I don’t like vegan meat. It’s very meaty-ocre.
This pun is an apt description of meatless meats… until The Impossible Burger came into the picture.
Rumor has it, that this vegan burger patty alternative is quite a game changer. (*)
It looks and tastes like an actual patty.
More than that, it bleeds like real beef!
But for us keto dieters, there’s a far more important question— Is Impossible Burger keto?
(Not so) Short answer: Yes and No
How and why is this so? Keep on reading to find out the answer!
Is Impossible Burger Keto?
Yes, Impossible Burger is keto.
With only 9 grams of carbohydrates per 4 oz serving, eating a single Impossible Burger patty will not get you kicked out of ketosis.
However, there are two things that you need to keep in mind when consuming Impossible Burger on keto. Here they are:
Number of servings you can consume
Since it already has 9 grams of carbohydrates per serving, you should limit your daily intake to only 1 serving.
Net carbs of the other ingredients
If you order Impossible burger dishes in restaurants, you also need to remember the net carbs of the added ingredients like lettuce, tomatoes, dressings, and many more.
- Keto Tip: As much as possible, stick only to lettuce-wrapped burgers—no other ingredients added.
Unfortunately, Impossible Burger is not strictly keto.
While its macronutrient content is suitable for keto, its ingredients don’t make it strictly keto. That’s because it contains modified food starch and dextrose, two ingredients that are not keto-friendly.
So to put it simply, Impossible Burger is not STRICTLY keto-friendly.
Here’s Everything You Need to Know About the Impossible Burger
To help you better understand how you can fit The Impossible Burger into your keto diet, here are some of the information you need to check out:
What is The Impossible Burger?
The Impossible Burger is a plant-based burger substitute developed by a company called Impossible Foods Inc.
The company has a slightly different approach to creating plant-based meat alternatives. Instead of using a wide range of plants, they bioengineer plant-based ingredients to make meat alternatives that smell, taste, and feel like the real thing.
This is why The Impossible Burger ranks first among all the plant-based burgers in the market. (*)
There are plenty of other reasons why it stands out from all the other plant-based burgers. Here are some of them:
- Meat patty-like texture (albeit chewier),
- Real burger-like appearance,
- Juicy quality,
- and Convenience (since it’s already pre-seasoned).
But of course, The Impossible Burger also comes with a few cons. These include:
- Lacks beefy flavor (it’s more on the sweet side),
- Liver-like taste (mineral-ish flavor),
- and pea-like scent.
What is the Impossible Burger Made From?
The Impossible Burger became famous because of one ingredient: heme. (*) It’s an iron-containing compound derived from animal tissue or muscle
We consider this to be The Impossible Burger’s star ingredient because it’s “what makes meat taste like meat”. But aside from giving the patty a meaty taste, it also makes it bleed. This gives the plant-based patty the juicy texture that the real meaty patty is known for.
- Fun Fact: To keep the patty purely plant-based, they derive heme from a heme-containing protein from the soy plant’s roots. Then they insert it into yeast that has been genetically modified to produce heme.
The rest of The Impossible Burger’s content is all plant-based ingredients. These include:
- Sunflower oil,
- Coconut oil,
- Water,
- Natural Flavors,
- and Soy Protein Concentrate.
It also contains 2% (or less) of the following ingredients:
- Methylcellulose,
- Potato protein,
- Cultured dextrose,
- Yeast extract,
- Modified food starch,
- Salt,
- Soy leghemoglobin,
- Mixed Tocopherols,
- Soy Protein Isolate,
- Thiamine Hydrochloride,
- Zinc Gluconate,
- Sodium Ascorbate,
- Pyridoxine Hydrochloride,
- Vitamin B12,
- and Riboflavin.
Most of The Impossible Burger’s fat content comes from sunflower oil, a rich source of omega-6 fatty acids.
What is the Nutrition Content of The Impossible Burger?
Below is the nutritional information of a 4 oz. Impossible Burger patty:
- Calories: 240 Kcal
- Fats: 14 grams (8 grams of saturated fats)
- Protein: 19 grams
- Total Carbs: 9 grams
- Fiber: 3 grams
- Net Carbs: 6 grams
Based on this, we can say that the nutritional profile of The Impossible Burger patty closely resembles that of an 85% lean beef patty (*). The only difference is the real meat patty contains 0g of carbohydrates while The Impossible Burger has 6 grams.
When you think about it, the net carbohydrates of one serving of The Impossible Burger will not get you kicked out of ketosis. However, the net carbs of a couple of servings definitely will.
And here’s another thing you need to consider: restaurants will serve it with other ingredients that may boost its carbohydrate content.
Frequently Asked Questions About The Impossible Burger
Here are the answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about The Impossible Burger:
Is Impossible Burger healthy?
Honestly, this is quite a tough question to answer. While its ingredients seem harmless, there are a lot of controversies concerning its effect on our health. Here are some of them:
Fats in Sunflower oil
When you look at the product’s nutrition facts, you’ll see that it contains a significant amount of fats.
You may think this is a plus point for you until you discover what type of fats it contains.
But you see, most of the fat content comes from sunflower oil. It contains high amounts of omega-6 fatty acids, a type of polyunsaturated fatty acid. (*)
Here’s the unfortunate thing: consumption of too much omega-6 fatty acids may increase the risk of developing metabolic and inflammatory diseases. (*)
This is because omega-6 fatty acid is an essential fatty acid, so you only need a small amount of it. However, when you consume too much, it will compete with omega-3 fatty acids. This might result to inflammation all over the body.
- Sad Fact: Maintaining a 4:1 omega-6 to omega-3 ratio can help prevent inflammation. (*) Due to the consumption of vegetable oil dishes, most people maintain a 20:1 omega-6 to omega-3 ratio.
Use of GMOs
Impossible Foods is a company that proudly uses and produces GMOs. Soy Leghemoglobin (heme), the star ingredient of the Impossible Burger, is one proof of that.
However, the use of GMOs does come with both pros and cons. (*)
While using GMOs reduces the cost of food production, there are many controversies and questions surrounding how they are modified.
- Case in point: Impossible Food’s engineered soy.
This soy type is formulated to survive huge amounts of glyphosate, a common type of weed killer.
While this modification protects soybeans from anything that can damage them, the WHO classifies this chemical to be a possible carcinogen. (*)
Unfortunately, FDA reports show that about 67% of GMO soybeans have glyphosate residue. (*)
High Sodium Content
The Impossible Burger contains 370 mg sodium. This already amounts to about a quarter of the American Heart Association’s upper sodium limit of 1500 mg per day. (*)
Is the Impossible Burger vegan?
Yes, The Impossible Burger is 100% vegan since it doesn’t contain any animal products or animal byproducts.
But heads up, the company employed animal testing to ensure that their genetically-modified products are safe for human consumption.
You may want to consider if your primary concern is animal welfare. (*)
Where can you buy Impossible Burger?
To be honest, Impossible Burger has come a long way. It used to be available in only 4 countries—
- The United States,
- Hong Kong,
- Canada,
- and Singapore.
Today, they have expanded to 4 more countries, including:
- The United Arab Emirates,
- Macau,
- New Zealand,
- and Australia.
There are plenty of ways to buy this plant-based burger patty. Here they are:
- Grocery Stores
This is widely available in various grocery stores in the US. Some of the best places to look for are:
- Fairway Market,
- Pavilions,
- Vons,
- Jewel-Osco,
- Safeway,
- Albertsons,
- and other grocery chains owned by Kroger.
- Online
You can also get the patties on the Impossible Foods official website. (*) However, please keep in mind that they deliver to only 48 states in the US.
- Restaurants
You can enjoy any The Impossible Burger dishes in about 20,000 restaurants all over the countries that we’ve mentioned.
When consuming The Impossible Burger dishes from restaurants, please take note of the nutritional content (especially the added carbs) of all of the side dishes that come with it so you can monitor your carbohydrate consumption.
Final Words
Is Impossible Burger keto? It’s not strictly keto-friendly.
If you’re on a strict keto diet, this product is unsuitable. On the other hand, non-strict keto dieters can consume Impossible Burger.
Before we end, we want to leave you with this health tip: since it contains high amounts of sodium and omega-6 fatty acids, you should consume this product only in moderation.
