Kick-Starting Your Morning With Keto: A Beginner's Guide

The keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that has been proven to help with weight loss, blood sugar control, and many other conditions. It involves drastically reducing your carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This reduction in carbs puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis, where it becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy.

If you're thinking of starting the keto diet, it's important to do your research and plan ahead. Here are some tips to help you get started:

- Know what foods you can eat and which to avoid. Focus on meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, healthy oils, nuts, and seeds. Avoid sugary foods, grains, starches, most fruit, beans, root vegetables, alcohol, and low-fat products.

- Be prepared to eat lots of fat. Fat should make up around 70% to 80% of your daily calories on the keto diet. Choose healthy fats like olive oil, avocado oil, nuts, and seeds.

- Know how much protein to eat. Protein should make up between 10% to 20% of your daily calories. Choose organic, grass-finished meat, and free-range chicken.

- Get familiar with reading nutrition labels. Avoid foods with sugar in the first few ingredients and watch out for hidden sugars and thickeners.

- Stay hydrated. Water is crucial on the keto diet, especially during the initial phase, to support your metabolism and prevent constipation, dizziness, and cravings.

- Be aware of the keto flu. Some people experience flu-like symptoms such as fatigue and mental fogginess when they first start the keto diet, as their body adjusts to burning fat for energy.

- Plan your meals. Batch cooking and meal planning can help you stay on track and save time.

Eat protein and healthy fats for breakfast

Eating protein and healthy fats for breakfast is a great way to start your keto journey.

For a keto diet, you'll want to focus on eating animal proteins, such as meat, fish, and eggs. These foods are low in carbs and high in protein and healthy fats, making them ideal for a keto breakfast. For example, you could have eggs cooked in olive oil or butter, or smoked salmon with cream cheese.

If you're a fan of breakfast meats, you're in luck! Bacon, sausage, and ham are all keto-friendly options. Just be mindful of the sugar content in some varieties of ham.

Dairy is also a great source of protein and healthy fats. Opt for full-fat options like Greek yoghurt, cottage cheese, or ricotta. You can even add some chopped nuts and cinnamon for extra flavour and a crunchy texture.

If you're looking for a quick and easy breakfast, a protein shake might be the way to go. Try blending almond milk, almond butter, chia seeds, and hemp seeds for a nutritious and filling start to your day.

Remember, when following a keto diet, it's important to monitor your protein intake. While these foods are nutritious and delicious, overeating protein can take your body out of ketosis. So, be sure to enjoy them in moderation as part of a balanced keto diet.

Know what foods to eat and avoid

The keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat, moderate-protein diet. It involves drastically reducing your carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This reduction in carbs puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis, where it becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy.

Foods to Eat

• Meat: red meat, steak, ham, sausage, bacon, chicken, and turkey.
• Fatty fish: salmon, trout, tuna, and mackerel.
• Eggs: pastured or omega-3 whole eggs.
• Butter and cream: grass-fed butter and heavy cream.
• Cheese: unprocessed cheeses like cheddar, goat, cream, blue, or mozzarella.
• Nuts and seeds: almonds, walnuts, flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, etc.
• Healthy oils: extra virgin olive oil and avocado oil.
• Avocados: whole avocados or freshly made guacamole.
• Low-carb vegetables: spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc.

Foods to Avoid

• Sugary foods: soda, fruit juice, smoothies, cake, ice cream, candy, etc.
• Grains or starches: wheat-based products, rice, pasta, cereal, etc.
• Fruit: all fruit, except small portions of berries like strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries.
• Beans or legumes: peas, kidney beans, lentils, chickpeas, etc.
• Root vegetables and tubers: potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, etc.
• Low-fat or diet products: low-fat mayonnaise, salad dressings, and condiments.
• Some condiments or sauces: barbecue sauce, honey mustard, teriyaki sauce, ketchup, etc.
• Unhealthy fats: processed vegetable oils, mayonnaise, etc.
• Alcohol: beer, wine, liquor, mixed drinks.
• Sugar-free diet foods: sugar-free candies, syrups, puddings, sweeteners, desserts, etc.
• Bread, pasta, rice, and other refined carbs.
• Beer and mixed drinks.
• Ketchup, barbecue sauce, and other condiments.
• Glazed or honey-baked ham.
• Light or low-fat margarine.
• Dried fruit or trail mix.
• Low-fat diet foods.
• Potatoes and other starchy vegetables.
• Sweetened yogurt or dairy.
• Certain fresh fruits: mangoes, bananas, and grapes.
• Beans and other legumes.
• Quinoa and other grains.
• Milk and white chocolate.

Be prepared to eat lots of fat

The keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that involves drastically reducing your carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis, where it becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy.

The keto diet recommends that 70% of your diet should be fat, so be prepared to eat lots of fat! Here are some tips to help you do that:

Examine Your Relationship with Fat

People have been taught to fear fat, but deciding exactly how to eat is confusing because research is mixed. To prepare for a high-fat diet, which can be uncomfortable at first, start making small adjustments to what you eat every day. For example, order a burger on lettuce leaves instead of a bun, and swap fries for green veggies.

Cook with More Oil

Instead of potatoes or rice with your meal, opt for a non-starchy veggie. Start cooking with more olive or avocado oil.

Choose Fatty Foods

The only foods that don't contain carbs are meat (protein) and pure fats like butter and olive oil. Fatty fish like salmon, trout, tuna, and mackerel are great keto options. Avocados and avocado oil are also excellent sources of heart-healthy fats and provide a hefty dose of fibre and essential vitamins and minerals.

Nuts and Seeds

Including different kinds of nuts and seeds in your diet is a great way to boost your intake of healthy fats, plant-based protein, and fibre. Pistachios, walnuts, almonds, pecans, cashews, and Brazil nuts are all great options for low-carb, high-fat diets like keto.

Olives and Olive Oil

Olives and olive oil are frequently included in many of the world's healthiest diets. Olives are loaded with heart-healthy fats and contain vitamin E and various plant compounds known to reduce inflammation and your risk of chronic conditions like heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis.

Coconuts and Coconut Oil

Coconuts and coconut oil are popular keto fat sources because they offer a natural source of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), a type of fat that your body can easily absorb and use. Research suggests that MCTs may ease your transition into ketosis and are more likely to be burned as energy and less likely to be stored as fat, which may aid weight loss.

Full-Fat Dairy

Though it contains some carbs, unsweetened, full-fat Greek yogurt can be a healthy addition to a ketogenic diet. It's also a great source of beneficial bacteria known as probiotics, which promote healthy digestive function.

Fatty Fish

Fatty fish like salmon, tuna, anchovies, and sardines are great additions to a healthy ketogenic diet. They’re rich in high-quality protein and heart-healthy omega-3 fats. Certain types like salmon also provide a substantial dose of vitamin D, a nutrient critical for immune function, bone health, and more.

Butter

Butter is perfect for your keto lifestyle because it’s carb-free and about 80% fat. Though it was long considered a menace to heart health, current research indicates that there is only a small or neutral association between butter intake and heart disease and stroke risk.

Cheese

Cheese is another good high-fat, low-carb option, and with hundreds of varieties on the market, there’s no shortage of options to choose from. Though exact nutrient composition varies depending on the type of cheese, many types are good sources of protein and calcium. Certain fermented varieties like cheddar or gouda also provide probiotics.

Know how much protein to eat

Protein is one of the three macronutrients that provide calories, and it plays a big role in the keto diet. Proteins are broken down into amino acids, which the body uses to build new tissues, making protein essential for wound healing, injury recovery, and muscle growth.

The amount of protein you should eat on a ketogenic diet is widely contested. Some believe that too much protein may be detrimental and could throw you out of ketosis, while others argue that too little can hamper recovery, decrease lean muscle mass, and make it harder to lose weight.

According to ketogenic diet experts Stephen Phinney, MD, PhD, and Jeff Volek, PhD, RD, the ideal way to calculate protein needs for people on keto is grams per kilograms of body weight (g/kg body weight). They recommend sticking to a target range of 1.2-2.0 g/kg body weight, depending on your lifestyle. For instance, if you are a male who lifts heavy weights often, you may want to eat at the higher end of the protein range, while a smaller female who doesn't do much weight lifting may do better at the lower end.

Here's how to calculate your protein needs:

• First, convert your target weight to kilograms by dividing it by 2.2.
• Then, multiply that weight in kilograms by 1.2 to get the lower end of your target protein range.
• Multiply by 2.0 to get the higher end of your target protein range.

One major concern that many people on keto have is that eating too much protein may kick them out of ketosis by increasing their blood sugar and insulin levels. While this could theoretically happen if you eat enough protein, it's unlikely. However, this effect may be more common in people with type 1 diabetes.

Sticking to the recommended protein guidelines of 1.2-1.0 grams per kilogram of target body weight should be adequate protein to support ketosis with no risk of kicking you out of ketosis.

People on keto may easily slip into a pattern of low protein intake because high-fat foods can be filling on their own, especially if they are also concerned about protein kicking them out of ketosis. On a short-term basis, you may not notice any side effects or complications of low protein intake.

However, an inadequate protein intake over time could lead to several problems, including muscle mass loss, appetite changes, weight gain, delayed wound healing or injury recovery, and fatigue. Low protein intake is also linked to a higher risk of death from all causes. In children and adolescents, inadequate protein intake can lead to stunted growth and diseases of malnourishment. However, these conditions are very rare in the United States.

There are several keto-friendly foods that are rich sources of protein:

• Meats: beef, chicken, pork, fish/shellfish, etc.
• Eggs: chicken eggs, quail eggs, duck eggs, etc.
• Dairy: cheese, plain Greek yogurt, cottage cheese
• Nuts and seeds: peanuts, hazelnuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, walnuts, chia seeds, flax seeds, sesame seeds, nut/seed butters
• Protein supplements: protein powders, protein shakes

Protein Sources to Avoid on Keto:

• Meats: breaded or battered meats (chicken nuggets, chicken strips), meats in sugary sauces (General Tso's chicken)
• Dairy: milk, sweetened yogurts
• Legumes: chickpeas, lentils, beans (all varieties — pinto, kidney, black, Great Northern, etc.)

Get familiar with reading nutrition labels

Reading nutrition labels is an important step when starting a keto diet. This is how you can ensure you are consuming enough fat and not unknowingly eating too many carbs. Here are some things to keep in mind:

Serving Size Matters

The serving size on the nutrition label is important to pay attention to. Just because a food has lower carbs per serving doesn't mean you can eat the entire package. Always check the serving size to see how many servings are in a package to make sure you aren't exceeding your daily carb limit. For people working to maintain a constant state of ketosis, you will likely need to keep carbs under 20 grams per day.

Watch Out for Hidden Sugars

Sugars are often disguised under names that don't sound like sugar. Typically, any ingredient that ends with -ose is a form of sugar (dextrose, lactose, sucrose). Other sweeteners to avoid are:

• Agave nectar
• Coconut sugar
• Dates
• Honey
• Maple syrup

Sauces and dressings often contain different carbohydrates, such as the above sweeteners, or thickeners like corn starch, that increase the total grams of carbs.

Carb Counting for Weight Loss

If you are focusing on a low-carb, high-fat diet versus a ketogenic diet, you can consume more carbs and still maintain a healthy lifestyle. Here are the daily carb intakes for each:

• Ketogenic: Under 20 grams of carbs per day
• Low-carb, high-fat: 20 to 50 grams of carbs per day
• Moderate low-carb diet: 50 to 100 grams of carbs per day

The important thing to keep in mind is your individual goal. If you want to shed pounds and reduce blood-glucose levels, you may want to work towards a fully ketogenic lifestyle. If you want to maintain lower blood-glucose levels but aren't as focused on dramatic weight loss, a low-carb, high-fat or moderate low-carb diet can help achieve those goals.

Frequently asked questions