Know whether are dates keto friendly or not? Gather information about keto diet and dates by way of this descriptive article.
What is a Keto Diet?
The ketogenic or keto diet is a low carbohydrate, high-fat diet that is said to help shed excess weight and offer several health benefits. The keto diet involves an acute reduction in carbohydrates and replacing them with fats. You should avoid Easy-to-digest carbohydrates like sugar, soda, white
bread, and cakes in the keto diet. The diet is designed so that your body gets more of its calories from fat and protein and less from carbohydrates. This makes your body go into a metabolic state called ketosis. This state of ketosis causes your body to start burning fat for energy.
It also turns fats into ketones in your liver which supplies energy to your brain. The standard keto diet comprises 70% fat, 20% protein, and 10% carbohydrates. There are different types of the keto diet.
Benefits of a Keto Diet
You can follow a Keto diet as a short-term method to lose weight. It can help you lose more weight in 3 to 6 months compared to other diets. Keto diets can help lower blood sugar and insulin levels. It can lower cholesterol and blood pressure. Studies show that it may help prevent chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. It may prevent neurodegenerative diseases too like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and can be beneficial for those who have epilepsy.
Consult your doctor before starting a keto diet. If you have medical conditions like type 1 diabetes or are on medication, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or suffer from kidney disease, then the keto diet is contraindicated for you.
Are Dates Keto-Friendly
A keto diet advocates a low limit of only 50g of net carbs a day. In general, fruits are not part of a keto diet as they are high in carbs and sugars. However, the key is to eat them in moderation as they offer several health benefits and need to be part of a balanced, healthy diet.
Nutritional Value
Dates are packed with nutrients, have high fiber content, are iron-rich, and supply instant energy. They have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-tumor properties, which protect your body from numerous diseases. Added to this, they have hepato-protective, nephron-protective, anti-diabetic,
antimicrobial, and aphrodisiacal properties. The high fiber content helps relieve constipation.
Dates have a low glycaemic index and help control blood sugar levels. Blood sugar spikes are one of the biggest factors for weight gain. Hence, the low glycaemic index of dates makes it an apt choice for a keto diet but, the key is moderation as dates are very high in carbs. One cup of pitted dates has a
whopping 98.5g of net carbs. Just five dates can contribute to your whole carb limit in a day. Once you exceed your carb limit in a keto diet plan, your body is kicked out of the ketosis state.
Take Away
With experience, you can learn how to include a minute amount of healthy foods like dates in your keto diet without upsetting the diet plan. So, the answer would be a no to dates at the beginning of a keto diet, but later as you start reaping the benefits of the diet plan, you can find ways to include them with strict limits in quantity.