Can You Eat Garlic On A Keto Diet?

Almost every delicious dish has garlic. Not only is garlic good at adding umami flavors to meals, but it is also very beneficial for the body. But should consuming garlic be a concern in the keto diet?

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Garlic Net Carbs

Nutritional Content of Garlic

A clove of garlic (3 g) contains 4.5 calories, 1 g of carb, 0.5 g of fiber, and a little dose of protein.

A cup of garlic yields 847 calories, 45 g of carbs, 3 g of fiber, and 9 g of protein.

Garlic packs a good punch to the body. It’s loaded with vitamins A, B6, and C, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc, manganese, and other essential minerals.

According to the USDA, consuming 3 cloves of garlic (9 g) will provide your body with:

• 2.8 mg of vitamin C (5% of the RDI)
• 0.1 mg of vitamin B6 (6% of the RDI)
• 16.3 mg of calcium (2% of the RDI)
• 0.2 mg of manganese (8% of the RDI)

Is Garlic Keto-Friendly?

The facts above give us a clear answer:  Yes garlic is keto-friendly. It is primarily low in carbs. Eating 4 g of garlic will give your body no more than 1 g of net carbs!

That means you can always add a clove or two to your keto meal! It won’t ruin your ketosis at all.

The standard keto diet requires the dieter to consume only 20 to 30 g of carbs a day, though it can go as high as 50 g of carbs.

Many prefer staying within the 20g-carb limit to enter or remain in the state of ketosis.

However, it’s also important to note that too much garlic can put many carbs in your body. A cup of garlic carries 45 g of carbs! That’s too much carb for your daily limit.

But who would be eating that much garlic in one sitting anyway? True, you can go crazy about garlic; just make sure you don’t eat way too much of it.

How Much Garlic Can You Eat?

Your goal in the ketogenic diet is to stay in ketosis. It’s important not to consume way too many carbs during ketosis.

The average supermarket garlic can have anywhere from 10 to 15 cloves; each can weigh around 4 to 7 grams.

Hence, a garlic bulb can weigh approximately 50 to 100 g.

The suggested garlic intake is only 2 to 5 g of garlic a day.

This will only give you about 1 g of net carbs. One or two garlic cloves are not bad on a keto diet. It’s enough to give your dish that extra, unique flavor.

Health Benefits of Garlic

Garlic has been used for medicinal purposes since time immemorial.

A. Garlic is incredibly nutritious

Nutritious yet low in calories. This makes garlic not just good for the keto diet but also for a low-calorie diet.

A clove of garlic provides your body with a healthy dose of vitamins and minerals to protect and fortify your immune system. In fact, a clove contains a little bit of almost everything the body needs to function well.

B. Garlic can fight the common cold and other sicknesses

Garlic (both raw and supplements) can boost your immune system. In a 12-week study, a daily garlic supplement has found to reduce the number of colds by 63%.

There is, however, a need for more evidence to suffice the claims. The current studies give us a clear message that garlic has great potential in fighting the common cold.

C. Garlic lowers the risk of heart disease

High bad cholesterol levels have long been a major cause of heart disease.

The good news is that garlic can help lower bad cholesterol levels, reducing the risk of heart-related diseases.

Another cause of heart disease is high triglyceride levels. Garlic, however, does not have significant effects on triglyceride levels.

Different Ways to Enjoy Garlic

You can either eat raw garlic or mince it and mix it into your dish.

If you don’t like chomping chunks of garlic, then you can opt for garlic powder, which usually contains 2 g of carbs per teaspoon.

Garlic salt is also a great option, yielding 1g of net carbs per teaspoon. The same carb content in a teaspoon of garlic butter.