Most fruits aren’t keto friendly, but are lemons keto?
In short, yes! Lemons are very keto friendly (but there are some additional details to consider). Lemons are known for their sour, acidic flavor with a hint of sweet. Of course, balanced with a sweetener, lemons are the foundation of many keto friendly desserts and even a summer beverage you may have heard of — lemonade!
(Here’s our recipe for keto sweet tea lemonade!)
In this post we’ll cover:
- Net carbs and nutrition facts for lemons
- Amazing weight loss and health benefits of lemons
- Other keto friendly citrus fruits besides lemons
Let’s get to it!
Are Lemons Keto?
Yes, one lemon only contains 3 net grams of carbs, according to the USDA.
And most people usually don’t sit down to eat an entire lemon. Most have a slice or two as a garnish, flavor booster, or drink enhancement. So as long as you aren’t devouring bushels of lemons a day, lemons fit in perfectly with a keto diet.
Are Lemons Healthy?
Again, yes! Lemons are extremely healthy, even the lemon juice alone contains all of the benefits this citrus superfood has to offer, besides the fiber.
In fact, you may be surprised by all of the health benefits!
Lemon Health Benefits
Lemons have a shocking amount of health benefits for a little yellow fruit. From a stomach aid to cancer prevention to cardiovascular health, here are the most impressive lemon health benefits.
Great for the Tummy: Lemons, and other citrus fruits, contain phytochemicals in addition to vitamin C antioxidants. Phytochemicals are nutrients found in plant foods like citrus. These nutrients have been linked to a reduction of gastric intestinal issues, and even “may protect against [gatric] cancer.”
Natural Fat Loss Supplement: What can’t lemons do?! This little yellow fruit can also curb hunger while improving insulin resistance. Especially helpful on a high fat diet (keto), this little yellow fruit has been shown to curb hunger, improve insulin resistance, and increase fat loss!
Kidneys and PH Levels: Lemons are acidic, no doubt about it. However, once consumed they’ve been found to reduce acidity in the body. And all of that citric acid has another lovely benefit. Citrate prevents kidney stones. And “consuming just 4 ounces of lemon juice per day [just over two lemons] has been shown to significantly increase urine citrate levels.
Vitamin C Antioxidant: A single lemon contains about ⅓ of your daily requirement of vitamin C (about 30 mg). Scientific research has proven, according to the Harvard School of Public Health, that Vitamin C has been found “to neutralize free radical molecules…[and] is involved in the body’s immune system by stimulating the activity of white blood cells.”
Potassium and Magnesium: Vitamin C usually gets the headlines, but lemons also contain potassium and magnesium, although not in large amounts. But anything is better than nothing — especially when it comes to the importance of getting enough potassium and magnesium while doing low carb.
Nutrition Facts for 1 Lemon
| Calories: Total Fat Cholesterol Sodium Potassium Total Carbohydrates Dietary Fiber Sugar Protein | % Daily Value |
| Vitamin C Iron Vitamin B6 Calcium Vitamin D Magnesium |
Do Lemons Help with Weight Loss?
Here’s another affirmative for the lofty lemon, yes! Polyphenols (nutrients contained in plants) from lemons have been shown to help with weight loss in three different ways.
- Diet Suppression: Lemons have been shown to be effective at the “suppression of diet-induced obesity.” And when you feel less hungry you eat less. It’s as simple as that!
- Insulin Sensitivity: In case you didn’t know, lack of insulin sensitivity tells the pancreas to release more and more insulin. Over time the insulin loses its effectiveness resulting in more release and a dangerous cycle is formed because it can lead to high blood sugar, diabetes, and heart disease. But, oh yeah, lemons work against all that to regain insulin sensitivity!
- Fat Cell Targeting: Lemons activate fatty acid oxidation. Basically, the polyphenols in lemons tell the body to burn through fat cells. At the same time, this process also prevents the addition of both visceral fat (fat stored deep) and subcutaneous fat (fat stored toward the surface). In other words, take it off and keep it off!
Other Keto Citrus Fruits
The lemon is rather unique in the citrus world because it contains so few carbohydrates.
| Keto? Yes! | Keto? Not so much… |
| Only the lime comes close at about 5 grams of net carbs per lime. | An orange contains anywhere from about 9 to 18 grams of net carbs (depending on the size). And a grapefruit contains about 22 grams of net carbs |
Since the average keto diet restricts carbs to 20-50 grams of net carbs per day, both oranges and grapefruits can account for too many of the allotted carbs. Limes are better, especially if you don’t use the whole lime, but be careful because they can add up, too.
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