Carbs in Cheese: Types to Avoid on Keto!
Have you ever looked at the ingredients on the back of a bag of shredded cheese? What about processed cheese slices? You might expect the only ingredient to be cheese, but in reality, these products have additives that alter the nutrition content and add hidden carbs. You are going to want to avoid these four types of cheese on the keto diet.
Shredded Cheese Nutrition Information
In order to keep shredded cheese from caking together, starches are added. Commonly added starches include potato starch and cellulose. These are basically pure carbohydrates, so they aren’t exactly keto-friendly.
Additionally, natamycin, a common anti-fungal, is also added to cheeses (specifically shredded cheese) to prevent mold.
Instead, try shredding cheese yourself at home for the perfect keto alternative! A block of cheese does not contain any additives and can be shredded by cutting a cheese grater or food processor.
Sliced Cheese Nutrition Information
While most cheese slices are simply slices of cheese, you will want to watch out for a few things. First off, avoid American singles (or slices). These individually wrapped cheese slices can barely even be classified as cheese! Instead, they are considered a “cheese product”. These cheese slices contain modified food starch, whey concentrate, calcium phosphate, potassium citrate, sodium phosphate, and sorbic acid.
Instead, stick to cheeses with only one ingredient- the cheese! These cheeses will have <1g net carb in one serving. Heavily processed cheese, like American singles, has 2-3g of carbs in just one slice and should be avoided on a keto diet.
Melting Cheese & Cheese Dip
Velveeta and other similar block cheeses are the “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” of cheeses. They are advertised as a healthier alternative, but they are actually significantly worse for you! These cheeses, similar to butter alternatives, add vegetable oil or canola oil to add the claim that they contain less fat than regular cheese. This type of cheese should definitely be avoided on a keto diet.
These are all of the ingredients in Velveeta Block Melting Cheese:
SKIM MILK, MILK, CANOLA OIL, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, MALTODEXTRIN, WHEY, SALT, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, LACTIC ACID, SORBIC ACID AS A PRESERVATIVE, MILKFAT, SODIUM ALGINATE, SODIUM CITRATE, ENZYMES, APOCAROTENAL AND ANNATTO (COLOR), CHEESE CULTURE, VITAMIN A PALMITATE.
Don’t be fooled by claims like “50% fewer calories” and “less fat than cheddar cheese”. Processed, block melting cheeses are certainly not healthier than regular cheese (even if they do have fewer calories). Canola oil is a highly inflammatory oil that can lead to a plethora of health issues. Food starch and matodextrin add hidden carbs to the cheese as well!
Just one serving of Velveeta cheese contains 3g of carbs!
Cans of cheese dip are essentially the same thing, in melted form. These dips contain added inflammatory oils and fillers that add unnecessary carbohydrates!
Spray Cheese
It should come as no surprise that cheese in a can has hidden carbs and is definitely not on the list of healthy cheeses. Similar to melting cheese & cheese dip, spray cheese also contains soybean oil, another highly inflammatory oil. 1 serving of this cheese has 2g of carbs.
So What Type of Cheese Can You Have on Keto?
Stick to unprocessed cheeses that don’t come in a can! Many cheeses are keto-friendly and make a great addition to a keto diet.
