Low Carb Flours: Everything you need to Know

Borja Bandera 9 March, 2021 Diets Leave a comment

Low carb and ketogenic diets continue to be two of the most popular in the world of nutrition, which is why in this article we look at the most-used low cab or keto flours and their properties.

Many people follow the keto diet because it works and encourages adherence, as well as producing remarkable and lasting results. Keto or low carb flours help increase the variety of suitable recipes.

Index

1. What is Keto flour?
2. Which flour is best for a keto diet?
3. Which flour has the least amount of carbohydrates
4. How to use keto flours in recipes?
5. Keto Flour Recipe

What is Keto flour?

The fundamental requisite for a flour to be keto is that its carbohydrate content is sufficiently low. If it is, it can be included in a low carb or ketogenic diet.

Another benefit of keto flours: they are more nutritionally complete than conventional refined flours.

A diet featuring carbohydrates, generally, contains less than 100-130 grams of carbohydrates.
In a ketogenic diet the carbohydrate content is lower, under 50 grams.

Another concept we can’t forget is that we speak of net carbohydrates, which means the carbohydrates that remain after taking away the fibre.

And this is especially important for keto flours, which have a much higher quantity of fibre than conventional flours (white wheat flour).

There is no standardised limit by any scientific society, but we could consider a flour as keto if it has less than 10-15 grams of net carbohydrates per 100 grams of product.

Which flour is best for a keto diet?

It’s not an easy question to answer, as we have several more than interesting contenders fighting for the title.

We’re going to analyse the properties of three of the most relevant keto flours:

Almond Flour

To obtain almond flour we first have to wash them in boiling water to remove the skin.

The flour can also be made with natural almonds with their skin on, but the texture will be thicker.

For every 30 grams of almond flour we have 170 kcal, 15 grams of fat (9 g are monounsaturated fatty acids), 6 grams of protein, 6 grams of carbohydrates and 3 grams of fibre.

We are therefore talking about only 3 grams of carbohydrates per serving, or about 9-10 grams of total carbohydrates per 100 grams. In addition to the macronutrients, almond flour is rich in micronutrients and comes loaded with vitamin E, manganese, magnesium, copper and phosphorus.

Of particular interest is the vitamin E content, which behaves like an antioxidant. Higher intakes of this vitamin are associated, for example, with lower rates of cardiovascular disease or neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

HSN Almond Flour.

Another strong point of almond flour is its Maganese content, a nutrient that intervenes in glycemic control, reduces insulin resistance, as well as blood pressure.

We’ve written an article speaking exclusively about adding almond flour to various recipes.

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Coconut Flour

You can’t talk about keto flours without mentioning coconut flour, a staple in low carb diets.

To get our precious coconut flour, we dry the coconut fruit and grind it up. It has aa texture very similar to wheat flour and a quite neutral taste.

You can get some Coconut Flour here.

In terms of nutrition, we have about 120 calories per 30 grams, 18 grams of total carbohydrates, of which 10 are fibre (8 grams of net carbohydrates), 4 grams of fat and some interesting micronutrients such as iron.

And let’s not forget another protagonist present in coconut and its derivative products: medium chain triglycerides or MCTs, heavily studied for their role in improving glycemic control, increasing ketogenesis, and even preventing neurodegenerative pathologies.

Flaxseed Flour

Flaxseeds are definitely something you should be adding to your diet.

When we grind the flaxseed we’re left with a thicker textured flour, with about 140 kcal per serving (30 grams), 10 grams of total carbohydrates, 8 grams of fibre and 6 grams of protein.

It’s rich in copper, omega 3 and B group vitamins B.

Therefore, we are talking about only 2 g of total carbohydrates per portion and about 6-7 g per 100 g of product.

Which flour has the least amount of carbohydrates

Among those mentioned in this post, the leader with the lowest carbohydrate content is flaxseed flour, with only 6-7 grams of net carbohydrates per 100 grams of product.

Something you absolutely must bear in mind is not to confuse gluten-free flour with keto flour.

There are many gluten-free flours that can be confused with low carb flours, but this is far from the truth. Some examples are teff, buckwheat, sorghum and amaranth flours.

All are healthy and can be recommended wholeheartedly, but aren’t considered low carb because of their carbohydrate content.

The problem is that our culinary culture is full of carbohydrate-rich foods. The case of flour is blatant. It’s used in a huge amount of recipes that we love, and, in addition, most flours are refined and of poor quality.

Therefore, we have a ubiquitous product, present in many recipes, but not recommended. And of course, not compatible with a low carb diet.

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How to use keto flours in recipes?

Keto flours are normally used along with other ingredients to improve texture and consistency, such as is the case with:

Another option to improve your recipes is to improve several low carbohydrate flours by creating a mix of flours that complement their nutritional properties.

How to add a sweet touch to recipes? I’m sure you’re wondering. In this case, a pinch of stevia or erythritol is a good option.