How To Get Enough Of The Right Fats On Keto
How To Get Enough of the Right Fats On Keto
Posted 2 years ago
Eating Keto means eating most of your calories from fat.
This scares some people. Isnt fat bad for you? Doesnt it clog your arteries?
Thats what weve been conditioned to believe. Saturated fat, in particular, has been demonized for decades on the back of 1950s population research.
This research has largely been debunked, but the anti-fat sentiment persists. Even today, otherwise reputable organizations like the American Heart Association continue to get the fat story wrong.
This can all be rather confusing. You know Keto is high-fat, but what types of fat should you eat to promote good health? And how can you ensure youre getting enough fat to hit your Keto macros?
Keep reading. This article has you covered.
Take A Break From Leaner Cuts Of Meat
Instead of eating chicken or turkey breast all the time, switch and eat the legs or neck which are considered darker meat and thus are high in fat. Consuming poultry skin is another way of adding some fats to your keto diet. T-bone, rib-eye, and skirt steak are some oily cuts of meat that you can order from time to time to supplement fats to your diet.
How Much Fat To Eat On Keto
At least 70% of your total calories on a keto diet need to come from healthy fats.
If your daily goal is to eat 2,000 calories you will need to consume a minimum of 156 grams of fat, equal to about 52 grams per meal.
The key to entering into and maintaining a state of ketosis is limiting the daily intake of carbs to no more than 30 to 50 grams.
That means at most 200 calories from carbs, regardless of how many total calories you consume.
The remainder of your calories, usually less than 20% of your total intake, should come from protein.
This is equal to 100 grams of protein if you follow 2,000 calories of intake.
It is also important to remember that excess protein can be converted to blood sugar and push you out of ketosis.
Check your ketone levels and lower your protein intake if necessary.
Some foods high in fats are far more nutritious than others.
Pay extra attention to your food choices to make sure you are meeting your nutrient needs, choosing healthy fats, and keeping your macros at the correct levels to stay in ketosis.
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Olive Oil Health Benefits
Olive oil is rich in a broad spectrum of health-promoting antioxidants, including vitamin E.
The antioxidants in olive oil may reduce your chance of degenerative diseases.They may also help the cholesterol in your bloodstream resist oxidation keeping your body fresher on the molecular level.
Perhaps the most interesting benefit of olive oil is that its one of the few food sources of mead acid. This unusual omega-9 fatty acid is normally only found in the tissues of young humans and animals. Studies show that mead acid has several potential health benefits, including anti-cancer qualities.
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The Fruit With The Most Protein
There are so many nutrients and health benefits in avocados that they have been deemed one of the healthiest fruits. Avocados are filled with 19.7 grams of monounsaturated fats per avocado, which is excellent for maintaining a healthy diet, lowering bad cholesterol and raising good cholesterol. Avocados are also rich in potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and magnesium. The benefits do not end there! Avocados have the highest amount of protein over any other fruit and over twenty percent of the recommended daily intake of vitamin E, which helps prevent damage from free radicals.
Choose Fat Bombs For Dessert
If you’re going to go for a dessert, choose an option that helps you to get more fat into your diet. Fat bombs are good for this too, giving you plenty of fat but avoiding too many carbs. Of course, desserts shouldn’t make up a big portion of your daily or even weekly calories. But if you do decide to treat yourself, there are some great keto-friendly desserts that you can enjoy. Another easy way to make yourself a high-fat dessert is to add some whipped cream to some berries or other fruit.
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Keto Diet Shopping List For Beginners
Once youve stocked your pantry with these keto staples, youll be ready to whip up a delicious LCHF meal anytime:
- Oils: Extra virgin olive oil, virgin coconut oil, avocado oil
- Spices: Himalayan salt, black pepper, turmeric
- Drinks: Mineral water, green tea, coffee
These largely unprocessed natural foods guarantee keto diet success for beginners and help you maximize the health benefits.
Importance Of Healthy Fats
Healthy fats are an important part of the ketogenic diet. They help you feel fuller for a longer time, stabilize blood sugar levels, and protect against heart disease and other chronic diseases.
There are many different types of healthy fats, including monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, and omega-three fatty acids. Each type has unique benefits for the body.
Monounsaturated fats, for example, are known for their ability to lower cholesterol and improve heart health. Polyunsaturated fats, on the other hand, are great for reducing inflammation and promoting brain health.
Omega-three fatty acids are perhaps one of the most well-known healthy fats. They are believed to be essential for brain function and have been linked to a reduced risk of Alzheimers disease, dementia, and other cognitive declines.
Healthy fats are an important part of a balanced diet. There should be an inclusion of these healthy fats in every meal, whether youre following the ketogenic diet or not. By including healthy fats in your diet, youll be giving your body the nutrients it needs to function properly.
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Best Sources Of Healthy Fats On Keto
Healthy fats are essential to your health and biological function, especially when your goal is to get into ketosis. Over the past few years, new research has emerged regarding the roles that fats play in a healthy diet. However, not all fats are created equal.
Healthy fats provide several positive benefits including lowering blood pressure, prevent cardiovascular disease, improve hormone health, and weight management. Regardless of the diet youre following, consuming enough healthy fats is essential for your health. But how do you know which ones to eat on the keto diet?
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List Of Healthy Fats For The Keto Diet
So many ask about healthy fats to have on the ketogenic diet. I am happy to share this List of Healthy Fats for the Keto Diet with you! While this is a high-fat diet, that doesnt mean you cant make those fats healthy fats! Not all fats on the keto diet have to be animal based. This list is a fantastic resource of other healthy fats on the keto diet.
Eating Healthy Fats Delivers Multiple Benefits
Not getting enough fats when you’re on the keto diet means that you miss out on the benefits of eating healthy fats. Some of the best types of fats to include in your keto diet are polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. These healthy fats are available in many different foods, so you can enjoy a varied diet and get the fat that you need.
Some of the best sources of healthy fats include:
- Avocado and avocado oil
- Oily fish – e.g. tuna and anchovies
Other high-fat foods that you might include in your keto diet could be full-fat Greek yogurt, cheese, butter, and whole eggs.
Getting these fats into your diet will help to lower your low-density lipoprotein level, which is the bad cholesterol in your body. It also helps your body to develop and maintain your cells.
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Fat Keto Macros And Weight Loss
When doing keto for weight loss, you want to stay in a calorie deficit. On keto carbs are a hard limit . Protein is a goal . And fat fills in the rest of your calories.
Keto is a high fat, moderate protein, and very low carb diet. High fat does not mean unlimited fat! But still, if youre going to have a treat, you will probably have more room to add calories in your fat budget than in your carb budget. Thats where fat bombs come in. They are sweet creamy treats, that are still low in carbs.
There will be times on keto where you burn out staying under your calorie goals. For women this is often the PMS week. The advantage of using fat bombs over carby treats is that even if you over-eat your calories in the fat category, you will still be in ketosis. If you stay in ketosis, you will have a much easier time getting back into weight-loss mode since keto is a natural appetite suppressant and naturally lowers insulin, carb cravings, and boosts your energy.
Which Fats Should You Avoid
The main fat that you should avoid at all costs is trans fat. Trans fat is found in a variety of processed and fried foods. Anytime you see hydrogenate vegetable oil or partially hydrogenate oil on the label of your food you know that it contains trans fats, even if the label reads trans-fat free.
This type of fat is terrible for the health of your heart because it elevates your LDL levels while lowering your HDL levels. This impacts the health of your heart because high levels of LDL cholesterol can lead to a thickening of the walls of your arteries. The fat basically builds up in your arteries, narrowing them which puts you at an increased risk for heart attack and stroke. HDL cholesterol actually fights against this narrowing of the arteries. Trans fats pack a double whammy by decreasing the cholesterol that fights heart disease while increasing the cholesterol that contribute to heart disease.
Common sources of trans fats include margarine, fried food, vegetable shortening, processed snack foods such as crackers and popcorn as well as packaged bakery items such as pizza dough, bread, pastries, cakes and cookies. Thankfully, several of these items arent allowed on keto anyway because theyre too high in carbs but you should still watch out for any packaged items that are labelled Keto because trans fats can sneak into these foods.
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Fats On Keto: Which Ones Should You Choose
Fats to avoid on keto include highly processed or industrial oils like canola oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, and corn oil, margarine, deep-fried foods, and other highly processed junk foods.
Instead, use healthy sources of fats like avocados, olive oil, meat, chicken, eggs, nuts, seeds, dairy, fish, and high-quality fat supplements like MCT oil powder.
These fats will not only help you reach ketosis but will also help you maintain overall health.
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But not every type of fat is good for your body. Evidence shows that eating some types of fat is bad for you and may significantly increase inflammation in your body .
In this guide, youll learn how to identify unhealthy fats and which fats you should include in your diet instead.
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Question 1 Of 1: How Much Fat Can I Have On The Keto Diet
What Is A Keto Diet
The ketogenic or keto diet is a trend that has been gaining popularity in recent years. This is likely due to the fact that it can lead to weight loss and improved health. However, before you start this diet, it is important to understand how it works and what you can expect.
The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. This means that you will consume large amounts of fat and very few carbohydrates. The lack of carbohydrates forces your body to burn fat for energy, which can lead to weight loss and improved health. This process is known as ketosis. When your body is in ketosis, it produces ketones, which are a type of fuel that your body can use for energy.
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Easy Way To Get Extra Calories On Gaps Or Keto
Its not uncommon for people who are trying the GAPS diet for digestive issues to have concerns about losing more weight, especially if they are underweight to start with. In that case, making fat bombs from GAPS-legal ingredients can be a flavorful and satisfying way to pack in extra calories, along with the healing benefits of healthy fats.
Nutbutter Cup Fat Bombs
These are my childrens favorite recipe for fat bombs. They taste like the inside of a peanutbutter cup and can be made with peanutbutter or any kind of nut butter- even sunbutter.
Youll notice that I included stevia in these, which is not strictly GAPS legal but in our experience some people tolerate stevia well on the GAPS diet. Stevia is especially useful for those reacting to carbohydrates and is a more natural alternative to other sugar-free sweeteners. Honey can be used in its place, though that will increase the carbohydrate count for those watching carbs.
These taste best when kept in the freezer as a frozen treat.
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A Word From Nutritionist
Due to its fat content, the keto diet has been involved in great debates. It is a diet that has been poorly understood from the very beginning since it does not seem to fit with all the studies pointing to fat as the culprit of all cardiovascular problems.
Fat is an important macronutrient as it fulfills essential functions such as the production of hormones and enzymes . It should not be excluded from the diet. Even when cholesterol is high, healthy fats should be prioritized to improve overall health.
Avoiding highly processed foods and artificial fats is the key to reducing the risk of coronary heart disease, heart attack, and stroke.
A Closer Look: Healthy Fats For Keto
While trans and polyunsaturated fats from vegetable oil are not the healthiest, there are some exceptions when they come from natural sources, and those foods can be eaten in moderation. That being said, most of your daily fat intake should be from saturated and monounsaturated fats, so its good to know which foods fall under those categories and what the difference is between them.
Here is a breakdown of each type of fat , so that you can start identifying the right fats to include in your keto diet and meet your fat intake goals each day. Lets first explore foods with healthy fats.
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Crack Some Eggs To Find Good Fats
Eggs are loaded with protein, healthy fats, and HDL cholesterol. When consumed, they can lower LDL cholesterol, bad cholesterol, while improving overall heart health. A diet rich in eggs can reduce the risk of high blood sugar levels, and abnormal cholesterol levels, which in turn reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke, and type two diabetes.
Eggs are also high in choline – which is a nootropic – also known as cognitive enhancers or smart drugs, which can help prevent memory loss. Aside from aiding memory, choline has been shown to protect the liver, and in some instances, repair liver damage. Pick up a carton of eggs and get cracking to discover another food full of healthy fats to add to your diet.