The keto diet popped up on the diet scene a few years back and is now so popular there are whole categories of food marketed as being keto—keto chips, keto desserts, keto cereal, and, today’s topic, keto bread. But what is keto bread? What is keto bread made of? Is keto bread even really keto? Let’s get some answers by going keto and getting this bread!
What is a keto diet?
Let’s start with the basics before we get into keto bread. The keto diet is higher in fats and lower in carbs. Eating this way can put your body in a metabolic state that’s known as ketosis in which your body burns fat for energy rather than carbohydrates. To follow this diet, people must be pretty carb conscious and pay attention to a food’s net carbs, meaning its total carbohydrates minus its fiber. You can probably have a slice of traditional bread on a keto diet but it will eat up a lot of your net carbs for that day. So in comes keto bread with its much lower count of net carbs.
What is keto bread?
Keto bread is a low carb bread that is made with keto-friendly ingredients like almond flour, coconut flour, psyllium husk, and eggs. These ingredients replace traditional bread ingredients that aren’t conducive to a keto diet, like wheat and whole grains.
What is keto bread made of?
Keto bread can have a pretty wide variety of ingredients and can be pretty different from brand to brand. The big question is how to make a tasty bread that’s got a nice texture and doesn’t feel like a brick without using too much grain, wheat, sugar and other high carb ingredients? Common keto bread ingredients are almond flour or almond meal, coconut flour, psyllium husk, ground flax, and eggs. You can still find some classic bread favorites in there as well such as salt, baking powder, milk, and butter.
Is keto bread gluten free?
So, there’s keto bread and then there’s gluten free bread. Are those two things the same thing? Are they interchangeable? No, not exactly. A lot of keto bread is gluten free, but not all of it. If you are on a gluten free diet and looking for some keto bread to try, you need to read those labels to be sure. Gluten free bread is made without any glutenous ingredients, such as wheat. But keto bread is only concerned with having a low net carb value. A lot of the gluten containing ingredients are eliminated, but some brands may not get rid of all of them.
Is keto bread really keto?
Is keto bread actually good for a keto diet? Well, it depends on the bread and it depends on how you define keto. Some folks maintain a strict keto diet and must get 70-80% fats, 5-10% carbohydrates and 10-20% protein from total daily calories. Others play with those percentages and adjust to their comfort. Some do “clean keto” using only natural ingredients. Others do “dirty keto” and eat anything that falls into their percentages. What it comes down to is asking yourself, “Does this product’s nutritional value and net carbs fit my keto diet?” So, yes, keto bread is keto and there are true keto breads out there worth eating (check out Sporked’s list of the best tasting keto bread to buy). You just have to know your health goals and which ingredients and nutrients you can have to achieve them. For me, that means eating nothing but Olive Garden breadsticks. Those are not keto.
