If you have a pulse and even the slightest interest in dieting or nutrition, you’ve heard of keto. Actually, all you need is a pulse, because someone will definitely force you to learn was the ketogenic diet is. Because they’re doing it and it’s great and they have so much ENERGY!!! yeah, anyone on a fad diet is annoying as hell.
Here is my confession: I have done the keto diet. Multiple times.
So, what is it? Thank you so much for asking, I’d love to explain. People doing keto are eating high fat and low carb diets—extremely low-carb. The recommended amount is about 20 grams, tops. The logic behind this is that without carbs, your body will go into a metabolic state called ketosis. That means it’s using ketones for energy, making it very efficient at burning body fat.
A ketogenic-type diet high in healthy fats, moderate in protein, low in carbs, trains your body to burn fat as fuel rather than carbs, while building up ketones to curb hunger and fuel your brain = reduced inflammation, focus, fat loss & more. #keto #health #inflammation #lowcarb pic.twitter.com/nKRTpnMoCm
— Lori Shemek, PhD (@LoriShemek) August 31, 2018
There are a lot of delicious things you can eat while following the ketogenic diet, and it has a huge number of practitioners with very devoted Internet forums, especially on Facebook and Reddit. All of these places are swimming with advice, some good, some bad. But a common theme is that you should Cut. More. Carbs. No matter how few, there’s a few more you can shave away, and then you’ll see #Results.
One thing I was very surprised by when I started doing keto was how many carbs there were in things I would consider healthy and the opposite of bread, like green vegetables. Yes, broccoli, kale, and even lettuce have lots of carbs. That means some people are very reluctant to incorporate veggies into their keto diets, as you can see:
Card
Card
Also, many keto recipes are incredible high in fat with maybe a little protein holding the fat together. Eggs with cheese. Turkey burger with cheese. Cheese on a slice of bacon with avocado on top. But be careful, because avocado has carbs, too!!
Here I am saying something extremely controversial.
EAT GREEN VEGETABLES ON KETO!
The ketogenic diet can be extremely hard to maintain, though it gets easier over time. There are a number of different apps that will help you track your macronutrients, meaning the breakdown of your carb, protein and fat intake throughout the day, as well as your calories. But eventually you’ll get comfortable making choices for yourself. I kept using my app tracker, however, because it did something I couldn’t really do in my brain—it tracked fiber.
Many people don’t realize that you can subtract your fiber from your carb intake to get your net carbs. Our digestive system doesn’t break down fiber into sugar, so the fiber doesn’t take you out of ketosis. But many people avoid these vegetables because their app or nutritional info shows them the carbs in them, but not the fiber. Take broccoli as an example. A cup of broccoli has 8 grams of carbs. If you’re trying to only eat 20-30 grams, that’s a lot. But 2 of those grams are fiber. So you’re down to 6 grams.
When doing keto, I would use an app called FatSecret. This is a very rude name, but it did track fiber, which made it easier for me to know when I was over my carbs for real, not just based on overall veggie carbs. Eating vegetables while on keto will be good for your digestion, nutrition, and spirits. Even eating cheese gets old. Spread the good word! Fiber is our friend.