Is seaweed salad keto? Well, there is no simple answer to this one, in principle, yes, seaweed salad is keto as it can be made with very low carb ingredients. However, if you are eating this out in a restaurant, it is likely that the salad will be full of non keto, high sugar ingredients.
What Is Seaweed Salad?
Seaweed salad is a traditional Japanese food that uses edible seaweed as the main ingredient. There are tons of recipes for seaweed salad, but most of them involve soy sauce, ginger, sesame oil, and rice vinegar as the sauce that binds the seaweed salad together.
Often, the seaweed salad is topped with sesame seeds for a bit of crunch.
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 Seaweed Salad?
The nutritional value of seaweed salad largely depends on the ingredients used within. Because there are so many different seaweed salad recipes, you really must assess each individual recipe to learn about the exact nutritional value.
The traditional seaweed salad often includes 11 grams of carbs, (8 grams of net carbs), 4.5 grams of fat, one gram of protein, and 90 calories total. This value is based on a 1/2 cup serving.
That being said, there are plenty of other seaweed salad recipes that have different nutritional values. In fact, many seaweed salads have as little as only about 1 gram of net carbs.
For example, seaweed salad made from Nori seaweed and lacking additional sugar often only has around 1 gram of net carbs while still having 1 gram of fiber.
How Many Net Carbs Are There In Seaweed Salads?
It’s impossible to say exactly how many net carbs are in all seaweed salads.
The number of net carbs depends on the salad recipe and the type of seaweed used within the salad.
Some seaweed salads have over 10 grams of net carbs, whereas others have only about 1 gram. Seaweed salad recipes that call for Nori seaweed and no additional sugar only have around one net carb per serving.
Is Seaweed Salad Keto Friendly?
If you select ingredients that are low in carbohydrates, seaweed salad is keto-friendly. You will largely need to avoid traditional seaweed salads, but seaweed salads made from Nori seaweed and no added sugar are keto-friendly.
Of course, you will have to be sparing about what other ingredients you put inside the salad. For example, many traditional seaweed salads call for additional sugar, which is not keto-friendly.
Are There Different Varieties That Are Not Keto?
There are tons of different types of edible seaweed. It’s important that you select the right type of seaweed if you want a keto-friendly seaweed salad.
Nori seaweed is the best seaweed type for a keto diet. Some other seaweed types that are safe for keto diets include Wakame seaweed and Hijiki seaweed. Both of which have about 1 gram of net carbs per serving.
Other seaweed types have more carbohydrates. For example, Arame seaweed has about 7 grams of carbs per serving. Other seaweed types have even more carbs, making them less suited for a keto diet.
Nori Premium Roasted Organic Seaweed
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 Seaweed Salad Keto?
Seaweed salad can be keto friendly, especially if you are making this at home. However, if you’re eating out, check the ingredients used first as this delicious salad can soon be loaded up with sugar.
