The Do’s and Don’ts When on a Ketogenic Diet

The ketogenic diet has become a popular choice among people with health and fitness goals — weight loss, blood glucose control, and improved athletic performance. If you’re new to the diet, you could be making mistakes that prevent you from achieving ketosis.

In today’s guide, we’re going to show you how to implement the diet effectively with our list of do’s and don’ts. Not a beginner? You might still need this list to stay on track. Keep reading.

Keto Diet Do’s

1. Prepare a keto diet food list.

“What can I eat on the keto diet?” If you find yourself asking this question often, it would help to research a list of keto-approved recipes. Stick with high-fat and low-carbohydrate foods. Examples are fatty meat cuts, cruciferous vegetables, and eggs and dairy.

Because it takes time to adjust to the diet, keep your ingredients and recipes simple. As long as you meet your macronutrient and micronutrient needs, you shouldn’t be afraid to experiment.

2. Eat whole foods.

Fact: There’s a ton of packaged foods that make eating convenient. However, packaged goods can contain bad fats and special sugars that come in different names — Dextran, Agave Nectar, Maltodextrin, and more.

Eating foods in their natural state is the way to achieve better health. Whole foods are rich in vitamins and minerals that help prevent micronutrient deficiencies. If you’re really busy, choose minimally-processed foods instead.

3. Eat plenty of healthy fats.

Many keto dieters make this mistake: They eat more fat but don’t pay attention to the quality of fat.  While it’s important to get 60-75% of your calories from fat, you must make sure that those calories come from good monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.

Remember that the good kind of fat is usually found in fish, nuts, seeds, and vegetables. Some examples include salmon, sardines, walnuts, pecans, flaxseed, spinach, and avocados.

4. Check your blood glucose levels.

The goal of keto is to put your body in a state of ketosis. For you to achieve that, you need to keep your blood glucose under control (less than 100 mg/dL).

It makes sense to check for changes in your sugar levels while you’re doing keto. This is especially true if you’re trying out new “keto” foods, experiencing stress, or testing the effectiveness of fasting.

Type 2 diabetes patients are also advised to monitor their blood glucose regularly.

5. Watch out for hidden carbohydrates.

Done all that the keto lifestyle recommends but aren’t seeing results? You might be dealing with an enemy — hidden carbohydrates. Just because you’re avoiding rice, pasta, and pastries, doesn’t mean you’re in ketosis.

A lot of dressings that are fat-free tend to be sugar-laden. Other sources of hidden carbs include sauces, condiments, coleslaw, greek yogurt, and cashew nuts. Surprised? The best way to avoid these hidden carbs is to cook your meals at home.

6. Drink lots of water.

Ketosis is known for causing various side effects. One of these side effects is dehydration. Many people entering ketosis urinate more frequently. This happens because their bodies are reducing glycogen stores. In case you don’t know what glycogen is, it’s the principal storage form of glucose.

You’ll want to increase your water intake on keto. Doing so will also help prevent kidney stones and cure headaches. To reach your water intake goals, consider adding some ice, berries, or cucumber in water.

7. Take vitamin and mineral supplements.

Can you take vitamin and mineral supplements on keto? The answer is yes. A ketogenic diet can cause vitamin and mineral deficiencies since you’re cutting out many foods. Some people also don’t follow a well-formulated keto plan by eating anything fatty — especially fat that’s bad. Bad fats often lack nutrients.

Make sure to get enough of B-complex vitamins, vitamin D, vitamin C, sodium, magnesium, and zinc. Aside from supplementing with a multivitamin, choose whole foods.

8. Prepare for the keto flu.  

There’s a collection of symptoms experienced by some people who start keto. These symptoms are known as the “keto flu.” Keto flu happens as your body withdraws from carbs. Reported symptoms include headaches, dizziness, fatigue, stomach cramps, and muscle weakness.

Please remember that people adjust to keto differently. Some get the keto flu and some don’t. However, to minimize these symptoms, one should do the following: Avoid strenuous activity, get proper sleep, drink more water, increase healthy fat intake, and replace electrolytes.

Keto Diet Don’ts

1. Eat low-fat food.

Because keto is a high-fat diet, it makes sense to prioritize foods that have more fat. A study also revealed that sugar content is higher in low-calorie food versions such as dairy products and baked goods. Just because the labels say “low-calorie,” doesn’t mean they’re low-sugar.

There are many ways to add more fat to your ketogenic diet. You can add cheese to your vegetable meals, make avocado recipes, drizzle olive oil on salads, and take MCT oil.

2. Eat vegetables grown underground.

Cruciferous veggies and above-the-ground veggies are best for keto. These vegetables are low in carbs and are a chockfull of nutrients and antioxidants.

Low carb options include broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and spinach. Avoid sweet potatoes, carrots, corn, peas, and beets.

3. Eat too many nuts.

Heed this — not all nuts are created equal. As someone on keto, you need to be careful with your choice and amount of nuts. Nuts that tend to contain more carbs include cashews, pistachios, and pine. On the other hand, keto nuts include pecans, macadamias, and Brazil.

Keep in mind that while there are low-carb and high-carb nuts, you shouldn’t go overboard with nuts in general. It’s good to eat nuts when you need energy, not when you’re bored and just want something to munch on.

4. Use keto as a quick fix.

The ketogenic diet isn’t a quick fix. It’s a lifestyle, a way of life. We see too many people jumping into the diet hoping to get lose weight fast — and then stop when they do. Some people, because of a lack of research, feel discouraged when they get keto flu. Another misconception is that keto and low-carb are the same.

The best way to approach keto is to gain a deeper understanding of ketosis. Know its science, your ideal keto macros, and some changes to anticipate.

5. Try keto without talking to your doctor.

If you see a doctor because you have a medical condition (for example, diabetes or a cardiovascular problem), it would be good to open up about your keto lifestyle.

Your doctor deserves to know your dietary approach since there may be medications that contraindicate with keto. Most importantly, tell your doctor your personal experience with keto. Did you gain more energy? Did your blood glucose decrease?  

Conclusion

These do’s and don’ts will hopefully improve your adherence to the ketogenic diet. To get the most out of the diet, choose more real foods and healthier fats. Don’t neglect your micronutrient needs. Embrace keto as a lifestyle, not as an overnight solution. Keep your physical informed.