One of the most common questions regarding the keto diet is knowing what you can and can’t eat.
This diet is a little more complicated since you are eating a very low-carb diet, but are not eating unlimited amounts of protein like with a traditional low-carb diet.
Here are some things to know about what you can and can’t eat, including some items you can have but in limited quantities.
What You Can Eat Freely
The first category of foods includes high-protein and low or no-carb foods that you can eat almost to an unlimited amount.
You still need to watch your portion sizes and make sure you don’t consume too much protein, but these are still good foods to enjoy while on the keto diet.
The following foods can be enjoyed freely on the keto diet:
- Meat that is grass fed – You want to enjoy plenty of meat on the keto diet, but try to include meat and seafood that is wild-caught or grass-fed. This includes any type of beef, poultry, pork, and fish as long as it was raised humanely without hormones.
- Vegetables with no starch – Some vegetables can be enjoyed freely while on the keto diet, but not starchy vegetables. When they are non-starchy vegetables, they tend to be lower in carbs and appropriate for this type of diet. This includes most types of leafy greens, radishes, cucumber, asparagus, squash, zucchini, and cauliflower. You can also have plenty of avocado.
- Healthy fats – There is nothing wrong with having a lot of fats on the keto diet, but the types of fats do matter. You don’t want to eat nothing but sweets and fried foods, but healthy fats like seafood and fatty fish, macadamia and olive oils, and saturated fats are completely fine.
Have These in Limited Amounts
There are other vegetables and fruits that you can have on the keto diet, though you need to be careful with the amounts.
These still have low carbs, but more than other veggies mentioned, so watch your quantities and count the total carbs for each meal you plan out.
Have these fruits and veggies, but in limited quantities:
- Root vegetables
- Cabbage
- Turnips
- Fennel
- Berries
- Artichokes
You can also enjoy dairy products like cottage cheese, yogurt, cream, and sour cream, but not the low-fat or fat-free versions.
When you choose something with low fat, it tends to have starch and sugars you can’t have with the keto diet.
You can also have nuts and seeds, including brazil nuts, pecans, hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and pine nuts.
What You Can’t Eat
Unfortunately, most other things are off the table whilst on the keto diet.
All the high-carb foods you might be used to eating regularly, such as pasta, bread, rice, cereal, will all take you out of ketosis, which will pretty much negate the point of doing the diet in the first place.
Sugar, and sugar-containing foods and drinks will also be off-limits during the keto diet.
However, you may find that your cravings for these types of foods are very much reduced when you are in ketosis.
And if you do still find your sweet tooth nagging at you, there are plenty of delicious sweet keto recipes to be found online, using low-carb sweeteners like stevia, xylitol, and erythritol, that will satisfy your desire for something sweet whilst maintaining your keto diet.
If you’d like to give low-carb a trial-run before committing to the full keto diet, download our free mini recipe collection of keto meals you can make in 10 minutes or less, and see for yourself how tasty the keto diet can actually be!
