Fruits You Should Avoid If You're On The Keto Diet
The ketogenic diet, or the keto diet, is a low-carb, high-fat diet meant to help with weight loss and improve energy levels. By reducing your carb intake to around 20 to 50 grams per day, your body will stop relying on carbs and start breaking down protein and fat for energy instead (via Insider). This is called ketosis — a metabolic state that increases your body's production of ketones in response to low glucose availability. Ketones make it easier for your body to burn fat.
Since the keto diet requires a relatively low carb intake, you will need to cut back on foods with high amounts of carbs and sugar, like bread, soda, pastries, and even fruit. While there are some fruits you can eat on the keto diet, there are many more that you should avoid (via MindBodyGreen). Fruits that are higher in carbs will not fit into the keto diet. These high-carb fruits include bananas, plums, grapes, cherries, mango, blueberries, pears, pineapple, oranges, and grapefruit.
Which fruits can you eat on the keto diet?
Although many high-carb fruits are off-limits on the keto diet, there are still some low-carb, keto-friendly fruits you can enjoy while your body's in ketosis. For example, avocados are a great fruit to eat while you're on the keto diet (via Healthline). While they are often used as a vegetable, they're actually a nutritious and heart-healthy fruit. Avocados are high in fiber and monounsaturated fat and extremely low in net, or digestible, carbs. Indigestible carbs, like fiber, don't count towards your daily carb intake. A 3.5-ounce serving is only 1.5 grams of net carbs.
Tomatoes are yet another low-carb fruit that is often referred to as a vegetable. They're low in calories and rich in antioxidants like beta carotene. Tomatoes contain 5 grams of net carbs for every 1-cup serving. Lemons are another keto-friendly fruit. They're packed full of vitamin C and pectin, a type of fiber that reduces inflammation and regulates blood sugar. One lemon contains just 4 grams of net carbs. Strawberries are also a great addition to the keto diet. They're rich in antioxidants, folate, and vitamin C, and contain 8.7 grams of net carbs per cup. Other keto-friendly fruits include raspberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, and peaches.