Practical Application: How To Know If A Food Is Both Keto
Although you can get results from following a general keto diet food list, you may want to eat some foods or food products that you arent sure about. In this case, you will have to apply the three keto-friendly food principles to see if the food in question can fit into your diet.
To do this, you will need to consider the foods:
- Net carb content
You will know that the food in question is keto-friendly for you if:
- It helps you stay within your carb limit.
- It helps you meet your fat and protein needs or you can meet your macros with that food in your diet.
- It improves your health and well-being.
How Much Sugar Can You Have On Keto
As a general rule of thumb, its best to keep your added sugar consumption to a minimum. Ideally, this number would your sugar intake would be 0 grams, but as long as you stay under your daily carb limit, then you should be fine.
The best way for you to determine the maximum amount of sugar is to test yourself. Since every individuals biochemistry is unique, you likely wont tolerate the same number of carbs as a person next to you. Try consuming different foods of various carbohydrate contents and testing your blood to see how they affect both your blood glucose and ketone levels. While ketones are a direct indicator of being in the metabolic state of ketosis, how your blood glucose levels react will give you insight into overall metabolic health and insulin sensitivity.
Why Do Humans Enter Ketosis So Readily
Humans enter ketosis faster than any animal on the planet. It usually takes 24-36 hours before we enter ketosis.This is because we have huge brains and tiny bodies. Our brains need ~400 calories/day, which for most people that equates to 20% of our total energy demands. To put this in perspective, most animals only use 2-8% of their basal metabolism for their brain. This means our small liver glycogen stores of 100g are the only way of the brain getting glucose. There are no other glucose storage components that the brain can take from. This means at 400 calories/day, those 100g of glucose get used up in 24 hours. Doing the math, that means our brain consumes ~4g glucose/hour.
Therefore, even if something does kick you out of ketosis and we assume that all the glucose provided goes to the brain , then just assume a 4g/hr clearance. Ate 20g extra carbohydrate? Dont freak out, youll be back in ketosis within 5 hours max.
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Tricky Foods That Will Kick You Out Of Ketosis
What Youll Learn
The ketogenic diet is quickly becoming one of the most popular ways tolose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Who doesnt want to lose weightand still be able to eat good food and feel full? You dont need to countcalories and fat grams or keep track of points all you need to do is learnwhich foods you can eat and which ones are on the bad list. Although thissounds simple enough, it is important to learn which common and not-so-commonfoods will be sure to ruin your plans and kick you out of ketosis.
You probably already know that ketosis is achieved by eating fewerthan 10% of your calories in net carbs each day. This will allow your body torun on ketones from fat instead of glucose from carbs. Essentially, your bodywill use extra fat for fuel, thereby reducing how much of it you have. If youhave been following your diet and still arent seeing the results you expected,take a look at the following information on foods that can kick you out ofketosis.
How Do You Get In Ketosis In The First Place
The fastest and most effective way to get in ketosis is to significantly reduce your carb intake as you increase your healthy fat intake.
Take note that ketosis occurs when your body lacks glucose.
You also want to increase your physical activity and fast for short periods.
If you want to safely achieve ketosis in just a day, check out these five easy tips!
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Avocados Raspberries And Lemons Are Keto
Fruit is known to be high in carbs, so you might think natures candy is off-limits on the trendy, high-fat, low-carb ketogenic diet.
Think again.
With the right picks, you can enjoy fruit on a keto diet. You just need to school yourself on which fruits are a good fit via a keto diet food list and then enjoy them in moderation.
How Certain Sugars Can Kick You Out Of Ketosis
Its well known that sugar causes excessive weight gain, mood swings, energy spikes and drops, as well as speed up signs of aging.
Consuming too much can cause you to leave ketosis, the metabolic process in which your body relies on ketones instead of glucose from carbohydrates for energy.
Ketosis is ideal when your blood sugar is at the lowest and blood ketones are at the highest. Consuming sugar will spike insulin, raise blood sugars, and your body will be trying to use energy from the blood sugar instead of ketones.
This will obstruct ketosis and cause you to have to start the process all over again.
The following are some surprising sources of hidden, added, or natural sugars that can jeopardize your diet and kick you out of ketosis.
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Do Sugar Alcohols Kick You Out Of Ketosis
It depends. Not all sugar alcohols will kick you out of ketosis.
According to Keto Oncologist Jocelyn Tan, M.D., Sugar alcohols technically are natural compounds and are a form of digestible carbohydrate. Commonly present in food additives to give sweetness, they dont bring up blood glucose as much and dont stimulate the secretion of insulin.
They act as low-calorie sweeteners because our bodies dont absorb all of the carbs they contain into your bloodstream. That means they dont raise your blood glucose levels like regular sugar does.
Check out this video on how sugar alcohols affect blood sugar.
The Bigger Picture: Three Key Principles Of A Keto
Earlier we talked about the most important characteristic of a food that determines if it is keto-friendly or not: its net carb content. By consuming foods that are higher in net carbs, you will make ketosis much more difficult to achieve and sustain.
If you are not in ketosis while restricting carbs, you are technically following a low-carb diet, not a keto diet. This is why we placed such a heavy emphasis on the concept of net carbs, and why it is the most important principle that helps you decipher what is keto-friendly for you.
The second principle behind what makes a food keto-friendly is its overall macronutrient content. If the net carbs arent too high, take a look at the foods fat and protein content relative to the context of your diet.
Will the food in question help you meet your fat and/or protein needs? If the food is very high in fat and/or protein, will it be difficult for you to balance it out with the other keto foods you normally eat?
As a general guideline, try aiming to eat foods/meals that follow the macronutrient ratios of a typical keto diet . You can also try plugging your info into our keto calculator to personalize your macronutrient recommendations and use that as your general target for meals.
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How Much Fruit Can You Eat On Keto
Ketosis is a great way to burn fat in a short amount of time.
But, in learning more about the keto diet I wanted to know how much fruit you can eat on the keto diet.
Heres what I found
To maintain ketosis you shouldnt eat more than 3 to 4 pieces of fruit per day.
Ketosis is achieved when you consume less than around 100g of carbohydrates.
An average piece of fruit contains to ¼ of this amount.
But, certain fruits are lower or higher in carbs than others.
Nutritionists recommend eating 4 pieces of fruit each day , therefore, you should aim to be just on the border line with ketosis.
And when eating fruit on ketosis youll need to keep an eye on how many carbs youre consuming.
Heres a table that shows how many carbohydrates are in 3.5 oz 7 oz of popular fruit.
This is equivalent to about a cup of fruit.
| Fruit |
As you can see there is a bit of variation in how much carbohydrates fruit have.
Bananas and apples for example are quite high in carbohydrates.
Common Foods To Avoid
The keto diet is all about following a low-carb, high-fat diet so that your body will burn fat. There are many foods that you can eat, which is one of the best things about this diet. However, you need to be familiar with the foods that youre not allowed.
Avoid the following foods when you are on the keto diet:
- Most fruits and fruit juices
- Starches and grains, including cereal, rice, and pasta
- All low-fat and diet products
- Beans and legumes
- Bad fats such as mayo and processed vegetable oils
- Starchy vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes, and potatoes
- Sugar, including sodas, fruit juice, most desserts, and smoothies
When it comes to fruits, many of them are high in sugar and carbs. Youwant to avoid bananas, apples, oranges, and pears and have small portions ofberries and tomatoes instead. Beans and legumes may have protein but their highcarb content makes them ones to avoid. Processed meats have additives andhidden carbs so stick to fatty cuts of grass-fed and organic meat.
You are allowed to eat many delicious foods including unprocessed meats, cheese, eggs, most vegetables, nuts, and healthy oils. You can eat natural fats such as butter or olive oil. Replace your starches with veggies fried in butter and you will forget about them in no time.
Achieving and maintaining ketosis is all about learning what to eatand what to avoid. Familiarize yourself with common foods to avoid and stayaway from them.
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Main Points To Look Out For When Searching Ingredients On Food Packages
It can be overwhelming to look at the food labels in the grocerystore. Just reading the list leads to all kinds of other questions. Should youcount the total carbs or is it the net carbs? Does sugar-free really mean nosugar? Learning how to answer these questions more easily will help you choosethe right foods and spend less time at the grocery store.
Enjoy Your Coffee On Keto
Now that weve spilled the beans, you already know that coffee wont kick you out of ketosis, as long as it is free from sweeteners and other high-carb ingredients.
Although coffee has benefits for your ketosis and overall health, it also has some downsides like anxiety and insomnia.
Limit your coffee intake to a cup or two a day to maximize the benefits while avoiding the risks.
Feel free to add MCT oil to your coffee to keep it keto-friendly! Learn about the best MCT oil for keto dieters now!
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How Many Carbs Can You Eat And Stay In Ketosis
I get it. You want to know how many carbs you can get away with and still stay in ketosis. How do I know? Because I had the same question.
As a general rule of thumb, I like to start people off with limiting their carb intake to no more than 30 TOTAL carbohydrates, but that’s just me.
First, let’s differentiate a carbohydrate versus sugar. In the most basic of senses, every carbohydrate you consume will break down into glucose .
Therefore, how many grams of sugar you can have in a day on a keto diet is the same as asking how many carbohydrates can you have. Meaning, if you stay under your carbohydrate limit and want to know what happens if you have table sugar or candy on keto, nothing will happen.
In theory, you shouldn’t be kicked out of ketosis.
For your body to start creating a significant number of ketones, your body must first begin to empty its liver glycogen . On average, it will take ~28 hours of carbohydrate restriction for liver glycogen to become depleted.1 It’s safe to assume that if you were to fast for ~28 hours after your last carbohydrate-rich meal that your body would begin to produce ketones.
The average adult stores between 80 and 100 grams of carbohydrates in the liver as sort of a reserve for bodily functions, including the central nervous system and the brain. Once this reserve depletes, the body begins to create ketones to help fuel the brain.
Other Keto Flu Symptoms
This is probably one of the worst downsides you may ever experience. Surviving the dreaded keto flu symptoms is not as easy as people think. You know this. Youve been through this.
If youre glad you survived, we have bad news for you, and theres a chance that you will experience it all over again when you get knocked out of ketosis. Symptoms may range from nausea, fatigue, headache, mood swings, stomach aches, and body pain. The severity will depend on what type of keto break you took and your metabolism.
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What Are The Best And Worst Sweeteners To Use On A Keto Diet
If youre going to use a sweetener to help you manage your sugar cravings, or if you just want your keto desserts to taste right, I recommend Erythritol, Stevia, or Allulose.
Erythritol causes less digestive issues than other sugar alcohols and its easy to use in baked Keto recipes.
Stevia is an herb, also referred to as sugar leaf. Sweeteners made from an extract of stevia leaves are a great low carb alternative to sugar alcohols.
Why? Because stevia contains zero carbs, zero calories, and no nutrients, so you wont have to worry about counting it as part of your daily carbohydrate allowance.
Plus, you wont experience any bloating or other digestive distress !
The main issue with stevia is that it can leave a bitter aftertaste . One great option is to mix erythritol with stevia and to use strong flavors like cinnamon in the baked goods. This helps to cover up any bitterness.
Interested in trying stevia? Heres a good brand to try.
Allulose is actually a form of sugar found in trace amounts in foods like maple syrup, figs, raisins, and jackfruit. It can also be manufactured.
Allulose looks, tastes, and caramelizes like sugar. It has no bitter aftertaste, though some report a slight cooling effect after eating it.
One of the interesting things about allulose is its potential health benefits.
Early studies are showing it can prevent blood sugar spikes when consumed with other food. It also seems to increase metabolism and fat burning.
Is Getting Kicked Out Of Ketosis Means The End Of Your Weight Loss Journey
What if the test showed that youre no longer in ketosis?
Does this mean that this is the end of your weight loss journey?
Does this indicate that you no longer burn fat?
Well, not necessarily.
While ketosis is our initial goal when we first started on the keto diet, fat adaptation is the diets ultimate goal. What is the difference between the two?
Ketosis is a transitionary state in the sense that you can easily get kicked out of it when you consume too many carbs.
On the other hand, the fat-adaptation phase is considered as a more extended and more stable phase of ketosis in the sense that your body will continuously derive energy from fats regardless of the changes in your diet.
When your body is already fat-adapted, it has already fully transitioned to using fats as your primary energy source. Some studies say that you can already re-introduce carbohydrates into your diet for 1 to 2 weeks when you already reach the fat-adapted phase.
This process is known as the keto cycling process. It is most commonly employed by people who want to break from the ketogenic diet during the holidays or for endurance athletes who need to consume carbs for a quick fuel source. It may take around 6 weeks for you to reach this process.
The benefits that you can enjoy during the fat-adapted phase are:
However, more research is needed to explore the potential long-term and short-term benefits and downsides of this eating pattern.
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