Are KNOW Better Cookies Keto Friendly?

At the time of writing this post, I’ve been on the ketogenic diet for over five years and logged over 250 blood ketone tests in an effort to estimate the effects of food and ingredients on my ketosis, including those in KNOW Better Cookies.

KNOW Better cookies are an interesting product, very different from the other low carb cookies I've reviewed so far, but just how keto friendly are they? In this post I'll evaluate KNOW Better cookies, give them keto friendly grades, and see how they stack up against similar keto friendly treats.

Savage Fuel Keto Friendly Grades:

• A: Completely compatible, positive or no impact on ketosis.

• B: Highly compatible, but don't go too crazy.

• C: Moderately compatible, be mindful and limit intelligently.

• D: Barely compatible, detrimental to ketosis and not recommended.

• F: Not compatible, overdo it just a little and kiss your ketosis goodbye.

Keto Friendly Grading Factors:

• Net Carbs per Serving: How many carbs are in this thing?

• Net Carbs per 100 calories: Since serving sizes often vary significantly, a net carb per 100 calorie ratio is a more consistent measure of keto-friendliness than net carbs per serving. Lower ratios are also an indicator of higher fat content because fat has more calories per gram than protein and carbohydrates.

• Sugar: Sugars have a higher glycemic index and larger negative impact on ketosis than other carbohydrates.

• Hidden Carbs: Hidden carbohydrates are based on the caloric values and glycemic indexes of ingredients sometimes classified as fibers or sugar alcohols.

• Easy to Overeat: Some foods are easy to over-eat and require extra willpower to limit overeating which is an important factor to consider.

• Nutritional Density: Foods that are relatively high in net carbs per 100 calories but are high in nutrition per calorie can still be worth eating like broccoli and cauliflower.

Rule of thumb for net carbs per 100 calorie ratio:
0-1 Great, 1-2 OK, 2-3 Caution, 3+ red alert

KNOW Better Cookies Keto Friendly Grades:

Overall factors: No hidden carbs, low nutritional density, and easy to overeat.

• Chocolate Chip: B
  4g Net carbs per 395 calorie 114g cookie
  1 Net carb per 100 calories (Yellow)
  2g sugar
  

• Cinnamon: B
  4g Net carbs per 380 cal 114g cookie
  1 Net carb per 100 calories (Yellow)
  2g sugar

• Double Chocolate: B-
  4g Net carbs per 395 cal 114g cookie
  1 Net carb per 100 calories (Yellow)
  2g sugar

• Lemon: B-
  4g Net carbs per 380 cal 114g cookie
  1 Net carb per 100 calories (Yellow)
  2g sugar

KNOW Better Cookies Keto Friendly Conclusion:

It's not often I find treats that are delicious and keto friendly but KNOW Better cookies really surprised me in a good way. They're huge, chewy, satisfying, high in fat, and low in net carbs. They also use an interesting sweetener called allulose that has a glycemic index of 0 and seems very promising. Keep in mind that 26g of the 28g of sugars listed in the nutrition facts are allulose, so the 4g of net carbs per cookie is accurate. Let's see how they stack up against other low carb cookies:

KNOW Better Cookies vs Nui, Quest, and Fat Snax Cookies: Net Carbs per 100 Calories

As you can see KNOW Better cookies average net carbs per 100 calories is tied up with Nui Cookies at an ideal 1:100 ratio which is seriously impressive for a cookie. They're both great keto friendly options and it really just comes down to personal preference. I'd recommend just trying Nui Cookies and KNOW Better Cookies and see which one you like best.

If you have reservations about allulose as a sweetener, I wouldn't be too concerned by the reviews you might see of people being "kicked" out of ketosis by it. They're generally anecdotal and the people that actually test their blood glucose and ketones don't seem to have any issues with it, myself included. Here are a few examples: Keto Connect,  Dr. Wade blog post, and Dr. Wade video. I also tested my ketones after eating two and a half of these (~65g allulose total) and measured 1.3 mmol/L, then the next day tested in the morning at 1.4 mmol/L.

One final note, these cookies do have a lot of coconut oil in them (which is great) but can cause disaster pants if you're gut isn't used to digesting the MCT's in it. So if you have issues, ease into them a bit and you should be fine. Also if you're looking for another keto friendly dessert, my personal favorite is ChocoPerfection, it gets an A- keto friendly grade and an A+ in taste from me.

They have a lot of great flavors too, dark and dark mint are my favorites and Raspberry is the only flavor I don’t like. The dark mint with a handful of macadamia nuts tastes just like thin mint cookies. You get the classic mint chocolate flavor with the salty and crunchy macadamia nuts, it’s my favorite ultra low carb dessert.

If you’re interested in trying some I’d recommend getting the variety pack and a pack of the dark chocolate so you can try all their flavors and still have more of the dark which you’re going to like anyways. They have free shipping in the United States too which is sweet.

For more expertly curated and guaranteed keto friendly products check out the Keto Shop!