It’s time to restock your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer with delicious, keto friendly foods that will help you lose weight, become healthy, and feel great!
THE BASICS
With these basics on hand, you’ll always be ready to prepare healthy, delicious and keto-friendly meals and snacks.
• Water, coffee, and tea
• All spices and herbs
• Sweeteners, including stevia and erythritol
• Lemon or lime juice
• Low-carb condiments like mayonnaise, mustard, pesto, and sriracha
• Broths (chicken, beef, bone)
• Pickled and fermented foods like pickles, kimchi, and sauerkraut
• Nuts and seeds, including macadamia nuts, pecans, almonds, walnuts,
hazelnuts, pine nuts, flaxseed, chia seeds, and pumpkin seeds.
MEATS
Any type of meat is fine for the keto diet, including chicken, beef, lamb, pork, turkey, game, etc. It’s preferable to use grass-fed and/or organic meats if they’re available and possible for your budget. You can and should eat the fat on the meat and skin on the chicken.
All wild-caught fish and seafood slide into the keto diet nicely. Try to avoid farmed fish.
Go crazy with the eggs! Use organic eggs from free-range chickens, if possible.
VEGGIES
You can eat all nonstarchy veggies, including broccoli, asparagus, mushrooms, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, peppers, tomatoes, garlic (in small quantities — each clove contains about 1 gram of carbs), Brussels sprouts, zucchini, eggplant, olives, zucchini, yellow squash, and cauliflower.
Avoid all types of potatoes, yams and sweet potatoes, corn, and legumes like beans, lentils, and peas.
ABOUT THOSE SWEETENERS . . .
The sweeteners may sound strange if you haven’t heard of them before. They both come from natural sources and are safe to use in any quantity.
Stevia is extracted from the leaves of a plant called Stevia rebaudiana. Stevia has zero calories and contains some beneficial micronutrients like magnesium, potassium, and zinc. It’s readily available in liquid or powder form online and in most supermarkets. It’s much sweeter than sugar, so containers are usually very small — you won’t need nearly as much.
Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that is low in calories, about 70 percent as sweet as sugar, and can be found naturally in some fruits and vegetables. Sugar alcohols are indigestible by the human body, so erythritol cannot raise your blood sugar or insulin levels. Several studies have proven it to be safe. Sugar alcohols can sometimes cause temporary digestive discomfort, but out of the few available sugar alcohols like xylitol, maltitol, and sorbitol, erythritol is considered to be the most forgiving and best for everyday use.
FRUITS
You can eat a small amount of berries every day, such as strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. Lemon and lime juices are great for adding flavor to your meals. Avocados are also low in carbs and full of healthy fat.
Avoid other fruits, as they’re loaded with sugar. A single banana can contain around 25 grams of net carbs.
DAIRY
Eat full-fat dairy like butter, sour cream, heavy (whipping) cream, cheese, cream cheese, and unsweetened yogurt. Although not technically dairy, unsweetened almond and coconut milks are great as well.
Avoid milk and skim milk, as well as sweetened yogurt, as it contains a lot of sugar. Avoid any flavored, low-fat, or fat-free dairy products.
FATS AND OILS
Avocado oil, olive oil, butter, lard, and bacon fat are great for cooking and consuming. Avocado oil has a high smoke point (it does not burn or smoke until it reaches 520°F), which is ideal for searing meats and frying in a wok. Make sure to avoid oils labeled “blend”; they commonly contain small amounts of the healthy oil and large amounts of unhealthy oils.