Keto Foods Is Asparagus Keto? – Asparagus Carbs, Nutrition and Health Benefits
It’s just as important to make sure that you’re including healthy green veggies as part of your keto diet plan as it is to include plenty of protein and healthy fat sources.
The reason? Green vegetables are excellent, low carb sources of just about all of the essential vitamins, minerals, and other micronutrients that your body needs just as much as protein and fat.
Today, we’re going to be taking an in-depth look at asparagus. Is asparagus keto or should you consume other greens instead?
What Makes Asparagus a Popular Choice for Low Carb Diets?
Asparagus is one of the more popular green veggie choices for many people following low carb diet plans. Here are just a few of the reasons why it’s so popular:
- Asparagus is low in both calories and net carbs.
- It’s also a rich source of dietary fiber.
- Asparagus also includes an abundance of essential vitamins and minerals, including vitamins A, E, C, and K.
- In addition to its vitamin and mineral content, asparagus is also incredibly rich in disease-fighting antioxidants as well.
- It’s also quite easy to incorporate asparagus into a wide variety of tasty keto dinner dishes.
Is Asparagus Keto?
Asparagus is absolutely a 100% keto-friendly vegetable.
Not only is asparagus low in both calories and net carbs, making it an ideal low carb veggie, but it’s such a nutrient-dense food that it’s almost impossible not to recommend it as part of your keto diet plan.
This humble green veggie offers you loads of essential micronutrients, dietary fiber, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory compounds, and then some.
Asparagus is also ridiculously easy to work into a ton of keto meals; it can be used in everything from stir frys to simply wrapping bacon around your asparagus before roasting it in the oven.
Asparagus Nutrition Facts
Here is how a 100 gram serving size of asparagus (for reference, one medium asparagus spear is typically about 16 grams on average) will break down nutrition wise:
- 20 calories
- 0.1 grams fat
- 2.2 grams protein
- 3.9 grams carbs
- 2.1 grams dietary fiber
- 1.9 grams sugar
- 0 mg cholesterol
- 2 mg sodium
- 202 mg potassium
Keto-friendly Asparagus Recipes
Cheesy Garlic Roasted Keto Asparagus
Garlic Cilantro Butter Steak with Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus
Cheesy Asparagus Stuffed Chicken Breast
Asparagus Health Benefits
Asparagus truly shines when it comes to offering up some amazing benefits for your health. Here are a few of the main health benefits that can be gained by including it in your diet:
- Protects against diseases like cancer. As mentioned above, asparagus is an incredibly rich source of antioxidants. It’s particularly rich in an antioxidant known as glutathione, which is widely known as one of your body’s most potent antioxidants. In fact, numerous studies have shown that asparagus may play a significant role in helping to prevent certain types of cancer. (1)
- Helps to relieve chronic inflammation. Asparagus is also a potent source of anti-inflammatory compounds, which can help to reduce your risk of developing inflammatory diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s even further. (2)
- Rich in dietary fiber. A single 100 gram serving of asparagus contains nearly 10% of the recommended daily fiber intake. Dietary fiber is responsible for several key gut functions, including normalizing bowel movements, relieving indigestion, boosting the immune system, and helping to protect against both colon and gastrointestinal cancer. (3)
Keto Asparagus Alternatives
There’s nothing wrong with switching things up from time to time. If you want to try a different green veggie with your next keto meal, here are some of our top picks to replace asparagus with:
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