Honeydew is a sweet melon with greenish-colored pulps. This healthy melon is available throughout the year.
As a keto lover, you may ask is honeydew keto friendly? Honeydew is not among the best keto diet fruits because of its high carbs. However, it can be considered a keto friendly fruit if consumed in limited portions.
Is Honeydew Low Carb?
Although honeydew is a type of melon-like watermelon, it is not a low carb fruit like watermelon. It is moderately high in carbs.
100 gram serving of honeydew contains 9.09 grams of carbs and 0.8 grams of fiber. After deduction of the dietary fiber, the net carbs of honeydew become 8.29 grams.
How to Make Honeydew Keto Friendly?
Honeydew contains moderately high carbs and a very tiny amount of dietary fiber. That’s why honeydew is moderately high in both total carbs and net carbs.
On the other hand, you need to maintain a daily intake of net carbs to 30 grams to achieve the common ketosis symptoms like
- Oily yellow ketosis urine color
- Ketones urine smell like meat
- Low-carb bloated stomach(first week of keto)
- Constipation on the first week of keto
Moreover, some additional symptoms may also occur. These are changes in keto poop smell and color, smelly breath, ketosis urine smell like asparagus or tuna, weight loss, etc.
To get into ketosis you need to restrict your intake of net carbs from fruits to 5 grams per day. However, a small portion of honeydew contains almost double compared to this limit which can easily break this net carb level.
Because of this, a strict consumption rule should be followed to eat honeydew in keto. That’s why a 50-gram intake of honeydew can be considered keto friendly.
Is Honeydew Ok on Keto?
Honeydew contains a high amount of carbs and very little amount of fiber. Because of this honeydew is not among high fiber keto foods.
However, honeydew is a great source of useful nutrients, especially vitamin C and potassium. These nutrients provide several health benefits like (1, 2, 3)
- Diabetes prevention
- Blood pressure control
- Immunity boost
- Prevention of oxidative stress
- Wrinkle reduction
- Protection against UV damage
But, only a little portion of honeydew can be consumed in keto. This will reduce the nutrition values also. That’s why honeydew is considered among neither potassium rich foods for keto nor good keto food with vitamin C.
Moreover, honeydew is very low in fiber and the keto intake restricts keeps its potassium content low also. That’s why honeydew is omitted from the best keto-friendly fruits for diabetics.
Will Honeydew Kick You Out of Ketosis?
Although, honeydew is a little high in carbs, a controlled intake of honeydew will not kick out out of ketosis. If you consume 50 grams of honeydew, you can easily stay on ketosis.
Howver, more than this serving size may cause carb overload. This carb overload can break the required net carbs level to maintain ketosis.
Honeydew Nutrition
Honeydew is a good source of nutrients. It contains nutrients, minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants. It is a great source of beta carotene, vitamin A, C, folate, and potassium.
Let’s check the nutrition value of 100 gram serving of honeydew (4)
- Calories: 36
- Fiber: 0.8 g
- Carbs: 9.09 g
- Fat: 0.14 g
- Protein: 0.54 g
How To Store Honeydew
Uncut honeydews last for 3 to 5 days at normal room temperature. However, the lifespan of honeydew can be increased by following a proper storage formula.
The storage procedure is different for cut and uncut honeydew. Uncut honeydews can be stored in the refrigerator for 9-11 days without any additional packaging.
However, cut pieces of honeydew need to be wrapped using clean and dry paper before storing them in the freezer. This type of honeydew lasts for 5-7 days.
What Are Some Honeydew Recipes
Multiple recipes can be prepared using honeydew. However, the majority of these recipes are a bit high in carbs. To make these dishes ketogenic add a limited amount of honeydews.
Honeydew melon smoothie: This smoothie contains all low carb ingredients except honeydew. To make this low carb add a little bit of honeydew. This smoothie contains almond milk, honeydew, chia seeds, and strawberries.
Honeydew salad: To prepare honeydew salad mix cucumber, tomato, spinach, and honeydew. It can be topped with garlic salt or black pepper for a spicy test.
Honeydew melon soup: This is a low carb keto friendly soup as it uses only a little amount of honeydew. To prepare this soup blend honeydew, coconut milk, and avocado for 5 minutes. You can consume this soup with keto bread as breakfast.
Honeydew Alternatives on Keto
As honeydew is high in carbs it is prohibited in the keto diet. However, there is some other low in carbs keto fruits that can replace honeydew.
These keto-approved fruits are:
Avocado: Avocado is probably the best keto approved fruit. A 100 gram serving of low carb avocado contains 1.8 g net carbs per serving (5).
Watermelon: Watermelon is a perfect keto friendly fruit alternative to honeydew. It provides 7.1 grams of net carbs against 100 grams of serving (6).
Strawberries: Strawberries are good for keto. This low carb fruit contains 5.7 grams of net carbs against a serving size of 100 grams (7).
Raspberries: Keto diet friendly raspberries are a good replacement for honeydew. A 100 gram serving of blueberries provides 5.4 grams of net carbs (8).
Lemon: Lemon is a great keto fruit. Low carb lemons contain 6.5 grams of net carbs against a serving size of 100 grams (9).
Final Thoughts
Low carb fruits are best fitted among the keto diet approved fruit list. However, not all fruits are keto friendly. Honeydew is one such fruit that is not keto friendly fruit.
The high carb density of honeydew makes it out of the list of ketogenic fruits. However, fruits like strawberries, raspberries, lemon, avocado, etc can be a good alternative to honeydew on the keto diet.
