Mexican ‘Cauli’ Rice and Taco Seasoning

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The Keto Dilemma… Carb Counting and Navigating the Options

Let’s see. Do I choose the standard low-carb tortilla, low-carb, grain-free tortilla, or the cauliflower Mexican rice? Continue reading on for a quick primer on navigating these options. Warning: This may get a little deep, in a good way, of course, and then you’ll find my recipes for “cauli” Mexican rice and taco meat seasoning to follow.

Jump to Recipe

As is often the case for those who adhere to a strict keto diet/lifestyle, carb counting (and managing some aspect of how much fat and protein we eat) becomes an essential habit. This requires learning about the food we eat. We collectively refer to the group of terms “net carbs,” “protein,” and “fat” as macronutrients, or “macros” for short. These are the type of nutrients the body needs for energy in a larger scale, as opposed to what micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) do, allowing our bodies to function properly,

In a nut shell, if we know what our health goals are, such as eating healthier, cleaner or managing weight–AND the macros in our food, we are better able to make our goals become a success! I’ll go into a brief overview of some of the tools that can help you manage these macros in just a little bit. (And you can determine your goals on your own, using some of the these tools. Sound like a plan?)

Eating Clean
Eating clean goes a step further with looking at ingredient labels, eliminating items that include: GMOs (corn, soy, many vegetable oils, and ingredients using the term “modified” are often GMO suspects), hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils, unnecessary fillers, preservatives/additives, and artificial colors, as well as sources of fat (in protein sources) that often contain toxins from environmental pollutants.

Do a Google search on the impact of many of these toxins on the body, such as heavy metals, and you’ll see that many of these do more harm than good for our bodies. So when possible, I recommend buying food sources that are organic, pasture raised, grass fed (and grass finished), wild caught or are identified with the label “NON-GMO Project Verified” to limit many toxins commonly found in food.

As a cancer survivor and now an advocate for living free of chemicals and toxins, I believe it is especially important to add the aspect of eating clean when making the ketogenic diet/lifestyle an ongoing activity to manage and sustain overall health. Consider how much the keto diet relies on, at a very minimum, 60 percent of calories eaten in fat, to both satiate and get one into ketosis?

Note, however, is recommended by keto experts that a large portion of the fats we consume should be from healthy sources (avocado, coconut/MCT, and extra virgin olive oils, grass-fed butter and ghee, etc.) to the bad (dairy, processed meats, etc.), which includes some of our protein sources. If the majority of the fats we consume are bad, loaded with toxins or are products of poor quality sources further down the food chain, aren’t we essentially creating another problem for our bodies? Hold on now, we’re starting to go deep…

The Impact of Toxins In Our Body
In a January 2019 post by Revive Chiropractic, “Minimize Toxicity: Environmental Toxins and Weight Gain,” the article notes that these toxins can actually contribute to the stubborn weight (fat) that just won’t come off after a typical diet and exercise change. It also cites that the build up of toxins can also affect our hormones, insulin, metabolism, and blood sugar.

And, the sad truth is, many of the animals in our industrial food chain are impacted by environmental factors that don’t help our bodies. These animals are being raised in tightly cooped up spaces, lacking exercise, sun, and the food typical to their natural environment. And, their bodies are paying the consequence due to these changes (stress) man has put on them. Did you know pasture-raised cattle, chickens, and (outdoor roaming) pigs are overall more healthy, more lean, and contain far less inflammation-causing omega-6 fatty acids than animals that have been raised in small indoor cages, fed corn, or worse yet GMO feed, as part of their industrial food-chain diet? 1

Now Onto the Easy Stuff—Carb Counters & Intermittent Fasting
As I first began doing clean keto, I discovered the best way to figure out the proportion of fats to carbs and protein I was consuming each day was to use a carb counter. (Keytone urine strips also help identity if one is in ketosis, but the test strips don’t tell you where you’re at with macros.) There are many carb counters to choose from, varying widely in their capabilities, with some enabling you to find your macros and log in meals, to others charging a monthly or annual fee for premium features. Some of them provide tools for linking up to FitBit, Garmin, and other fitness devices and mobile apps.

I personally find using the simpler, free versions to work just fine, with use of other social media tools that open the door to an endless amount of recipes, articles, and tips (ie., Pinterest, Instagram, etc.). However, your own available time and effort may be a huge factor in determining which carb counter, free or premium versions, may work best for you. Below are several common ones that I’ve used in varying capacities, which also feature downloadable apps for mobile devices.

• Carb Manager — The free version allows you set goals (lose, maintain or gain weight) as it provides macro thresholds to meet these goals. It also can track your macros throughout the day, including those for exercise, creating your own recipes, and logging your measurements. The premium version, $39.99/year or $8.49/month, allows you to access shopping lists, meal plans and link up to trackers with phone apps and other devices.

• KetoDiet App — This site also provides free features, such as helpful infographics for the low-carb/keto beginner; a function to determine daily macros; easy access to several 14-day meal plans to choose from; and a blog with recipes and expert-written articles. It also offers a premium version with additional features; however, I wasn’t able to identify the cost or features associated with it.

• MyFitnessPal — Created by Under Armour, Inc., this site appears to be more simplified, with a focused effort on creating a food journal and activity log. The free version allows you to set up daily calorie and macro goals, add your own recipes, and add quick calories to a log. Their premium version, $49.99/year or $9.99/month, provides more custom features related to setting your goals and accessing exclusive, ad-free content.

Utilizing the Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
If you haven’t already heard the term “intermittent fasting,” it is an eating pattern where one cycles through the day eating and fasting (16-hour fasting seems to be more typical). This allows the body to use up insulin stores, relax from the process of digestion, improve metabolism, allow the body to focus on repair, and lose weight, among other functions. See an article published by Harvard Medical School, Intermittent fasting: Surprising Update or one of Healthline’s articles on it, Intermittent Fasting 101 — The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide, for a more detailed account on what intermittent fasting can do for your body.

For the strict keto eater, intermittent fasting also allows one more flexibility in preparing fewer meals each day. Many choose to eat in the late afternoon and evening, skipping breakfast (that’s me!). However, note, the above Harvard study suggests eating in the earlier hours of the day may be more beneficial. Based on the two groups studied, it is unclear whether the increased fasting hours or the actual time the group ate early in the day contributed to better health outcomes.

Lastly, intermittent fasting can help us plan for occasions when we might eat out or maybe choosing to eat that low-carb Mexican plate that includes an actual taco (albeit without the high-carb tortilla), a taco salad, and a side of Mexican-spiced cauliflower rice. But, if you think intermittent fasting means that you can basically call your “eating period” a time to cheat, I’d say: “Not so fast. Lol. Warning: Not all low-carb options are equally matched when it comes to the quality of its ingredients.”

The Problem with Gluten
Did you know that gluten, a protein found in most grain products, is a source of inflammation for many people that can lead to leaky gut syndrome? In Eat Dirt: Why Leaky Gut May Be the Root Cause of Your Health Problems and 5 Surprising Steps to Cure It, author and doctor of natural medicine and clinical nutritionist, Dr. Josh Axe explains that this is just one area of our food supply that is being corrupted with processed foods and hybridized grains.

Another leading expert on the subject of gluten is Dr. David Perlmutter, a neurologist and author of Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain for Life and Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth About Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar – Your Brain’s Silent Killers. He provides insight on the gut brain connection, sharing that neurological disorders such as autism, ADHD, early dementia, depression and anxiety can be stemmed from poor intestinal microbiome health.

So even if you haven’t been diagnosed with Celiac Disease, a serious gluten-related health condition, an increasing body of research is pointing to improved weight loss, as well as gut and overall health when gluten is removed from the diet. 2

My own naturopath and board-certified clinical nutritionist, David Getoff of San Diego, reinforces the notion gluten isn’t at all a good option for someone already trying to manage a weakened immune system. I can remember him saying of my previous and occasional cheat with a burrito: “Even a small amount of gluten eaten stays in the body for six weeks. Do you want to further tax your immune system with an inflammatory response (and the excess carbs)?”

Okay, Now You Get to Choose the Options
So back to our Mexican dinner plate. Finally, huh? Lol. Now, that I’ve shared some details behind the options, I’ll let you take a look at typical net carb counts for the items below and decide for yourself how you might move forward in counting those carbs! Oh, and of course you may choose to make your own tortillas with a little extra effort. I have seen some recipes with as little as 1.5g net carbs per tortilla, and I’ll have to say that’s pretty impressive! (I’ve saved several of these recipes on my Pinterest board “best of” keto + low carb*”.)

Traditional Taco Plate	Net Carbs	Keto/Low-Carb Options	Net Carbs
Single medium flour tortilla, not including taco ingredients	20 to 25	Single low-carb tortilla (containing wheat/gluten), not including taco ingredients	3 to 6
Single corn tortilla, not including taco ingredients	13 to 17	Single grain-free tortilla*, not including taco ingredients	7
Mexican rice (4 oz)	19 to 25, depending on recipe	Cauli Mexican Rice (3 oz)	5
Side serving of beans	14	Small salad (including ingredients in the taco shown in photo)	10
Total Net Carbs	Up to 64 (using one tortilla option)	Total Net Carbs	Up to 22 (using one tortilla option)

In a future post, I’d like to clarify what is meant by the terms often found on food labels as: “free range,” “cage free,” “pasture raised”, “pasture finished,” and “certified organic.”

But, in the meantime, if you get a chance to try my recipes below, please consider tagging me on Instagram with what you’ve cooked up or share a review below to help others. As always, I appreciate your support!

Sources
1. M. Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: The Secrets Behind What You Eat, 2015.

2. Mayo Clinic, “Nutrition and Healthy Eating” Site accessed June 2020: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/gluten-free-diet/art-20048530.