A Complete List of What to Eat on a Keto Diet – Guide to Healthy Ketosis
A keto diet is a great way to help the body. With easy guides, starting a keto diet can be very simple. However, we must know what food to pick and eat to maximize the nutrition in our meals. Knowing what to eat on keto can seem overwhelming.
However, when you compare a dirty keto vs a clean keto nutrition plan, you’ll find many more benefits with the clean keto option. You have a variety of vegetables, dairy products, healthy fats, and berries to choose from! From nuts and berries to meats and cheeses, you’ll have a lot of options and meals you can make!
What to Eat on a Keto Diet
Check out the list of foods you can eat. If you are practicing a strict keto diet, make sure that around 60%- 70% of your nutrition comes from healthy fats!
While many foods should be avoided, there are many foods to choose from!
Protein
Beef, chicken, turkey, and pork are all great food options!
Seafood is always best wild-caught, as it is exposed to no bacteria that come from breeding fish.
We’ve all heard “you are what you eat.” Furthermore, you are what your food eats.
Grass-fed beef may be a bit pricier but the health benefits stand. But if not an option, don’t feel too bad, though! Endeavor to find the least processed options in your budget (i.e. things with fewer additives and chemicals).
Deli meats and bacon are also an option but be sure they are nitrate-free! Those chemicals (used for curing meat) do not interact well with your body.
Eggs and unsweetened protein powder are always good options as well.
Vegetables
All those dark greens are usually very safe and low-carb Above ground vegetables are usually low in sugar and high in nutrition!
Spinach, collard greens, cabbage, cauliflower, zucchini, asparagus, green peppers, eggplants, lettuce, and jalapenos are all great options packed with vitamins and minerals!
Mushrooms are high in protein and delicious as well! Carrots and broccoli, with moderation as they contain more sugar, but truly, a healthy keto diet has half a plate of veggies for every meal.
Dairy
Cheese! Cheese is low carb, high flavor, and high protein!
Heavy whipping cream, sour cream, cream cheese, and mascarpone cream are all options as well.
If you miss a dash of milk in your coffee, try a bit of heavy cream, twice the flavor, and creaminess, with a low-to-no amount of carbs.
If worried about saturated fat, check out multiple studies and meta-analyses that show no relation between saturated fat and heart disease. In fact, it may even reduce the risk of stroke.
Healthy Fats
For healthy fats, we have a lot of options!
If you are frying, try avocado oil, butter, ghee oil, or coconut oil. For low temperatures, olive oil works though it’s best to avoid heating this one.
Olive oil, avocado oil, and coconut oil are best if they are cold pressed, as this indicates no heat was used to extract oil.
Mayonnaise and dressings are good, only if made with healthy oils (avoid canola/ other vegetable oils).
Berries (and Some Fruits)
Raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries are all good options, with 100 grams of berries all having about 5.5 carbs.
Blueberries are also fine, though with caution, 12 carbs per 100 grams. You can also have coconut, a fruit with 6 grams of carbs per 100 grams. Coconut flour is a great substitute for flour in baking as well!
Limes and lemons can be used as well, as they are very low-carb. Tomatoes are great in moderation!
Nuts
Almonds, pecans, and peanuts are all low-carb options that have very good fats in them. Almond flour can easily replace white flour in a recipe too, for baked goods.
Be sure to pay attention to portion size, as it is very easy to overeat, they’re so delicious!
Drinks
So, you can’t drink but you can drink: water, tea, black coffee, and milk (almond, coconut, cashew, flax) are all great options if you’re thirsty!
Add a pinch of sea salt and lemon to your water for added electrolytes too.
Natural Low Carb Sweeteners
Stevia, monk fruit, and a little bit of erythritol can all be used to sweeten foods and drinks.
Some report discomfort using erythritol so start small and work your way up to bigger amounts. One study found a link between erythritol and heart disease. This study only looked at intrinsic erythritol, the type produced by the body during duress. Other studies find that erythritol is beneficial to us by reducing insulin resistance. However, when in doubt, do without I say!
Everybody is different, so find the low-carb sweetener that best suits your taste! Monk fruit has been used for thousands of years and actually has gut benefits according to this study.
Avoid non-nutritive sweeteners and artificial such as aspartame, acesulfame, sucralose, and saccharin, which can harm gut microbiota.
If you can, avoid all the different names for sugar that are hidden in food items!
The Takeaway
Eating keto means choosing healthy options to replace sugar and carbs. Make sure to eat a lot of vegetables to stay healthy and increase your wellbeing, and keep your gut health high.
The nutrition from healthy fats and vegetables, and the reduction of carbohydrates, have amazing benefits in the body such as reduced inflammation, reduced metabolic syndrome, and weight loss. Shopping on a keto diet is simple if you can read the nutrition label and make informed decisions about what is going into your body.
