Strawberries are a top-tier fruit. You can put strawberries on almost anything to make it taste good. What’s not there to love about strawberries? Strawberry cake, ice cream, strawberry jam, and the good ol’ strawberry shake are some of the best foods on the planet.
A hardcore strawberry lover can’t help but eat anything with strawberries at sight. But you can’t risk stuffing yourself with your favorite food when you're on a weight loss journey or on a keto diet.
A lot of food, including some fruits, is not keto-friendly. Taking non-keto foods on a keto diet can set you back and may reverse your progress.
Speaking of favorite food, fruits, and the keto diet, are strawberries keto friendly? Luckily for you, strawberries are keto friendly, and you can quickly gobble up a few when you’re on a diet.
But just like any other diet, you must take even keto-friendly foods like strawberries carefully on a keto diet. Eating too many strawberries may trigger bloating and diarrhea in some ketoers, so one must always be careful when eating strawberries on a keto diet.
Let’s look into strawberries and keto in detail:
Are Strawberries Keto?
Are strawberries keto? You can count on the delicious, sweet red fruit to be keto-friendly.
What is a Keto Diet?
We know strawberries are keto-friendly, but what makes any food keto-friendly? You typically forego carbs and welcome protein and fat on a keto diet.
Being on a keto diet means saying goodbye to carbs in all forms, including cakes, bread, pasta, chips, and some fruits.
What Makes a Food Keto Friendly?
How do you figure out what to eat on a keto diet? Well, for starters, you must not eat any carbs. Bid farewell to kinds of pasta, pizza, bread, burgers, cakes, and more.
However, there are a lot of foods that are rich in fat and have a low carb count. When you can’t find food with zero carbs, you aim for the one with the lowest carb count.
You can take most foods with a high fat count, a low carb count, or a high protein on a keto diet. The only times you must not eat a particular keto-friendly food is when your dietician recommends you against it.
How Are Strawberries Keto Friendly?
Strawberries have a high fiber count but a relatively low carb count. Strawberries are rich in water, which reduces their carb weight.
Their sugar content is also relatively low, which is surprising considering how sweet and yummy strawberries are.
Strawberries are perfect for any ketoer who likes a sweet treat to tie off their diet.
Why Can’t I Eat Too Many Strawberries on a Keto Diet?
While most people can eat strawberries on a keto diet without worrying, it is best to consult your dietician before taking strawberries. Strawberries are keto-friendly, but they may not be suitable for everyone.
Some people have a food intolerance to strawberries (strawberry intolerance). Food intolerance is when a particular food is not suitable for your body, even if you’re not allergic to the food.
When people with a strawberry intolerance eat the fruit, they can get gas, nausea, bloating, and even diarrhea. Similarly, people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) cannot digest sugar smoothly, and strawberries can trigger diarrhea and nausea in them.
How Many Strawberries are Safe on a Keto Diet?
When is it safe for a ketoer to eat strawberries? Generally, you can quickly eat up to eight to ten medium-sized strawberries at a time when on a keto diet.
Strawberries contain fewer carbs than fiber, so eating up to 6-8 daily is more than enough. If you eat more than 10 strawberries daily, you might not be eating a safe quantity.
To ensure you’re on the right track, consult your dietician; some people can easily tolerate up to 8-10 strawberries at a time, while others can’t eat more than 4-5.
How Many Times Can I Eat Strawberries on a Keto Diet?
Although strawberries are keto-friendly, you must be careful when eating them. You can eat strawberries every day, but adding a gap to your strawberry intake is best. Adding gaps between your strawberry consumption allows your body to digest your entire diet properly.
Strawberries improve bowel movements, but excessively eating strawberries may lead to diarrhea and an upset stomach for people with sensitive stomachs.
You may eat up to 8-10 strawberries once a week. While there aren’t many drawbacks to eating strawberries regularly, it is better to eat them in moderation.
Strawberries: Nutritional Profile
Strawberries are highly nutritious; they contain many antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins. Let’s see what makes a strawberry.
In 166 grams of strawberry, there are:
| Nutritional Components | Weightage |
| Protein | 1.1 grams |
| Carbohydrates | 12.7 grams |
| Dietary fiber | 3.3 grams |
| Sugar | 2.95 grams |
| Minerals Iron Calcium Magnesium Potassium Phosphorus | 1023 milligrams 0.68 grams 27 milligrams 22 milligrams 254 milligrams 40 milligrams |
| Vitamins Vitamin A Vitamin B9 (folate) Vitamin C | – 20 international units 40 micrograms 97.6 milligrams |
I know what you’re thinking; if strawberries have 12.7 grams of carbs and up to 2.95 grams of sugar, how are they keto-friendly?
Strawberries contain 90-91% water, so the total weightage of sugar and carbohydrates dissolves. Because of the high water content, the effects of carbs are pretty low.
Nutritional Benefits of Strawberries
Now that you know what’s in strawberries, let’s discuss why these are so good:
● Supports Heart Health
Potassium is really good for our hearts. Taking potassium reduces the risk of heart disease. Strawberries are rich in potassium, so they support your heart health.
● Reduces Stroke Risks
Strawberries are rich in flavonoids (natural products). Flavonoids reduce the risk of strokes and similar health problems.
● Increases Immunity
The high nutritional content of strawberries increases immunity, preventing minor and more extensive diseases. An increased immunity also protects against cancer and other diseases.
● Prevents Constipation
The high fiber in strawberries regulates bowel movements and prevents constipation.
● Manages Blood Pressure
Potassium is an excellent blood pressure regulator. People with high blood pressure can eat strawberries to lower their blood pressure.
● Increases Energy
Strawberries contain folate, which not only increases the production of red and white blood cells but improves immunity and increases energy in the body.
How Many Calories Are There in Strawberries?
You’re not only limiting your carb intake but also controlling your calories on a keto diet. In 166 grams of strawberries, there are 53 calories.
Since you’re supposed to eat a particular quantity of calories on a keto diet, just 53 calories per 166 grams is a very safe calorie count.
Can You Have Strawberry Shake on Keto?
Are strawberries keto friendly? Yes. So, can you eat any strawberry dish on a keto diet? No.
Strawberries are keto-friendly, but there are a lot of strawberry dishes that are not keto-friendly. For example, strawberry cake and strawberry crumble contain flour, which is rich in carbs and unsuitable for a ketoer.
Are Milkshakes Keto Friendly?
You can’t have milkshakes on a keto diet because dairy milk is rich in carbs and is not keto friendly. However, you can make many keto friendly milkshakes from keto-friendly milk substitutes for dairy milk, like macadamia nut milk or flax seed milk.
Are Strawberry Milkshakes Keto-friendly?
Yes and no. You can’t drink strawberry milkshakes made from dairy milk on a keto diet because they are rich in carbs. However, if you make your milkshakes from a keto-friendly substitute like macadamia nut milk, coconut milk, or flax seed milk, you can quickly drink them on a keto diet.
Keto Friendly Strawberry Recipes
If you’re starting keto and need a couple of keto-friendly strawberry recipes to get you on track, I’ve got a few for you:
● Keto-friendly Strawberry Milkshake
If you love strawberry milkshakes and want a keto-friendly version, follow this recipe:
Ingredients
- ¼ cup coconut or macadamia nut milk. You can choose any keto-friendly milk you like.
- A quarter teaspoon of sugar-free vanilla extract (optional)
- ¾ cup unsweetened almond milk. You can substitute this with water. Do not use sweetened almond milk.
- ½ cup sliced strawberries
- ½ to 1 tbsp MCT powder (optional)
Directions
- In a blender, pour the milk and add the strawberries.
- Blend thoroughly until all strawberries mix.
- Add the MCT powder and vanilla extract.
- Give another blend.
- If you want to add sugar, you can add up to half a teaspoon of stevia or a keto-friendly sugar sweetener like monk fruit. Blend thoroughly.
● Strawberry Popsicles
You can make keto strawberry popsicles easily.
Ingredients
- 1 cup sliced strawberries
- ½ to ¾ cup water
- 1 small lemon
- ½ tablespoon keto-friendly sweeteners like stevia or monk fruit
- ½ teaspoon sugar-free vanilla essence
Directions
- Blend the strawberries and water.
- Cut the lemon in half. Squeeze half the lemon into the blender. Taste the mix. If you want more lemon, you can squeeze the other half.
- Add your sweetener and vanilla essence. Thoroughly blend.
- Pour the mixture into popsicle trays and freeze overnight.
● Keto Strawberry Sauce
You can use this strawberry sauce recipe to top any favorite keto-friendly dessert:
Ingredients
- 2 cup strawberries
- 2 tablespoon keto-friendly sweetener
- 2-3 tablespoon water
Directions
- Chop the strawberries.
- Add strawberries, water, and keto-friendly sweetener in a saucepan.
- Cook the ingredients on a medium flame for 5 minutes and then cook for another 10 minutes on a low flame.
- Stir the strawberry mixture to ensure proper mixing.
- Set aside to cool. You can use the strawberry sauce as it is if you want, but it is best to pulse it to make it smooth.
- Pulse the strawberry sauce when cooled and store it in a clean, dry glass jar.
● Strawberry Cream
this strawberry cream recipe will be perfect for when you’re in the mood for a light and easy dessert.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ to 2 cups strawberries
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 4-5 tablespoons of keto-friendly sweetener
- ½ a lemon
- ½ teaspoon sugar-free vanilla extract
Directions
- Place a clean, dry mixing bowl in the freezer. It is best to use a cold mixing bowl for this recipe.
- Wash and hull the strawberries.
- Chop the strawberries into big cubes or slices.
- In a separate mixing bowl, add strawberries, the juice of half a lemon, and half of your favorite keto-friendly sweetener. Mix thoroughly and allow them to rest for at least 10-15 minutes.
- Take the cold mixing bowl out of the freezer. Pour the heavy cream into this bowl. Use a hand mixer to beat the heavy cream until you get soft peaks.
- Add the rest of the sweetener and vanilla extract to the soft peaks of the cream. Mix with a spatula or a flat spoon, and then continue beating with a hand mixer.
- Beat the cream until you get stiff peaks, then set aside in the fridge.
- From the strawberries, remove a tablespoon of strawberries as the topping. Mash and puree the rest of your strawberries.
- Carefully add the pureed strawberries into your whipped heavy cream mixing bowl. Softly mix until you see pink streaks from the cream.
- Fold this strawberry cream mixture into a clean and dry glass bowl. Top with the strawberries you set aside early and enjoy cold.
You can also find other keto-friendly strawberry recipes like this Keto-friendly Strawberry Mousse and Keto-friendly Strawberry Crumble Bars.
Wrapping Up
Are strawberries keto? Luckily for strawberry lovers, strawberries are keto-friendly, and you can easily take them on a keto diet.
The delicious fruit has a high fiber and water content and a low sugar and carb content. Strawberries are also rich in flavonoids, antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins and promote a healthy lifestyle.
Consult with your dietician before taking strawberries since you could be strawberry-intolerant. People with IBS must not take strawberries if their dietician recommends against them.
There are tons of keto-friendly strawberry recipes you can try. Since strawberries have a low-calorie count, you can easily pair them with keto-friendly foods to make various desserts.
Click on one of the links below if you're interested in learning more about keto friendly foods: