Health Fitness

Foods You Can Eat on a Ketogenic Diet for Weight Loss

While on a ketogenic diet, it is very important to make sure you eat within the diet restrictions. This is vital for the individual to remain in a state of ketosis.

Getting out of ketosis can be as simple as eating one or two meals that are not recommended on the diet. However, getting back into ketosis is a completely different story. This can often take days or weeks, depending on how strict you become when you return to the diet.

Meals on a ketogenic diet made up of three types of staple foods. These are the:

  1. fruit or vegetable

  2. protein rich food

  3. fat source

Fats

Ketogenic diets by nature involve the consumption of higher amounts of fat in the diet. They can come as part of the cooking process or as sauces and dressings.

The best types of fats are medium chain triglycerides (MCTs). These include MCT oil and coconut oil. Medium chain triglycerides are easily metabolized to ketones. Some other equally good fats for ketosis include:

Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids

Salmon, Seafood, Trout, Tuna

Monounsaturated and saturated fats

Olive oil, Avocado, Butter, Cheese, Red palm oil, Egg yolks

Non-hydrogenated oils (when cooking)

Coconut oil, beef tallow, non-hydrogenated lard

High oleic

Safflower oils, Sunflower oils

Other sources of fat:

Chicken skin, Coconut butter, Peanut butter, Fat in meats

Protein

When shopping for protein foods, always try to choose wild, organic, and grass-raised meats and seafood. In addition to offering more nutrients, they have not been exposed to hormones, antibiotics, and other potential added toxins.

Meat

The ketogenic diet accepts basically any type of meat. There is no discrimination based on the type of cut or preparation.

Veal, Goat, Lamb, Pork, Veal, Venison

Poultry

The diet also allows any type of bird. You can improve the content of the food by leaving the skin on. However, breading and batter should not be used in poultry preparation as they are generally high in carbohydrates. Apart from that, you can prepare your poultry to your liking.

Chicken, duck, game hen, goose, ostrich, partridge, pheasant, quail, pigeon, turkey

Seafood

Another great source of protein is shellfish. Seafood is a great source of omega-3 fatty acids. They also have high amounts of minerals and vitamins to help you stay well nourished and healthy.

Clams, Crab, Lobster, Mussels, Oysters, Prawns, Scallops, Shrimp, Snails

Fish

Fish has good amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. You should opt for fish that are caught in the wild and also in mercury-free areas.

Ahi, catfish, cod, flounder, halibut, herring, lobster, mackerel, dorado, mussel, salmon, sardines, scallops, snapper, squid, swordfish, trout, tuna, walleye

Carbohydrates

Vegetables

Vegetables are the main source of carbohydrates on a ketogenic diet. When buying vegetables, always opt for organically grown vegetables. Also, dark leafy vegetables contain the fewest carbohydrates with good nutritional value.

Arugula, asparagus, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, collard greens, endive, garlic, kale, kelp, lettuce, mushrooms, onions, peppers, radishes, seaweed, spinach, chard, watercress

Milk and dairy products

These are very essential on a ketogenic diet. Grass-fed and organic sources are more preferable. The full-fat variety is more suitable for the ketogenic diet than the fat-free and low-fat truths.

Butter, cheddar cheese, crème fraîche, heavy cream, mozzarella, sour cream, cream cheese, mascarpone cheese, cheeses, hard cheeses

Walnuts

Moderate amounts of nuts and seeds are allowed on the ketogenic diet. Nuts and seeds are rich in protein, fat, and carbohydrates. The total fat, protein and carbohydrate content of the nut varieties should be checked and added to the total daily calorie calculation.

Roasted nuts and seeds are the best. Anything that can cause harm or interfere with ketosis in the body has been removed through the roasting process.

Walnuts should be used primarily as a snack.

Almonds, macadamia, and walnuts are some of the best

Some nuts are high in omega-6 fatty acids that can cause inflammation in the body.

However, they can prevent some people from achieving their goals. If your weight loss is purely your purpose of using the ketogenic diet, then it would be advisable to eliminate nuts and seeds to improve your results.

Almonds, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, macadamia nuts, walnuts, pili nuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts

Herbs and spices

After a while on the ketogenic diet, food can start to get boring. However, adding spices to your meals can help spice things up. You can add fresh and dried spices to your foods and even drinks to make them more appealing and exciting to the palate.

Spices and fresh herbs are some of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet that you can eat. Adding spices to your food not only adds more flavors to your meals, it also offers many health benefits for your body.

Spices contain carbohydrates, so be sure to add them to your daily carb count. Also, try checking the labels on pre-made spice mixes for their exact carbohydrate content, as they usually contain added sugars.

Salt also enhances the flavors. You are better off choosing high quality sea salt instead of traditional table salt. Unprocessed salts, such as Celtic or Himalayan sea salt, provide you with more than eight trace elements that your body needs to function optimally.

Anise, achiote, basil, bay leaf, black pepper, caraway cardamom, cayenne pepper, celery seed, chervil, chili, chives, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, curry, dill, fenugreek, galangal, garlic, ginger , Lemongrass, licorice, mace, marjoram, mint, mustard seeds, oregano, paprika, parsley, mint, rosemary, saffron, sage, spearmint, star anise, tarragon, thyme, turmeric, vanilla beans

Sweeteners

Adding artificial sweeteners to your meals can help control carbohydrate and sweet cravings. Sweeteners help many people stick to the ketogenic diet.

However, natural sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, and agave increase blood sugar levels, which not only causes inflammation, but can also kick you out of ketosis.

Always go for the liquid form of sweeteners as they do not have binders like dextrose and maltodextrin. Dextrose is an anti-caking agent and is a form of sugar. Maltodextrin, on the other hand, is a bulking agent that has a higher glycemic index (110) than table sugar (52).

The following is a list of recommended sweeteners that have little effect on blood sugar.

Allulose, Mixed Sweeteners (Swerve, Lakanto, Sukrin), Erythritol, Monk Fruit, Stevia, Stevia Glycerite (a thick liquid form of stevia), Sucralose, Xylitol

Drinks

Using a low carb diet like the ketogenic diet has a diuretic effect on the body. Carbohydrates attract water to them, which causes water retention in the body. However, reduced carbohydrate intake on a ketogenic diet leads to a large loss of water as less water is retained in the body and more is excreted.

This diuretic effect can easily lead to dehydration. Therefore, you should drink plenty of water, well above the recommended intake of 8 glasses, when on a ketogenic diet. This will help reduce the risk of bladder pain and urinary tract infections.

Besides water, you can add other types of drinks like coffee and teas to help stay hydrated throughout the day. Both do not significantly affect the state of ketosis.

However, added substances like sugar and milk can affect ketosis. As a result, it would be better to avoid sugar altogether and use whole cream or artificial sweeteners along with your coffee or tea.

Another way to increase your beverage intake is to make vegetable juice by combining varieties of the approved types of vegetables. You can also use energy shakes or protein shakes instead of fruit shakes, as fruits contain sugars (fructose) that can kick you out of ketosis.

Here are some additional drinks you can have to help you stay hydrated:

Unsweetened Almond Milk, Unsweetened Cashew Milk, Unsweetened Coconut Milk, Unsweetened Hemp Milk, Green Tea, Herbal Tea, Organic American Coffee (espresso with water), Mineral Water.

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