Tips For Successful Keto Dieting

Keto Dieting

When you follow a ketogenic diet, you’re cutting carbs to a minimum and replacing them with protein and healthy fats. The result is a metabolic shift that turns your body into a fat-burning machine. This gives you energy without the sugar crashes, brain fog and fatigue that you experience when you eat too many carbohydrates.

The diet eliminates most carbohydrates—including grains, sugar, candy, soda, juice and most fruits—and some proteins and starchy vegetables like beans and peas. It allows some high-fat foods, such as butter, lard and coconut oil, and it includes a variety of salad greens, herbs, tomatoes, mushrooms, avocados and berries. It also restricts some legumes and root vegetables, including sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips and yams, but it does allow cruciferous veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, kale and Brussels sprouts in high amounts.

While this diet is effective for weight loss, it may be unhealthy if you’re eating it for too long, and it can cause nutrient deficiencies in some people. It’s especially difficult to stick with during pregnancy and breastfeeding, as it can lead to dehydration and reduce milk supply. It also limits a person’s fruit intake, which can cause vitamin C deficiency.

Restrictive diets like this also have the potential to interfere with a person’s relationship with food and encourage orthorexia, an unhealthy obsession with what you eat. If you find it hard to adhere to the strictest version of this diet, consider incorporating some of the tips below to make the lifestyle more manageable.