Is Teff flour keto friendly? Sorry, no, Teff flour is not keto-friendly. It is high in net carbs and therefore, is not suitable for a keto diet. However, never fear, we have some great alternatives for you, read on to find out more.
What Is Teff Flour?
Teff is a cereal-like ancient grain that is commonly used in African countries. The grain has been harvested and consumed for centuries and is considered an important part of an Ethiopian diet.
Teff is often ground into flour in order to make all types of bread products, including injera. Injera is a traditional Ethiopian flatbread that accompanies many Ethiopian meals.
Teff flour can be used to thicken sauces and gravies, it can be an ingredient in beer, and can be incorporated into dessert recipes. It is a gluten-free grain, so it can also be used to replace flour in many recipes. The teff grain is very high in nutritional benefits and important vitamins and minerals.
A Keto-Cap (aka A Keto Recap!)
If you’re new to keto and want a bit more information, check out our keto beginners guide.
As a quick summary, if you need it, the keto (also known as the ketogenic diet) is a low-carb, high-fat diet.
The whole concept of the keto diet is that your body transitions from burning glucose, in simple terms, sugars or carbohydrates, to burning fat as its primary fuel source.
For a keto diet, people will restrict their macros to eating;
- 70% of their calories from fat
- 25% from protein
- 5% from carbohydrates
Sticking to these macros for a period of time will put your body into a state of ketosis. Ketosis is when your body has transitioned from burning carbohydrates as its primary fuel source to burning fat for fuel. It is at this point that you will start to see and feel the benefits of the keto diet.
There are a lot of new terms and abbreviations that you may come across, sometimes it can feel like a new language that you need to learn. In order to help you out and keep you on the right track, we have created a keto terms and keto abbreviations guide, bookmark these to make your keto journey easier.
Some people can be put off the keto diet because of the side effects, however, these are only short-lived and the health benefits of keto far outweigh the side effects.
One of the main benefits which attract people to the keto diet is that it can cause significant reductions in insulin levels (by up to 75%) and blood sugar levels, which can be attractive to those that struggle with diabetes, amongst other health complaints.
What Is The Nutritional Value Of Teff Flour?
The nutritional value of teff flour can vary slightly depending on what kind of teff was used to make the flour. When examining a 1/4 cup serving of teff flour, the nutritional value is as follows:
- Carbohydrates: 22 grams
- Protein: 4 grams
- Fat:1 gram
- Fiber: 4 grams
- Calories: 113 calories
The teff grain comes in a few different varieties, which each deliver a different flavor profile. This might also alter the nutritional values in teff flour slightly, but not to an extreme extent.
How Many Net Carbs Are There In Teff Flour?
Net carbs are calculated by misusing the fiber from the carbohydrates.
In a serving of 1/4 of a cup of teff flour, there are 18 net carbs (22 grams of carbs minus 4 grams of fiber = 18 grams of net carbs). This is quite high for flour or flour alternatives.
Is Teff Flour Keto Friendly?
Teff flour is quite high in carbs, making it unsuitable for a keto friendly diet. You can very quickly reach your daily limit of net carbs by consuming a small amount of a food containing teff flour.
Teff flour can also be very expensive, so it may not be worth the sacrifice of net carbs or the strain on your grocery budget.
What Are The Best Keto Alternatives To Teff Flour?
When looking for alternatives for flour that are keto friendly, it might take some research and stocking up on multiple types of alternative flour to create keto-friendly alternatives to the foods you love but can’t eat because of the carb content.
Some flours to consider adding to your pantry would be coconut flour or almond flour. You can also consider flaxseed if you are looking for an alternative with similar nutritional benefits to teff flour.
For help on picking your keto friendly flours, check out our keto flours guide
Oat fiber and psyllium husk powder are also two ingredients you can incorporate into many recipes to get low carb, nutritionally dense foods that require flour.
Almond Flour
Coconut Flour
Hazlenut Flour
Staying hydrated on the keto diet is really important, for more on how much water you should be drinking, check out our guide to staying hydrated on the keto diet.
If you’re planning on dehydrating yourself(!) and drinking alcohol on the keto diet, check out our ultimate guide to drinking alcohol on a keto diet. Also, you may be interested in, how to recover from a cheat day.
Summary: Is Teff Flour Keto?
Sorry, no Teff flour is not keto friendly, however, there are many amazing alternative keto friendly flours that you can use in your keto baking and cooking.
