What Foods to Avoid on the Keto Diet
The keto diet is all about eating high-fat, low-carbohydrate foods. But it’s important to remember that this means you should avoid some foods and embrace others.
Like any diet, the keto diet is no exception to the rule that there are foods you’ll want to eat—and foods you’ll want to avoid. While some of the more obvious choices include bread and pasta, there are a few different items you may think are okay, but are actually still best to avoid.
- Processed Oils
Natural, healthy fats and oils are standard fare of the keto diet, but processed oils are anathema. The chemically unstable fats inside these processed oils—like sunflower oil, vegetable oil, and canola oil—tend to break down and go rancid quickly, essentially meaning that when you prepare food with them, you’re consuming a bunch of trash your body just can’t digest.
- Artificial Sweeteners
Since you can’t enjoy sugar, you might be tempted to sweeten your drinks—like coffee and tea—with artificial sweeteners like saccharine (Sweet ‘N Low) and sucralose (Splenda) but these artificial sweeteners have been linked with health concerns. Instead, try using stevia, which is actually extracted from a real plant.
- Beer and Sugary Alcoholic Drinks
Beer is high in carbs, especially heavier beers—so of course you’ll want to avoid those. Other alcoholic beverages such as mixed drinks can contain a ton of sugar, so you’ll want to converse with the bartender about what might be a low-carb option for you to enjoy if you’re out on the town. Safer bets include wine, champagne, and if necessary, light beers.
- Processed Snack Foods
Anything in a box with packaging probably is carb-heavy (unfortunately), and one of the most surprising culprits is actually energy bars. You might think that these healthy treats are a go-go for participants in a keto diet, but bars are easy to overeat, and can be full of vegetable oils and artificial sweeteners.
- Soy Products
You may think that soy products are healthy low-carb options, but they do come with some health concerns. They can seriously play around with hormone levels, and they’re often highly-processed and low on nutrients. They’re also difficult for your body to absorb. Common culprits include soy mile, tofu, and soy sauce.
- Too Much Meat
The ketogenic diet is not free licensure to chow down on as much meat as possible. Furthermore, many of the fatty meats that people might assume are great, protein-and-fat rich options are actually anathema because they’re highly processed—like deli meat and bacon.
On a keto diet, you can’t have bread, pasta, rice or other grains. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up your favourite dishes. It just means you have to get creative with your ingredients and cooking methods.
It's important to note that the keto diet is not suitable for everyone. It requires careful planning and monitoring, as well as consultation with a healthcare professional, especially for individuals with underlying health conditions or those taking specific medications. Additionally, the long-term effects of the keto diet are still being researched, and it may not be sustainable or suitable for everyone's lifestyle.
My diet plan:
To be honest, I tried the Keto diet twice and realised that it's not a sustainable way to eat for me. In my experience, it's easier to do intermittent fasting than follow a full keto diet.
But I do have friends who are doing keto successfully.
Personally, I found that following a tribal style of eating is the best option. I eat what's available at that time and make sure not to rely on only one source of healthy calories and nutrients. They are fresh, natural, whole, real food with natural fats. This means most meals are very diverse and include fruits based on seasonality. This method of eating helped me eat healthy while traveling, in the office, and even when I'm hiking.
I don't know about you, but I'm not planning to go hunting in the jungle. But thanks to good supermarkets and local farmers, we can get access to seasonal, fresh food all year around. Even last week I picked up a bottle of real bee honey from the Karen Hill Tribe Village.
Regardless of your dietary preference, one thing you can do is try to avoid processed food and fast food.
I even took this approach two steps forward by creating GaiaMeal tribal supermeal—with GaiaMeal eating healthy on the go or while living a busy life is super easy!
When I created GaiaMeal, I packed in the most nutritious and powerful superfoods and proteins to create a meal that will help you feel like you're eating right out of nature's own refrigerator.
If you want to try this approach yourself but don't know where to start, GaiaMeal is here for you! GaiaMeal tribal superfood-packed meal will enable you to eat healthy anywhere.
