Ketogenic diet is a diet based on replacing carbs with fats in your everyday nutrition. Reducing carbs will put your body in a metabolic condition called ketosis. When this happens your body can burn fats and get more energy faster than usual. To reach ketosis condition means that you have to reduce everything that contains carbs. In this article, you will find what foods to avoid on keto.
The ketogenic diet is a low carb diet, moderate protein and high-fat diet which puts the body into a metabolic state known as ketosis. When you’re body is in a state of ketosis, the liver produced ketones which become the main energy source for the body. Some of the foods that are restricted in a keto diet include:
- High Carbs Foods: Grains, legumes, starchy vegetables (like potatoes), fruit, and grains.
- Fats: Coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil, and butter.
- Proteins: Meat, fish, poultry, and eggs.
The low-carb can offer many health benefits. It’s great for people who are looking to lose weight, lower blood sugar, and cholesterol levels, and it’s beneficial for diabetics too.
Keto foods to avoid: this is the foods to avoid on keto diet:
Fruit
Even if it’s considered as healthy food, full of vitamins and fibers it’s not good for your keto diet because of the high amount of carbs. The main problem here is that a small amount of fruit contains more carbs than bigger amount of vegetables and some other food. What matters most is the type and amount of fruit you want to include in your daily nutrition. Small portions of berries are the best choice.
- Tropical fruit (pineapple, mango, banana, papaya, etc),
- High-carb fruit like grapes,
- Fruit juices,
- Dried fruit (dates, raisins, etc).
Grains and grain-based food
Grains and grain-based food is full of so-called bad carbs and it should be removed totally from your menu. You have to limit carbs as much as you can and you have to stay away from grains because you can enter carbs through some other, much healthier food.
- All grains (wheat, rye, oats, corn, barley, millet, bulgur, sorghum, rice, amaranth, buckwheat, sprouted grains),
- all products made from grains (pasta, bread, pizza, cookies, crackers, etc).
Root vegetables and tubers
Root vegetables and tubers are considered as foods to avoid on keto because they are full of carbs and sugars and they are not keto-friendly. Most of them even in small portions contain more than 50g carbs allowed per day and can cause increasing of blood sugar which can make it really hard for your body to reach ketosis.
Legumes
Legumes are just like root vegetables, bad choices when it comes to the keto diet. Legumes are full of proteins and fibers but also carbohydrates and that’s the reason you should avoid them. If you want to reach ketosis and make your body burn fats for more energy you should keep carbs under the recommended threshold. Some of the legumes are low in carbs and can be acceptable in the keto diet, but be careful.
Sweets
Sweets have extremely high sugar level and they can’t be good for diet based on lowering carbs. But you already know that, don’t you? Don’t worry, there are too many to count ways to make healthy desserts that taste just like real chocolate!
Alcohol and sugary beverages
Alcohol and sugary beverages are on this list of foods to avoid on keto because most of them have a very high level of carbs and especially sugars. This should be strictly avoided if you are on a keto diet, but if you can’t resist, one glass of white wine is allowed now and then, because wine has very low GI (glycemic index).
Condiments
Some condiments may include high amount of sugars and fats as ingredients and you have to be very careful when you are adding them to complement the flavor of your favorite meal. So, choose wisely!
Low-fat dairy products are often even more dangerous than regular ones. That’s because they contain sugars and some other ingredients to reach the expected flavor. So, even if they have reduced fat levels, their carb level is probably increased more than you can imagine.
The Bottom Line
The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-carb diet that helps to control seizures in some people with epilepsy. It is not a fast or a starvation diet. The low-carb diet can offer many health benefits. It’s a great tool for weight loss and diabetes prevention, but it can also improve the health of your brain, heart, and even more.
Many people find that once they start the ketogenic diet, they do not want to eat many carbohydrates. This can make it hard to follow the ketogenic diet for some people.
Knowing which foods to avoid on keto can help you to make your own keto menu, enjoy reaching ketosis, and have a healthy keto diet. Primer goal to achieve is to teach your body that it can function without carbs. Keto diet isn’t competition, it’s all about achieving higher goals, taking care of yourself, your health and body. That’s the journey that should last for your whole life, so take it easy, step by step and enjoy it!
