Soy Sauce Vs Coconut Aminos

There is a ton of information on the internet regarding foods you should avoid and foods that you can eat when pursing a LCHF / Ketogenic way of eating (WOE). There are many good blogs and websites regarding such sources, and then there are those which promote their own underlying agenda that tend the skew the information they provide regarding foods they consider to be LCHF or Ketogenic friendly. One of these foods which seems to fall into this category is soy sauce.

For example one blogger writes “Mainly for health reasons, avoid soy products apart from a few non-GMO fermented products which are known for their health benefits.” This statement says it all. This particular blogger does not have a problem with soy sauce or other fermented soy products as long as they are not genetically modified organisms (GMO's). So their basis for not wanting you to use soy products is not necessarily a scientific perspective, but one of personal choice. They do not like products containing GMO's, ergo, these products are not Ketogenic. This in of itself is false reasoning.

If you want to eat non-GMO foods that is a personal choice, and who knows, we might all be better off if we did so, but a food does not have to be non-GMO to be ketogenic. What a food does need to be is low in carbohydrates as eating foods high in carbohydrates (more than 60 grams per day) is what knocks your body out of ketosis. Whether the carbohydrate source is organic, non-organic, GMO or non-GMO doesn't matter, you body is unable to tell the difference. In today's article, we are going to look at both soy sauce and coconut aminos and compare and contrast these two somewhat controversial items. It is my hope that the information in this article helps you to make your own choice based on the facts, and not the rhetoric.

The Comparisons (Coconut Amino's Versus Soy Sauce)

Coconut amino's are pretty popular as a soy sauce substitute among the ketogenic community, and you can substitute coconut amino's for the soy sauce if you wish. The nutritional count for coconut amino's is about 1 – 2 carbohydrates per teaspoon (all from sugar). I have not tried them, so I am not sure exactly how they compare to taste with that of a traditional soy sauce. Coconut amino's should not however be confused with 'Braggs Liquid Amino's' which is made from vegetable protein and soy beans. I have a bottle of the 'Braggs Liquid Amino's' that a family member bought but did not like. To me, the Bragg's tastes like soy sauce, but that should not be surprising as it is made from soybeans (Btw, the 'Braggs' has zero carbohydrates).

There are two potential problems with using coconut amino's as a substitute for soy sauce. The first is the price, if you are on a budget, coconut amino's are going to cost you two to three times that of a traditional soy sauce. While prices vary, an 8 ounce bottle of coconut amino's will cost you somewhere between $3.50 - $10.00 via the internet, as opposed to a traditional soy sauce that will cost you $1.88 - $3.00 at your local supermarket, with organic soy sauce options costing you a little more. The Second, and larger issue is the carbohydrate count. From a purely Ketogenic stand point, coconut aminos are a worse choice as they are significantly higher in carbohydrates than traditional soy sauce options. The 'Dynamic Health' brand for example being the worse with a whopping 15 carbohydrates per tablespoon. I have listed the following soy sauce and coconut amino options not only by their category, but alphabetically so that you can compare not only the cost of the item, but it's overall carbohydrate count as well. Most adults need to keep their carbohydrate count less than 60 grams a day to maintain a state of ketosis, type 2 diabetics may need a stricter restriction of 20 carbohydrates or less per day. Therefore, using a high carbohydrate brand of coconut aminos could quickly derail your progress so care must be taken if and when you choose to use coconut aminos.

Conventional and 'Gluten Free' Soy Sauces

Great Value Soy Sauce 15oz bottle $1.88 (< 1 carbohydrate per tablespoon)

Kikkoman All-purpose Soy Sauce 15oz bottle $2.28 (1 carbohydrate per tablespoon)

Kikkoman All-purpose 'Gluten Free' Soy Sauce 15oz bottle $3.29 (1 carbohydrate per tablespoon)

Lee Kum Kee All-purpose Premium Soy Sauce 16.9oz bottle $3.04 (<1 carbohydrate per tablespoon)

San J 'Gluten Free' Soy Sauce 10oz bottle $2.59 (1 carbohydrate per tablespoon)

Some Organic Soy Sauces

Kikkoman Organic Soy Sauce 10oz bottle $4.39 (1 carbohydrates per tablespoon)

San J Organic Tamari Soy Sauce 20oz bottle $5.99 (< 1 carbohydrate per tablespoon)

Simple Truth Organic Soy Sauce 10oz bottle $2.99 (1 carbohydrate per tablespoon)

Organic Coconut Amino's

Big Tree Farms Organic Coconut Aminos 10oz bottle $5.95 (6 carbohydrates per tablespoon)

Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos 8oz bottle $4.99 (3 carbohydrates per tablespoon)

Dynamic Health Organic Coconut Aminos 8oz bottle $3.29 (15 carbohydrates per tablespoon)

Ojio Organic Coconut Aminos 10oz bottle $8.99 (3 carbohydrates per tablespoon)

Thrive Organic Coconut Aminos 10oz bottle $5.65 (6 carbohydrates per tablespoon)

What we see is that from a purely Ketogenic perspective, is that coconut aminos are a less desirable choice than that of traditional or organic soy sauce options. On average, coconut aminos contain three times the carbs, with a few brands containing 6 – 15 times more carbohydrates than soy sauce. So why are there so many keto advocates pushing for the use of coconut amino's in place of soy sauce? Well that's the million dollar question.

Sodium Comparisons

The one place where coconut amino's do shine is their low sodium content. Overall they tend to have about half of the sodium as their traditional soy sauce counterparts. The one surprising thing for me was that the organic soy sauces all had higher sodium levels than the traditional soy sauces. So if sodium is an issue in your diet, then you should probably avoid these products, or at the very least enjoy them in moderation. I have listed all the sauces in this article in alphabetical order regardless of the type for easy comparison.

Big Tree Farms Organic Coconut Aminos (480mg per tablespoon)

Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos (339mg sodium per tablespoon)

Dynamic Health Organic Coconut Aminos (75mg sodium per tablespoon)

Great Value All-purpose Soy Sauce (900mg sodium per tablespoon)

Ojio Organic Coconut Aminos (390mg sodium per tablespoon)

Kikkoman All-purpose Sauce (575mg sodium per tablespoon)

Kikkoman All-purpose 'Gluten Free' Soy Sauce (960mg sodium per tablespoon)

Kikkoman Organic All-purpose Sauce (1000mg sodium per tablespoon)

Lee Kum Kee All-purpose Premium Soy Sauce (1200mg sodium per tablespoon)

San J Organic Tamari Soy Sauce (940mg sodium per tablespoon)

San J 'Gluten Free' Soy Sauce (980mg sodium per tablespoon)

Simple Truth Organic Soy Sauce (980mg sodium per tablespoon)

Thrive Organic Coconut Aminos (480mg sodium)

The One Caveat (Gluten-Free Dietary Restrictions)

The one caveat to this whole article is this, if you are embracing a ketogenic diet because you have celiac's disease (are gluten intolerant) then you will probably need to stay away from soy sauce altogether as most if not all traditional soy sauces contain some wheat protein. If you choose to use soy sauce, make sure you read the label carefully. Even the organic soy sauces listed in this article contained wheat protein according to their nutritional labeling. I have listed two 'gluten free' soy sauce options for comparison in this article, I am sure there are probably more, but I have listed the more popular options that I could find.

Conclusion

So are coconut aminos a better option that soy sauce? From all the research that I have done, my personal opinion is “no”. Not only do they almost cost twice as much as traditional and 'gluten free' soy sauces, they contain 3 to 15 times more carbohydrates (depending on the brand) than traditional and 'gluten free' soy sauces. The high amount of carbohydrates per tablespoon in my opinion is the biggest problem with substituting coconut aminos for soy sauce. Heck, if you want non-GMO, then buy one of the certified non-GMO soy sauces listed in this article. They are still cheaper than the coconut amino options, and they have only 1 carbohydrate per tablespoon.

I will be honest with you, I only have one agenda when I write any of the articles on this blog, and that is to keep you informed to the best of my ability on how to be successful with your ketogenic diet. I am not sponsored by any brand, product, or company, I simply write about things that affect me, my family, and our ketogenic life. When I start to write an article for the blog, I try and do the best, most accurate research possible in my limited time and present you with the facts so that you can make an informed decision. Sometimes my facts and or conclusions ruffle some people feathers, but I attempt to present them in an unbiased way so that you may benefit from my research. As always, I hope that you have found this article informative and beneficial for you and your family, if so please take the time to share it with your friends so that they can benefit as well. Don't forget to follow us on our blog, check out our Facebook Page 'CulinaryYouLCHF' or add us to your circle Google+ for out latest ketogenic articles.

Resources:

Low Carb Grocery List, The Ketogenic Diet Resource, Accessed April 10, 2017.

Phinney, Stephen D., MD, Phd, and Volek, Phd, RD, The Art And Science Of Low Carbohydrate Living (Beyond Obesity LLC, 2011).

Phinney, Stephen D., MD, Phd, and Volek, Phd, RD, The Art And Science Of Low Carbohydrate Performance' (Beyond Obesity LLC, 2012).