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:
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).
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