The keto diet is known for its extremes. “By nature, the keto diet isn’t fully balanced,” says Keri Glassman, RD, owner of Nutritious Life in New York City. Just look at the ratios in a typical keto diet food list: People on a keto diet aim to eat upward of 80 percent of their calories from fat. They also eat very few carbs. So, for the most part, you’ll skip out on fruits, legumes (like beans and lentils), most dairy, starchy vegetables, and whole grains.
And while you don’t need fruit or beans alone to be healthy, when removed altogether and while eliminating multiple foods, you can wind up with a less-than-nutritious diet.
On Keto? Know the Nutritional Risks
Because of keto’s restrictions, people on the diet are often at risk of deficiencies in essential nutrients, such as B vitamins, vitamin D, calcium, selenium, magnesium, and vitamin C, says Dana Elia, RDN, an integrative and functional medicine dietitian with a private health and wellness practice in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
If you’re consuming a typical American diet, which tends to be filled with processed foods, you may be deficient in a slew of important nutrients before you even begin the keto diet. Nutrients that Americans are often deficient in include potassium, calcium, magnesium, and the vitamins C, D, E, and K. To cover your nutrient bases, talk to a registered dietitian who is knowledgeable about keto before starting.
The Foods You Can’t Eat on Keto
Keto isn’t just about avoiding refined grains, junk food, and sugar — a common misconception. Everything except for pure fats (like oil) and meat (chicken, fish, beef) is a source of carbs. And while everyone’s carb allotment is different, restricting carb intake to fewer than 50 grams (g) of net carbs per day is necessary to stay in ketosis, or the state in which you’re burning fat instead of glucose (sugar) for fuel.
The idea of net carbs, which refers to the total amount of carbs minus any fiber or sugar alcohols, is often used by proponents of low-carb diets, but it is not officially recognized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the American Diabetes Association.
As a result of the keto diet’s strict rules about carbohydrates, some foods that are conventionally thought of as healthy won’t fit into a keto eating plan. Here are 10 foods that most people on keto should avoid.
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10 Foods You Can’t Eat on Keto (and What to Choose Instead)
Discover 10 foods to avoid on a keto diet and their healthier alternatives to keep your carb count low and your health high!
1
Quinoa
Whole-grain quinoa may contain more protein than other grains (it’s technically a seed but is treated like a grain, so it’s sometimes called a “pseudo-grain”), but that doesn’t mean it fits with keto. A half-cup serving of cooked quinoa contains 15.6 g of net carbs, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which means it can easily eat up your carb budget.
2
Apples
An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but it really has no place in a keto diet. One medium apple has more than 25 g of net carbs — enough to blow someone’s entire carb allotment for the day. Especially if you’re someone who likes sweets, it’s unfortunate to have to eliminate most fruit, but you can get those nutrients from a veggie-rich diet, says Glassman.
3
Black Beans
Legumes — like beans and lentils — are pretty much off limits on keto. “Legumes are loaded with fiber and antioxidants,” says Glassman. While they do offer an impressive source of digestion-friendly fiber, canned black beans pack about 13 g of net carbs into just half a cup. “You’ll want to make sure to get fiber elsewhere in your diet,” Glassman says.
4
Dark Chocolate
One of the most dietitian-recommended desserts, dark chocolate, is a keto no-no. A 1-ounce piece has 10 g of net carbs. For people who are sticking to 20 g of net carbs a day, a few small squares could use up half of your allotment.
5
Sweet Potatoes
It may be obvious that white potatoes are too starchy to fit in a keto diet, but the same goes for sweet potatoes, no matter how you prep them. One small sweet potato has 11.3 g of net carbs, so you’ll want to say goodbye to sweet potato toast.
6
Yogurt
Even whole-milk yogurt can be the tipping point into consuming too many carbs — especially versions with added sweeteners or fruit, which can have as much as 24.2 g of carbs in a 6-ounce (oz) container. If you need a yogurt fix, stick to plain full-fat Greek yogurt. A 6-oz serving, for instance, has only 8.1 g of carbs, according to USDA data.
7
Oranges
Avoiding orange juice because it’s too high in sugar? Good call. But that means oranges have to go too. Just one whole orange alone has nearly 15 g of net carbs.
8
Acorn Squash
Yep, even when you’re in full-on fall mode, you’ll want to nix squash from your dinner menu. One cup of cubed raw acorn squash has 2 g of fiber — but it also contains 12.5 g of net carbs. For most people on a keto diet, that’s just too high.
9
Chickpeas
Roasted chickpeas may be a favorite trendy snack, but they probably won’t fit in a keto diet. One cup of canned garbanzos has 13.1 g of fiber — but it also has more than 27 g of net carbs. Hummus is a better choice, with less than 3 g of net carbs in 2 tablespoons. Just stick to dipping cucumbers and celery — not carrots.
10
Brown Rice
You may have already sworn off white rice, but add brown rice to that list too. It’s a whole grain, which disqualifies it from keto eating plans. For every half a cup, you’re looking at 24 g of net carbs.
5 Ways to Make Your Keto Diet Meal Plan Healthier and More Balanced
“When properly planned, the keto diet can be a healthful diet,” says Elia. Five tips for making it work:
- Don’t get stuck in a rut. “In any diet, variety is the spice of life,” says Elia. That means varying your foods every day, rather than sticking with the same things. That can be tough when you are on a more restricted diet, but looking at keto cookbooks and blogs can help you branch out.
- Make carbs count. Keto may be a very low-carbohydrate diet, but that doesn’t mean the cardinal rule is always “try to avoid carbs.” It’s about maximizing the carbs you do eat. “In every food choice, ask yourself this question: ‘What is the value of the food I’m about to consume?’” says Elia. Make sure carbs are nutrient-dense. That means nuts, seeds, and avocado instead of a small cookie.
- Focus on quality. In a diet where you’ll be eating a lot of fat and some meat, you want to focus on buying the best-quality food you can afford, says Glassman. For example: Buy wild seafood, organic eggs, and grass-fed butter and steak, she says.
- Switch up fats. There are no strict recommendations for capping saturated fat intake on a keto diet, so it’s easy to end up hyperfocused on adding coconut oil or butter to everything. Mix it up to get a nice blend of unsaturated and saturated fats, while aiming to get less than 10 percent of your total calories from saturated fat. Drizzle avocado oil (unsaturated fat) to finish off roasted veggies, or add a spoonful of coconut oil (saturated fat) to your smoothie, recommends Glassman. Do the same for meats: Eat a small portion of grass-fed rib eye for dinner one night and then organic chicken with extra-virgin olive oil the next.
- Measure your food, especially at first. “In the beginning, when following any restrictive plan, I encourage people to get up close and personal with their measuring utensils and scale,” says Elia. A scale will help you weigh out an appropriate 3- to 4-oz portion of meat, for instance. Measuring spoons will help you dole out enough fat that you know you’ll hit your mark for the day. After you’ve got it down, you can stop measuring, but double-check every once in a while to make sure you’re still on track, she says.
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