Good news for Keto and Low Carbers, a national pizza chain (which I have decided not to name for legal purposes) has launched a Keto Pizza with only 6 net carbs!
For those who have not heard of the Keto diet, the traditional Keto diet is when you decrease your carbohydrate intake to 20 grams or less a day in order to burn fat instead of carbohydrates, also known as ketosis. When you’re in ketosis, your body runs off fat and as a result, many have experienced better health benefits such as lower blood sugars and weight loss. In order to remain in ketosis, you must avoid eating starches, grains, lentils, hydrogenated oils, most root vegetables and fruits. Many of the same restrictions are similar with the strict low carbohydrate diet. The difference is that low carbohydrate intakes are little more lenient. For a strict low carbohydrate diet, you are allowed up to 50 grams. Otherwise, any intake of carbohydrates under 150 is generally considered a low carbohydrate diet. Also, with a general low carbohydrate diet, you can still have starches, grains and other foods that you’re not able to eat on a keto diet in moderation. I am currently doing the strict low carborhydrate/keto diet to lower my blood sugar, which I’ve experienced amazing results. As of last week, my A1C was a 4.4!
So the fact that a national pizza chain is considering options for low carbohydrate/keto diets is great, right? It is, however, in this case, I’m not impressed.
Before I express my thoughts on this, here’s the summary of the article.
Several news outlets posted an article about the national pizza chain becoming the first chain to have the first Keto-diet approved pizza. The company boasts that their pizza crust is only 6 grams of net carbs and swaps out flour for flaxseeds, eggs and cheese. The pizza is one of four types of new specialty pizzas set to launch the nationwide chain today that you can order exclusively on their app or online.
Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? I thought so too at first, especially with the last couple of fails with pizza establishments 2 weeks prior. I thought that this would be the one place where I could actually eat out with my family until I read the ingredients…..
While scrolling on Facebook last night, I’ve came across a post from one of my Keto Facebook Groups discussing the article on this pizza chain. Even though the article stated that the new pizzas would be available for purchase today, I saw one of the members posted the nutritional value of the pizza, which equaled to 13 grams of carbohydrates, (8 net carbs) for 3 slices of pizza. I was intrigued to learn about the ingredients so I went on the website and searched for nutritional information. What I’ve saw bewildered me…..
Everything seemed very keto friendly until I saw the last ingredient: CULTURED BROWN RICE.
For real. Seriously?!
That alone just disqualified the pizza as “Keto approved”.
In addition, as I’ve searched for the ingredients of the mozzarella that is used for their pizzas, you’ll see non-compliant ingredients, POTATO STARCH and CANOLA OIL. Yep friends, you are not consuming real cheese. So, basically, no matter if your crust is compliant or not, that slice of pizza would definitely kick your body out of ketosis because of the ingredients alone. Furthermore, diabetics, like myself that eat low carbohydrate/keto as part of their treatment, will experience higher blood sugar readings that could conventionally put us in danger of having a hypoglycemic episode.
This is misleading marketing on the behalf of the company and it bewilders me that this restaurant chain is actually calling this a keto product when their ingredient list clearly states otherwise.
Friends, just because a company claims that their food product is considered low carbohydrate/ keto friendly or allergen friendly does not mean that it is. Research the ingredients and nutritional values for yourself. Don’t be afraid to approach these companies in person, phone or email with these concerns and demand change to these potentially misleading business practices. It can definitely save a life. Don’t assume that all food companies and restaurants have your best interest at heart because at end of the day, the intention most of these businesses are just trying to find a creative way to make a profit. Be alert, stay vigilant, stay woke!
Until next time,
The Genetic Diabetic
