What Foods To Eat On A Keto Diet – Including The Best Keto Supplements
The Keto Diet is a very popular program that comes with many other benefits than just weight loss. If you’re thinking about giving this diet a try, you will want to know what foods to eat on a Keto Diet.
At first glance, the list of foods you can eat on a keto diet doesn’t sound like diet foods at all. In fact, the principle of the program is all about consuming fat-based foods. As a result, your body starts to using these fats as fuel resulting in Ketosis which burns fat.
What Is the Keto Diet for Weight Loss?
The Keto Diet program is a low-carb and high-fat diet that is most similar to the Atkins diets. Its requirements are for the individual to drastically reduce the consumption of carbohydrates and start taking in mostly fats. This method pushes the body to get into a metabolic state called Ketosis.
After that, your body starts to burn fat to get energy which helps you lose an incredible amount of weight. Besides fat burn, the ketogenic diet provides other health benefits such as reducing insulin and blood sugar levels. We will discuss these next.
Keto Diet Benefits
Here are a few other reasons to try the Keto diet. Besides losing weight, your body starts improving different mechanisms like insulin resistance, control blood pressure, and decreasing cholesterol.
Epilepsy
For many years, experts have recommended similar diets along with Keto Diet clinically for seizure patients as a treatment.
Type 2 Diabetes
Carb restriction can affect your body’s glucose concentration by lowering it over time. This makes this diet a great way to prevent or control diabetes. However, if you are thinking of doing this, you must first ask a health professional.
Cancer
The tumor cells break down glucose in great amounts compared to other cells. Scientists explain that this diet can prevent tumor cells from getting glucose, which slows down their growth. As a result, it can help to deter and even fight cancer.
Weight Loss
This best know benefit of the Ketogenic Diet is great for cutting down extra fat in your body. Losing weight comes with many other benefits, making the body healthier and more fit.
What Are the Disadvantages of the Keto Diet?
Although the keto diet is a very popular diet, it also comes with some drawbacks.
Keto Flu
This is the most common problem that occurs when a person starts with the ketogenic diet. You may feel nausea, headache, fatigue, hunger, constipation, and brain fog. Because of the sudden bodily changes, in the beginning, you will feel your energy is draining. This happens because of your body’s process of taking energy from fats instead of carbs.
Nutrient Deficiencies
Since you can’t eat whole food groups, this can cause you to suffer from some deficiencies. This mostly happens when people start a keto diet without any guidance. To avoid these problems, you need to also consume a variety of food items while consuming high amounts of fats.
Eating legumes, veggies, seafood, fruits, and other food will help you get all the essential nutrients like zinc, magnesium, seafood, mineral, etc.
Gut Health
Complete reduction of fruit and whole grain will lower your fiber consumption which can affect your gut health. This can result in constipation or cramps.
What Foods To Eat On A Keto Diet
For the Keto Diet, here is a list of foods to eat on a keto diet sorted by category.
Meats
steak, ham, sausage, red meat, chicken, turkey, bacon
Dairy Eggs
omega-3 eggs or pastured whole eggs
Fatty Fish
trout, tuna, salmon, and mackerel
Cream and Butter
heavy cream and grass-fed butter
Cheese
unprocessed cheeses such as blue, goat, cream, mozzarella, and cheddar
Seed and nut
walnuts, pumpkin seeds, almonds, flaxseeds, chia seeds
Avocados
healthy guacamole or whole avocados
Healthy Oils
coconut oil, avocado oil, extra virgin olive oil
Condiments
pepper, spices, herbs, and salt
Foods To Avoid on a Keto Diet
The premise here is to avoid foods high in carbohydrates and sugars. Opposite of the Keto Diet food list, here is a list of foods no to eat.
Bread and Baked Goods
white and whole-wheat bread, crackers, rolls. cookies, doughnuts
Pasta
any type of spaghetti or noodles
Grains
wheat, rice, oats, cereals, tortillas
Starchy Vegetables
potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, pumpkin, butternut squash, peas
Beans and Legumes
black beans, lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans
Fruit
citrus, bananas, grapes, pineapple
Sweetened Beverages
juice, soda, sweet tea, sports drinks
Sweets and Sugary Foods
sugar, candy, ice cream, syrup, coconut sugar
Certain Alcoholic Beverages
beer, sugary mixed drinks
High-carb Sauces
barbecue sauce and dipping sauces, sugary salad dressings
Keto Protein Powder Supplement
Some common types of protein powder that are good for Keto include casein, soy, and whey protein. Protein powder is a supplement commonly consumed during the ketogenic diet. This is easy and is a convenient source to get high-quality protein.
Keto protein powders are designed with different ingredient breakdowns than a typical muscle-building protein powder. This is because you must eat less quantity of protein than fat in this diet. Therefore, they contain certain rations that have less protein and more Keto friendly ingredients such as fats and low sugar.
Good Keto protein powder supplements help to maintain energy during Ketosis to avoid a crash. See my review titled “What Is the Best Keto Protein Powder“.
What Natural Supplements You Can Consume?
Here are some of the supplements that are necessary to consume during a ketogenic diet. Adding these help you get all the essential nutrients since you may not get them from your regular keto meal.
MCT Oil
MCT oil is a supplement that is especially popular among keto dieters. This oil is a type of fat known as medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) which metabolizes differently from long-chain triglycerides. These types of fats make you feel full while at the same time, don’t contain carbs. Your liver quickly breaks down MCT and sends it to your bloodstream, where it is transferred to your muscles and brain for energy rather than store as fat.
Coconut oil is has a large percentage of MCTs and provides strong metabolic benefits. The high level of fatty acids in coconut oil is excellent to consume on a Keto Diet to help you metabolize fat more quickly. Coconut oil also increases Ketone levels to help keep the body in maintain Ketosis.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3 fatty acids supplements are a great source of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), which are beneficial for your health. The most common example of this supplement is fish oils. DHA and EPA can significantly prevent heart diseases, reduce inflammation, and prevent mental disorders.
Omega-3 supplements can be useful for people on this diet because of the way they balance your body’s fatty acid ratios. These supplements help to decrease insulin, triglycerides, and inflammatory markers in your body.
Greens Powder
Increasing vegetable consumption when following any diet can help you maintain your strength and alertness. Veggies contain different types of minerals, vitamins, and other compounds that can prevent diseases, fight inflammation, and help your organs to function properly. Although not everyone avoids veggies in the keto diet, the Keto food plan makes it difficult to consume them.
An easy and quick way to get all the essential nutrients and benefits is to consume greens powder. Most greens powder contains a mixture of spirulina, kale, broccoli, spinach, wheatgrass, chlorella, and more.
What Foods To Eat On the Keto Diet – Wrap Up
What you eat and in what ratios make or break a successful Keto Diet. As you can see by our Keto Diet food lists, the “Keto Diet Menu” comprises of mostly fatty foods with very little sugars and carbs.
The Keto diet really works for weight loss, but it must be followed closely. If you decide to give it a try, it’s best to consult a nutritionist to help you with a meal plan. They will determine how your body can get all the essential nutrients to stay healthy and energetic throughout this weight loss program.
If you have any questions or comments on what can you eat on a Keto Diet, please leave a message below and I will respond.