You may wonder whether watermelon can fit into the ketogenic, or keto diet, an eating pattern that involves limiting your carb intake and eating a high amount of healthy fats instead. Given that the keto diet is highly restrictive and requires strict adherence to maximize results, many fruits are considered off-limits, causing some to find it somewhat challenging to follow. Because most fruits are high in carbs, those following the ketogenic diet can only enjoy them in small amounts. In fact, 1 cup grams of diced watermelon contains about Net carbs is a term used to describe the number of carbs in a portion of food that is absorbed by the body. On a 2,calorie diet, you may be restricting your carb intake to just calories, or 25 grams, per day. Therefore, a single serving of watermelon could take up nearly half of your daily carb allotment. Though you can definitely fit watermelon into a keto diet, it may take careful planning and require you to reduce your portion sizes to keep your carb count in check.
While easing into the diet, carbohydrates are first consumed up to 30 to 50 net grams. Eventually 20 net grams are included in the daily keto diet, with carbohydrates only providing 5 percent of total calories. Certain fiber rich fruits are allowed on the keto diet since it could help with digestive issues. In fact, the calculation of net carbs excludes fiber content in carbs. Fruits low in carbs are peaches, lemons, blackberries, watermelons and nectarines. A recent article published on Healthline analyzed whether keto dieters could have the delicious watermelon fruit, which is also a potent source of vitamins C and A. The fruit also has many antioxidants, especially lycopene, which has been shown to lower risk of diseases. Enjoying fruits such as watermelon in small amounts is the only choice of dieters because it could bring them out of ketosis. The reason watermelon is not a bad choice is because it is comparatively lower in carb content compared to other fruits.
Updated Sep 13th, — Written by Craig Clarke. Medical review by Dr. Frank Aieta, ND. Can you eat fruit on a ketogenic diet? When people switch to a ketogenic diet, fruit can be an area of confusion.