Understanding Keto Food Labels: A Beginner's Guide

Reading food labels is an essential part of healthy eating and staying in ketosis. Food labels can help you understand how healthy a packaged food item is and allow you to compare products to see which is better suited to your low-carb lifestyle. When following a keto diet, it is important to keep your carb count below 20-40 grams each day. To calculate net carbs, subtract the dietary fibre count and sugar alcohols (if any) from the total carbs. It is also important to check the ingredients list to avoid specific ingredients that are not keto-friendly, such as maltitol, partially hydrogenated oil, and sodium nitrite.

Check the serving size

When reading food labels, it's important to check the serving size to avoid overconsumption. While this may seem straightforward, it's often overlooked. For example, you might pick up a snack that has only one carb per serving, but what exactly constitutes a serving? If you come across a bag that has a small consumption size or lots of servings per bag, proceed with caution, especially if you tend to snack mindlessly. You could quickly max out your allotted carbs for the day and inadvertently kick yourself out of ketosis with that second handful.

The serving size is meant to be a measure of the amount that reflects what people typically eat, not the amount they should be eating. Each nutrient listed on the label refers to the amount of that nutrient in one serving, which is usually not the entire package. For instance, if “Total Carbohydrates” are listed as 10 grams, that's accurate for one serving. However, if the amount contained in the package is four servings, the entire package actually contains 40 grams of total carbs. Therefore, it's crucial to understand the serving size as shown on the label, as well as the amount you're likely to consume, to make accurate decisions about which foods to buy.

Additionally, knowing the serving size and the number of servings in a container can help you be mindful of how much you're eating. It also aids in determining how many net carbs you're consuming. For instance, if you're counting carbs, you need to know how much of the food item will provide the number of carbs, fiber, protein, etc., that is shown on the label. By looking at the serving size, you can determine what constitutes a serving. If you eat more than one serving, you'll need to multiply the nutritional values shown on the label by the number of servings consumed.

Moreover, the number of servings per container will tell you how many servings are in the package. This information is crucial if you plan to eat the entire container, as you'll need to multiply the nutritional values by the number of servings to understand the total amount you're consuming. For example, if a soup container has four servings of one cup each, and you eat the whole container, you'll need to multiply all the nutritional values by four to get the total amount.

In conclusion, checking the serving size is a vital step when reading food labels, especially when following a keto diet. By understanding the serving size and the number of servings per container, you can make informed decisions about your food choices and ensure they align with your keto goals.

Calculate net carbs

When following a keto diet, it's important to calculate net carbs to ensure you're staying within your daily carb limit. Net carbs refer to the number of carbohydrates that are absorbed by your body and can be calculated by subtracting dietary fibre and sugar alcohols from the total number of carbs.

To calculate net carbs, follow these steps:

• Check the Nutrition Label: Find the nutrition facts label on the food packaging. Identify the serving size, total carbohydrates, dietary fibre, and sugar alcohols per serving.
• Calculate Net Carbs per Serving: Use the following formula to calculate the net carbs per serving: Net Carbs = Total Carbs - Dietary Fibre - Sugar Alcohols. Note that sugar alcohols like erythritol can be completely subtracted, while for others, only half of the amount is subtracted.
• Determine Your Consumption: Decide how many servings you will consume. If you eat more than one serving, multiply the net carbs per serving by the number of servings you plan to eat.
• Track Your Daily Intake: Keep track of the net carbs you consume throughout the day. This can be done using a keto-friendly app or by manually calculating the total. Staying within your daily net carb limit is crucial for maintaining ketosis.

Calculating net carbs is a useful tool for those on a keto diet as it allows for the inclusion of nutritious, fibre-rich fruits and vegetables while still adhering to the low-carb requirements of the diet. It also enables you to make informed choices when selecting food products and can help you avoid hidden sugars and carbohydrates.

Check for hidden sugars

When following a keto diet, it's important to check food labels for hidden sugars. This is because the keto diet requires strict attention to your macronutrient distribution, particularly net carbs.

• Check the grams of sugar: On the nutrition facts label, you will find the total carbohydrate grams, which include both naturally occurring sugars (such as fructose in lemon juice) and added sugars (such as sugar or corn syrup in salad dressings). The grams of sugar per serving will be listed, and if you plan to eat more than one serving, you will need to multiply the grams of sugar accordingly.
• Calculate net carbs: Net carbs are calculated by subtracting dietary fibre and sugar alcohols from total carbohydrates. This is important because fibre is not detrimental to ketosis and is, in fact, beneficial on a keto diet.
• Be aware of different types of sugar: Sugar comes in many forms, and there are over 50 different names for sugar. Some common names for hidden sugars include maltodextrin, dextrose, sucralose, maltitol, corn syrup, and honey.
• Beware of brand claims: Many products aimed at keto followers make claims such as "low-fat", "high in fibre", or "sugar-free". However, these claims are not always backed by real science, and the ingredients and nutritional content may contradict them. It is safer to ignore the front of the packet and focus on the nutritional information on the back.
• Check the ingredients list: The ingredients list is crucial for spotting hidden sources of sugar and other non-keto-friendly ingredients. Ingredients are listed in descending order by weight, so if you are sensitive to a particular ingredient, it is important to know all the names it may go by. For example, hydrolyzed wheat protein is a form of gluten, and casein is a dairy protein that many people are sensitive to.
• Look out for starchy fillers: In addition to sugar, starches can also contribute to carb intake. Avoid ingredients like corn, flour, oats, potato, quinoa, rice, soy, and wheat. These can also be listed under other names, such as barley, bran, cornmeal, cornstarch, farro, and millet.

Check the ingredients list

Checking the ingredients list is one of the most important parts of reading a food label when on a keto diet. This is where you can see all of the ingredients in a food, and whether they align with your keto goals.

The ingredients are listed in descending order by weight, from highest to lowest. This means that the ingredient listed first is in the product in the largest amount. If you have a sensitivity to a particular ingredient, you can scan the list for it.

When on a keto diet, you need to avoid foods that contain high levels of carbohydrates. The ingredient list is a great way to spot foods that contain carbs.

Some artificial sweeteners are not allowed on a keto diet, so you'll want to avoid foods that list them as an ingredient. These include sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, neotame, saccharin, and advantame. Instead, opt for natural alternative sweeteners like stevia, monk fruit, erythritol, or xylitol.

You'll also want to look out for starchy fillers by avoiding corn, flour, oats, potato, quinoa, rice, soy, and wheat. Starches can work their way into foods under other names, so also avoid non-keto ingredients like barley, bran, cornmeal, cornstarch, farro, and millet, among others.

Additionally, certain soft cheeses, like cottage cheese, are great sources of protein but can have an elevated level of carbohydrates. Foods like this should be avoided on a keto diet, but you'd only know that if you read the label.

Other ingredients to avoid include aspartame, maltitol, partially hydrogenated oil (trans-fat), and sodium nitrite.

Check the total calories

Checking the total calories is an important step in reading food labels when on a keto diet. While keto is not based on calorie counting, it is still helpful to be aware of the total calories in a food. This is because the total calories will help you gauge how much you should eat in a day. For example, if you are eating 1500 calories a day, a 500-calorie portion of food should count as a meal because it contributes one-third of your daily calorie intake.

Checking the total calories can also help you evaluate whether a food is a healthy choice worth eating on a keto diet. Foods that are more filling or have more micronutrients are a wise choice, but it is usually a good idea to limit or avoid foods that have a high calorie density (lots of calories per serving) and are not high in nutrients.

The number of calories on the nutrition facts label tells you how much energy is in a serving of that food. One calorie (or Kcal) is the amount of energy it takes to heat one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius. Practically speaking, the number of calories you eat each day is one of the biggest factors in whether you lose or gain weight. All things being equal, eating more calories than you burn tends to lead to weight gain, and eating fewer calories than you burn will lead to some amount of weight loss.

The keto diet places less emphasis on calorie counting than most other diets, but it is still helpful to pay attention to calories on labels. When you look at the calories in your packaged foods, they don't represent nutrient density or weight; it's simply the amount of energy that the food holds.

Each of the three macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, and fat) contains a certain amount of calories per gram, no matter what food they're in:

1 gram of protein = 4 calories (4 units of energy)

1 gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories (4 units of energy)

1 gram of fat = 9 calories (9 units of energy)

You don't have to memorise these values, but simply keep in mind that calories are the sum total energy of the protein, carbs, and fats found in food, and they strongly influence whether you lose, maintain, or gain weight.

Frequently asked questions