Is Pineapple Keto?

Following a specific diet can be demanding as you must always be aware of what you can and cannot eat.

The same goes for those who follow a keto diet; you need to know what foods to avoid so you don’t end up accidentally ruining your diet! 

Here, we are going to be talking about pineapple and its role in the keto diet (if it even has one at all). This way, you will know if pineapple is keto or not, what benefits it offers, and what substitutes you can use in your diet. 

Check out the guide below! 

Is Pineapple Okay To Eat On A Keto Diet? 

Let’s rip the band-aid off straight away – pineapple is not suitable for those on a keto diet. 

Going keto is all about eating foods that are high in fat and protein yet low in carbohydrates and sugar. This forces your body to go into a state of ketosis that forces your body to burn fat for energy instead of glucose.

Eating too much carbs or sugar will force your body out of this ketosis state and completely ruin your diet. 

So, it is vital for those on a keto diet to keep their sugar and carbohydrate intake super low. This is why they avoid eating foods that are high in sugar and carbohydrates and instead turn to foods that are high in fat and protein.

Pineapple is not high in fat or protein but instead is high in carbohydrates and sugar. As a result, it is not keto-friendly and so, many people on keto diets avoid pineapple.  

In a small 100g portion of pineapple, you can find 13g of total carbohydrates and 10g of sugar. For a larger single-slice serving of pineapple, there are nearly 22g of total carbohydrates and 16g of sugar.  

These numbers mean that pineapple is not keto-friendly. It’s too high in both carbohydrates and sugar so you cannot eat it on a regular basis. 

Is Pineapple Juice Keto-Friendly Instead? 

Pineapple is not keto-friendly no matter in what form you consume it. Whether it’s crushed, cut up into chunks, or even juiced, it still contains the same high levels of carbohydrates and sugar.

Take pineapple juice for example. In one serving of pineapple juice, there are 14g of sugar and 16g of total carbohydrates. This means that, like regular pineapple itself, pineapple juice is not keto-friendly.  

Best Keto-Friendly Substitutes For Pineapple

So, you should avoid pineapple when following a keto diet – but what should you do if your favorite recipes involve pineapple? What can you swap out for the pineapple? 

Here are some of the best substitutions for pineapple to make your recipes more keto-friendly. 

Low-Carb Fruit

Pineapple is an ingredient used in a lot of recipes to make fruity, sweet desserts or dishes.

This means that in most cases, you will want a sweet fruit that is still low in carbohydrates, making it keto-friendly. Unfortunately, a lot of types of fruit do not meet this requirement – but not all. 

Some great low-carb fruit that is suitable for a keto diet includes: 

• Blackberries
• Strawberries
• Raspberries
• Blueberries

Try swapping out the pineapple in your recipe for some of these fruits instead. They are way lower in calories but are still sweet and delicious. This makes them a great alternative to try out. 

Of course, they don’t really capture that tropical taste of pineapple so they won’t be suitable to work as a substitute for every pineapple-based recipe. The closest you can get to a tropical keto-friendly fruit is avocado. 

Avocado is the go-to fruit for a lot of keto meals because it’s high in fat. For every 100g of avocado, you only consume 1.8g of carbohydrates and 19.7g of fat.

That’s a huge difference compared to pineapple and so, it’s a great alternative fruit to use! 

Another good fruit substitute is lemon. Lemon is much sharper than pineapple as it’s a classic citrus fruit but it’s the closest you can get to a keto-friendly fruit that has that acidic flavor of pineapple.

However, lemon is not as sweet as pineapple. While pineapple can make desserts taste tropical and sweet, often paired with coconut, lemon is zesty and refreshing. 

Despite this, in some cases, lemon could work as a good keto-friendly pineapple substitute.

Pineapple Extract

Pineapple has a very distinctive flavor that is difficult to replicate using alternative fruits. As a result, a good substitute to use in place of actual pineapple is pineapple extract. 

It’s the go-to substitute for things like baked goods and smoothies that need that distinctive pineapple flavor. It provides the flavor of pineapple without the high levels of carbohydrates and sugar, so it’s a great substitute. 

Of course, you can’t use pineapple extract in every pineapple-based recipe to make it keto-friendly.

Low-Carb Sweeteners

If your recipe calls for pineapple to work as a sweetener, then you can substitute it for a keto-friendly substitute instead. These keto-friendly sweeteners are lower in carbohydrates and are often used in making keto meals and desserts. 

Some great examples of low-carb sweeteners that work as substitutes for pineapple in recipes include: 

• Monk Fruit
• Stevia
• Erythritol 

These are something most people on a keto diet already have in their kitchens. They are widely used so they are an easy-to-source substitute for pineapple in baking and cooking recipes. 

Final Thoughts

So, is pineapple keto-friendly? 

Pineapple itself is very high in carbohydrates and sugar which makes it totally unsuitable for a keto diet.

Although you can eat very, very small portions if you have not reached your daily carbohydrate or sugar allowance, most people on a keto diet avoid it altogether. 

There are some great alternatives to pineapple like avocado and other low-carb fruits, pineapple extract, and more. Check out the guide above for more information on the best pineapple substitutes for a keto diet. 

We hope this guide has helped you better understand what is and is not allowed on a keto diet! Thanks for reading! 

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