Solving the confusion
One of the most common questions about the ketogenic diet is:
“How many total carbs can I eat on keto?”
But, it’s like everyone you ask gives a different answer.
In this article we’ll give the definitive answer to that question.
We’ll also discuss why It’s important to understand the difference between net carbs and total carbs so you can track the correct one.
What Is The Difference Between Net Carbs & Total Carbs?
The difference between net carbs & total carbs is what they’re made of. Total carbs include all the carbs inside of a food. However, net carbs don’t include carbs that come from fiber & artificial sweeteners.
When you’re on a ketogenic diet, you want to restrict your calories from carbs to 5% or lower. You do this to get your body into ketosis, a metabolic state where your body uses fat for energy instead of glucose from carbs.
However, if you count total carbs or net carbs, you’ll find that net carbs correlate to your calories more than total carbs.
This is because net carbs don’t include fiber or artificial sweeteners, which have basically zero calories.
Why Do People Count Net Carbs on Keto?
When you’re counting carbs, it’s very important that you count net carbs instead of total carbs. That’s because net carbs are the total carbs you actually metabolize, whereas total carbs include fiber, sugar alcohols, and non-digestible minerals, which don’t have any calories.
So, if you’re eating a salad, for example, the salad itself may be slightly high in total carbs, let’s say 10 grams. However, the salad would have a lot of fiber in it. If it had, let’s say 10 grams of fiber in it, then the whole salad would only have 3 grams of net carbs.
That’s why you’d be better off counting net carbs instead of total carbs.
How Many Total Carbs Can I Eat on Keto?
On keto, you should eat under 50 grams of total carbs per day. However, it’s better to count net carbs instead of total carbs. That’s because total carbs include fiber & artificial sweeteners, which have zero calories.
That means that technically, if you ate only fiber & artificial sweeteners, you could eat infinite total carbs on keto. That’s why it’s more important to track your net carbs since total carbs can be confusing depending on how much fiber or artificial sweeteners you eat.
How Many Net Carbs Can You Eat on Keto?
On keto, you should eat around 30 – 50 grams of net carbs per day. If you’re bigger or move more, you can eat on the higher end of that spectrum. If you’re smaller & don’t exercise that much, then stick to the lower range.
As a general guideline, just sticking to under 50 grams of net carbs per day will likely lead to ketosis.
Conclusion
On keto, it’s important to track net carbs instead of total carbs. On keto, you must eat under 50 grams of total carbs or 30 – 50 grams of net carbs per day to stay in ketosis.
If you’re interested in boosting your results with keto, you can read my article here where I talk about the benefits of OMAD (one meal a day) fasting & how to start it.
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