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Introduction – Keto Diet For Beginners: Meal Ideas, Safety and Expert Tips
The Keto Diet has been all the rage in the mainstream health and wellness space for nearly a decade, but it’s still a new concept to people who are now looking into it for health or weight loss reasons. Whether you’re just starting out with keto or you’re revisiting the basics, we’re here to give you a full rundown on this popular diet along with simple but effective tips, tricks, and meal ideas to help you get to your ideal version of yourself.
What is Keto?
Keto is a popular shortening of the term “ketogenic”– a diet that’s based on lowering your carbohydrate (also known as “carb”) intake and instead focuses on consuming protein and fat to fuel the body and aid in weight loss and disease management. The keto diet was initially developed by a Mayo Clinic doctor in the early 1920s to aid in treating epilepsy in children, but has since been found to be useful in addressing all kinds of health issues and chronic diseases as well as aiding in weight loss.
Keto Diet Safety
As with any other diets, consult your physician prior to transitioning to keto to make sure that a keto diet is right for your body’s needs, and stop dieting if you notice any negative effects like weakness or excessive fatigue. Keto diets can be incompatible with certain types of medications and may cause constipation, dehydration, low blood pressure, low blood sugar, kidney stones, and nutrient deficiencies if not properly monitored. Make sure you’re monitoring changes in your body to catch any of these issues early so they can be properly addressed by a medical professional before causing long-term harm.
Five Keto Tips for Beginners
#1. Veggies are your friend!
A mistake that beginners often make is cutting many vegetables from their keto diet. Although it’s true that vegetables are high in carbohydrates, they’re not the same type of carbs that make up things that are associated with weight gain like breads, baked goods and processed snacks.
The carbs in vegetables come from fiber, which your body can’t digest, so they don’t count towards your macronutrient counts the same way that simple or processed carbs do. When reading nutrition labels, subtract the amount of fiber from the amount of carbohydrates to see the actual carb value that will count towards your daily intake. Most veggies can (and should!) be included as part of a balanced ketogenic diet.
#2. Try to get most of your fat from healthy sources.
Cheese, butter, and other dairy sources can absolutely be a great source of fat for a keto diet, but they aren’t the best source. It’s easy to overdo it on dairy products (which is understandable, cheese is just too delicious to pass up sometimes), so try to get your fats from healthy sources like fatty fish (think tuna and salmon), grass fed beef, pasture-raised poultry and eggs, nuts, avocados and olive oil. Getting the majority of your essential fats from healthier sources will ensure you’re not increasing your risk for heart disease and will aid in weight loss or other health management.
#3. Cut back on sweets.
There really is no diet that allows you to go crazy on high-sugar treats, and keto is no exception, especially because sugar is a carb! You should try to limit your sugar intake as much as possible in addition to lowering other carbs so that your body can turn to the fat you’re eating to enter a state of ketosis, which helps you lose weight. Every gram of sugar counts towards your daily carb target limit.
#4. Check nutrition labels for hidden carbs and sugars.
You may be surprised if you start checking the nutrition labels on some of your favorite “healthy” products–lots of unsuspicious foods contain hidden sugars and carbs! Double check your pantry, fridge, and shopping cart to make sure you’re familiar with the actual contents of your go-to staples.
#5. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!
Staying hydrated is essential to a successful keto diet. The increased fat intake can be hard on the body to digest and filter (especially the kidneys) so increasing your daily water and electrolyte intake will aid in keeping your body functioning as usual.
Simple Keto Meal Ideas
Turn to any of these three simple, delicious, and healthy keto recipes to get inspiration for your next keto meal! Keto doesn’t have to be complicated to help you reach your personal health goals.
Avocado Turkey Club Lettuce Wrap
Turn your favorite turkey club into a low-carb, keto-friendly lettuce wrap! Add your favorite deli turkey, avocado, tomato, bacon (or turkey bacon), sliced cheese of choice, and mustard and mayonnaise to a few large lettuce leaves (butter lettuce, classic iceberg lettuce, or romaine work best for this) and roll for a quick and tasty lunch!
Check out a great recipe here.
Keto Burger Salad
If you’re craving a burger, try this ketogenic burger salad instead! It has all your favorite parts of the cheeseburger without the carbs: ground beef, cheese, sesame seeds, pickles, tomatoes, onions, and a ketchup-and-mustard-inspired dressing that’s sure to make you forget all about the burger you were craving.
Chicken Parm with Zucchini Noodles
Missing pasta on a keto diet? Make Chicken Parm! Just swap out the noodles for zucchini noodles! Buy spiralized zucchini “zoodles” or make your own, and then replace the typical panko bread crumbs with seasoned almond flour for the ultimate keto comfort meal. You can find a full recipe here.
More Health Tips & Inspiration
Looking for more keto information, wellness tips, health inspo, or personal growth guidance? Look no further than MindLifeSpirit! Check out our blog for full-length articles with in-depth advice from experts all around the world.
Featured Image Credit: Photo by Vincent Rivaud (Pexels)
References
- https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-weight/diet-reviews/ketogenic-diet/
- https://www.chop.edu/news/importance-fluid-intake-patients-ketogenic-diet
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499830/
- https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/5/1654/htm
- https://nutrition.ucdavis.edu/outreach/nutr-health-info-sheets/pro-ketogenic-diet
- https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/health-and-wellness-articles/ketogenic-diet-what-are-the-risks
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