Are Brussels Sprouts Keto-Friendly? (& Substitutes)

Vegetables are typically good for ketogenic diets but not always. Find out whether Brussels sprouts are keto-friendly and what substitutes there are.

100 grams of Brussels sprouts contain around 5.2 grams of net carbohydrates which are calculated by taking the total carbs and subtracting fiber.

While you may need to keep an eye on your portion sizes, you can still say that Brussels sprouts are relatively keto-friendly.

At the same time, it is still important to note that 5.2 grams of net carbs in combination with the other foods you eat will also often be enough to kick you out of ketosis.

Additionally, if you don’t necessarily like Brussels sprouts there are more low-carb vegetables that could make it easier to stay in ketosis.

Carbs in Brussels sprouts

The number of carbs in Brussels sprouts is important for figuring out whether this vegetable is keto-friendly in your situation and in what amounts.

100 grams of raw Brussels sprouts contain the following amounts of carbs (1):

• Total carbs: 9 grams
• Of which fiber: 3.8 grams
• Net carbs: 5.2 grams

It will often be possible to fit Brussels sprouts into your diet while staying in ketosis. Because of this, you can say that Brussels sprouts are still relatively keto-friendly.

At the same time, you need to know that it is still possible that the 5.2 grams of net carbs in 100 grams of raw Brussels sprouts are too much.

One cup of raw Brussels sprouts is about 90 grams, and contains the following amounts of carbs:

• Total carbs: 8.1 grams
• Of which fiber: 3.4 grams
• Net carbs: 4.7 grams

As you can expect, eating smaller portions of Brussels sprouts will also mean consuming fewer carbohydrates. This makes it easier to stay in ketosis.

You can take this even further and limit how many Brussels sprouts you eat to a larger extent if your remaining daily carb budget requires this.

Other nutrition details about Brussels sprouts

Ketogenic diets definitely require you to pay attention to the amounts of carbs in foods like Brussels sprouts.

However, the amounts of other nutrients still offer valuable information for a variety of health goals.

100 grams of raw Brussels sprouts contain the following nutrients (1):

• Calories: 43
• Protein: 3.4 grams
• Carbs: 9 grams
• Part of the carbs that is fiber: 3.8 grams
• Fat: 0.3 grams
• Vitamin K: 221% of the DV (Daily Value)
• Vitamin C: 142% of the DV
• Manganese: 17% of the DV
• Vitamin A: 15% of the DV
• Folate: 15% of the DV

And some other vitamins and minerals in smaller amounts.

On top of being reasonably low in net carbohydrates, Brussels sprouts offer a variety of helpful nutrients in nice amounts.

This makes them a good vegetable option for ketogenic diets.

One thing that certain people do want to keep in mind is that Brussels sprouts contain high amounts of vitamin K.

This can interfere with certain blood-thinning medications (2). People who take these likely want to talk to their primary care provider before eating a lot more Brussels sprouts.

Why you can not always eat Brussels sprouts on keto

As briefly mentioned, foods like Brussels sprouts are not just always or never keto-friendly. Going over the keto basics can help you understand why this is and how to make sure you stay in ketosis.

Ketogenic diets involve lowering your carbohydrate consumption to the point where you get into ketosis. Ketosis is a state where you mainly use fat as fuel (3).

A typical guideline to get and stay in ketosis is eating 55%-60% of your calories in fat, 30%-35% in protein, and 5%-10% in carbohydrates.

Using these percentages will often result in being able to eat 20 to 50 grams of net carbs a day.

One important thing to note is that these are rough general guidelines. How many carbs you can actually eat before getting kicked out of ketosis can vary due to differences in weight, muscle mass, genes, and more.

Additionally, you typically don’t want to include fiber from Brussels sprouts and other foods in the amounts above. Fiber is a category of carbs but your body deals with it in different ways.

Are roasted Brussels sprouts keto-friendly?

You may wonder how much certain preparation methods like roasting the Brussels sprouts influences their nutrition details per 100 grams.

While I was not able to find specific nutrition data for this type of Brussels sprouts, there are some general statements that help you get a better idea.

By roasting Brussels sprouts, you typically remove at least some of the water in them. This makes them slightly less keto-friendly than the regular raw version.

At the same time, roasted Brussels sprouts should still be keto-friendly in reasonable amounts.

Substitutes for Brussels sprouts on keto

Brussels sprouts can still be a good food option on keto but there are other low-carb vegetables too.

In fact, a variety of these are even more keto-friendly than Brussels sprouts. This can make it easier to consume your daily nutrients while staying in ketosis.

The numbers next to these Brussels sprouts substitutes are the amounts of net carbohydrates per 100 grams (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9):

• Chicory: 0.9 grams of net carbs
• Spinach: 1.4 grams of net carbs
• Green leaf lettuce: 1.5 grams of net carbs
• Celery: 1.8 grams of net carbs
• Radishes: 1.9 grams of net carbs
• Asparagus: 2.1 grams of net carbs

Similar to Brussels sprouts, there are still situations where these substitutes can kick you out of ketosis.

At the same time, it should be clear that you can eat these vegetables in higher amounts on ketogenic diets.

Why do you follow a ketogenic diet?

The amounts of carbs in Brussels sprouts are relatively keto-friendly but this is not always enough. If you already ate a lot of carbohydrates, even small amounts can be too much to stay in ketosis.

How much of a problem this is depends on why you want to follow a ketogenic diet.

For example, even if they are not ket-friendly in your situation, Brussels sprouts can be good for weight loss and health.

Ketogenic diets are typically not the only way to reach these health goals.

On the other hand, it is also possible that you need/want to stay in strict ketosis every minute of the day. In a situation like that, you want to be careful about how many Brussels sprouts you eat.

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