By Kelsey Rawson
Low-carb, high-fat diets have been proven time and time again to be highly effective in reducing weight and lowering the risk of certain diseases and ailments like cancer and Alzheimer’s. A ketogenic diet typically involves eating fewer than 50 grams of carbohydrates per day. The average American consumes between 230-290 carbohydrates per day. Dropping to the recommended number on the keto diet may seem like a significant change, and it is. Sticking to a keto diet is challenging at first because it requires a complete lifestyle change. Processed foods are readily available and convenient which make them perfect for today’s busy lifestyles. Cutting out processed foods and switching to natural is a big step but will pay instant dividends for overall health. This list provides the five foods that you should cut immediately and the six essential foods that should be added to your daily intake.
Avoid: Processed Foods
This one may seem like a no-brainer, but processed foods are everywhere. Foods to go, frozen meals, and most chain restaurants serve up high carbohydrate, high fat, and low nutrient options. They may be convenient and make life easier, but provide little benefits for a healthy body. Processed foods are filled with chemicals, sugars, and any number of other ingredients to make them shelf stable and extra delicious. Often called the “bliss point,” processed foods are designed to make you happy and wanting more. Avoiding these foods at all costs is the first step towards a successful transition to the keto diet.
Avoid: Grains
Once processed foods are cut from the diet, the next step is to start cutting grains. This includes wheat, rice, oats, barley, corn, and quinoa. These high carbohydrate grains affect the gut microbiome which can cause bloating and irritable bowels. When part of a balanced, nutritious diet, whole grains can be beneficial, however, most people don’t live with the reality of a balanced dietleading to the keto diet craze in the first place. For the maximum benefits of the diet, cutting out grains will allow your body to restore itself and get back to normal before reintroducing the healthy grains back into the diet.
Sweet and delicious, sugar has taken hold of society more than any other food product in the world. Stimulating the same pleasure centers as harmful drugs, sugar has been shown to be more addictive than cocaine. Sugars are the primary source of carbohydrates in the American diet. Recent studies suggest that Americans eat, on average, 82 grams of sugar per day; that’s over nineteen teaspoons of sugar. Cutting out this addictive substance is the most challenging part of the keto lifestyle. New low-carb dieters often run into sugar withdrawal which causes symptomslike extreme cravings, headaches, shakes, and mood swings. Many people struggle with relapse but each day is a fresh start to get healthy. Quitting sugar is hard, but the results are worth the effort.
Avoid: Potatoes
The low carb diet means that a person can eat whatever vegetables that they want without fear of repercussions. While this is true for a lot of vegetables, potatoes aren’t one of them. The starch in potatoes converts into sugars as the body breaks it down. Initially low in carbs, potatoes transform into an explosion of sugar that can increase glucose in the bloodstream throwing off ketosis. The good news is that many low-carb dieters have found workarounds to their favorite potato-based foods. Mashed cauliflower can replace mashed potatoes, and zucchini fries can replace french fries.
Avoid: Diet Soda
Diet soda is a tricky subject for many keto diets. They usually don’t contain calories, sugar, and carbohydrates making them appear like the perfect drink for a low carb diet. What they do include, however, are sugar substitutes, otherwise known as sugar alcohols. Aspartame, the artificial sweetener used in many diet sodas, can trick your body into thinking you are drinking a full sugar soda. Any sugar substitute that ends in -“tol” needs to be looked at very carefully before adding to one’s diet. They are natural diuretics and trick the body into thinking they’re taking in sugar. That’s a losing recipe when trying to get healthy. If looking for a fizzy beverage, soda water is simply water with added C02, perfect for a keto diet.