Is Spinach Keto? The Good and Bad of Spinach on Keto
Spinach is a leafy green vegetables and is keto friendly. Eat spinach as a side dish to add flavor and variety to your meals.
One cup of spinach (30g) contains half a gram net carbs.
Spinach is considered to be quite nutritious and one of the top keto friendly vegetables due to its extremely low net carbs. However, since its very low in the essential macronutrients protein and fat, it is best used as a side dish or garnish.
How to eat spinach for weight loss - Eat Freely
It is generally okay to eat as much spinach as you want on a ketogenic diet in order to feel fuller due to the extra fiber content. However, don’t do this all the time as eating the essential nutrients protein and fat to satiety will not only allow you to feel satisfied and full, but give the building blocks your body needs to keep you healthy. Try eating an animal food such as beef which is nutritionally dense to satiety. Eating a large piece of meat with veggies on the side is the best strategy for weight loss on a ketogenic diet.
Are spinach useful for athletic performance on a keto diet? - Avoid
Popeye may get incredibly strong after eating spinach but that unfortunately won’t work in real life. Spinach is not very nutritionally dense and doesn’t contain much protein and fats to help with exercise performance and recovery. Its does contain some potassium and magnesium which will provide some electrolytes, however you may not be absorbing much due to the high oxalate content in spinach. More on that below.
Nutritional Information
Spinach is an excellent source of Folate (Vitamin B6), Vitamin K and beta-carotene. Although consider that only 4% of beta-carotene intake is converted to its usable form, retinol in the human body.
The biggest drawback with spinach is that it is a very high in a antinutrient called oxalates, which bind up magnesium, calcium and iron preventing their absorption into the body. Therefore you may not benefit from those minerals even though they are contained in spinach. To lower the intake of oxalates into your body, you can boil spinach in water and drain the water to remove some of it. With vegetables that are high in antinutrients, the best strategy to incorporate them into your diet is to rotate them seasonally and not eat them as a staple everyday in order to minimize the effects on your body.