Low Carb Nuts – The Best and Worst Nuts (and Seeds) for the Keto Diet
Nuts are known for their vitamin, mineral, fiber, and healthy fat content. What is often overlooked, however, is how many carbs they add to the diet.
Since nuts are designed by nature to provide nourishment for a new plant, each one comes with some net carbs in the form of starches and sugars. This is why it is crucial to consider the carb counts of each nut before you incorporate them into your keto lifestyle.
To give you a better idea of what the best nuts are for keto, let’s take a look at carbs in each one from lowest to highest. After looking at the raw data for the most common options, we will explore how to add keto-friendly nuts into your diet for optimal health, fat loss, and ketosis.
Which Nuts are the Lowest in Carbs? A Ranked List
Since net carbs are the type of carbohydrate that will impair ketosis most, let’s rank the nuts based on their net carb counts for each ounce, from lowest to highest:
- Pecans with 1.2 g
- Brazil nuts with 1.3 g
- Macadamia nuts with 1.5 g
- Walnuts and Hazelnuts with 2 g each
- Peanuts with 2.1 g
- Almonds and Pine nuts with 2.7 g each
- Pistachios with 4.9 g
- Cashews with 8.3 g
Pecans, brazil nuts, and macadamia nuts emerged as the top three lowest carb nuts. This means they will be the easiest nuts to incorporate into your keto diet. Pistachios and cashews, on the other hand, will be difficult to include in your keto diet due to their relatively high net carb content.
A List of Highest Fat Nuts for Keto
If you need a high-fat snack that’ll satisfy your hunger and keep you in ketosis, here are the best nuts (categorized from highest to lowest total fat per ounce):
- Macadamia nuts with 21.5 g
- Pecans with 20.2 g
- Pine nuts with 19.1 g
- Brazil nuts with 18.6 g
- Walnuts with 18.5 g
- Hazelnuts with 17 g
- Peanuts and Almonds with 13.8 g
