Keto Diet Basics: What is the keto diet, and how do I get started?
The ketogenic diet, or keto, is a low-carb, high-fat diet that offers several health benefits. Also, in certain cases, starting a keto diet can prevent and control complications associated with diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s.
This diet is called ketogenic because its main function is to bring the body into a metabolic state called “ketosis.” When the body enters a state of ketosis, it becomes very efficient at burning fat for energy. For this reason, this type of diet can be an effective choice to help you lose weight, reduce the percentage of sugar in the blood, and increase insulin levels.
Considering these important health benefits, you may wonder:
How to start a keto diet?
Starting The Keto Diet in 2023 can be simple for some people and complex for others. First, you should avoid carbohydrates and base your diet around foods like eggs, meat, fish, legumes, low-carb vegetables, etc. Therefore, to make this transition gradual, we recommend making a two-week dietary change. Likewise, to help you start your dietary change, we’ve put together a list of foods to eat and others to avoid when starting a keto diet.
The keto diet is a high-fat, low-carb diet that can help you lose weight and lower insulin and blood sugar levels. But how does this meal plan work? The keto diet works by modifying your metabolism, eliminating excess carbohydrates, and supporting the consumption of fats and ketones.
What can I eat on the keto diet?
Here is a list of foods allowed on the keto diet that you should add to all your meals:
- Eggs, meat, and fish: In terms of the types of meat allowed on the keto diet, red meat, turkey, chicken, bacon, and sausages are recommended. In addition, you should consume eggs and fatty fish such as salmon, trout, and tuna.
- Nuts and seeds: Almonds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, etc.
- Butter and cream: You can eat all types of butter and cream, although we recommend sticking to organic ones whenever possible.
- Avocado and healthy oils: One of the advantages of this diet is that it allows eating avocados and guacamole. The same goes for healthy oils, especially extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, and avocado oil.
- Cheese and condiments: It is best to eat unprocessed cheeses such as goat cheese, cheddar, blue cheese, and mozzarella. Likewise, you can use salt, pepper, and most spices in marinades.
- Red fruits: Only consumption of berries such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries is recommended.
- Low-carb vegetables: You can eat all the green vegetables you want—also, including onions, tomatoes, and peppers.
You can also eat keto-type snacks!
Healthy snacks suitable for the keto diet: It is best if you feel hungry between meals. Consuming keto-type snacks is allowed. For example, you can eat almonds, hard-boiled eggs, strawberries with dark chocolate, a smoothie made with almond milk and peanut butter, yogurt with nuts, seeds, and berries, and guacamole with celery.
What foods should I avoid on a keto diet?
As a general rule, the foods you should avoid on the keto diet are as follows:
- Cereals and starches: Avoid products made from wheat, rice, pasta, and cereals.
- Sugar-free diet foods: These foods affect ketone levels in the body because they are high in sugar and alcohol and highly processed.
- Alcoholic Beverages: Due to their high carbohydrate content, alcoholic beverages should be eliminated.
- Fruits: All fruits, except red fruits such as strawberries.
- Sweets: Avoid soft drinks, shakes, ice cream, candy, juice, cakes, etc.
- Some Vegetables and Root Vegetables: Potatoes, sweet potatoes, and similar vegetables are not allowed on the keto diet.
Keto Diet Weekly Menu
Knowing the foods allowed on the keto diet and those prohibited is very helpful when starting a keto diet. However, even with this information, creating the perfect keto menu can be difficult. For this reason, and to guide you on the right path, I have created this “7-day keto diet plan for beginners”:
Monday
- Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs, ⅓ avocado; tea or coffee.
- Mid-morning keto snack: Ham and cheese roll.
- Food: Salad and chicken breast stuffed with ham and cheese.
- Mid-afternoon keto snack: Low-calorie gelatin (1 or 2 cups).
- Dinner: 120 grams of shredded chicken with celery, shallots, bean sprouts, and a dash of soy sauce.
Tuesday
- Breakfast: Two turkey sausages with cheese and pico de gallo; tea or coffee.
- Mid-morning keto snack: Keto Coffee or Bulletproof coffee.
- Lunch: Chicken tacos in lettuce (120 grams of chicken).
- Afternoon keto snack: Pork skins.
- Dinner: Buttered salmon, accompanied by steamed vegetables.
Wednesday
- Breakfast: Omelet with two eggs, cheese, and mushrooms; tea or coffee.
- Mid-morning keto snack: Low-calorie gelatin (1 or 2 cups).
- Lunch: 120 grams of Grilled Fish with Onions and Spinach, Accompanied by steamed broccoli and cheese.
- Mid-afternoon keto snack: A handful of almonds.
- Dinner: 120 grams of prawn satay with bacon, peppers, shallots, and tomatoes, accompanied by spinach and cheese.
Thursday
- Breakfast: Low-calorie shake with almond milk and frozen strawberries; tea or coffee.
- Mid-morning keto snack: Pork skins.
- Lunch: Tuna salad with a tablespoon of mayonnaise and greens.
- Afternoon keto snack: Guacamole with celery sticks.
- Dinner: 120 grams of chicken satay, peppers, shallots, and tomatoes.
Friday
- Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs with turkey sausage, accompanied by three tablespoons of guacamole, tea, or coffee.
- Mid-morning keto snack: A handful of almonds.
- Lunch: Salad with 100 grams of shredded beef, tomatoes, red onions, vinegar, ⅓ avocado, and a tablespoon of olive oil.
- Afternoon keto snack: 2 slices of cheese.
- Dinner: 2 ham and cheese rolls.
Menu for the weekend
Saturday
- Breakfast: 120 grams barbecue with vegetables and sauce (no tortillas); tea or coffee.
- Mid-morning keto snack: Low-calorie gelatin (1 or 2 cups).
- Lunch: Green salad with 120-gram chicken with almonds; two tablespoons of grated cheese.
- Mid-afternoon keto snack: A handful of almonds.
- Dinner: Lettuce salad with 120 grams of beef fajitas; Accompany it with three tablespoons of guacamole and pico de gallo.
Sunday
- Breakfast: Keto Protein Bread with walnuts and almonds; tea or coffee.
- Mid-morning keto snack: Keto Coffee or Bulletproof coffee.
- Lunch: Fish fillet with prawns, peppers, fresh parsley, and butter; accompany it with steamed broccoli seasoned with a tablespoon of butter.
- Mid-afternoon keto snack: Low-calorie gelatin (1 or 2 cups).
- Dinner: Two turkey sausages with onions, finely chopped cabbage, broccoli, and celery.
The benefits of the keto diet for your health: Knowing what the keto diet is, how to get started, and having a weekly sample menu, you must know all the benefits of a ketogenic diet. Specifically, you can get two main benefits from starting the keto diet: weight loss and overall health benefits.
Benefits of losing weight on the keto diet:
First, research has shown that the weight loss benefits achieved on a keto diet are far greater than those obtained on a low-fat diet. Second, compared to low-fat diets, the keto diet feels more efficient regarding weight loss and protein intake. Finally, the keto diet is much more enjoyable because of the many foods it allows. Therefore, you will lose weight without tracking your food intake and calories consumed extensively.
Health benefits of the keto diet:
The main health benefit of the keto diet is that it helps you lose the excess fat stored in the body. Similarly, it is known that the keto diet helps reduce diabetes medication intake and significantly improves insulin sensitivity. That’s why the keto diet is a positive factor in preventing cancer by limiting your intake of processed foods and products with high sugar and calorie content. In addition, this diet is effective in reducing risk factors such as body fat, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and HDL cholesterol levels. For this reason, it is very important to control these risk factors, as they cause developing diseases such as Epilepsy, Cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Cerebrovascular Accidents.
Temporary Side Effects of the Keto Diet: By gradually changing your current diet to a keto diet, you can avoid most (if not all) of the side effects of starting this eating plan. In this sense, the keto diet’s most common temporary side effects come from quick changes in your eating habits. Because of this, I recommend that you avoid making drastic changes to your diet. However, it’s important to note that even if you make gradual changes, you may experience discomforts such as fatigue and lack of energy, poor sleep, nausea, and digestive issues during the first few days of the keto diet. This initial side effect is also known as the keto flu.
Remember that the keto diet can effectively lose weight and improve overall health. Keto Matters will help you achieve your health goals.
