Are green beans keto: Green beans are unripe versions of common beans such as hyacinth beans, runner beans and Yardlong beans? Green beans have different names as well:
- French Beans
- Snap Beans
- String Beans
- Snaps
While green beans are generally considered healthy and are part of several dishes, are green beans keto-friendly? We will try our best to answer that question in this article and will also discuss keto-friendly substitutes for green beans.
Green Beans On Keto Diet
The Keto diet is a low-carb diet, and people that follow this diet are vary of foods that are high in starch. Usually, the Keto diet does not permit the intake of legumes, starchy veggies and beans. However, green beans are approved by the Keto diet as their carb content is lower than other bean varieties.
In a cup of green beans, there are only ten grams of carbohydrates. Four grams of carbs in the green beans are derived from fibers. The total net carbohydrates of green beans are just six grams. When preparing green beans, try to sauté them with oil and top them with flavorful herbs.
Are Green beans Keto?- Benefits Of Green Beans
Green beans are not rich in protein, as they contain only 1.8 grams of protein per 100 grams. However, the density of nutrients in green beans is manageable, and they contain the following vitamins and minerals:
- Vitamin K
- Vitamin C
- Manganese
- Beta-Carotene
Drawbacks Of Having Green Beans On Keto
Green beans also have some drawbacks, as most legumes contain a high content of antinutrients. These antinutrients cancel out all the potential health benefits.
Phytic Acid
A bioactive substance, Phytic acid is found in legumes, seeds and grains. Chickpeas also contain a high content of phytic acid. Phytic acid can be harmful to your health, as it binds minerals in the digestive tract.
Lectins
Plants like animals defend themselves from predators. As a defense mechanism, they produce sticks and large proteins. Although the human body does not digest these proteins (also antinutrients), they sometimes can find their way into the bloodstream through the gut.
Lectins are hidden in seeds, hulls, barks, grains and leaves. In legumes such as green beans and chickpeas, lectins are high. Lectins have other drawbacks as well as they can bind to the leptin receptors and insulin. This could lead to a gradual increase in weight over time.
Lectins are also known to cause inflammation in the body. However, lectins are not the deciding factor when it comes to green beans. Whether green beans belong in the Keto diet or not depends on their net carbohydrates.
Are Green Beans Keto Friendly?
When we look at the ratio of fat to net carbs in green beans, the beans do not look keto-friendly. However, the overall net carbohydrates in green beans are low. A serving of 150 grams of green beans only contains 5.6 grams of net carbs.
As we know, the Keto diet only allows less than fifty grams of carbs per day, which is why green beans can be part of your diet.
Ingredients
- Three tbsp. grass-fed butter
- One pound of green beans
- Three garlic cloves
- One Cup of mushrooms
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- Two tsp. Dijon mustard
- Six ounces of crème cheese
- ½ tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. pink Himalayan salt
- Four ounces of Parmesan
- One tsp. of melted grass-fed butter
- Six ounces of bacon cubes
Instructions
First, you will need to preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Next, grease a decent-sized dish with melted grass-fed butter. Boil a large pot of water, and add the green beans. Boil the beans for three to five minutes until they are soft. Once done, remove the beans from the pot and put them aside.
Grab a saucepan, put it over medium heat and melt grass-fed butter in it. Once the butter melts, add onion, Sauté onions for three minutes. After about three minutes, add mushrooms and garlic cloves to the pan.
Sauté garlic cloves and mushrooms for three minutes as well. Next, add the chicken broth to the pan. Reduce the heat, and add Dijon Mustard, cheese, pepper, and salt to the pan. Stir the mixture for a bit, then turn the heat off. Pour the mixture into the dish. As a topping, you can use Parmesan cheese, chopped bacon, and melted butter.
Are Green Beans Keto?- Substitutes for Green Beans
Eggplants
Diced eggplants can be used as a substitute for green beans. Eggplants can also be used to make Keto friendly dips such as Baba ganoush.
Ground Meat
In recipes such as soup, you can replace beans with ground meat. You can use turkey, chicken and beef ground meat.
Boiled Peanuts
When peanuts are boiled, they develop an appearance and texture similar to beans. Peanuts, like green beans, are rich in protein and fiber.
Peas
Peas also closely resemble many types of beans, such as chickpeas and green beans. Despite being smaller than most beans, peas have a similar consistency and shape. What’s even more promising is the fact that peas contain fewer carbs than beans.
Typically, beans contain six grams of carbohydrates and four grams of fiber, total net carbs of six grams. Peas are also rich in Vitamins such as Vitamin A, and K. Peas can be added to curries, salads and soups.
Enoki Mushrooms
If you are looking for an ingredient that resembles the texture of green beans, try Enoki mushrooms. A cup of Enoki mushrooms contains approximately 24 calories, one gram fat, five grams carbohydrates, two grams protein and three grams of net carbs.
Enoki mushrooms are a perfect replacement for green beans with only three grams of net carbs and can easily fit in the Keto diet. These are the minerals and vitamins that the Enoki mushrooms provide:
- Potassium
- Phosphorus
- Magnesium
- Vitamin B1
- Vitamin B2
- Vitamin B3
- Vitamin B9
Five Easy Ways To Make Your Ketogenic Diet Healthy
Thorough planning goes a long way, and here are five ways you can make your Keto diet healthier:
Don’t Get Stuck In A Rut
A good diet contains much variety, which means you need various food items daily, rather than eating the same bland meal every day. On a restricted diet like Keto, adding variety can be challenging, but there are several keto blogs online that contain hundreds of keto-friendly recipes, so go check them out.
Make The Carbs Count
Keto is a diet that is low on carbs and discourages their intake. However, that does not mean that you take carbs totally out of your diet. It is all about maximizing the carbohydrates you consume daily and ensuring that your carbs are nutrient-rich. Some sources of carbs that are allowed on the Ketogenic diet are:
- Seeds
- Avocado
- Nuts
Emphasis Should Be On Quality
Are Green Beans Keto? The focus is consuming meat and healthy fat in the Keto diet, so you should focus on the best available meat, and your fat sources should also be reliable. Try these food items:
- Grass-fed butter
- Wild seafood
- Organic eggs
- Steak
Switch Up The Fat
There are no restrict rules or recommendations for fat, and the keto diet does not suggest its users cap the fat intake to eat different types of healthy fats such as coconut oil and butter. However, it is nice to mix up your fat sources and make sure your diet contains a nice blend of saturated and unsaturated fat.
According to the US Food and Drug Administration (USDA), you should get less than 10 % of the total calories from unsaturated fat. Try the following:
- Drizzle avocado oil (unsaturated fat) on roasted vegetables
- Add a spoon of coconut oil to your smoothie
- Eat a small portion of grass-fed rib eye
- Eat organic chicken along with
Measure The Food You Eat
When people begin a restrictive diet like Keto, it is recommended to measure the food intake. You can also use a scale as it will allow you to measure the ingredients you consume accurately. Remember to keep the quantity of protein in check, as a high protein content can kick you off ketosis.
Measuring spoons can also be used as they will help you dole out the fat. Once you are done with the measuring, check everything once more and then prepare your meal. Are Green Beans Keto?
How Effective Is The Keto Diet?
In 2003, a report was published in the New England Journal of Medicine; the report compared the Keto diet and a typical low-fat diet. After six months, the participants on the Keto diet had dropped twice as much weight as the participants who were following a low-fat diet.
In 2008, a study conducted in London and published in the Nutrition and Metabolism Journal concluded that 95.2 % of the people who follow the Keto diet with Type-2 diabetes could reduce it or eliminate their diabetes medicine after two weeks.
However, there are still some questions about how effective Keto is in the long run because few long-term studies have taken place.
Conclusion
Are green beans keto? So the answer to the questions: are green beans Keto? If yes, they are keto-friendly, but only if you eat them in small quantities. We have also discussed the pros and cons of green beans in this article and listed down their Keto-friendly substitutes. All the relevant information is here, and it will help you decide whether you should have green beans while on ketosis or not.
