Do you need bread, pasta, or cake on the keto diet? On the one hand, you love your new body on keto, and on the other hand, you are badly craving sweets? Well, you don't have to be so harsh on yourself.
Switching to a ketogenic lifestyle restricts your food choices. Still, it adds new flavorful ingredients to your life, such as almond flour. If carb-rich white flour is restricted on keto, you can use almond flour to make bread, cookies, cake, or pastries.
The keto industry takes care of keto dieters. They have created almost every alternative to the typical American diet, so you stay on the “keto” track.
Almond flour is made by grounding organic almonds after removing their skin. It's a non-refined flour and contains a high amount of fibre. You can make the almond meal yourself by grinding some almonds in a food processor. It's a very nutrient-dense keto ingredient and would be suitable for keto 2.0, where it emphasises using natural ingredients.
Almond meal can be used in making keto pancakes, but it contains almond skins and have a different texture than store-bought almond flour. 1 tablespoon of almond flour contains about 3 grams of carbs with only 1 gram of net carbs.
Almond Flour Nutritional facts:
Rich in calories, fats, and fibre, almond flour is quite low in carbs, making it a star keto ingredient. 28g of almond flour, on average, contains:
- 180 calories
- 5g dietary fat
- 2g net carbs
- 7g protein
- 15g fat
- Manganese/li>
- Copper
- Magnesium
- Sodium
- Potassium
With only 2 net carbs per 28g, almond flour qualifies as being keto-friendly. Not just is this keto-friendly, but it also provides micronutrients that help the body heal and stay fresh on the keto diet. If you constantly feel low energy on the keto diet, add almond flour to your daily meals to boost minerals and fats. Research shows a reduced glucose level of diabetics following an almond-based low-carb diet.
Almond flour offers 3g of dietary fibre per 28 grams. WHO recommends 25g of fibre daily for regular bowel movements. Fibre acts as a sponge for unhealthy cholesterol. It absorbs cholesterol from the body and passes it out in faeces. At the same time, fibre keeps you full. Not many foods on keto have fiber. Isn’t it amazing? A low-carb food with loads of fibre and cholesterol-lowering properties!
Almond flour for Keto baking:
Baking becomes easy with almond flour. You can substitute it in a 1-to-1 ratio for white flour. But, it tends to make bread more spongy or chewy than regular flour. We bet almond flour will bring a nutty aroma and flavour to your baked goods. According to research published on PubMed, cupcakes made out of almond flour were moist and tender compared to those made of only coconut flour.
A statistical analysis has been done comparing Ketogenic bread made of almond flour, oat bran, or a combination of both. Add in more eggs with baking soda while using almond flour so it holds the batter. Apart from baking, almond flour can be used as a substitute for bread crumbs. It can be integrated into various savoury recipes like chicken parmesan, meatballs, chicken nuggets, fried fish, or keto chips.
How often can you have almond flour on keto?
Although almond flour is keto-friendly but can you eat it daily on the keto diet? The answer is yes! If you limit your daily flour intake to less than 20g net carbs, then it's beautiful. To make it above 20g net carb, you must eat a loaf of almond flour bread. Binge eating or overeating on the keto diet can kick you out of ketosis and make you gain weight instead of losing it.
Another piece of advice is to not use almond flour or any other keto flour at the beginning of the keto diet. Your body is susceptible to carbs when you shift from a regular diet to a low-carb keto diet. Carbs in almond flour can halt your progress. We'd like to suggest that you include keto bread after at least one month from starting keto.
Another issue with excessive almond flour is "omega 6 fatty acids". Omega-6 fatty acids are highly inflammatory and keep your body bloated. The body suffers from inflammation whenever the omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids ratio gets disturbed. Use almond flour within the decent limit and enjoy it in your keto meals.
Which almond flour is the best for keto?
Are all almond flours the same? They are 100% keto-approved, but when buying almond flour, you must look for labels. Supermarket shelves are overloaded with different brands of almond flour, and it's enough to confuse any newbie. Look for ingredients and nutritional labels while getting almond flour and go for the cheapest one. Choose 100% pure blanched almond flour made of only almonds.
After opening the almond flour bag, please keep it in an air-tight jar in the fridge. Almond flour goes rancid quickly. Could you check the expiry date and shelf life before putting them into your cart?
Blanched vs Non-blanched almond flour: which one is better for you?
Blanched almonds have their skin removed from the nut. Bakers usually prefer blanched flour for its super fine texture and lightweight. Unblanched almonds have their skin on, and their flour gives a coarse texture with bite-size skin pieces and red colour. Unblanched almond flour can make baking a bit tricky, but they have high amounts of fibre and vitamins compared to blanched almond flour.
Which one is healthier: blanched or unblanched? Unbalanced almond flour is healthier because of its fibre content. But you can use blanched almond flour in your keto baking guilt-free.
Substitutes of Almond flour:
Almond flour is a healthy keto flour substitute, but some people can dislike its texture and flavour. They can try some other keto flours such as:
- Coconut Flour
- Walnut Flour
- Sunflower seed flour
- Cassava flour (low-carb)
I hope this article helped you with all your questions about almond flour. Happy, healthy eating on keto!
