The Keto Vegetable Guide: What's Allowed, Limited, and Off-Limits
Many believe that a ketogenic diet permits endless vegetables. The truth is quite the opposite. Here's your guide on what you can freely indulge in, what needs limitation, and what's entirely off the menu.
The core principle of a ketogenic diet is minimizing daily carbohydrates to the lowest possible level - which often leads people to mistakenly think they can indulge in fruits and vegetables freely as part of their keto lifestyle.
It's important to remember that even with fruits and vegetables, the objective is to avoid spiking your carb intake and blowing past the daily limit, generally set around 30 grams per day.
Vegetables like potatoes, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes (and yes, even onions, though many of you might not have known they contain 8 grams of carbs, and garlic - a whole head contains 20 grams of carbs) need to be counted within the daily carb table that tracks everything.
In the ketogenic diet, there's no unrestricted eating of starchy vegetables, but - and this is a big but - from the list of allowed vegetables, you can eat as much as you desire, and the list is extensive:
Spinach, lettuce, asparagus, mushrooms, kale, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, avocado, eggplant, olives, cabbage, tomatoes, and bell peppers can form the foundation of numerous dishes, from casseroles to one-pot meals, even savory desserts.
However, when it comes to artichokes, beets, onions, ginger, and garlic - these should be consumed in moderation.
What's off the menu for keto dieters? Not much: potatoes, peas, sweet potatoes, and corn.
