What’s the story with onions?

(Jeanine) #1

Hey. I believe onions are a no-no but all the Keto meals I see posted on Instagram have onion. What’s the story???

(Empress of the Unexpected) #2

The carb content is high compared to other vegetables. For instance, one medium slice has 4g of carbs. But I love onions, so have some every few days. Luckily, a little goes a long way.

(I Am The Egg Man ku-ku-kachoo) #3

This. Moderation is key. Sometimes they get added because I’m low on carbs for the day, so there’s room.

#4

I use green onions now instead of white/yellow/red. Much lower in carbs (about 1 carb each) and usually adds enough of the flavor I need. I also use sparingly powered onion and garlic sometimes.

(Empress of the Unexpected) #5

Green onions sound like a good idea. As long as I can get any kind of onion on top of a pork chop or steak, I’m in heaven!

#6

Onions (along with most other veggies) have less than 200 calories per POUND. Unless you are eating a ton of them or are severely metabolically deranged, they are not likely to effect your state of ketosis.

The almond or coconut flour that’s used as coating are a different story. They are very calorie dense and could easily effect ketosis.

#7

not sure what calories have to do with carbs.

#8

Presumably, most people are interested in carbs because they’re interested in ketosis. Calories can effect ketosis.

#9

hmmm. well, I do know that somethings may have very little calories, but have high carbs and will throw one out of ketosis.

(charlie3) #10

May dinner is a very large salad with meat, avecado, and an elaborate olive oil dressing for the macros. I use a lot of onion and red cabbage which have carbs. Last time I measured out a salad I found net carbs for all the vegetables is 30 net carbs. I don’t care. In fact I’m currently at 60 net carbs per day total.I burn 800-1000 calories from walking, cardio and lifting (compared to a 1400-1600 BMR). Carbs can’t be hanging around in my blood stream for long. I believe this is one of the advantages of being active.

(Empress of the Unexpected) #11

This is the first time I have heard this. Can you elaborate? Butter and oil are high in calories but not carbs.

#12

Starvation ketosis is a thing but I wouldn’t recommend it! 10 years or so of anorexia was, I suspect, my way of being in anxiety calming ketosis - I simply didn’t know there was another, very healthy way.

(Kristin) #13

I don’t know. Garlic and onions have so many health benefits, that I plan to continue to use them. Benefits include antioxidants, anticarcinogen, antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial, high in vitamins, good for blood pressure/glucose/cholesterol, plus they make so many meals so danged delicious. I think I’m going to keep them in my recipes. Even if it causes me to exceed 20 g carbs, I haven’t had a problem with it so far.

#14

Ditto :slightly_smiling_face:

(Ken) #15

Fresh chives are a good substitute or addition to onions. I grow them in my flower bed, but they’re easily grown in containers if you have a sunny window.

#16

If this is the first time you’ve heard this, expand your podcast repertoire. Almost every LC clinician (ie Dr John Limansky, Dr Paul Mason, Dr Annette Bosworth, Dr Eric Berg) has said that calories matter. Don’t confuse this with the flawed CICO model. Hormones matter also.

We are not all created equal. Some folks can eat whatever they want and not gain weight or have prolonged elevation in blood glucose. We’ve all seen blogs where some guy (I’ve never seen a woman) eats 5000 or 10000 calories for several days with no ill effects. Metabolically healthy folks (especially young males) may be able to do that. Older folks, women, and metabolically deranged folks have much less flexibility. What really matters is determining what’s true for your body. Through self experimentation you can assess how various foods effect you.

I personally eat a lot of onions because they are so nutritious, as @KetoKristin stated. I am interested in optimal nuitritrion, not meeting macros.

(Empress of the Unexpected) #17

I agree with what you are saying. I was just surprised, because I can swing from 800 calories to 1800 and stay in ketosis. I understand others cannot. But to worry about a few extra calories in a slice of onion just doesn’t seem realistic. I worry about carbs first, and potentially too much protein, second. But fat does not cause insulin spikes. I’m not being argumentative - I enjoy and learn from your posts.

(Running from stupidity) #18

+1

#19

I think there are very few vegetables we should really be eating and roots are one of them, and onions or the entire sulfur group is one we should eat.

The thing about stopping carbs is the big loss of retained water and in that flush you drop electrolytes, the reason we get this so called flue. As soon as you stop carbs if you added good salt to your drinking water, yes every glass, then the flue would b also non existent.

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #20

A little goes a long way. If recipes call for a cup, I use about a tablespoon of onion. I also freely sub onion powder for onions in recipes. Some can go as high as 50+ grams of carb, and stay in ketosis, so you can think of recipes with onions as low carb instead of keto if you are not one of those folks.