What Is The Difference Between Low Carb And Keto
The main difference between low carb and keto is that the primary goal of keto is to get into a state of ketosis. This happens when the body switches from burning glucose for fuel to burning fat for fuel, and ketones are the byproduct of this metabolism.
From the perspective of what you eat, the difference between low carb and keto is the distribution of macronutrients and how they are calculated. You can read a bit more about that in the next question below.
Load Up On Vegetables
On keto, non-starchy veggies should take up half your plate. Think lots of leafy greens, bok choy, cucumber, zucchini, cauliflower, asparagus, mushrooms, and tomatoes. Vegetables contain vital micronutrients like fiber, folate, B vitamins, calcium, as well as a vast array of antioxidants, she says, so theyre super good for you.
However: Keep in mind that even though veggies may take up half your plate, they are not calorically dense and therefore dont actually amount to much of the macronutrient distribution, Presicci says. Thus, youll need to add ample fats and proteins to adequately fuel up. Top your vegetables with healthy fats like avocado oil, ghee, or extra virgin olive oil for extra fats to burn ketones and to keep you fuller longer.
What Foods Do You Eat On The Keto Diet
Generally, the ketogenic diet requires eating lots of fats, moderate amounts of protein, and few carbohydrates. But different fats, proteins, and carbohydrates can affect your health differently.
While no food is “good” or “bad,” it’s important to understand the nutrients in the food you eat. For example, according to the American Heart Association , eating foods high in saturated fatlike beef, poultry, butter, cheese, oil, and fried foodscan affect your cholesterol levels and increase your risk of heart disease. The AHA recommends eating unsaturated fat sources like avocados, olives, walnuts, liquid vegetable oils, salmon, trout, and herring.
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What Happens If You Dont Eat Enough Fat On Keto
Not eating enough fat can leave your body with not enough calories. If this is the case, your body can linger in an energy limbo where it feels deprived and hungry. This lack of energy can also lead to a slower metabolism. If protein and carbohydrate intake is not managed the person on a ketogenic diet may not go into ketosis. If this happens, dont let it get you down! Its just a temporary setback and there is nothing wrong with that.
What Do You Do If You Go Over Your Macros
Youre spending so much time and effort tracking and trying hard to stick to Keto. But what happens when you slip up? What if you eat too much carbs or too much protein one day or even for a week?
Did that ruin all your hard work?
Firstly, you wont be the only one whos done this a quick search on reddit will show you people whove gone over their protein macro or their fat macro or exceeded their carb macro while staying under their total calories. Plus many more variations.
The best thing to do?
Remember why youre doing Keto. If its to lose weight, then strict macro counting might not even be necessary! A lot of people find they lose weight even if they dont achieve high ketone levels.
Figure out how/why you went over your macros so you can avoid doing so in the future. And the next day, just stick to your keto macros as usual.
Theres no guilt, just a steady progression forward to a healthier and stronger you.
Bottom Line:
Dont stress about going over your macros. It happens to all of us
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What Macro Is Most Important On The Keto Diet
The single most important macro to track on keto is carbohydrates. To achieve ketosis, most people must eat less than 30 grams to 50 grams of carbs daily.
However, the keto diet also requires that most of your daily calories come from healthy fats, and with protein in moderate amounts to boost metabolism and support lean muscle mass.
Dont Know Where To Start
- You can get started in 60 minutes with the right app and plan.
- Keto cycle has personalized meal plans and step-by-step instructions.
References
- Yancy, W. S., Olsen, M. K., Guyton, J. R., Bakst, R. P., & Westman, E. C. . A low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet versus a low-fat diet to treat obesity and hyperlipidemia. A randomized, controlled trial. Annals of internal medicine, 140, 769-777. Ref
- Mifflin, M. D., St Jeor, S. T., Hill, L. A., Scott, B. J., Daugherty, S. A., & Koh, Y. O. . A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 51 , 241-247. URL
- Yancy, W. S., Foy, M., Chalecki, A. M., Vernon, M. C., & Westman, E. C. . A low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet to treat type 2 diabetes. Nutrition & Metabolism, 2, 34. Study link
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How Many Carbs Should You Have A Day On Keto
The ketogenic diet typically reduces total carbohydrate intake to less than 50 grams a dayless than the amount found in a medium plain bageland can be as low as 20 grams a day. Generally, popular ketogenic resources suggest an average of 70-80% fat from total daily calories, 5-10% carbohydrate, and 10-20% protein.
How Do I Make Sure I Am Getting Enough Fat On Keto
Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to add fat, especially healthy ones, into your diet. Youll want to consume fatty cuts of meat, eggs, fatty fish, whole raw milk, avocados, nuts, and MCT oil. You can also cook with fats like lard, tallow, butter, coconut oil, and olive oil.
Keep in mind that on a low-carb keto diet, most of your daily calories should come from fat. So, it would be best to eat more fat, especially when youre trying to get fat adapted at the start of your keto journey.
If you want to know what fats to avoid on keto, we also have a guide for that.
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Keto Diet Macros Ratio
In this article, we will look at the ideal Keto diet macros ratio and how best to manage your macros while on Keto.
The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high fat, and moderate protein-based diet that the body uses to fuel itself without using glucose or carbohydrates. When your body doesnt have enough carbs for energy because youre on this type of plan, it starts breaking down fats in order to produce some natural sugar called ketones. The result? You get better blood sugar levels along with less hunger and cravings when there are no sugars or carbs available.
With careful tracking of your meals, creativity in food preparation methods, and self-control this type of eating plan should lead to weight loss, lower blood sugar levels as well as regulated insulin levels.
Do You Have To Count Keto Diet Macros
Macro counting can be beneficial if you aim for nutritional ketosis, whether for weight loss or other health goals. Because everyones macronutrient breakdown looks different, tracking helps to ensure that youre following a keto meal plan that works to your advantage.
Also, if youre using keto for body recomposition, knowing exactly how much carbs, protein, and fat is vital for attaining fat loss and increasing muscle mass.
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What Is A Calorie Deficit Or Surplus
A calorie deficit or surplus shows the number of calories you need to consume or cut out.
A surplus means that you are eating more than your body needs and a deficit means you are eating less than you actually need.
If your goal is to lose weight you will want a calorie deficit of around 10-20%.
However, a deficit of 20% to 30% is considered high but higher than that could cause harm to your metabolism.
On the other hand, for muscle and weight gain youll need to aim for a calorie surplus of around 5-10% as the extra calories will contribute to gaining weight and muscle.
A surplus of more than 10% will lead to excess weight which may be hard to lose.
How Many Carbohydrates Would You Like To Consume Per Day
It is strongly recommended that you limit carbohydrate intake to 5% or less of your total daily calories on a keto diet. This equates to an average of 20 grams of net carbohydrates per day.
With a keto diet, the general rule of thumb is to stay below 30 grams of net carbohydrates per day. If your goal is to lose weight, we recommend staying at, or below 20 grams of net carbohydrates per day, as the end goal of a ketogenic diet is to get into ketosis, the metabolic state of burning fat.
The number of carbohydrates you can eat depends on your goals and your calorific intake, but it also varies per person as to how quickly you get into ketosis. If at some point it turns out that you get into ketosis very quickly and lose weight rapidly at only 20 grams of carbohydrates, you can increase this value slightly.
From the results of the keto calculator, in conjunction with the keto-strips, you can keep track of whether your body is in ketosis or not.
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Why Do I Need To Enter My Body Fat
To ensure you get the best results youll also need to enter your body mass percentage if you know it.
This is to determine how much protein youll need to consume in order to lose weight without losing too much muscle.
Eating too little or too much protein in any diet may cause health issues as well as obstruct you from achieving the goals youve chosen.
How Do Net Carbs Affect Keto Macro Percentages
Lots of keto snacks tout their low net carbs, but what does this mean for your keto macro percentages?
Net carbs are calculated by subtracting fiber from the total carbs in a food. This is permitted because even though fiber is a carbohydrate, your body doesnt metabolize fiber into blood sugar. Remember that ketosis is activated after sustained periods of low blood sugar.
For example, pecans have around 14 grams of carbs per 100 grams of nuts. But 10 grams of this is fiber. Therefore pecans have around 4 net carbs per 100 gram serving.
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Bonus: Iifym Or Flexible Dieting
IIFYM stands for If It Fits Your Macros. Another name for IIFYM is flexible dieting.
This approach to eating doesnt involve a specific macronutrient ratio. Instead, its a philosophy you can apply to any diet.
In a nutshell, IIFYM says that there are no bad foods and that any food is acceptableas long as it fits the macronutrient ratios youre following.
Is IIFYM valid?
On the one hand, flexible dieting can help preserve your sanity during busy times, mandatory business meals out, or traveling.
But if you take it too far, youll end up eating garbage foods that are bad for your body and the planet.
To learn more about why flexible dieting isnt a good idea all the time on keto, take a look at Dirty Keto: What Is It and Is It Good For You?
The Lazy Keto Diet Could Be The Easiest Version
How It Works The purpose of the so-called lazy keto diet is to make keto easier to follow. Counting calories, fat, and protein intake for some people, thats all too complicated. All you track is carbs in lazy keto, Kizer says.
You should still see results that are similar to regular keto, so long as you keep your carb intake low enough and dont go overboard in the protein department, Kizer says. As long as carbs stay low enough, which will vary by person but is usually below 50 g a day, one will stay in ketosis, Kizer says. As a result, youll be able to see the effects associated with being in the metabolic state.
Who It’s Best For This is meant for those who are interested in ketosis but dont want to be bothered with tracking calories, protein, and fat.
Risks to Note The same people who experts say should stay away from keto in general should also avoid this approach, such as pregnant women, people with diabetes who are using insulin or taking hypoglycemic medication, and people with type 1 diabetes who are at risk for ketoacidosis, Kizer says.
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Cyclical Keto Diet Macro Percentages
Cyclical keto diet macro percentages: 75% fat, 15-20% protein, 5-10% carbs on keto days. 25% fat, 25% protein, 50% carbs on off days.
Keto cycling means cycling in and out of ketosis, allowing people to eat more carbs on the off days. The CKD is less restrictive, which for some people makes it more sustainable. However, it can also cause challenges when it comes to kicking carb addiction, making it harder for some people to stick with.
The keto days are often concentrated into a span of 5 consecutive days between two consecutive non-keto days. This allows people to time their diets around traditional holidays and celebrations when partaking in various high-carb foods is culturally and socially expected.
For the best results, the carbs on both keto and non-keto days should come from unprocessed sources like fruit and even from pure sugar found in keto ice cream and other unprocessed sweets. Its best to avoid all processed foods and grains which can be high in plant toxins and antinutrients.
How Do You Track Your Macros On A Ketogenic Diet
There are a couple of ways you can keep track of your macros
- Free apps like My Fitness Pal and Senza are a popular way of tracking your daily macros on Keto.
- Or, if you plan your Keto meals for the week ahead of time, you can tailor your plan so that you stay within your macro limit each day.
Bottom Line:
Its not critical to be really strict when tracking your macros, but if you want to track your macros on Keto, then you can use various free apps, or by planning your meals ahead of time.
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Why Does Your Keto Calculator Only Calculate Net Carbs
Total carbs is not a precise indicator of the carb content of a food. When you see total carbs on a food label, the number beside it represents the cumulative total of grams of dietary fiber, sugar, and sugar alcohol that are in that food item or beverage. Net carb content, on the other hand, relates to the carb content of the food that is digested at four calories per gram and impacts your ketones levels.
For example, if we told you to eat 50 total carbs rather than 20-30 grams of net carbs, you could be eating anywhere between 0 and 50 grams of net carbs. At 0 grams of net carbs, most people will get into ketosis within the first week and experience deeper levels of ketosis as the weeks progress. On the other hand, while eating 50 grams of net carbs per day, many people will struggle to get into ketosis and sustain higher ketone levels.
Priotize Protein For Satiation
I don’t know about you but Butter Coffee’s, like Bulletproof coffee, while they were delicious, they never gave me much satiation. I was still always hungry within an hour after having one. Of course they certainly gave me energy, and I enjoyed the taste, but I did still have hunger.
What made all the difference for me, was swapping out the extra fat, like the butter and the MCT oil, and adding protein! Using collagen peptides in my coffee with just a small amount of cream was what finally worked to increase my satiation and keep me fuller for longer so I could easily fast until lunch. Be sure to use this little frother to mix it well and get some nice foam on top, otherwise all the peptides will be in the bottom of your coffee cup.
Many women that have taken my6 Week Sugar Detox Course, are not eating enough protein. Increasing your protein at your meals can make all the difference in fighting off sugar cravings and decrease snacking later in the day. Your body will constantly be searching for the nutrients it needs if you don’t give it enough protein and that’s why many women say they eat great all day, but after dinner they can’t stop snacking.
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How Do You Calculate Net Carbs For Keto
Subtract the amount of dietary fiber and the amount of sugar alcohol in a food item from the total carbs. For example, lets say you want to know the net carbs of a keto chocolate bar with:
- 20 grams of total carbs
- 10 grams of dietary fiber
- 6 grams of erythritol, a sugar alcohol
Using the formula, 20 grams , you get 4 grams dietary fiber. However, if it doesnt contain any sugar alcohol, you get 10 grams of dietary fiber instead.
How Much Fat For Weight Loss On Keto
Fat is a controversial topic in the keto world space. If you’ve been on a ketogenic diet and have had success, you may be in the camp of high fat, close to 75% in your day, as being the best way to get your body into ketosis and lose weight. Or you may be in the camp that the classic high fat ketogenic macros didn’t help you to lose weight at all. Wherever you fall, the ketogenic diet is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Not everyone will feel best eating high fat and many will not lose their body fat eating that much on a daily basis.
Your activity level, lifestyle, age, and genetics, are all factors in what will help you achieve weight loss. We are all bio-individual and have different needs in regards to daily macros. But one thing remains the same, for a well-balanced, ketogenic diet that promotes health and fat loss, eating whole, single ingredient, nutrient dense foods is the best way to achieve your health goals. Packaged, processed and refined so-called “keto” foods are not the best way to achieve success on a ketogenic diet if your searching for the long term health benefits.
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