Legumes

[Rabdos]

Guys are legumes, particularly chickpeas, beans, lentil soups compatible with ketogenic diet?

 

[TorqPenderloin]

-The concept of a ketogenic diet is to restrict your carbs enough to a point where your body enters ketosis.
-This is generally reached at below 50g of carbs per day (and likely closer to 25-30g).
-Consider that chickpeas, beans, and lentils have a considerable amount of carbs in them (~40-45g of carbs per 100g total weight)

Consequently, the answer to your question (for most people) would be no.

 

[Mr_Pot]

I find I can cope with legumes without raising my BG too much provided I keep the portion size to about 50g. I am not on a ketogenic diet however just moderately low carb at about 80g per day.

 

[Chook]

We are all different. I'm the opposite of @Mr_P. I really love all kinds of legumes, especially cannellini and butterbeans, but they all send my BG sky high. I do miss them.

If I were you I'd experiment with caution, start with very small amounts and test frequently.

 

[Kristin251]

I'm like @Chook. I can treat a mild hypo with a tsp of hummus on a radish. Ridiculous but true. I am on a keto diet. Less than 20 carbs per day and all in green veg, avocado and a few nuts.

 

[uart]

Legumes are somewhat high in carbs, but to balance that they are also high in fibre and may contain useful amounts of resistant starch (a type that's actually good for diabetics) . So there is some good and some bad in there, but I also can't eat too much of them without raising my BGL.

What I've found with foods like this however, is that they are often ok to include in small to medium quantities as a part of a larger dish. Before I was diagnosed, and when I used to eat a low fat diet, I used to think that meals containing mostly things like this (or rice or wholemeal pasta or anything else low in fat) was really healthy. Now I realise that was a big mistake.

These days I avoid pasta and rice as much as possible, but I still occasionally have small quantities of legumes as part of a larger meal. For example, one meal I like is a Mexican style savory mince (beef with taco seasoning), cooked with red onion, carrot, bell pepper and cauliflower, and sometimes with added black beans which I cook from dry. When I do add the black beans, they probably only account for about a sixth or less of the total meal (which I cook with a good quantity of healthy fat btw) and this meal doesn't spike my BGL.

 

[Mr_Pot]

There is certainly more to it than just the carbs on the packet or tin. I find I am ok with 50g dry weight of puy lentils although they are 48% carbs, not so good with butter beans that are 15% carbs. As others have said you have to experiment with small amounts.

 

[Kristin251]

I wonder if how firm they are and how tough the skin is makes a difference. I can use a very small amount of hummus to treat a low. Black beans aren't so bad but I just gave up beans in general. There are other foods I'd rather eat if I'm going to spike haha. But black beans are my favorite. Or retried pinto beans

 

[Avocado Sevenfold]

I eat legumes most days and don't find them spiky. @Brunneria mentioned something recently about legumes and gut flora which I found interesting. Perhaps I can tolerate them well because my flora is different due to not eating animal protein. I can also take standard metformin on an empty stomach without a twinge. Guts of steel! Don't know if that is connected.

 

[Hotpepper20000]

When I cook with beans I always dry roast them in a fry pan. I find that helps with the gasy sideffects.
I find if beans are part of a meal they don't spike me. Also hummus seems to be ok too.

 

[TorqPenderloin]

I'm curious to know if those of you who eat legumes are actually following a ketogenic diet, which to me means staying in ketosis.

To be honest, I'm a bit skeptical that someone could eat even 15g of carbs in a sitting and remain in ketosis (short of an extremely complex diet plan).

I think that most of us (myself included) restrict our carbs pretty considerably, but we're not actually in a ketotic state.

 

[Avocado Sevenfold]

I'm curious to know if those of you who eat legumes are actually following a ketogenic diet, which to me means staying in ketosis.

To be honest, I'm a bit skeptical that someone could eat even 15g of carbs in a sitting and remain in ketosis (short of an extremely complex diet plan).

I think that most of us (myself included) restrict our carbs pretty considerably, but we're not actually in a ketotic state.

I see what you mean - the OP was in the context of ketosis. I am not usually in ketosis except when I am very low calorie. This will include legumes too, but only in tiny amounts. My answer to the OP should therefore have been," not me" I am not in ketosis, but happy to eat legumes and stay in the non-d levels

 

[Hotpepper20000]

I guess I failed to answer the question as well.
I'm not in Ketosis and not really trying to be. I am controlling my BG with low carb.

 

[bulkbiker]

Guys are legumes, particularly chickpeas, beans, lentil soups compatible with ketogenic diet?

In short no. They contain too many carbs.

 

[Mr_Pot]

I am certainly not in Ketosis either, although I did point that out.
Apologies to @carbolysis if it is not the case, but I am sure some posters use ketogenic when they just mean low carb.