The Fear of Keto

In the past few years, following a ketogenic way of eating has become somewhat popularized. I would say that the version of it that I follow is stricter than the popular version, namely in that I’ve also eliminated sweeteners of every variety. (This whole silliness of “keto” desserts is ridiculous – if the thing is sweet, it will raise your insulin, regardless of its score on the glycemic index. It may not raise your blood sugar, but it will almost certainly still prompt an insulin response, which is exactly what I’m looking to avoid.)

Meanwhile, keto – aka, eating as few sugars/carbs as possible so as to keep your body in a state of nutritional ketosis, aka burning its fat stores to produce blood glucose rather than relying on eaten sugars – has gotten popular, and with popularity comes criticism. What amuses me is that the most common criticism of following a ketogenic way of eating unfailingly goes something like this: “Okay, it works, but as soon as you go back to your old ways of eating, you’ll regain the weight.” Yeah: no sh*t, Sherlock. Why assume that someone would go back? I’ve said this repeatedly, but this is about making a permanent change, about realizing what foods help us and which ones we can easily do without. This isn’t something that you hit hard and then relapse and hope that the positive changes that came out will stick. Life doesn’t work that way!

The second main critique that comes up over and over again goes something like: “Keto is too restrictive, which makes it impossible to sustain.” To which I say: bullshit.

What is restrictive and impossible to sustain is a low calorie diet. Anything you term a “diet”, for that matter. Low calorie and low fat nearly always come together, since fat is far more calorically dense than other foods. Fat is also the one macronutrient that doesn’t prompt an insulin response, which makes it our friend. Eating fat has nothing to do with our body’s decision to make fat from what we’ve eaten. That all comes from insulin, which is caused mostly by sugar. High fat foods are delicious. This is a fact.

Often when people begin a new way of eating, they feel a bit lost and wonder what they can “safely” eat, what follows their plan. When you look up ketogenic eating, there are a lot of lists of individual food products, such as olive oil – but olive oil doesn’t make a meal, obviously! I’m going to start posting the occasional meal that I’ve made, just to share some ideas.

Meanwhile, if you’re new to low carb/high fat/ketogenic eating and are wondering what the yays and nays are, here’s a list for you:

Eliminate: 

• sugar in every form. Includes: table sugar, maple syrup, corn syrup, rice syrup, molasses, honey, agave, fruit juice, anything that ends with -ose (dextrose, maltose, glucose, fructose, etc), sugar alcohols (anything that ends with “tol”, including maltitol, xylitol, erythritol, etc), palm sugar, coconut sugar, etc etc etc
• sweeteners of any other kind, whether natural (“natural”) or artificial. Includes: stevia, monkfruit extract, aspartame, acesulfame glutamate (the sweetener in Coke Zero), sucralose, etc
• refined carbs of every kind. Includes: anything made with any type of flour (excluding almond flour and coconut flour), which includes pasta, couscous, virtually all bread products, white rice
• beer

Eat considerably less of (think maximum once every 2-3 days):

• vegetables that grow underground (potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, turnips) as well as corn and peas
• fruit, excluding berries (blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries)
• whole grains. Includes: brown and wild rice, oatmeal, quinoa, etc
• legumes. Includes: chickpeas, black beans, kidney beans, peanuts (including peanut butter), etc.
• other alcohols. Technically speaking, alcohol falls into its own macronutrient category, but is metabolized as sugar and very often stalls people’s weight loss

Seek out: 

• meat, fish (especially fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, trout). Dark poultry is good. Skin is fine!
• eggs (so delicious and flexible!)
• full fat dairy products (note: watch out for yogurt!! It nearly always contains added sugars!). Look for the highest fat percentage possible. The higher the fat, the lower the sugar! Cheese is your friend!
• low carb vegetables. Includes: broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, arugula, kale, other lettuce-type greens, leeks, asparagus, green beans, tomatoes!
• nuts and seeds, especially walnuts
• healthy fats. Includes: olive oil, coconut oil, sesame oil, butter, MCT oil, avocado
• fibre! Look for this in ground flaxseed, chia seeds, nuts
• green tea. All tea is good (though watch out for carbs in commercial chain store teas containing fruit! Many also add sugar and other sweeteners!), but green tea is especially good. The antioxidants (catechins) can help suppress appetite and are full of vitamin C!
• vinegar and fermented foods (pickles, etc). Vinegar is a natural offset to sugars and can help metabolize them better

So again, you say, “so what can I actually eat for a meal??” Here’s a basic answer: meat and veggies. Just eliminate the carb element that I, at least, once felt was so crucial. I’ll be posting the occasional meal pic/idea/recipe, but let me start off with what I had for dinner today: farmer sausage (a Canadian prairies staple, courtesy of the Mennonite community!) and green beans, topped with butter and toasted almond slices. I also had a rare glass of shiraz with it!

More of that to come! Stay tuned!

Author: SandraBender

Human rights educator & advocate View all posts by SandraBender