Are Turnips Keto friendly?

Turnips are vegetables (root vegetables to be more precise), they grow in serval states of the US and they need a warm climate to grow well.
Their composition is a little bit similar to Beetroots however they have fewer carbs in them, I found that they taste great the small turnips taste sweet while the average-sized turnips taste more like potatoes.

You probably figure it out I'm a big fan of turnips, however, since I follow the Keto diet at least 3 months a year, I needed to see if they are keto-approved, so I did my research and found some interesting information and decided to share them with you, this is my answer to whether yes or no turnips are Keto-friendly, Stay with me and continue reading I'm sure you will be surprised by what this vegetable has to offer.

Table of Content:    Hide / Unhide Table of content

1. Are Turnips Keto Friendly? 
2. Turnips Nutritional Facts 
3. Interesting Facts about Turnips 
4. Health benefits and Side effects of Turnips 
5. Turnips F.A.Q: When Does turnips go bad
6. Turnips F.A.Q: Which is more Keto turnips or potatoes
7. Turnips F.A.Q: Can Turnips be eaten Raw
8. Turnips F.A.Q: How long does it take to Cook Turnips

Are Turnips Keto Friendly?

When you are on a keto diet the first thing you want to know about a food before eating it is how much net carbs it contains, 100 grams of the most common variety of turnips contain 6.43 g of carbohydrates and 1.8 g of fiber, so the number of net carbs for these vegetables per 100 grams serving is 4.63 g which is quite acceptable for a ketogenic diet, so yes Turnips are indeed Keto. 

Keep the Turnips Leaves

Turnip leaves referred to as turnips greens which are the leafy part of turnips are comestible they contain almost the same amount of net carbs as turnips 4 g, still, what is absolutely incredible about turnips greens is that they are among the top 10 nutrient-dense foods in the world according to United states centers of Decies prevention (CDC)

What is Nutrient Density

The nutritional density of a food represents its capacity to provide your body with the most vitamins and minerals with a minimum of calories.

How Nutrient Density works

Any food is constituted of 3 components Micronutrients, Macronutrients, and water

1. Macronutrients: more commonly called Marcos they are the caloric component of foods they include Carbs, Fats and Proteins these are the nutriments components of food that give your body energy, an adult body on average needs 2000 Calories when your Macronutrients intake exceeds 2000 calories the body process them to turn them into fat and store them this is what causes weight gain 
2. Micronutrients: these are the Vitamins and minerals found in foods there are no calories in these nutrients, however, they are essential for your body to work properly and to prevent diseases. 
3. Water: any existing organism on the planet contain water (H2O) your body contains 60% of water, the human body needs water to function correctly, there is no calorie or vitamins in pure water.

the nutritional density is the amount of vitamins and minerals divided by the amount of caloric nutrients

Nutrient density = MicroNutriments/Macronutrients

To sum it up Due to their low net carbs content Turnips are Keto-friendly, Even if you aren't on a keto it's still a good idea to integrate them in your diet because of all the vitamins and minerals present in them, also don't forget Turnips Greens they may be very beneficial for you especially that they are also Keto Friendly, Turnips Greens are among the most nutrient-dense food in the world.

So now that you know that Turnips are Keto, let's jump to the next section.

Turnips Nutritional Facts

Turnips are not a caloric food they only give your body 28 calories  per 100 grams and they are fiber-rich, Turnips are a great source  of Vitamins and minerals  the main vitamins and mineral that you will get from 100g of turnips are the following (DR = daily requirements) :

1. 21 mg of vitamin C which represent 23% of your daily requirements DR;
2. 0.090 mg of Vitamins B6 which represent 7% of your DR;
3. 0.085 mg of Copper Cu  which represent 9% of your DR;
4. 0.134 mg of Magnese  which represents 6% of your DR;
5. 27 mg of phosphorus which represents 4% of your DR;
6. 191 mg of Potassium which represents 4% of your DR; 

the turnip contains other vitamins and minerals, but their effect on your body is minimal due to their small quantities ( less than 3% of your daily requirements for 100 g of turnips).
The table below shows Nutrition Facts for 100 g of Turnips

Turnips nutrition fact 100 g serving

Nutrient	Amount	Unit
Calories	28.00	KCAL
Fat	0.10	G
Protein	0.90	G
Carbohydrate	6.43	G
Vitamin K	0.1	UG
Folate, food	15.00	UG
Folate, DFE	15.00	UG
Choline	11.1	MG
Fiber	1.8	G
Iron, Fe	0.30	MG
Magnesium, Mg	11.00	MG
Phosphorus, P	27.00	MG
Sodium, Na	67.00	MG
Ash	0.70	G
Saturated fatty acids	0.011	G
Vitamin C	21.0	MG
Thiamin	0.040	MG
Riboflavin	0.030	MG
Folate	15.00	UG
Phytosterols	7.00	MG
Copper, Cu	0.085	MG
Manganese, Mn	0.134	MG
Tryptophan	0.009	G
Threonine	0.025	G
Methionine	0.011	G
Phenylalanine	0.017	G
Tyrosine	0.013	G
Alanine	0.035	G
Glutamic acid	0.130	G
Glycine	0.025	G
Proline	0.026	G
Water	91.87	G
Calcium, Ca	30.00	MG
Potassium, K	191.00	MG
Zinc, Zn	0.27	MG
Isoleucine	0.036	G
Leucine	0.033	G
Lysine	0.036	G
Cystine	0.005	G
Valine	0.030	G
Arginine	0.024	G
Histidine	0.014	G
Aspartic acid	0.063	G
Serine	0.029	G
Niacin	0.400	MG
Pantothenic acid	0.200	MG
Vitamin B6	0.090	MG
Monounsaturated fatty acids	0.006	G
Polyunsaturated fatty acids	0.053	G
Hexadecanoic acid	0.010	G
Octadecenoic acid	0.006	G
Octadecadienoic acid	0.012	G
Octadecatrienoic acid	0.040	G
Sugars	3.80	G
Vitamin E	0.03	MG
Selenium, Se	0.7	UG
Tocopherol, alpha	0.03	MG

To know more about your daily nutritional requirements you can Visit Nutritional Goals official government website.

Turnips Interesting Facts

before diving into the benefits and potential side effects of turnips on your health, here are some interesting facts about Turnips:

1. Turnips are used in some part of the word mostly Scottland and Ireland as jack-o'-lanterns in Halloween;
2. Turnips Origins: Humans have been cultivating turnips since 3900 years ago, searchers believe their culture started in Europe and Asia;
3. "The Winter is Comming" Turnips Winter refers to a period during the first world war  in which Germans were forced to live almost exclusively on Turnips due to the lack of other foods;
4. Turnips and more particularly Turnips Greens contain a compound that interacts with aluminum, therefore, you need to avoid cooking them in an aluminum pot (Reference THE Kitchen secrets)

Pros and cons of Turnips on Health

Health benefits of Turnips - Pros

Turnips Might Helps preventing and fighting Cancer

As we've seen earlier Turnips are Vitamin C and antioxidants rich, these compounds are known for having anti-cancer properties due to their capacity of reducing the activity of free radicals in your organism, Free radicals are particles present in the body and which play a major role in cancers development.

Our body releases free radical due to chemical reactions referred as oxidation and which happen to be a part of the body normal metabolic process, Free radical also can be released by your body if you have been in contact with cancer-causing elements like tobacco smoke or air pollution, you probably understand now why it is so essential for you, particularly in the world we live in today, to have enough vegetables, which are the main food source of antioxidants, in your diet.
Ressource:  What are Free Radicals?    Health Benefits of turnips  

Turnips Greens help Regulate blood sugar levels 

A recent study (1)  showed that a daily intake of Turnips Greens extract during a month drastically decrease the glucose level, which can make it easier for a diabetic person to regulate its blood sugar level, Turnips, and Turnips greens also have a high amount of fiber in them, many studies conducted on the effect of eating fiber on blood sugar level concluded that rich fiber diets help to lower the risks of developing Type diabetes of 30%  especially if the source of the fibers are low carbs foods like turnips.
Resource: Role of fibers in prevention against diabetes 

Turnips Benefits on your Heart Health

Turnips are a good source of potassium, the main benefits of potassium on your health is to help you prevent blood pressure issues like Hypertension which happens to be the main triggers of more serious health problems like strokes, heart diseases, and coronary problems, an appropriate daily intake of potassium might help you protect your heart and promote longevity.

Ressource: Effect of potassium on your health

Why you should integrate Turnips in your Ketogenic Diet

Even though keto diet implies having a high-fat diet serval studies according to Medical news today have shown that Keto diet raises good cholesterol level in the body  '(HDL High-density-lipoproteins), however, for some people, the ketogenic diet might have the opposite effect and raise your body bad cholesterol level also called LDL (low-density lipoproteins), for this reason, having turnips during keto diet might be a good idea since Turnips like some other vegetables are known for having the property of lowering Bad cholesterol.

Ressource: Effect of turnips on cholesterols 

Side effects of Turnips - Cons

Except if you have a rare allergy to turnips there is no serious research or studies showing that a normal consumption of turnips or turnips greens can have a bad effect on health.

Frequently Asked Question about Turnips

Turnips F.A.Q: When Does turnips go bad

This Depend on where you How you store them

When Does turnips go bad

Storage place	shelf life of turnips	Tips: How to store Turnips
Outside	7 to 10 days	If the weather is hot your turnips will turn bad faster, also don't wash them until you want to eat them, water helps the development of moisture on their surface
In the refrigerator	2 to 3 weeks	Put them in a plastic bag, if you peel and cut your Turnips they won't last that long, cut Turnips last for about 5 to 7 days
In the Freezer	No limit	if your Freezer temperature is set below 0 c°

When a turnip goes bad It starts smelling weird.

Turnips F.A.Q: Which is more Keto turnips or potatoes

Before I answer this question let's compare the micronutrient of potatoes and Turnips

Calories And Macro comparison Turnips Vs Potatoes

Nutrient	Turnips, raw	Potatoes, raw	Delta
Calories	28.00	77.00	175 %
Proteins	1,46	3,92	168%
Fats	0,24	0,23	-5%
Carbohydrate	6.43 G	17.49 G	172 %
Fiber	1.8 G	2.1 G	17 %

Potatoes contain 3 times the amount of net carbs and calories in Turnips, therefore there no doubt about it Turnips are much better for the keto diet, remember the keto diet is a low carb diet and you should keep always your daily net carbs intake below 20 g during keto.

Turnips F.A.Q: Can Turnips be eaten Raw

yes you can enjoy raw Turnips just wash them well cut them and add some olive oil, salt, and pepper for the taste.

Turnips F.A.Q: How long does it take to Cook Turnips

This depends on the cooking method and if you cut your turnip before cooking or no

Average Turnips Cooking Time

Turnips Cooking Method	Cooking Time Whole Turnips	Cooking Time Cut Turnips
boiling	25-30 minutes	6-10 minutes
Steaming	25-30 minutes	12-15 minutes
Roasting	45-60 minutes	30-35 minutes

Bottom line

Turnips are definitely Keto even though, if you should monitor your net carbs intake, besides, Turnips might protect you from diseases like cancer, diabetes, and Hypertension. Turnips Greens which are the leafy parts of turnips are considered one most nutrient-rich food and have also several good effects on your health, I hope you enjoyed reading my post as much as I enjoy writing it if so don't forget to share it, Thanks!!