The Keto diet is a low carbohydrate, moderate protein, and high-fat diet. This diet is followed chiefly for weight loss. If you include fewer carbs in your diet, what happens is your liver produces a chemical known as Ketones from the stored fat in your body as an alternative energy source. This occurs when your body is low in blood sugar levels.
When you choose to be on a ketogenic diet, your body is compelled to utilize the stored fat in your body to use as a source of energy. This way, you can lose fat easily and ultimately you can lose some weight. A Keto diet is nowadays recommended because you can lose weight without having to starve and has been seen to reverse the symptoms of type 2 diabetes. However, the keto diet is highly controversial as well due to its mantra of inclusion of mainly fat in the diet. Due to its success rate in weight loss and improvement of health, the keto diet is accepted by most dieticians and experts.
What's in the Diet?
Keto diet followers have to consume meat, fish, seafood and rich in proteins, vegetables, dairy products, nuts and berries, and most importantly water. What you cannot have is sugar, food with starch composition, any sort of beverage, and fruits rich in sugar content. You see, it’s easy to think that all you have to reduce carbs as much as possible and consume fat and proteins but the reality is different. You will have restrictions and if you want results from this diet you have to follow the rules religiously.
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Five Dairy Products to Include In Your Diet
Regarding dairy products, you have to be selective while you are in keto. Here's what you can have.
1. Butter
The carbohydrate content in butter is negligible about 0.1 grams in 100 grams of butter and has a high-fat content of approximately 11 grams per tablespoon. Hence, butter is safe to eat only in the recommended quantity.
2. Heavy Whipping Cream
Whipped cream is all fat and has no carbs. One tablespoon of whipped cream contains 5.4 grams of fat, 0.4 grams of carbs, and 0.4 grams of proteins. So, enjoy your keto diet with keto-centric cuisines with whipped cream.
3. Cottage Cheese or Paneer
This low-calorie cheese must be a part of your keto diet. It is rich in healthy fat and low in carbs about 3.5 grams of carbs per 100 grams of cottage cheese. Cottage cheese is a high source of probiotics which is essential for the good of our gut. Keeping your gut healthy is very important when you follow a keto diet as it makes the process efficient.
4. Hard Cheese & Soft Cheese
If you are a fan of cheese, then you will have fun following the keto diet because hard cheese is included in it. Cheese like parmesan, cheddar, feta, gouda which are rich in fat content can be consumed.
Soft cheese contains higher carbs than hard cheese. This doesn’t necessarily mean that all types of soft cheese are of the same composition. You can have cream cheese which contains only one gram of carbs per ounce according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Although, this doesn’t mean you will want to consume cheese without any restrictions. Yes, your diet should be of fat mainly but you should only eat the required amount.
5. Greek Yogurt
This is a strained yogurt full of proteins and low in carbs. While buying Greek yogurt, don’t forget to check the composition of the yogurt to make sure that you are getting the appropriate components. When we follow the conventional method of weight loss, we cannot even think about having butter or cheese or cream no matter what. In this case, the keto diet is so much better and you can consume yummy food items. To sum up, the keto diet includes healthy fats and not saturated ones.
If the keto diet is on your mind, then you can go ahead with it. BUT, consult a good dietician for a proper diet plan and check whether you will be able to handle the diet or not. Along with the keto diet, a workout routine will boost your health.
Take care! Stay healthy! ♥
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