Hidden Carbs In Healthy Food

A ketogenic diet a type of low carb diet that focuses on a high fat intake. By keeping your carbohydrate intake low, your body naturally starts burning fat, which helps you to lose weight.  Most people following this type of diet limit their total net carb intake for the day to 30 grams or less. Unfortunately, this does not mean only cutting out known sources of carbs, like breads, pastas, or sugary drinks. There are many foods that are very healthy for you, but have higher levels of carbohydrates, which can make your diet go awry.

Many Fruits

While some fruits are easier to spot to have extra carbs, like starchy bananas, most fruit have high sugar content. Fruits like oranges, grapes, mangos have very high sugar content and therefore can have your entire daily limit of carbs in one serving. Fruit juices are even worse because they don’t have the fiber that accompanies eating a whole piece of fruit. While some fruits are better, like melons, they still should be eaten in very scarce amounts if you are watching your carbohydrate intake.

Some Dairy Products and Substitutes

This goes along with many “diet” foods, but when manufacturers take the fat out of a product, like with skim milk or low-fat yogurt, they add in extra sugar so the taste won’t be affected. Also, it is important to watch for flavored products. Even full-fat yogurt, when it is flavored can have so much extra sugar, it is comparable to eating ice cream! The same goes for flavored milk substitutes, like vanilla soy milk.

Store-Bought Sauces

This includes many things like tomato sauce, salad dressing, barbecue sauce, and most other condiments. Most store-bought, ready to eat sauces like these are loaded with extra sugar and can have an entire day’s worth of carbohydrates in one serving if you are trying to follow a ketogenic diet. If having these sauces and condiments are important to you, try making them at home. By cooking a tomato sauce or mixing a salad dressing, you are able to know exactly what and how much of everything goes into your food. With no extra additives or added sugar, these homemade versions are usually healthier in general, anyways!

Protein Supplements

Both protein shakes and protein bars tend to contain quite a bit of sugar. While most whey based protein powders only contain up to 8 grams of carbohydrates per scoop, they can throw off your ketogenic diet. Protein bars, on the other hand, are usually loaded with sugar, having carbohydrate levels similar to a candy bar. If you are trying to lose weight through cutting carbs, it is important to look at the label to know exactly what is in your different supplements.

Conclusion

Overall, even if we try our hardest to cut carbohydrates out of our lives, they always seem to sneak back in. If following a ketogenic diet, it is extremely important to remember to read the labels on the food you buy and to know what is actually in each item.  Most store-bought, processed foods tend to have lots of hidden sugar, which can throw off any progress you have made.

How To Reach Ketosis

Ketosis is a state our bodies enter when we stick to a low-carb diet. Being in a state of ketosis means our bodies are burning fat while producing ketones. While in ketosis, the fat you eat and the ketones your body has produced become your main source of energy and fuel. It is used for your muscles, brain, and heart. Ketogenic diets have been shown to help patients with epileptic seizures better control them. Being in a state of ketosis helps burn fat and suppresses one’s appetite, which will eventually lead to weight loss.

Cut Out Carbohydrate-Rich Foods

Getting to a state of ketosis is difficult and takes time but worth it once you get there. In order to get to ketosis, you will need to consume less than 50 grams of carbohydrates a day. This may be hard for most Americans since most eat about 300 grams of carbs a day. The sugar from the carbohydrates act as people’s form of energy. In order to help your body not use sugar as energy but instead target stored fat, you will need to cut out all grains. Breakfast cereals, pasta, breads, granola bars, and rice all fall into that category. You also will need to remove sugars, which are found in baked goods, drinks, syrups, jams, and any desserts. Starchy vegetables can also hinder you reaching a state of ketosis so any form of potatoes and corn have got to go, such as French fries and mashed potatoes. You will also need to remove fruit, milk, and yogurt.

“Low-Carb” Not “No-Carb”

You do need to reach 50 grams of carbohydrates a day, though. You can do this by eating non-starchy vegetables, such as mushrooms, tomatoes, kale, artichokes, and broccoli. You should keep track of your carb intake. Vegetables have different amounts of carbohydrates per cup. You can also include small amounts of nut butter and nuts. 2 tablespoons of nut butter and an ounce of almonds each have less than 5 grams of carbohydrates. Cashews have more, though. Some cheeses like cottage and ricotta also have a low-carb content, so you can count them as your daily carb intake.

High Fat and a Good Amount of Protein

Your meals should include a high amount of fat and a good amount of protein in addition to non-starchy vegetables. The serving of protein depends on your activity level, height, and weight, but usually, 4-6 ounces is sufficient. You can find protein in poultry, meat, cheese, eggs, fish, and seafood. You should be adding about 1-2 tablespoons of fat to each of your meals. You can add butter, low-carb mayonnaise, coconut oil, or olive oil. Avocado and bacon are also great foods to help increase your fat intake.

Daily Menu

Each of your meals should include non-starchy vegetables – about 1-2 cups. You should be having 4-6 ounces of protein and 1-2 tablespoons of fat as well. If you keep up with these rules, your body will soon enough enter a state of ketosis and you will eventually see results.

What’s In A Ketogenic Diet?

The ketogenic diet has gained prominence and is being praised by popular actors. When you are on a low-carb diet, your body burns fat for fuel while offering nourishment with whole foods. What better way to lose weight than have your body do all the work.

How does the diet work and what should you be eating and avoiding? When you are on a ketogenic diet, you limit the intake of carbohydrates to 50 grams daily, thereby, encouraging the body into a state called ketosis. When the body is in ketosis, it is fuelled by fat, as opposed to glucose. Ketosis produces ketone bodies. These are produced from the breakdown of fats in the liver. The body uses the fat supply for energy, resulting in weight loss. Health experts recommend going on a ketogenic diet as fat has a less impact on blood sugar levels.

Advantages

• You lose weight quickly when you are on a ketogenic diet.
• The ketogenic diet is perfectly suited for individuals who are diabetic or insulin resistant since the fat does not have the impact on insulin the same way as carbohydrates.
• People who suffer from heart diseases reported an improvement in their condition when they drastically lowered their intake of carbohydrates.

Disadvantages

• A ketogenic diet can impact your health negatively as you may experience nutritional deficiencies.
• You may experience side effects such as dizziness, kidney damage and loss of mental focus.
• When you are on the ketogenic diet, you need to drastically decrease your carbohydrates intake, which may result in withdrawal from your social activities.

Which Food To Consume?

• Avocado
• Bacon
• Egg yolks
• Olive oil
• Butter
• Cheese
• Coconut milk

Moderate amounts of protein

• Fish
• Seafood
• Eggs
• Meat
• Poultry

A small portion of low-carbohydrates:

• Cucumber
• Tomatoes
• Celery
• Peppers
• Mushrooms
• Leafy greens
• Asparagus

When you are on a ketogenic diet, you should be consuming 70% of your calories as fat, 25% from protein and only 5% as carbs.

What Should You Not Eat?

• Bread
• Pasta
• Wheat
• Corn
• Oats
• Splenda
• Sweeteners
• Diet soda
• Drinks
• Gluten
• Atkins products

The Meal Guide

Breakfast

Do not forget the most important meal of the day, breakfast. To enter ketosis, you need to eat 3 egg omelets with sausages and cheese a day. To get a variety, you can opt for bacon and eggs, and avocado-baked eggs.

Lunch

For lunch, you can have a green salad or a spinach salad. On alternate days, you can choose walnuts and cottage cheese and tuna salad lettuce wrap or chicken and lettuce hummus wrap.

Dinner

Do not despair. The best meals while on the ketogenic diet are reserved for dinner. One of your options is a baked salmon with asparagus, meatloaf, slaw hash, tacos and Philly cheesesteak casserole.

You should also incorporate fruits into your ketogenic diet. Raspberries, strawberries and blueberries are a great option. For breakfast, do not forget about sour cream and yogurt. During dinner, you can also indulge in turkey, chicken and lamb. Make sure you include pumpkin and cucumbers for lunch.

Ketogenic Diet For Diabetics

Being overweight is a major risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes. In fact, obesity is believed to account for 80-85% of this risk. In addition, by losing weight, people with type 2 diabetes can become less insulin resistant, and thus better able to use insulin. In other words, if you suffer from type 2 diabetes, and you are overweight, you really should lose weight in order to better control your blood glucose levels and reduce your risk of developing many of the harmful side-effects of diabetes.

How Is The Ketogenic Diet Effective?

Studies have shown that the ketogenic diet – basically a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet – is highly effective at helping healthy people to lose weight. The main weight reduction power of the diet comes about when your body reaches a state of ketosis – when it starts to burn fat as fuel once all stores of glycogen (carbohydrates) have been depleted. But is it something an individual with type 2 diabetes should consider? After all, the recommended diets for controlling type 2 diabetes generally contain significantly more carbs and far less fat than one would consume on a ketogenic diet.

It is important not to confuse nutritional ketosis – the fat burning state achieved in a ketogenic diet – with the life-threatening diabetic emergency, diabetic ketoacidosis which results from a combination of very high ketones and blood sugar that affects the functioning of vital organs such as the kidneys and liver.

What Is The Ketogenic Diet?

The typical ketogenic diet consists of 75% fat, 20% protein and 5% carbs. That tiny quantity of carbs is essential to ensure the body remains in a state of ketosis and thus continues to burn fat. Reducing your carb intake so drastically doesn’t just mean cutting out bread and potatoes, it also means cutting out rice, pasta, starchy vegetables like pumpkin, carrots and sweet potatoes; and even fruit. Many people find this highly restricted diet difficult to follow or maintain for longer than six to 12 months.

But if you are determined and willing to make enormous sacrifices, there is no reason why a type 2 diabetic should not try it as it could improve their glucose control while helping them to lose weight. It could also be tried, without too much risk, by type 1 diabetics. However, pregnant women suffering from gestational diabetes, or who simply have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, should not attempt a ketogenic diet as their bodies need more nutrients than this diet can provide.

Will The Ketogenic Diet Cure Diabetes?

A question that is often asked by diabetics is whether losing weight will rid them of the disease. Unfortunately, there is no cure for diabetes; nor is there any reliable evidence that any diet, including a ketogenic diet, will reverse your condition. On the other hand, there is also no evidence that a ketogenic diet will cause diabetes and it may help you to lose weight in the short- to medium-term.

However, a word of warning is required. Before you change your diet, which may also result in your having to change your medication regime, you must speak to your diabetes medical team. In addition, as you lose weight, you may need to adjust your medication further.

Bulletproof Coffee: A Boost To Start Your Day?

As far as trends go, ‘bulletproof’ coffee seems to be all the rage as a breakfast replacement, in the same way that some nutritionists sing the praises of beginning your day’s journey with a green juice. The bulletproof coffee comprises coffee, unsalted butter (grass-fed) and an MCT oil such as coconut oil. Two tablespoons of the latter two ingredients plus two cups of coffee are mixed in a blender and consumed as a powerful, energizing, fat-burning fuel to start the day.

Given what we know about the benefits of MCT oils and that saturated fats such as unsalted butter have received unfair coverage as all blankly being bad and that coffee is just plain great, what’s not to love, right? A lot, it seems.

The bulletproof coffee is full of nutritional holes

Assuming that you consume this coffee in the morning as a breakfast replacement as intended, does it match up to the nutrient gain from an egg in 5-10g coconut oil and an apple? Eggs on their own, of course, are protein-rich nutrient warriors. Each egg contains 7g of high-quality protein, 5g of fat, 1.6g of saturated fat and iron, minerals, vitamins, and carotenoids. Each egg contains only 75 calories in total,  plus powerful disease-fighting nutrients such as lutein and zeaxanthin.

The egg-and-apple breakfast contains 429 calories, broken down as follows:

• Over 50% of the recommended daily allowance for or Vitamins B12, B2, Vitamin B5, Selenium and Phosphorus
• Over 10% of the recommended daily allowance for every nutrient except Vitamin B3 (Niacin), magnesium and manganese
• 25 grams of protein
• 5 grams of fiber
• 27 grams of net carbs.

The bulletproof coffee, on the other hand, contains not only more calories – 441 to be exact – but is nutritionally empty:

• 51 grams of fat (80% saturated)
• 1 gram of protein
• 0 grams of fiber
• Less than 10% of the recommended daily allowance for every nutrient except Vitamins A, B2, and B5 (which range from 22% to 28% of the RDA, almost half the values in the egg-and-apple breakfast).

The bulletproof coffee could dramatically increase your cholesterol levels

Studies have linked the keto diet, into which the bulletproof coffee fits snugly, with decreased waistline measurement, lowered levels of bad cholesterol and an increase in metabolic rate. These measurables though did not take into account the effects of a so-called bulletproof coffee. Although there are no studies as yet isolating the impact of this coffee, strong anecdotal evidence suggests that advanced markers for high cholesterol such as ApoB and LDL indicated a worrying trend of cholesterol actually spiking on the back of bulletproof coffee consumption.

The amount of increased saturated fat specifically included in the bulletproof coffee is cause for concern

Scientific studies have shown that the MCTs in saturated fats distinguish them from their long-chain triglyceride cousins, as they can be utilized for energy much quicker and are therefore not stored as fat in the body. This is based on moderate amounts of saturated fat though. Keto is a high-fat nutritional plan, so it is arguably the case that the four tablespoons of extra butter and fat being absorbed tip allowable saturated fat levels into the realm of excess, which is bound to have effects opposite to what is intended on the ketogenic diet.