The keto diet is a high-fat, low-carb dietary plan that is popular among people who are trying to lose weight, burn fat, and live healthier. Even though the keto diet does have a lot of restrictions on it, there are some foods that are still allowed. For example, is mustard keto or not? If you are trying to follow the keto diet, are you allowed to eat mustard? Take a look at some important information below.

Short Answer: Some Mustards Are Keto Friendly, and Some Are Not

Mustard is a condiment that has a unique nutrition profile, which means that some forms of mustard are keto-friendly while others are not. For example, yellow mustard, Dijon mustard, spicy brown mustard, and stone-ground mustard are examples of mustard that could work well with the keto diet. On the other hand, there are other types of mustard that may not work well, such as honey mustard. Even though honey mustard is popular, it also contains a significant amount of either cane sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, which means honey mustard may not necessarily be keto-friendly. 

Long Answer: Identifying Mustards That Are Keto-Friendly

If you are trying to follow the keto diet, the goal is to put your body in a state of ketosis. Ketosis is a specific metabolic state your body enters that causes it to burn fat for energy instead of carbohydrates. If carbohydrates are available, your body is going to burn them as a primary source of energy. This means that your body is not going to be burning fat for energy, which could make it harder for you to lose weight.

If you would like your body to burn fat and produce ketones, you need to significantly reduce your intake of carbohydrates. Therefore, when you follow the keto diet, you might try to limit your total carbohydrate intake to approximately 30 to  50 grams per day. That means that any carbohydrates you consume, including carbohydrates found in mustard, are going to come out of this total. 

Fortunately, there are plenty of varieties of mustard that do not contain any carbohydrates at all. Therefore, you do not have to worry about these types of mustard contributing to your carbohydrate limit. For example, Dijon mustard does not contain any carbohydrates. Therefore, Dijon mustard is keto friendly. The same can be said of other types of mustard as well, including spicy brown mustard.

Of course, you do need to be careful about consuming mustard. The nutrition facts of mustard can vary slightly from brand to brand. With this in mind, take a look at the back before you decide to add that type of mustard to your food.

Where Do the Carbs in Mustard Come From?

Even though there are plenty of types of mustard that do not contain any carbohydrates at all, there are other forms of mustard, such as honey mustard, that do contain carbohydrates. What is the major difference between these types of mustard? 

As the name suggests, honey mustard is meant to be sweeter than other types of mustard. Therefore, the sweetness has to come from somewhere. When it comes to honey mustard, the source of speak this can vary slightly from company to company. For example, some types of honey mustard use cane sugar to add a bit of sweetness. Other types of honey mustard may actually use honey. There are even situations are some mustards contain high-fructose corn syrup. Regardless of where the sweetness comes from, honey mustard does have a higher number of carbohydrates than other types of mustard. They are for, you need to be careful if you decide to use honey mustard while on the keto diet. It could knock your body out of ketosis. 

Can You Consume Sweetened Mustard on the Keto Diet?

It is possible for you to consume sweet and mustard on the keto diet. The most important thing to remember is that you have to do so in moderation. You do not necessarily have to throw the bottle in the garbage can, but you do have to follow portion control. If you decide to add sweetened muster to one of your food, you need to measure the serving size carefully. Then, compare this to the number of carbohydrates in the back. You need to include the total number of carbohydrates you consume from sweetened mustard along with the other foods you are consuming.

As an example, you probably will not be able to dredge that grilled chicken breast through honey mustard. There is a good chance you are going to exceed your carbohydrate limit. On the other hand, if you measure the portion size carefully, and dip the chicken breast in that specific portion of honey mustard, you might be able to control the number of carbohydrates you consume. If you have any questions or concerns, you may want to reach out to a professional who can help you. 

How Do I Know if I Have Gone Over the Limit?

If you are trying to track the number of carbohydrates you consume on a given day, the first step is to take a look at the serving size on the back of the bottle. How many tablespoons of that mustard did you consume? Then, take the number of servings you have consumed, multiply it by the number of carbohydrates per serving, and you should receive your answer. Add this number of carbohydrates to the other carbohydrates you have eaten during the day. If you have gone over the limit, you know it is time to stop. 

You may also want to invest in keto test strips. These are specific strips that are designed to check your urine for signs of ketones. If your body is in ketosis, it should be producing ketones that are detectable in your urine. This is the ultimate way to figure out if you are still in a state of ketosis. If the keto test strips are detecting ketones in your urine, then you should still be in a state of ketosis, which is the goal of the diet. 

Want to know if other condiments like ketchup are keto-friendly as well?