Tapioca flour?

#1

So I know it has some carbs, but I’ve been playing a bit with some tapioca flour products (“flour” tortillas, pasta, Brazilian cheese rolls) that taste really good and in reasonable amounts still keep me under 20 net carbs a day. (Some of these items have like 17 net carbs per serving, so I just eat zero carb the rest of the day.)

My question is whether there’s anything inherently bad about tapioca? As in, I believe grains cause inflammation, but what about tapioca? It seems paleo people eat it and think it’s OK.

Also, what about cassava?

(matt ) #2

It’s 90% carbs. Over 100 per cup. It has more carbs than regular flour.

It’s not a grain but its a long way from low carb.

Your 20 is your 20 so as long as you stay under and stay happy it seems to be working for you.

(Ken) #3

Are you still trying to lose fat? If so, not really a good idea unless very infrequently. If you’re in maintenance, only when glycogen is depleted, then waiting long enough to make sure they’re out of your system. The danger is “Carb creep” halting lipolysis and eventually causing detrimental, insulin based, lipogenic readaptation.

#4

Thanks for the feedback! I know it’s not low carb, just wondered if there were other bad health effects.

I probably have around 12-15 net carbs in a meal if I eat this stuff. Definitely doing an n=1 here. So far, I do stay under 20 grams per day, and I stay in ketosis. I don’t eat these things every day.

Yes, I’d still like to lose about 20 pounds of fat, so once I finish a couple weeks of n=1, I’ll probably lay off them again. THat’s a good point about glycogen depletion.

(matt ) #5

It’s got the potential to spike your blood sugar…you can test for that if you are concerned.

#6

Yeah that’s what I need to check.

(Shona) #7

What could you use as a substitute? I recently purchased Pete Evans low carb healthy fat cook book and it uses tapioca in tortillas was wanting to make them but I’m not going to use tapioca. Has anyone found a substitute?

#8

Nope, haven’t found a substitute. :frowning: But here’s a good tortilla recipe: https://www.gnom-gnom.com/grain-free-keto-tortillas/

(Himanshu Khullar) #9

Almond flour can be the subsitute or coconut flour

(Maya Mirt) #10

So just like you I had this amazing craving for Brazilian Cheese bread. While I know tapioca flour isn’t the most nutrient dense I do use specifically when I make the Brazilian Cheese Bread. I tried to substitute with Coconut Flour, Keto Flour (which I found from following keto.luna on Instagram) and Almond Flour and there is just no substitute to get the correct chew texture. One thing I was thinking to try was to use Almond Flour but add some Xantham Gum or Beef Gelatin Powder which helps add a “chewy texture” (I add in my chocolate chip cookes - yum!). That might be the best. But because Brazilian Cheese Rolls are so small (mini muffin pan), I limit myself to about 3-5 and calculate that would be about 8g of net carbs. Point is - I use to curb a craving I have and it’s better than grabbing a piece of bread which would easily get me to at least 30g. :slight_smile: Good luck!