What Is A Keto Diet?

While ketogenic diets may seem new in the lives of many people, it has been around for nearly a century. It is only of recent that this way of eating has been gaining more and more traction. If you are wondering what is a keto diet is all about, including information on top foods that make up this diet, how healthy it is, how to start, and how it can affect your weight loss goals, then read on — as we have written all you need to know about a keto diet.

Keto, or ketogenic diet, is a low-carbohydrate, and high-fat diet that’s promoted for many health benefits, including its ability to induce weight loss, and help in conditions like diabetes, epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s disease.

The principle behind a keto diet is that when we eat foods that are low in carbohydrate but high in fat, it allows the body to use fats as its source of energy, thereby, causing weight loss. On a normal basis, carbohydrates are the body’s primary source of energy. It is only when such carbs are depleted that the body turns to fats as an alternative source. So, for people on a keto diet, what they are essentially doing is starving their body of carbohydrate, so that it uses fats as main source of energy. This is what is referred to as ketosis — a metabolic state where the body breaks down fat for energy instead of the regular carbs.

As already mentioned, the ketogenic diet has been around for quite some time. It was initially used to fight epilepsy in children — a neurological disorder that’s marked by loss of consciousness or convulsions. However, recent scientific researches have shown that this kind of diet can do even more, as it has been shown to possess benefits in conditions like weight loss, neurological disorders, cancer, diabetes, obesity, and even cardiovascular diseases. Its benefits in controlling blood sugar and aiding weight loss, are without doubt the reason why keto diets have become so popular around the world.

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What are the top 10 foods on keto?

Now that you know what a ketogenic diet is, along with some of its potential benefits, you must be wondering about the top foods that can make up such diet. Besides, a regular diet these days is nothing short of carbohydrate-rich foods like rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, and other baked foods, which truly limits your food choices. However, below is a list of some of the tops foods that can help you kickstart your low-carb, high-fat diet in a nutritious style.

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15 Delicious Keto Lunch Recipes

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Cheese

Foods like cheese are very high in fat and low in carbohydrate — a property that makes them a perfect fit for people on a keto diet. Of course, many may argue that cheese are high in saturated fat, a type of dietary fat that’s deemed unhealthy. However, some scientific studies have shown that it poses no risk to the cardiovascular system. Besides, there are numerous claims that cheese like cheddar, can improve bone and dental health, regulate blood pressure, promote healthy blood vessels, and improve gut microbiota.

There are many kinds of cheese, some of them include cheddar, cottage cheese, cream cheese, mozzarella, Manchego, goat cheese, Swiss cheese, blue cheese, brie, Romano, Havarti, limburger, and string cheese. Cheddar cheese, which is likely the most popular cheese (after mozzarella) around the world, provides around 10 g of fat, 7 g of protein, and only 120 calories per ounce. Mozzarella on the other hand, provides about 6 g of fat, 6 g of protein, and only 85 calories per ounce.

Salmon and other oily fishes

Salmon, along with other fatty sea fishes like mackerel and sardines, can be a very good addition to a ketogenic diet. They are rich in omega-3 fats, which have been shown by research to be associated with lower insulin levels, and increased insulin sensitivity in people battling with obesity.

A 100 g serving of a cooked, farmed salmon, contains about 12 g of fat, 22 g of protein, and 206 calories. It also contains important vitamins and minerals like vitamin B12, vitamin B6, thiamine, niacin, pantothenic acid, selenium, and phosphorus.

Eggs

Eggs are one food that contain very little amounts of carbohydrate, with a 100 g of boiled serving providing just 1.1 g of carbs. However, same 100 g can provide as much as 13 g of protein, and 11 g of fat. This makes egg an ideal component of a ketogenic diet.

I don’t know about where you live, but eggs seem to be cheaper over here than foods like salmon and other fatty fishes. Since a keto diet is one that’s continuous and probably less pocket-friendly than your regular diet, looking out for cheap keto-friendly foods like eggs would make a great difference.

Apart from making you feel full, and thus supporting your weight loss goals, eggs are super versatile when it comes to cooking. They can be made and enjoyed in numerous ways. In addition, incorporating them into your keto diet would be like a walk in the park for you.

Avocado

It’s weird for a fruit to contain fats in a very high quantity. But avocado does. In fact, due to its high fat content many people, especially nutritionists, often classify them under fatty foods instead of fruits.

A whole avocado of medium size, contains as much as 22 g of fat, 13 g of carbohydrate, and 3 g of protein. Of this 22 g of fat, only 3 g is saturated, with the rest being 15 g of monounsaturated fats and 4 g of polyunsaturated. This actually means that avocado are filled with super healthy and heart-friendly fats that do not elevate blood cholesterol levels.

Apart from the high content of healthy fats, avocado contains significant amounts of nutrients like vitamin C, E, K, and many B-group vitamins. It also contains minerals like potassium and magnesium in great amounts.

Meat and poultry

In most keto diets, meat and poultry constitute some of the most eaten foods — much more like keto-staple foods. This is because meat and poultry contain no carbohydrates, while proving rich amounts of protein, and significant amounts of fat.

Chia seeds

Chia seeds are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and fiber, which makes them a keto-friendly food. A 100 g of chia seeds provides 42.1 g of carbs, 16.5 g of protein, and 30.7 g of fats (2.31 g of monounsaturated, 23.67 g of polyunsaturated, and only 3.33 g of saturated fats).

Olive Oil

There are not many foods around that contain a nearly 100% fat content. Olive oil is one of those foods that is made up of 100% fat, among which saturated fat forms only 14%, with the rest being unsaturated. Research-based findings have shown that when saturated fats are substituted with monounsaturated fats (forms 73% of fat in olive oil), the body’s level of LDL or bad cholesterol can be reduced.

You can use olive oil to make most of your dishes. You can use it in salad dressings, sauces, and most other foods, to raise the level of fats in your diet.

Leafy green vegetables

In a keto diet, one of the first properties a food must have, is to be very low in carbohydrate. This is exactly the reason why green leafy vegetables have become an important component of such kind of diets. In leafy green vegetables, you have an excellence source of vitamins and minerals that can add some bulk to your meal, all without increasing the amount of carbohydrate you consume. If you ask me, I did say it sounds just perfect for keeping your body in a state of ketosis!

Some popular ones to consider include spinach, kale, lettuce, escarole, Swiss chard, and cabbage.

Nuts

Generally, nuts are rich in fats and proteins, and low in carbohydrates. This makes them an excellent addition to a ketogenic diet. While some nuts like brazil and cashew nuts are high in unhealthy saturated fats, others like walnuts and almonds contains high amounts of healthy omega-3 fats.

Berries

People on a keto diet love berries because they are very low in carbs, which is a property usual of fruits. Besides, berries contain a wide range of antioxidants that can help fight diseases and reduce inflammation.

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Is keto a healthy diet?

As with most other stuffs out there, a keto diet is not without some downsides. While this kind of diet has been shown to possess numerous benefits, including weight loss aids and in diabetes management, there are still some health risks associated with it — as eating high-fat foods, especially those that are of the saturated type can be unhealthy. Saturated fats can raise the levels of cholesterol in the blood, and increase your risk of heart disease. At room temperature, saturated fats are solid, and can be found in foods like butter, red meat, palm, and coconut oils.

However, the health-cautious ketogenics try as much as possible to avoid eating foods that contain high amounts of these saturated fats. Instead, they look to alternatives that contain significant amount of healthy, unsaturated fats, which have been shown by research to possess beneficial properties, especially on the cardiovascular system.

Apart from the risk of high fat intake, the ketogenic diet is seen by many to be limited when it comes to nutrient intake. While this may be true, there are still a lot of alternative foods out there to help provide all the vitamins and minerals your body needs. This is why making the right choice of foods in such a diet is probably the most important aspect people should try to look out for.

How fast can you expect to see weight loss results?

As mentioned earlier, a ketogenic diet can aid weight loss. This is because a high-fat diet can increase your feeling of satiety, and suppress your hunger-stimulating hormones. This will in turn cause you to eat less amount of food. And as with the popular calorie-in calorie-out weight loss approach, the less calories you consume, the better are your chances of losing weight.

Since a ketogenic diet helps with weight loss, people are often wondering on how long it takes to see results upon kickstarting this diet. Anecdotal evidences have shown that people who enrolled in such a diet were able to lose anywhere between one to ten pounds of flesh in one to two weeks. Others reported significant weight loss changes only after about 90 days. However, what must be kept at the back of your mind is that, the less calories you consume, the better are your chances of losing weight.

Who should not do keto?

A keto diet is not for everyone, as there are certain group of people that may not be a good fit for a such a dietary lifestyle. In fact, it is for this reason that people are often advised to consult with a healthcare professional or registered dietician before undertaking such dietary changes.

Some of the people that are not advised to enroll in a ketogenic diet include people with active eating disorders, pregnant women, people with no gallbladder, children, people with liver problems, those suffering from gut dysbiosis, and high performance athletes.

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How long should you stay on keto?

Of course, you can’t continue to eat only high-fat foods for the rest of your life. From the anecdotal evidences available, most people go anywhere between 3 to 12 months of ketogenic lifestyle, after which they revert to their previous dietary habits by reintroducing carbs to their diet.

Since most people on a keto diet are in for the weight loss benefits, then going full keto for at least 3 months should be enough to see if it’s working for you or not. Besides, there’s still limited information available when it comes to the long-term effects of such kind of diet on the human body.

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