Keto Information
Keto Information
PROTEINS IN THE KETOGENIC DIET
While not eating carbohydrates is arguably the most important aspect of successfully inducing ketosis, protein intake is extremely important to prevent muscle loss. Protein is also a vital component of every cell and tissue in your body. Since your body can't store protein for later use the way it can store fat, it's very important to try to get at least enough protein each day. So your protein macro is considered a goal you want to try to achieve: Sedentary people: 1.5 - 1.7 g per kilogram of lean body mass Lightly active or doing resistance/strength training: 1.7 to 2.2 g per kilogram of body weight Heavy strength training/bodybuilders: 2.2 to 2.6 g per kilogram of body weight Protein per kilo lean is recommended for people who are obese or who want to achieve low levels of body fat. We must ensure that proteins are consumed at every meal. Will too much protein kick me out of ketosis? It's a common misconception that too much protein will cause your body to convert the excess protein into glucose and kick you out of ketosis. This simply shouldn't worry you. It is true that the body can convert non-carbohydrate sources, such as protein and fat, into glucose for the body to use. However, the rate at which the body will create glucose is based on the demand for glucose, not the supply of protein and fat. Just because your body can convert them into glucose doesn't mean it will.
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SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT MACRONUTRIENTS
Macronutrients ("macros") are what our bodies use for fuel: fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. All weight loss diets work by limiting the total number of calories you consume. The macronutrient composition of a ketogenic diet makes it very easy to stay in a calorie deficit and lose weight. Most people don't need to count calories on this diet because they naturally start consuming a healthy amount of calories. The three macronutrients are carbohydrates, proteins and fats. The three nutrients have different effects on ketosis due to their digestion and subsequent effects on blood glucose and insulin levels. Carbohydrates are 100% anti-ketogenic due to their effects on blood glucose and insulin (elevating both). Protein is approximately 46% ketogenic and 58% anti-ketogenic due to the fact that over half of the protein ingested "CAN" be converted to glucose, which increases insulin. Fat is 90% ketogenic and 10% anti-ketogenic, accounting for the small conversion of the glycerol portion of triglycerides to glucose. "Both protein and carbohydrate intake will affect the development of ketosis, affecting both the observed adaptations and the amount of 'protein-sparing' effect that will occur. Despite the generally 'high-fat' nature of the ketogenic diet, or at least how it is perceived, dietary fat intake has a fairly minimal effect on ketosis per se. Fat intake will primarily affect the amount of body fat that is used for fuel." Lyle McDonald, "The Ketogenic Diet," page 52
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WHAT FOODS SHOULD I AVOID ON THE KETOGENIC DIET?
Starchy and sugary foods are always unacceptable: grains (yes, even whole grains), bread, cereal, legumes, soda, pasta, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pizza, beer, cookies, bagels, lollipops, honey, candy, pretzels, popsicles, crackers, most fruits, and everything else. They all have one thing in common: in your body, they are all sugar, which breaks down into glucose in the bloodstream and causes a spike in insulin. And yes, bread is sugar. Even a fancy organic whole grain bread. Fruit should be avoided primarily because it is full of sugar, although we can indulge in small amounts of strawberries and berries, which are low in carbohydrates and high in fiber. Almost all "low-fat" foods should be avoided; fat-free milk , reduced-fat salad dressings, low-fat cheese and yogurt, etc., are full of carbohydrates. Many also contain chemical compounds whose effects on the human body are not yet well studied and could be potentially dangerous. Do not drink milk or add it to coffee or tea; use cream instead. At first, keep track of the foods you eat to make sure you're not inadvertently eating too many hidden carbs. You may be surprised at how much sugar you've been unknowingly eating—in salad dressings, sauces, packaged foods, etc.
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WHAT HAPPENS TO SUGAR ALCOHOLS?
It is important to note that in sweeteners, there are several different sugar alcohols (also called polyols or polyols). Some of these are allowed on low-carb diets, while others should be avoided due to a high glycemic index or unpleasant side effects (constipation, laxative effects, bloating, flatulence, indigestion, and heartburn). An individual's ability to digest certain sugar alcohols may depend on their gut enzymes and the way in which the sweeteners are consumed. Popular polyols Name Glycemic index Xylitol 13 Sorbitol 9 Erythritol 0 Maltitol 36 Mannitol 0 Isomalt 2 Glycerol 3 It is important to note that even if a granulated sweetener uses a sweetener with a GI of 0, it can be augmented with another sugar alcohol such as maltitol with a high GI. If you have a sensitive gut or are stuck on a plateau, ditch the sugar alcohols.
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WHAT ARE NET CARBOHYDRATES AND HOW DO I CALCULATE THEM?
NET carbs for a food are TOTAL CARBOHYDRATES - FIBER . Example: 100 g of avocado contains 9 g of carbohydrates. 7g of this is insoluble fiber and doesn't trigger a strong insulin response, so you don't count it. So 9g - 7g = 2g of net carbs per 100g of avocado. Important: You cannot ADD fiber to a meal to cancel out the carbohydrates from starch and simple sugars. Many countries already include starch and sugar carbohydrates on their labels independently of fiber (EU, UK, AUS). Beware of "carb blockers." Some foods and supplements claim to "block" or slow the absorption of carbohydrates to the point of being effective for a ketogenic diet. These products have not yet been scientifically tested.
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KETOGENIC DIET: A COMPLETE FOOD GUIDE
Have you ever wondered what fits into a ketogenic diet and what doesn't? It's very important to be clear about what foods to eat before starting the diet and how to incorporate more fats into your meals. Here are some guidelines. Proteins The ketogenic diet is not high in protein (it focuses on fat), so all proteins should be consumed in moderation: Grass-fed beef Fish, especially fatty fish, such as salmon Dark meat chicken Occasionally: Bacon Low-fat proteins, such as skinless chicken breast and shrimp. These are great to include in your keto diet, but add a sauce on top for a little extra fat instead of eating them plain. Never: Sausages with added sugar (read the label!) Meat marinated in sugary sauces Chicken or fish nuggets Oil and grease Free: Avocado oil Olive oil Coconut oil Butter Heavy cream Occasionally limit your consumption of these oils (avoid packaged foods), where they are often found: Sunflower oil Safflower oil Corn oil Never: Margarine Artificial trans fats What fruit can I eat on keto? Fruit in general is high in carbohydrates. You'll be happy to know that certain types of fruit are allowed on the keto diet when consumed in moderation. Fruits you can eat include avocados, blackberries, raspberries, and lemons. The trick is to aim for a low net carb count, which you can calculate by subtracting fiber from your total carbs. Fruits and vegetables Free: Avocado Green leafy vegetables, such as spinach and arugula Celery Asparagus Occasionally, (These are great options, but you'll need to count the carbs): Leeks Spaghetti squash Eggplant Never: Potatoes Corn Raisins Nuts and seeds Free: Nuts Almonds Flax and chia seeds Occasionally: Sugar-free nut butters (almond or peanut butter) Cashews Pistachios Never: Mixes of nuts with dried fruits Sweetened nut or seed butters Chocolate covered nuts Milk products Free: Cheddar cheese Blue cheese Feta cheese Occasionally: Full-fat cottage cheese Fat-free natural Greek yogurt Full-fat ricotta cheese Never: Milk Fat-free sweetened yogurt Frozen Sweeteners Free: None. Always be moderate with sweeteners. Occasionally: Stevia Erythritol Xylitol Never: Agave Maple syrup White and brown sugars Condiments and Sauces Free: Guacamole Lemon Butter Sauce Mayonnaise (make sure it has no added sugar) Occasionally: Raw garlic Tomato sauce (look for ones without added sugar) Balsamic vinegar Never: Barbecue sauce Ketchup Honey mustard Drinks Free: Water Almond milk Bone broth Plain tea Occasionally: Black coffee (be careful with caffeine consumption) Sugar-free carbonated water (limit it only if the bubbles make you bloated) Diet soda Calorie-free drinks Never: soda Fruit juice Lemonade Herbs and spices Free: All herbs and spices fit into the ketogenic diet, but if you use large quantities, we recommend counting carbs. Salt (salty foods to taste) Pepper Thyme, oregano, paprika and cayenne These are good options from time to time, but they do contain some carbohydrates: Ground ginger Garlic powder Onion powder Never: No herbs or spices are prohibited; they are generally allowed to be used in small amounts to add flavor to foods. Supplements It is recommended to take: Fiber Multivitamin MCT oil Exogenous ketones
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HOW DO I START THE KETOGENIC DIET AND WHAT CAN I EAT?
How do I get started and what can I eat? A good way to start is by reducing your daily net carbs to 20g. Remember, fiber doesn't count toward your daily carb intake, so if something you eat has 10g of carbs but 8g of fiber, then it has 2g of net carbs. Use green, fibrous vegetables as your main source of carbohydrates. Maintain adequate protein intake. Aim for at least 1.8 to 2.2 grams per kilogram of lean body mass. Increase the proportion of fat in your diet: Most of your energy will come from fat, so you don't need to avoid it, just don't overdo it. Increase the amount of water you drink. Replenish your electrolytes. As for what you can eat: eat dark green leafy vegetables, fatty red meats, skinless chicken, fish, organ meats, eggs, seeds and nuts, full-fat dairy products, or anything else rich in nutrients, fats, protein, and fiber. Carbohydrates are the only limit. Protein is important. Fat is consumed to satisfy hunger; it's not as important. The recommended fats are those from meat, olive oil, butter, and coconut oil. Although fiber is a carbohydrate, it is not digested like a simple carbohydrate and is therefore not included in your daily carbohydrate count. It is important to emphasize that fiber is simply not counted. Be careful when purchasing your products, make sure they have nutritional tables.
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HEALTHY FATS: WHICH ARE THE BEST AND WHY.
Fat has been demonized for years and has been placed at the center of the development of countless conditions and diseases. And although it has already been proven that this is simply not true, it is still taking society and the medical community a while to realize this. For many people, after years of following low-fat diets, the ketogenic diet is the biggest challenge they face because of the amount of fat it allows. Fat still scares us. We've been led to believe that eating fat makes us fat. That eating fat is bad for us and that we should avoid it at all costs. It will still take some time before we can erase that misconception from our minds and see fat for what it is: an essential component of our health. Below we show you several healthy sources of each type of fat. Sources of saturated fats Butter and ghee (clarified butter) Cream Coconut oil Cheese bacon Sources of monounsaturated fats Olives and olive oil Avocados and avocado oil Macadamias and macadamia oil Almonds, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pecans Butter and bacon Sources of polyunsaturated fats Fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines, anchovies) Grass-fed meat Dairy from grass-fed animals Eggs from free-range hens Algae Chia seeds Flax seeds Hemp seeds Walnuts
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WHAT TO EAT ON THE KETO DIET?
Premise : If you are overweight , you need to lower the amount of carbohydrates that you consume. Keto for Weight Loss: If you're following the keto diet to lose weight, it's important to remember that being in ketosis doesn't guarantee weight loss. Simply put, ketosis is a tool that makes maintaining a calorie deficit much easier because you're not constantly fighting hunger. Calories are still very important on a ketogenic diet. Some people can eat until they're full without measuring calories and still lose weight. Others find they can overeat on the keto diet and need to measure their calories to maintain a deficit. It's important to determine which method works best for you and your goals. A low-carb or ketogenic diet has many health benefits compared to many standard eating methods. Most people switch to keto to help with weight loss, but it also has other health benefits, such as reducing the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, and more. Just follow these simple guidelines: Getting Started: The Basics Low in carbohydrates Restrict your net carbohydrate intake . It is recommended to limit your net carbohydrate intake to 20 grams per day. While your personal carb threshold may be higher, 20g almost ensures you'll enter ketosis . Net Carbs = Total Carbs - Fiber - Certain Sugar Alcohols Fiber is not included in the carbohydrates. Vegetables are perfectly acceptable. Adequate protein Make sure you provide your body with enough protein each day. It is recommended to try to get at least 0.8-1 g of protein per pound of lean body mass (1.8-2.2 g per kg of lean body mass) Enough fat You don't need to stuff yourself with fat, but you do need to eat enough. There's an app called Macros that helps you track your fat intake. Replenish your electrolytes Your body retains water and electrolytes differently when you're on the keto diet. It is common for people to suffer from an electrolyte deficiency, often referred to as the keto flu. To avoid or alleviate the keto flu, make sure you get enough bioavailable sodium, potassium, and magnesium each day, as well as adequate water intake.
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HOW TO KNOW IF YOU ARE IN KETOSIS?
It is possible to measureketosis by analyzing urine, blood or breath samples. But there are also symptoms that let us know we are in ketosis: dry mouth, thirst, frequent urination. Dry mouth and increased thirst. Unless you drink enough water and get enough electrolytes like sodium, you may experience dry mouth. Try a cup or two of broth a day, plus as much water as needed. You may also experience a metallic taste in your mouth. Increased urination: A ketone body, acetoacetate, may end up in the urine. This makes ketosis testing with urine dipsticks possible. Also, at least at first, you may find yourself wanting to go to the bathroom more frequently. This may be the main cause of increased thirst (above). Ketone breath: This is due to a ketone body called acetone escaping through our breath. It can cause a person's breath to smell "fruity" or similar to nail polish remover. This odor can also sometimes come from sweat during exercise. It is often temporary. There are other signs that also indicate that we are in ketosis: ·Reduced hunger: Many people experience a marked reduction in hunger on a ketogenic diet. In fact, many people feel good when they eat only once or twice a day and may automatically end up engaging in a form of intermittent fasting. This saves time and money while speeding up weight loss. Increased energy: After a few days of fatigue (the "keto flu"), many people experience a marked increase in energy levels. This can also be experienced as clear thinking, a lack of brain fog, or even a feeling of euphoria. And you, have you had them?
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WHAT FOODS DO WE AVOID ON THE KETOGENIC DIET?
This is what it should be avoid on a ketogenic diet : foods that contain a lot of carbohydrates, both sugary and starchy. This includes starchy foods such as bread, pasta, rice, and potatoes. These foods are very rich in carbohydrates. Numbers are grams of net carbs per 100 grams, unless otherwise noted. Also avoid or limit highly processed foods, and low-fat diet products. A ketogenic diet should be moderately high in protein and it probably will be higher in fat , since fat provides the energy that you no longer get from carbohydrates. Low-fat products generally provide too many carbohydrates and not enough protein and fat.
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CAN THE KETOGENIC DIET BE MAINTAINED OVER TIME?
This is a question we get asked very often. The ketogenic diet reduces carbohydrates to a minimum, thereby encouraging ketosis , which is the subsequent burning of fat for energy. This helps us lose weight. So far, so good. But in recent times, questions have been raised about whether it is safe to maintain it over time. As we already know, the ketogenic diet is used not only for weight loss. In medicine, studies have confirmed that children with epilepsy have fewer seizure episodes if they reduce their carbohydrate intake. Many people also use it as a lifestyle. Research confirms the safety and effectiveness of very low-carb diets for weight loss, so we conclude that the keto diet has no limitations. When starting the diet, we may experience some symptoms such as headaches, stomach pain, cramps, and others. These are the result of our body adapting to a new source of energy. This is what we call the Ketone Flu. At this stage, high water intake throughout the day is very important. Ketosis is a metabolic state that, if left unchecked, can lead to negative consequences, which may not be well-adjusted by all organisms. Therefore, the keto diet is not advisable for everyone, and whenever it is adopted, it requires proper control of ketosis to avoid a buildup of ketone bodies that can lead to, for example, ketoacidosis, a serious condition. Once you've gone through this stage, which lasts between two days and a week, your body gets used to using your fat as energy, which is what we call entering ketosis. From then on, the symptoms disappear, and you begin to lose weight. However, while science indicates that the keto diet is a safe and sustainable option, it's important to remember that, like any diet, it requires planning and control. That's why we always recommend consulting a medical or nutrition professional before starting the diet .
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