What is ketosis?
Ketosis is a natural process that starts in the body during carbohydrate starvation. For the normal function of all systems and organs, we need glucose. The main source of its production is carbohydrates. When they are practically absent in the diet, the liver begins to produce glycerin and fatty acids, which in the process of decay form ketone bodies. Therefore, the body begins to use them as "fuel" to stay fit and healthy. As soon as the process of glycolysis ends (the use of glycogen stores in the liver and muscles), lipolysis begins - the breakdown of fats.
What is a list of foods to eat to stay healthy on a keto diet?
Both vegetable and animal fats should be present in the diet. Oils, dairy products of high-fat content, fatty varieties of fish, nuts, cheese, meat it is the basis of a keto diet. You can also use some best keto supplements to stay healthy.
How to start ketosis and stay healthy?
Adaptation to using fats rather than carbohydrates as a source of energy should be gradual. You cannot abruptly refuse carbohydrates if you want to stay healthy. Every day you need to reduce its consumption by 20%. As a result, they should remain about 50 g (in some cases up to 20 g) per day.
At the same time, increase the proportion of fat in the diet. In this diet, saturated fats (butter, animal fats, coconut oil) are preferred. Lipids in the diet should account for 60-80% of the daily calorie content. Do not lean on protein. It should be no more than 10%.
How to stay healthy while traveling
If you did not manage to get some keto snacks, use these things to do to stay healthy while eating out.
At steakhouses, order a piece of steak with butter or tartare with an egg - what could be better?
Similarly, with a burger, even if there is no "naked" option (with leaflets instead of buns) on the menu, no one bothers you to eat only meat, leaves, and cheese.
In Mexican restaurants, instead of a burrito, you can take a burrito bowl, if this is not possible - expand the pita bread and eat the filling with a fork.
In Italian ones flip through the section of pasta, risotto, and pizza, but look closely at the snacks - cold cuts, eggplant alla parmigiana, mussels in a creamy sauce. A piece of meat in a mushroom sauce is the main course. By the way, fatty cheeses can be ordered instead of sweet in almost any restaurant. In French, take foie gras, a glass of wine, meat in a creamy sauce, cheese - and so you can stay healthy and full a day ahead.
Asian restaurants will make you be smart. You won't be full of sashimi, or rather you will, but every day you are unlikely to order a whole set of raw fish. So open the Rolls section, find there variations on the Philadelphia theme - fish, cheese, nori leaf.
Asian soups are often prefabricated, so ask for ramen without noodles (but you can with an extra egg), for example, tom yam - only if the waiter has sworn that there is no sugar.
However, it seems to be the safest section of meat and fish in Asian restaurants for keto lovers a minefield - they are usually "doused" with sweet before serving. Warn the waiter about your "carbohydrate intolerance" and take hearts and liver on skewers.
Don't go extreme in your reasons to stay healthy
The classic ketogenic diet allows you to eat any food, even if the cake fits in 20 grams of carbohydrates shown per day. However, modern keto lovers still try to avoid certain foods in order to get the maximum benefit from the diet. The chances that, at your request, they will cook the fish on ghee, and not on sunflower or corn, are few. Therefore, it is still better not to go to extremes in your desire to stay healthy. A drop of sesame oil in the sauce will not kill you.
Play with the menu
In a cafe or restaurant, you can always ask to modify any dish. Serve the sauce separately. Replace milk with cream. Bring soup without noodles.
No waiter will be surprised by the request to bring olive oil to the salad. The egg trick is not always successful, but, as a rule, if there are some scrambled eggs and poached eggs on the menu, you can chat in the kitchen and add an egg to the salad.
Attention to details
Don't be afraid to ask questions and pay attention to details. Sauces are often thickened and sweetened: starch or flour is added to cream, sugar is added to tomato.
Mashed soups are often not suitable for those on a keto diet - they are also thickened with starch or bread. However, a surprise can wait in classic soups. Sugar is added to both broth and tom yam.
Cool ketogenic snacks like fried cheese or shrimps usually are made in batter, and restaurateurs forget to mention it on the menu.
Important conclusion on how to stay healthy
In conclusion, the important point is to return to the keto regime if you suddenly violated it. Keto food and Keto mode is not the same food option when you change it every second day. If you entered the keto, then stay in it, or do not enter at all.
If you have questions, ask in the comments. Write about your experience of healthy eating. It will be useful to those who are only collecting information about how to stay healthy.
Author's bio: Adam Reeve is a diet coach and fitness instructor. He has been practicing keto for almost ten years. Adam loves to share his experience on his blog and any article on how to stay healthy.