If you're expecting a veggie burger, prepare to be blown away. Even if you're expecting a standard burger, you may be pleasantly surprised. The gap between Beyond Burger and meat is so small that one could easily mistake a Beyond Burger for a traditional beef burger.

It's important to remember: Beyond Burger is for people who want to avoid meat, not people who want to avoid carbs. Every 4 oz patty contains 6 g of net carbs. That's manageable, but the alternative — real beef — contains no carbs.

Vitamins and nutrients

Though Beyond Burger packs more carbs, it also provides more nutrients. The burgers are rich in vitamins A, B, C, & D, which are necessary for all manner of healthy functions, and contain 15% of your daily recommended dose of calcium, which promotes bone health. By comparison, beef contains some calcium and some iron, but less than Beyond Burger does.

Pea protein, the main ingredient in the Beyond Burger, has some advantages over animal protein. A 2014 study found it has a moderating effect on blood sugar levels, and several studies have found pea protein more effective than whey for growing muscle. The muscle-building benefits are so great that pea protein, once solely in the domain of vegan bodybuilders, is now a popular fitness supplement.

Eating Beyond Burger

Not only does a Beyond Burger taste like real meat, but it also behaves like it, too. Smatterings of cocoa butter simulate melting beef fat, and apple extract makes the faux-meat change color as it's cooked, heating its reds to a savory brown.

Most people eat Beyond Burgers with ketchup and a bun, but those are hard to fit into a keto diet, so you might have to get creative. Consider crumbling your Beyond Burger over a salad with fresh tomatoes and a keto-friendly salad dressing. Or try out one of these delicious keto burger recipes.

Meat is hard to avoid on the keto diet, but if you're trying to cut back, Beyond Burgers will help. Just remember to factor the 6 g of net carbs into your daily totals.