Is Corn Keto-Friendly?
A ketogenic diet can help you lose weight and reduce your risk of diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer's, according to Healthline. It can also reduce your triglyceride, insulin, and blood sugar levels. By replacing carbohydrates with fat, your body enters ketosis, which means it resorts to using fat for fuel. Your liver turns fat into ketones to feed your brain.
A standard ketogenic diet allows only 10% of your total calories to be from carbohydrates. A high-protein keto diet reduces your carbs to only 5% of your total calories. If you consume 2,000 a day, only 100 calories, or 25 grams, can be from carbs. You'll have to reduce your carb intake to 20 to 50 grams a day to enter ketosis (via Healthline).
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a single cup of raw, sweet corn has 27 grams of carbohydrates, which might be your total carb intake for the day. Corn also has 3 grams of fiber, 2 grams of fat, and 5 grams of protein.
Corn might not be a keto-friendly choice
According to Everyday Health, corn is a starchy carbohydrate, so it could kick you out of ketosis. It doesn't mean that corn is unhealthy, but it's not best for a low-carb diet like the keto diet. If you like corn but want to stay in ketosis, opt for popcorn or winter squash. You can add small amounts of corn to your recipes and swap cauliflower for some of the corn.
According to Men's Health, you can use corn for toppings on your salads or add some to your scrambled eggs. You'll also want to avoid any corn-based products because they're also high in carbs. That includes tortillas, corn chips, and pizza crusts. These days, you can get pizza crusts made with cauliflower crusts to stay keto-friendly.
Although the keto diet is restrictive, you can still keep it healthy by avoiding processed foods that are high in sodium, calories, and fats that promote inflammation, according to U.S. News and World Report. It's best to stick with healthier fats such as those from avocado, olive oil, and salmon.