Can You Eat Bananas On Keto? 🍌
If you’re just starting out eating low-carb/keto you’ve probably been wondering about the world’s favorite little yellow snack and if you are allowed to eat it, right?
So the big questions are; Can you eat bananas while on low-carb/keto? And if so, how many carbs are there in bananas?
In this article we will take a closer look at these two important questions. So without further ado, let’s just jump into it.
How Many Carbs Are There in One Banana?
When first starting on a ketogenic diet it’s important to familiarize yourself with the carb counts in different foods. One thing that most people realize is how much of the carbohydrates they eat actually consist of sugar.
In order to get an overview of what’s actually in a Banana, in terms of macronutrients, let’s do a quick breakdown.
According to the USDA there are 22.80 grams of total carbohydrates in 100 grams of raw banana.
2.5 grams of that are fiber and 12.21 grams, sugar.
It’s important to note that the actual macronutrient count in 1 Banana depends on the size and how you prepare it.
This is what the USDA says:
- An extra small banana (less than 6” long) has 18,4 grams of total carbohydrates with 2.2g fiber and 9.91g sugar.
- A small banana (6”-6–⅞” long) has 23.06g total carbs, 2.5g fiber, and 12.34g sugar.
- A medium sized banana (7″ to 7–7/8″ long) has 26.94g total carbs, 3.2g fiber, and 14.42g sugar.
- A large banana (8″ to 8–7/8″ long) has 31.05g total carbs, 3.6g fiber, and 16.62g sugar.
- An extra large banana (9″ or longer) has 34.71g total carbs, 4.1g fiber, and 18.58g sugar.
- One cup of sliced bananas has 34.25g total carbs, 3,8g fiber, and 18.33g sugar.
- One cup of mashed bananas has 51.35g total carbs, 5,7g fiber, and 27.50g sugar.
Are Bananas Keto Friendly?
If we take a closer look at the macronutrients in 1 Banana it becomes clear that they are NOT low-carb. Regardless of how you prepare a banana, it will be hard to make it into a low-carb/keto-friendly snack.
You’re probably wondering why this is important — eating low-carb? Well, ketosis can only occur when there is a shift in the metabolism from burning sugars as our primarily fuel to burning fat.
That’s why it’s problematic if you are eating foods high in carbohydrates — they simply prevent your body in switching burning sugars to burning fat.
We can see that Bananas are relatively high in carbohydrates which will provide our body with glucose as fuel upon digestion. This is exactly why they aren’t a good choice when it comes to the ketogenic diet — we want as few carbohydrates as possible and preferably through Cruciferous Vegetables.
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