This is the NINTH article in a never-ending series of short information-dense articles about specific types of fruits or vegetables regarding their compatibility with a keto diet and how they effect your health. If you are interested in a ketogenic diet and want to avoid common mistakes, make sure to read this series. 

Today, we will be analyzing carrots. Are there carbs in carrots? Can you eat carrots on a keto diet? Are carrots keto friendly? How much of them can you eat in a meal or daily? Or should you avoid them completely because of their carb quantity? 

Let’s find this all (and more) out.

Nutrition Facts About Carrots

Here you will find all the necessary nutrition facts and information about carrots on a keto diet. The tables show only the facts and data that are interesting and relevant from the point of view of a keto diet and potential positive impact of carrots on your health (I hope you remember that health is the main purpose of a keto diet).

In the case of carrots, you are obviously interested in their carb quantity and the vitamins, minerals or microelements they contain. This is exactly what the tables show.

Nutrition Facts Of Carrots

Nutrition Facts Of A Medium-Sized Carrot

Even though carrots are vegetables, they are relatively high in carbs, so they aren’t the best keto option.

As you can see carrots have a little bit more carbs than most vegetables and it seems relatively easy to exceed 20 g eating carrots. But how is it really? The sections below will tell you.

Carrots & Their Keto Compliance (5/10)

Here you will find information and facts about how keto compliant carrots are and whether eating carrots on a ketogenic diet will be a good idea for you. 

Here is a bunch of facts about carrots and a ketogenic diet you want to know about:

• HIGH IN CARBS. Carrots are relatively high in carbs compared to other vegetables. They do contain some dietary fiber but their net carb quantity is still rather high (about 7.5 g of carbs per 100 g). A really huge carrot may weigh even 150 g and so contain almost have of your allowed daily carb quantity.
• LOW IN CALORIES. Carrots are relatively low in calories compared to their size and weight. That’s because they are mostly made of water. If you aren’t on a very strict keto program and can go above 20-30 g of carbs net, feel free to eat carrots even every day.
• LOW GLYCEMIC INDEX (GI). The glycemic index of raw carrots is only 16, which is very low. Even though carrots have some carbs, they are unlikely to spike your insulin (as long as they are raw).
• AVOID COOKED CARROTS. The keto compliance of carrots probably ends the moment you cook them. There are unfortunately mixed studies on the glycemic index of cooked carrots. Some claim it changes only a bit and becomes moderate (about 49) while others say it can even be as high as 95 (which is more than sugar). Whoever is right, the best advice for you is to always eat them raw and never (over) cook them.
• AVOID CARROT JUICE. Even though there are fresh carrot juices made of raw carrots, their number of carbs, sugar and GI is always way higher. Any vegetable in the form of juice is “condensed” and deprived of most of its fiber, which makes it less keto-friendly. A cup of carrot juice may have as many as 20 g of net carbs.

Carrots are both good and bad. They are generally OK but they have a darker (carb) side to them as well. That’s why carrots ideally fit in the middle of keto compatibility scale with the result of 5/10.

Check out other fruits and vegetables and how keto compliant they are: cucumber, grapefruit, or tomato

Carrots On A Ketogenic Diet & Health Impact (8/10)

Here you will find information and facts about the most important health benefits and nutritional values of carrots. Note that we are not assessing carrots in terms of their keto compliance here.

Here is a bunch of facts about carrots and their health benefits you want to know about:

• RICH IN VITAMIN A. Carrots are extremely rich in vitamin A which has a lot of health benefits, such as, it helps detoxify the body, protects skin, hair, nails, is good for teeth and gums. Scientists also say that together with beta-carotene vitamin A also improves vision. One medium-sized carrot will provide more than 100% of RDI of vitamin A for an average person.
• RICH IN BETA-CAROTENE. Beta-carotene is the second most important nutrient found in carrots. High consumption of beta-carotene is linked to reduced risk of strokes, heart disease and cancer.
• MORE NUTRITIOUS WHEN COOKED. If you want to focus more on the nutritional side of carrots, you may want to eat them cooked. Cooking carrots apparently frees up more nutrients by dissolving cell walls.
• CONTAINS OTHER NUTRIENTS AS WELL. Even though vitamin A and beta-carotene are the most obvious nutrients found in carrots, you will find other nutrients in smaller amounts as well. Carrots also contain some amounts of vitamin C, calcium, potassium, sodium or vitamin K.

On the health scale carrots score quite highly with the total score of 9 points out of 10. They are rich in nutrients, relatively low in calories, contain a lot of water and are, above all, a real food. That’s why if you are more about health instead of carb restriction, you should add carrots (both cooked and raw) to your daily menu. 

If you are a health-oriented person who wants to follow (or follows) a keto diet, learn more about having Diet Coke and milk on a keto diet. 

Bottom Line

Carrots are veggies and veggies are generally OK on any type of diet (maybe except for the carnivorous diet that totally excludes vegetables). Most people agree that vegetables are essential for your health. Without being (at least relatively) healthy, you will have trouble achieving your weight loss, body composition and fitness goals. 

I am both a keto and veggie fan, so I recommend that you eat carrots on a keto diet. Whether you count them against your daily carb intake or eat them only occasionally should depend on your goals. But don’t eliminate them completely.

Remember that variety is key to both weight loss and health and these two always have to go hand in hand. So who’s next? Vodka!

If you find this mini guide helpful and useful, please share it with your friends on social media. My goal is to reach as many people as possible to help them make wise dietary choices and transform their lives. Thanks!