Is Sour Cream Keto or Not?

You might also be wondering if sour cream is acceptable on a keto diet. Like other foods, it is always important to read the nutrition facts before you buy a specific brand of sour cream. Fortunately, sour cream is usually keto-friendly and low-carb; however, it does depend on the exact brand of sour cream you consume.

Sour cream is usually made by taking cream and souring it using acids, such as vinegar or lemon juice. As bacteria grow, the cream gets thicker, leading to the texture that most people know as sour cream.

In general, sour cream made from whole milk has a significant amount of fat. Because this is where most of the calories come from, most sour cream is relatively low in carbohydrates. At the same time, it is important to take a look at a few specific nutrition facts before deciding if sour cream is friendly on the keto diet. 

Nutrition Facts of Sour Cream: Regular and Light

You will see multiple types of sour cream at the grocery store. Therefore, you should read the nutrition facts carefully, as some types of sour cream will have more carbohydrates than others. 

Here is an example of nutrition facts for a popular brand of regular sour cream:

• 60 calories per two tablespoons of sour cream
• 5 g of fat, with 3.5 g of saturated fat
• 20 mg of cholesterol
• 15 mg of sodium
• 0 mg of potassium
• 2 g of carbohydrates, with 2 total g of sugar
• 1 g of protein

Now, here is an example of the nutrition facts from that same brand, but using light sour cream:

• 35 calories per two tablespoons of light sour cream
• 2.5 g of fat, with 1.5 g of saturated fat
• 10 mg of cholesterol
• 15 mg of sodium
• 0 mg of potassium
• 1 g of carbohydrates, with 1 total g of sugar
• 2 g of protein

You can see that the nutrition facts change slightly. These are two variations of sour cream from the same brand. You should make sure to read the nutrition facts of your specific brand before deciding if it is keto-friendly or not.

The Health Benefits of Sour Cream

There are several important health benefits of consuming sour cream. These include: 

• Vitamin Absorption: There are certain vitamins that require fat in order to be absorbed by the body. These include vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, and vitamin K. Consuming these vitamins with a source of fat, such as sour cream, makes it easier for your body to absorb them. 
• Probiotics: There are certain types of sour cream that contain probiotics. Probiotics are important for the overall health of your digestive tract. For example, specific brands, such as Nancy’s, add probiotics back to the sour cream.
• Calcium: Finally, sour cream is a dairy product, which means it contains calcium. This is important for the overall health of your bones, and it may prevent the development of bone fractures later in life. Calcium is also important for muscle function. 

These are some of the top benefits of sour cream. 

Is Sour Cream Keto?

Based on the nutrition facts from the example above, sour cream is friendly to the keto diet; however, you still need to make sure you tally your carbohydrates carefully. If you consume too much regular sour cream, the carbohydrates will add up quickly. You should always make sure you subtract the number of carbohydrates from sour cream from your total allowance for the day. You should be able to consume more sour cream on the keto diet if you consume low-fat sour cream. 

Top Sour Cream Brands for the Keto Diet

A few of the top sour cream brands you may want to consider for the keto diet include:

• Light Sour Cream, Dairy Pure, which contains one gram of carbs (listed above)
• Daisy Sour Cream, which contains one gram of carbs 
• Organic Valley Sour Cream, which contains two grams of carbs

Consider giving these brands a try!