The 10 Best Keto Candies
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Going on a low carb keto diet likely wont make your sweet tooth disappear.
This eating pattern restricts your daily carb intake to 2050 grams to put you in ketosis, a metabolic state in which your body burns fat instead of carbs for energy. This means that most sugary sweets are off-limits.
Fortunately, there are plenty of keto-friendly candy options that can be enjoyed if you follow a keto diet.
Here are our 10 favorite keto candies.
How Can I Improve My Keto Diet
When following any diet, its important to consume nutrient-dense, whole foods whenever possible.
Its common for those following keto diets to eat lower amounts of fiber, which is concentrated in carb-rich foods like fruit, vegetables, beans, and grains. Too little fiber can negatively affect your digestive health and cause issues like constipation .
On a keto diet, try to include plenty of low carb, nonstarchy vegetables like spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, and asparagus. These are high in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and beneficial plant compounds.
Budget It Into Your Carb Allowance
If youre still having cravings on a high fat diet, consider budgeting a treat into your meal plan.
Keto is a low-carb, not a zero-carb diet. So you can eat some carbs and still be in ketosis. Your daily limit is around 50 grams. If you eat zero carbs for the entire day, you could sneak in a small cheat meal while remaining in ketosis.
For example, high carbohydrate foods like a large doughnut contains 34 grams of carbs, while one cup of marshmallows has 41 grams of carbs.
However, only use this as a last resort. Although youll stay in ketosis, this high sugar intake triggers inflammation, a significant factor behind diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
It takes your body a while to repair itself after this, so if you budget junk food into your diet regularly, youll always be inflamed.
Read Also: Fruit To Eat On Keto
Falling Out Of Ketosis And Getting Back In
Many keto plans recommend getting only about 5 to 10 percent of your daily calories from carbohydrates. For most people, that translates to between 20 and 50 grams of carbohydrates a day.
Going over that daily limit by eating or drinking something that’s very sugary or starchy gives your body back its original fuel source: carbs. It will then fall out of ketosis and switch back to burning carbs, which it does more easily.
Read more:How to Increase Fat Burn During Ketosis
But falling out of ketosis doesn’t mean starting over from scratch. Though it can take several days to fully reach ketosis during the initial stage of your diet, it doesn’t take as long to get back into ketosis again after a slip, says David Bridges, PhD, assistant professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
“Yes, if you go to your mother’s house and she made these delicious cinnamon rolls and you just have to have one, it will probably stop the process of generating ketones and take you out of ketosis temporarily,” he says. “But if it’s just one meal, and you go right back to your diet, you should be able to get back into ketosis fairly quickly.”
Read more:Signs That You Are In Low-Carb Ketosis
What About The Artificial Sweeteners And Artificial Flavor
Sugar-free Jello contains aspartame and acesulfame-K. If these are sweeteners you choose to avoid for whatever reason, you can find alternative gelatins that are sweetened naturally by other means. Jello may also contain artificial colors and flavors. Store-bought jello is processed and would be considered dirty keto.
If you are on a clean keto diet, the best option is to make your own gelatin dessert at home to ensure you are eating the best ingredients for your dietary choices.
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Choczero Milk Chocolate Covered Toffee Double Dipped Almonds
Once again, ChocZero has blown us away with their chocolate-covered toffee-dipped almonds. We love these so much that we made an entire product review about this perfectly poppable keto candy. The almonds are packaged 2 to a bag, so theyre easy to portion control .
- Serving Size: 1 oz | 3.5 servings per container | 130 calories | 10g Fat | 14g Total Carbs | 9g Fiber | 1g Sugar | 2g Protein | 5g Net Carbs
- Ingredients: Milk Chocolate Confection , Non-GMO Resistant Dextrin, Roasted Almond, Vegetable Oils and Fats , Allulos, Almond Flour, Natural Caramel Flavor, Sea Salt, Sodium Bicarbonate, Sunflower Lecithin, Monk Fruit Extract.
Where to buy:
- ChocZero Websiteuse promo code HIP2KETO to score 10% off, plus get free shipping on orders over $35!
Keto Peanut Butter Chocolate Candy
If you have a love for peanut butter and chocolate – these keto peanut butter chocolate candies will be your new fave finds.
Craving something caramel? This low carb candy will do the trick!
best keto candy amazon
Headed to the movies or a movie night on the couch with Netflix? Of course, candy is on the list, but we also have more keto movie snacks for you to choose from. Enjoy these guilt-free treats while watching a movie.
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Can You Have Any Sweets On Keto
If you love sugar, the thought of keto might bring fear. Its okay! You can have sugar substitutes on Keto and enjoy some of your favorite foods like brownies, cookies, ice cream, and candy and never tell they are sugar free desserts. One popular Keto sweeteners alternative is Swerve Sweeteners. They are excellent for baking with a Keto approved diet.
Side Note: You can even have Keto Chips and Snacks! Make or buy your own Keto snack recipes.
One Sweetener That I Chose To Avoid When Including Items In This Post Is Maltitol
Even though Maltitol is a sugar substitute and technically low carb, there is evidence that it has a negative impact on our weight and blood sugar.
This means that if you measure your blood sugar levels after eating Maltitol, this substitute has been shown to raise them . One popular product that includes Maltitol, but is technically low carb is nutty fudge brownie bars.
Im not sharing this to say that you should or should not have them. Trust me, I am not and am never going to be the keto police! But, Im pointing this out, mostly because theyre advertised as keto, despite having ingredients that you might not realize kick people out of ketosis.
And, if youve ever been stalled and not sure why, then Im sharing a mistake that I made so that you can have all the info!
Read Also: Is Cheese Good For Keto
Dr Johns Healthy Sweets Root Beer Sugar
Heres another keto-friendly hard candy youll love. This time, it comes in root beer flavor! You know youre not allowed to have this drink on keto. However, this treat can be one of the best keto candies. You can have as many as 4 pieces and not worry about exceeding your carb limit. Want ginger spice and fruity flavors? Dr. Johns has those too.
Nutrition : Calories 35, Net carbs 2g, Fat 0g, Protein 0g
Are Sugar Free Sweets Safe For Keto
Most UK supermarkets stock sugar free sweets. These are normally marketed as diabetic friendly and contain little to no sugar. Instead, sweeteners are used. These can be artificial or natural . Sounds great, but are sugar free sweets keto?
Short answer, probably not. But read on to find out why, and what you need to check.
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Why Share A Keto Candy Post
If youve searched the web, then you know there are a few posts about keto-friendly candy options. I decided to make my own because I found that most of them included lots of options that had so much sugar that it would likely kick me out of ketosis. In this post, Im sharing what I learned about why every low carb candy isnt necessarily keto-friendly.
Russell Stover Sugar Free Nutrition Facts
Here are the nutrition facts for the Sugar-Free Caramel flavor:
As you can see, one serving of 2 candies has 17g of sugar alcohols and just 2g net carbs.
It has 6g of fats, out of which 4.5g is the saturated fat . And there is only 1g of protein per serving.
Clearly, these candies have little to offer in terms of nutrition.
If its the first time youve heard about the term net carbs, dont worry!
Net carbs is an essential element of the keto diet, and its very easy to calculate.
Generally, the formula for calculating net carbs is given as:
Total Carbohydrates Fiber Sugar Alcohols = Net Carbs
Let me give you an example for better understanding:
When talking about the carb limit in a keto diet, we are always referring to the net carbs.
Fiber and sugar alcohols are NOT digested by our body and hence they pass unabsorbed. They have little to no effect on our blood sugar levels and they are considered keto-safe.
MORE: Is a Keto Fat Burner Worth It?
Read Also: Nature’s Plus Sugar Control Keto Living
The Best Keto Candy To Buy That Tame Your Sweet Cravings
Ambassador spotlight Julie Scholten
What keto candy to buy that wont sabotage your efforts? Theres no need to restrict yourself from enjoying sweets with these low-carb keto treats.
A lot of people on keto find themselves struggling to break up with sugar. Youre probably already aware: Sugar is addictive. More often than not, we turn to sweets to calm our nerves when were stressed or anxious.
If youre on a ketogenic diet, you may be wondering if youre still allowed to eat sweets. The good news is that yes, you can have some as long as theyre keto friendly candy. It doesnt matter if youve got a sweet tooth.
With that having said, weve put together a list of the best keto candy options from various brands. Heres what youll love: These candies may be low-carb, but they taste just like traditional desserts. So, at the end of the day, you wont feel deprived at all.
A word of advice: Be careful not to over-consume them. Low-carb keto candy is usually sweetened with sugar alcohol that may cause diarrhea. Other sweeteners include stevia, monk fruit extract, and sucralose.
Choczeros Keto Bark Dark Chocolate Almonds With Sea Salt
This dark chocolate bark provides a great gluten-free and zero-sugar alternative to traditional chocolate.
Sweetened with monk fruit, these keto bars are perfect for several types of diets and lifestyles, including keto.
With a taste like premium candy, they are packed with healthy almonds to give them a nice flavor and crunch and contain only 2g net carbs per ounce.
Individually wrapped for snacking on the go, these chocolates are the perfect keto treat and a great option if youre looking for a low-carb, high-fiber candy.
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Candy On Keto Is A No
First things first: lets talk about sugar. Its the ingredient that makes candy so addictive and it goes by several names, including sucrose, dextrose, high fructose corn syrup and more.
No matter what you call them, all of the sugars found in your standard supermarket candy bars are essentially the same in terms of their relationship to the keto diet: theyre no-nos. These sugars are simple carbohydrates that, when consumed, hit the bloodstream like a freight train. Your body turns to them immediately for energy, which is exactly the opposite of what keto followers want to happen.
On the ketogenic diet, the goal is to keep your body in a metabolic state known as ketosis. While in this state, the body relies primarily on fat for fuel rather than carbs. Following a ketogenic diet can lead to weight loss, improved cholesterol levels, a reduction of seizures and more. So, ketogenic dieters want to keep their carb consumption–and in turn, their consumption of traditional candy–to a minimum.
If youre a sugar lover, dont lose hope yet, though, because sweet treats arent completely off the table on the keto diet. In fact, far from it. There are many tasty candies that are made without sugar that will satisfy your candy cravings and control carbs at the same time.
How Eating Sugar Might Make You Feel
Eating sugar while in ketosis can cause side effects, too. “You might experience some gastrointestinal distress,” says Bridges. “If you’ve been in ketosis for a while, your body may no longer be equipped to digest high-carbohydrate foods in the same manner as it used to be.”
You may also experience symptoms of keto flu as you get yourself back into ketosis. And if you stop following a low-carb diet for more than just a meal or two, you’re likely to gain back some of the water weight you lost initially, says Bridges.
Read more:7 Things Nutritionists Want You to Know About the Keto Diet
Spritzler says that eating sugar while in ketosis may also trigger a setback psychologically for some people. “I recommend staying low-carb as much as you can, because when you get used to eating a certain way, you can get to the point where you really don’t crave sugar,” she says. “But if you go ahead and have a cheat day or a cheat meal, it can stimulate those pleasure centers in the brain. It can be difficult to get back on track without wanting that sweet treat again.”
The bottom line, both Bridges and Spritzler agree, is that eating a starchy meal or a sugary dessert certainly could throw your body out of ketosis â and it might make you feel pretty lousy for a short time, as well. But as long as you’re not chowing down on high-carb foods regularly, the occasional treat shouldn’t derail your long-term plans for losing excess weight or keeping it off.
Recommended Reading: Keto Casserole With Ground Beef
What Candy Can You Eat On Keto
You may automatically assume that when following a ketogenic diet, it’s an all or nothing game when it comes to sweets and carbohydrates. The truth is, while there are plenty of keto-friendly recipes to recreate many of your old favorites, you can still consume certain candies, in moderation, of course.
Carbohydrate tolerance will vary from person to person, though most people can consume between thirty to fifty net carbs 1Net carbs is the number of carbs left after subtracting fiber and sugar alcohols. and remain in a state of ketosis. If you’re a highly active individual or athlete, you may be able to consume two or three times that and stay in ketosis.
The only way to know is by conducting your own experiment and seeing how many carbohydrates you can consume while remaining in ketosis. To find your threshold, you would need to check for ketones after consuming varying levels of carbohydrates, preferably with a blood ketone meter.
Choczero Keto Dark Chocolate Almond Bark
ChocZero is popular for its sugar-free chocolate treats. If youre craving keto dark chocolate bark thats dairy-free, high in fat, and can be eaten by vegans, this low carb candy is for you. A piece of bark contains only 2 grams of net carbs.
Nutrition : Calories 120, Net carbs 2g, Fat 10g, Protein 2g
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Stevita Naturals Hard Candy
These juicy little Stevita Naturals hard candies are our go-to for a quick candy fix. They not only taste like traditional candy, but look and feel like it, from the handy tin container you can throw in your pocket or purse to the crunch when you pop one in your mouth.
Theyre sweetened with stevia and isomalt, another sugar substitute that doesnt affect blood glucose levels. One serving of these fruit-flavored goodies has zero grams of net carbs.
Not All Sweeteners Are Equal
There are a lot of sweeteners. Some are actually worse than normal cane sugar as they spike your blood sugar and insulin levels. Its not an exhaustive list, but ones to avoid are:
- White / Brown sugar
OK, so what sweeteners are fine for keto?
- Stevia
- Aspartame
- Sucralose
While some argue that a few of them have unconfirmed long term side effects . Others have no adverse reaction to them. Its up to you to decide on what to consume. However, if you like diet fizzy drinks, then they usually contain aspartame. Its actually one of the most common sweeteners, so its hard to avoid.
There are a few more sweeteners that are common in sugar free sweets and those are xylitol, sorbitol and maltitol. They are also commonly blended with additives like dextrose and maltodextrin to reduce their excessive sweetness. These tend to have a high glycaemic index that can kick you out of ketosis.
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Best Keto Candies Of 2022
Jaron*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure to learn more.
For those with a sweet tooth, starting a low-carb diet can be extremely challenging. Luckily, you dont have to bid adieu to candy just because you are going keto.
So, what is the best keto candy? The best keto candy contains minimal net carbs to serve a ketogenic diet, is made with high-quality ingredients, is free of unnecessary additives and artificial flavors, and is easily available.
Read on for a detailed buyers guide on how to choose the best keto candy and our top picks of the 27 best ones!