Keeping a New Year’s resolution can be extremely difficult — especially when you don’t have anywhere to turn to for information. What foods can you eat on the keto diet? What should you avoid? Beginners especially will want an exact keto diets food list. To help you stick to your 2020 goals with ease, the second episode of Us Weekly’s keto diet podcast, “KETO-M-G,” covers exactly that — and explains why those foods belong on one side or the other. Available to listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio and Stitcher.
The point of the ketogenic diet — as celebrities like Vanessa Hudgens, Jenna Jameson, and Kourtney Kardashian know — is to get your body into a state of ketosis. “Ketosis is when your body has shifted from using carbohydrates as its fuel source to fat as its fuel source,” SlimFast dietitian and wellness consultant Maryann Walsh reminds Us in episode 2 of “KETO-M-G.” “It turns that fat into ketones and in turn uses those ketones as a really efficient source of energy, and you are in ketosis.” Translation: Your body starts burning fat instead of carbohydrates — and you lose weight.
In the keto lifestyle, you should aim to eat foods that are high in fat and moderate in protein while avoiding foods high in carbohydrates. Seems simple enough, expect that, for starters, you have to remind yourself that fat doesn’t necessarily equal unhealthy, says Walsh. And you also have to be wary of seemingly safe foods that contain “hidden carbohydrates that we don’t always think of.”
If you don’t keep the two types of food straight and read the labels (lots of salad dressings are filled with sugar and additives, for instance), your body can be kicked out of the state of ketosis. But as Walsh says, there’s never been a better time to adopt the keto lifestyle. There are tons of keto-friendly substitutes and snacks on the market. Jameson, who famously lost 80-plus pounds eating this way, even has a keto favorites list posted to Amazon!
Most people think the “fun” foods you can eat on the diet far outweigh the ones you should avoid — especially if you like cheese, avocados and olive oil! Walsh and Us correspondent Jackie Miranne go over the best vegetables, protein sources, oils, condiments, sweeteners and beverages you can have on the diet.
Foods to avoid include bread and pasta, of course (the host and nutrition expert talk about the best substitutes), but surprisingly, there are also plenty of veggies that have a sneaky amount of carbs. Learn the plant-based foods to avoid!
Lastly, comes alcohol. While many adult beverages are sugary, drinking booze is not off limits in this system. “There are plenty of options you can have on the keto diet,” says Walsh — even certain wines. We say, cheers!