates
Now that if you’re more familiar with the keto diet let’s turn the attention back to the fruit in question: dates. There are several different dates, all of which have the same nutritional properties. Medjool dates are the most common type of dates and, therefore, the most widely available, so let’s look at the nutritional value of those dates. First, remember that dates are more significant than other dates, such as Degla Nour dates.
One Date contains:
- 67 calories
- 18 grams of carbohydrates
- 16 grams sugar
- 0 grams of fat
- 0.4 grams of protein
If you ate three dates, you would have 54 grams of carbohydrates.
How many dates can you eat on the keto diet?
Dates are rich in carbohydrates, so it isn’t easy to understand whether or not it is a keto date.
But dates contain a lot of nutrients, so you can occasionally include them on the keto diet in moderation. It is essential to have dates in the keto diet, but if you want to eat them, break them into small portions according to your meal.
However, some limit themselves to 30-40 grams of carbohydrates daily. So date keto or not? If you can satisfy your macros and crave one snack or date instead of low carb, then a few snacks so you can get it in pieces.
Fresh and popular Degla Noor dates contain 5.3 grams of net carbs, but there are also more significant dates, like Medjool dates, that have up to 16.4 grams of net carbs each day. So it’s a simple calculation of the date you’ll choose to add to the keto diet.
If you like and want to add keto to your diet, you can eat 1 or 2 fresh dates, but dried dates are not suitable for a keto diet. So it may be the good idea to avoid it on the keto diet. Instead of eating dates, you can eat cherries, coconut, berries, and figs in limited quantities.
Is it okay to have occasional dates on keto?
While dates should not regularly feature in your keto diet, eating a small date here should not hinder your progress, especially if they can be included in your daily carbohydrate content. As with anything in the life, you don’t need to be perfect 100% of the time to reap the benefits. Striving for perfection can leave you feeling deprived and stressed, leading to overeating or abandoning your lifestyle.
It’s also important to note that other low-carb diets are less restrictive than the standard ketogenic diet. For example, some people allow 50 to 100 grams of carbs per day or follow a cyclical keto diet, which involves eating more carbs for days to get the body out of ketosis. In these cases, you can include dates more frequently than a standard ketogenic diet (although still minimal). You’ll also find that dates are part of the paleo lifestyle.
Potential health benefits of dates
In addition to being a low glycemic index and a source of fiber, dates provide many beneficial nutrients. It’s full of the antioxidants, which help protect your cells from free radicals, and unstable molecules that damage the cells and have been linked to many diseases.
Dates also contain many vitamins and minerals, including vitamin B6, potassium, magnesium, iron, and calcium, all of which can support good overall health.
Are whole dates better than refined sugar?
While dates are certainly not a keto-friendly food, they are a lower glycemic option than refined sugar. In addition, dates are whole food and contain fiber, which helps slow down the body’s absorption of the sugar they have, which leads to a spike in blood sugar. However, they will still affect your blood sugar and should be taken cautiously if you are metabolically inflexible or have diabetes, for example.
On the other hand, refined sugar is a processed food that is entirely devoid of fiber and the other nutrients. When you consume the refined sugar, the sugar is absorbed by the body all at once, which leads to a sudden spike in your blood sugar.
