The keto diet may have achieved mainstream popularity as a weight-loss strategy, but it has also piqued the interest of athletes looking to optimize performance as well as body composition.
As you might imagine, this has caused no small amount of pearl-clutching in sports circles. Keto diets require you to strictly limit carb intake—the antithesis of the standard sports nutrition advice. Fueling strength workouts and endurance training sessions without loading up on carbs?! Is it even possible? Safe?
Read MoreTo eat fruit or not to eat fruit. That is the question. It turns out that fruit is a contentious and sometimes confusing topic within the low-carb community. Some low-carb advocates argue that fruit should be strictly limited or avoided altogether, both because of the carbs and because they’re wary of fructose. Yet some of the staunchest carnivore diet proponents are now incorporating fruit and promoting a “meat and fruit” approach. That’s right, carnivore—billed as the ultimate zero-carb diet—now allows fruit (depending on who you ask). Even for folks who have no particular philosophical sway against or in favor of fruit consumption, it can be hard to decide which fruits, and how much, to include if they’re aiming to reduce carbs. My stance has always been that fruit is a natural but not necessary part of the human diet. Sure, it’s higher in carbs than meat or vegetables (on average), but fruits also come packaged with fiber, nutrients, and antioxidants that do a body good. Fruit can be a great way to add carbs around workouts if you so desire. Biting into the first perfectly ripe peach of the summer is a wholly hedonic experience. But for folks watching their carb intake, and especially for those following a very low-carb ketogenic diet, it won’t do to chow down on massive bowls of fruit salad for breakfast. Here’s how I weigh the relative merits of different fruit options. Choosing the Best Low-Carb Fruits There’s no definitive algorithm that can spit out a low-carb acceptability rating for a given fruit, but the factors below are the ones I consider relevant to this question. 1. Start with the amount of carbohydrates and fiber in a typical serving. Carbohydrates because… obviously, and fiber because fiber doesn’t get absorbed and converted into glucose. Instead, it mostly travels through the gut, where commensal microbes “feed” on certain types. That’s why some people only count net carbs, which is total carbs minus fiber. I don’t bother getting that granular. Counting total carbs is less work and avoids debates about whether to subtract fiber from all sources or only certain ones. Just understand that if you’re comparing two pieces of fruits with similar carb content, the higher fiber one will probably have less of an impact on blood sugar. You can stop there, or you could also… 2. Consider the antioxidant value. Antioxidants are compounds that help mitigate cellular damage due to free radicals, and fruit happens to be a terrific source of antioxidants (although herbs and spices are even better). But not all fruit is created equal here. The antioxidant power of different foods is measured by Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity, or ORAC. Higher is better. 3. Consider the glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL). I don’t find GI or GL especially worth worrying about, but you might care if your doctor has prescribed a low-GI/GL diet. Glycemic index measures how much individual foods raise blood sugar when you eat a certain amount of carbohydrate—50 grams … Continue reading “Best Low-Carb Fruit Choices”
Read MoreNow and then I’ll read comments on keto discussion forums that gloat about being able to eat anything if they’re just sure to stay below 50 grams of carbs a day. I’ll be direct here and say this is the wrong way to do keto. Unfortunately, many people get overzealous about macro counts and lose sight of the bigger picture. Reaching ketosis is never the end goal. You want health, energy, vitality. How you get there matters. It’s true that the ketogenic diet uses a macronutrient framework that looks roughly like this: Carbohydrates below 50 grams per day (around 5-10% of total caloric intake) Protein sufficient to meet physiological needs and goals (generally 15-25% caloric intake) The rest from healthy fats Within that framework, there is generous room to fulfill your body’s nutrient requirements and include ample vegetable—and even some fruit—intake. My hope is that this guide will leave you feeling you have an incredibly vast array of appetizing, nutritious options. The truth is you CAN create an effective keto diet from an expansive range of whole, nutrient-dense foods. Healthy Fats Because we want to increase our healthy fat intake on a ketogenic plan, I’m starting with fats. First and foremost, avoid industrial seed oils. Steer clear of anything hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated. Choosing the right fats to keep your fatty acids in balance is important, but it’s not something to get overly stressed about. Use fats appropriately at temperatures and in storage conditions that maintain their stability and nutrient value. Here are some healthy fat options: Saturated and monounsaturated fats: Great for higher temp cooking and for making fat bombs. Cheese (see dairy) Butter Ghee Coconut Oil Lard Tallow Sustainably Sourced Red Palm Oil Avocado oil Monounsaturated fats (MUFAs): Best for low temp sauteeing and cold use. Extra virgin olive oil Extra virgin avocado oil Bacon fat—actually a mix of saturated and monounsaturated, but surprisingly high in monounsaturated fat; great for sautéed vegetables Duck fat—also a mix of saturated and monounsaturated, but surprisingly high in monounsaturated fat) Macadamia nut oil—very low in PUFAs Polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs): Know the difference. Some should be completely off the menu, like over-processed vegetable oils (corn and canola), but others can have a regular place at the ketogenic table. Most seed-based oils are high in polyunsaturated fats. Unfortunately, seed oils are typically extracted in ways that can destroy the nutrients. Be sure to look for cold-pressed versions, and don’t heat these oils. Hemp oil Flax oil Chia oil Vegetables and Fruits Many people falsely assume they have to forgo the benefits of vegetables and especially fruit with a keto diet. The best source of vegetables are above-ground varieties, which are nutrient-dense yet low in carbohydrates. Dark leafy greens and cruciferous veggies are excellent options. Take time to learn how many carbs are in each kind of produce. I recommend carefully limiting root vegetables and tubers, as well as most fruits, during keto phases. These don’t deliver the best bang for your buck in terms … Continue reading “What to Eat When Going Keto”
Read MoreSometimes folks who are interested in losing weight or getting healthier get so focused on the minutia of ”optimizing” their diet, supplements, exercise, and lifestyle that they gloss over the basics. This is a mistake. No matter your goal, you have to lay a good foundation before worrying about the finishing touches. When starting a keto diet, that means gradually reducing carbs to build a base of metabolic flexibility and get into ketosis. To be clear, you can slam your body into ketosis by dropping from several hundred grams of carbs per day, typical in a modern diet, straight to the very low carb intake required for keto. I don’t recommend it, though. For one thing, jumping from a high-carb diet into keto sets you up for the world of hurt known as keto flu. When you suddenly deprive your body of glucose, you can expect to experience headaches, lethargy, brain fog, and an inability to perform your typical workouts. Gradually reducing carbs gives your body the opportunity to upregulate its ability to burn fat for fuel, a necessary prerequisite of ketosis. Not for nothing, a gradual transition also gives the people in your life time to get on board. You might be excited about your big lifestyle change, but I hear all the time from people who are struggling because their partners, kids, or roommates aren’t exactly supportive of them tossing all the junk food and refusing to go through the drive-thru on the way home. Even if you’re already following a moderate-carb Primal way of eating, I still recommend taking the time to make your transition as seamless as possible. No matter where you’re starting, the best way to reach ketosis is to gradually and systematically reduce your carb intake. This is the same approach that I describe in The Keto Reset Diet, and it’s worked for the thousands of people who have participated in our Keto Month challenges. What Is Ketosis? Ketosis is a metabolic state in which your liver is making ketones, which are molecules that any mitochondria-containing cell can use for energy. Your brain and heart especially thrive on ketones. To get into ketosis, you must deplete liver glycogen (the glucose stored in your liver) and keep insulin levels low. Very-low-carb diets and fasting, or a combo of the two, will get you there. Glycogen-depleting exercise helps, too. Ketogenic (“ketone making”) diets are popular for everything from losing weight to lowering insulin and blood sugar to augmenting traditional cancer treatments. Inflammation is at the root of every chronic illness, and ketones are anti-inflammatory. They are also an efficient fuel source, and athletes across the sport spectrum are experimenting with using low-carb diets to burn fat and ketones during exercise. The Primal Blueprint qualifies as a low-carb eating style, especially in comparison to the high-carb Standard American Diet, simply by virtue of the fact that it eliminates the major sources of carbs in the typical modern diet: grains and sugar. The version of keto I recommend … Continue reading “How to Gradually Reduce Carbs to Reach Ketosis”
Read MorePotatoes get a bad rap in many different health and diet communities. The keto and low-carb crowd says they’re too high in carbohydrates and will spike your blood sugar. The paleo guys are against them because they are neolithic foods from the New World that our Paleolithic ancestors had no access to. The autoimmune diet communities eschew them because they have various plant toxins that can cause inflammation and trigger sensitive and vulnerable individuals, and the conventional “healthy diet” people recommend against potatoes because they’re “empty white carbs.”
Is this criticism warranted? Is it true that potatoes have no place in a healthy diet, or are potatoes actually healthy? How do potatoes fit into a Primal diet?
Let’s dig into the actual evidence.
Read MoreWhen the keto diet first skyrocketed in popularity in the late 2010s, it quickly gained a reputation as the “bacon and butter” diet. Vegetables might appear on one’s plate as a small side of spinach or, more likely, cauliflower masquerading as everything from rice to pizza crust to wings. By and large, the focus was on limiting consumption to “keto vegetables” while focusing mainly on increasing fat intake. (I’m talking mainstream keto, mind you, not the Primal Keto Reset approach.) This, as you’d expect, led to no end of pearl-clutching from mainstream medical professionals and the popular media, who quickly branded keto as a dangerous fad diet, a heart attack in the making. It was true that many early adopters of keto went hard on butter, cream, cheese, bacon, and other high-fat foods, probably as an understandable backlash against the low-fat diet dogma that dominated the previous four decades. Some people still do, I’m sure. However, I think most keto folks now understand that they cannot (or should not, anyway) live on butter alone. At least in more forward-thinking health circles, contemporary keto looks less bacon-and-butter and more like a lower-carb version of the Primal Blueprint way of eating, complete with bountiful salads and larger servings of protein. Personally, I’m all for keto eaters embracing a wide array of produce (keto-carnivore diets notwithstanding). At some point, though, the carb question comes into play. By definition, keto requires you to limit your carbohydrate intake to keep glucose and insulin low enough to facilitate ketogenesis. All vegetables contain carbohydrates, some more than others. You can’t eat unlimited amounts of vegetables, especially the higher-carb ones, if you want to stay in ketosis all the time. So how do you decide which ones are best? What Vegetables Are Best for Keto? In order to achieve ketosis, most people need to limit carbohydrate intake to a maximum of 30 to 50 grams per day. Hence, the best vegetables to include on a keto diet are the ones that deliver the most nutrients with the fewest carbs. That sounds straightforward, but in practice, it can be hard to know where to draw the line. The internet is rife with lists that sort foods into discrete “allowed on keto” and “not allowed on keto” categories. They mean well—and they do help simplify the often confusing transition from SAD eating to keto—but they lack nuance. No food will knock you out of ketosis in a single bite. There are no “bad” vegetables. There are only serving sizes and carbohydrate content and fiber. Why does fiber matter? Because fiber is not absorbed into the bloodstream and converted into glucose. It’s counted as a carbohydrate, but it does not contribute to the glucose-induced insulin spike you want to minimize on keto. Fiber, especially the soluble type, is mostly just food for your gut microbes. From a ketosis perspective, fiber is neutral. And in vegetables, especially the leafy and above-ground non-starchy varieties, much of their carb content is actually fiber, meaning their glucose/insulin impact … Continue reading “Keto-friendly Vegetables”
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