How to Go on a Ketogenic Diet

Co-authored by Lyssandra Guerra and Janice Tieperman

The ketogenic (keto) diet is very popular in health and fitness communities, and is proven to be effective for weight loss in more than 20 scientific studies.^{[1]
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PubMed Central
Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health
Go to source} This high-fat, low-carb diet causes you to go into ketosis, where your body starts torching fat for energy.^{[2]
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Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School's Educational Site for the Public
Go to source} Some studies even show that a keto diet can help treat Alzeheimer’s, epilepsy, and Parkinson’s!^{[3]
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PubMed Central
Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health
Go to source} Interested in trying this diet out for yourself? We’ve put together plenty of helpful tidbits and suggestions to help you get started.

1

Munch on low-carb fruits and veggies.

On the keto diet, carbs should only be about 5-10% of your total calories. Thankfully, fresh produce isn’t blacklisted from the keto diet, and is a great way to meet your daily carb limit.^{[4]
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Research source} Zucchini, cucumber, avocado, eggplant, tomato, lettuce, cauliflower, and broccoli are all excellent low-carb options to choose from.
- Fruits like raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries are also low in carbs.^{[5]
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2

Transition into keto with a low-carb diet.

This can reduce some of the initial side-effects of starting keto, often called the keto flu. Symptoms of the keto flu include nausea, intestinal discomfort, or sleep issues.
- You can try the Atkins or the Paleo diets, since both are low-carb.

3

Stock up on healthy fats.

About 70-80% of your calories should come from fat. Cook your meals with olive and avocado oil, and snack on chia, sesame, and pumpkin seeds when you get hungry. Foods like full-fat Greek yogurt, macadamia nuts, salmon, tuna, avocados, eggs, coconut milk, coconut oil, and grass-fed steak are other great sources of fat.^{[6]
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- Cheese and heavy creams are also rich in fat.^{[7]
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- For example, if you’re following a 2,000 calorie diet, you might eat about 165 grams of fat each day.^{[8]
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  Harvard Medical School
  Harvard Medical School's Educational Site for the Public
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4

Eat plenty of proteins.

You’ll get around 10-20% of your calories from protein. Chow down on venison, beef, dark chicken meat, dark turkey meat, lamb, and pork. If you’re a seafood fan, you’re in luck—salmon, tuna, and shrimp are also excellent protein sources. Stock up on plenty of dairy products too, like whole milk cottage and ricotta cheese, along with Greek yogurt.
- In a 2,000 calorie diet, you might eat about 75 grams of protein every day.^{[9]
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  Harvard Medical School
  Harvard Medical School's Educational Site for the Public
  Go to source}

5

Supplement your diet with short-chain fats.

Short-chain fats instruct the liver to make more ketones. These can ease the process of ketosis and reduce stress on your body.^{[10]
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- Coconut oil is a good source of short-chain fats.

6

Take a vitamin D supplement.

Vitamin D is essential to calcium consumption, cell growth, and inflammation. Unfortunately, this nutrient is rarely naturally present in foods.^{[11]
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Research source} Stop by your local health food store and pick up some vitamin D capsules or pills to help balance out your diet.
- You can also get vitamin D sun exposure. Try to sit outside or go for a walk each day.^{[12]
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7

Choose a targeted keto diet if you’re a frequent exerciser.

This ensures you’ll have enough energy to work out. Generally, targeted keto diets (TKD) are 65-70% fat, 20% protein, and 10-15% carbs.^{[13]
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- The carbs will be most helpful if eaten before or after you work out.
- These carbs will be burned as you exercise, and therefore won’t get stored as fat.

8

Pick a cyclical keto diet for more freedom on cheat days.

Save those cheat days for special occasions. Or, you might alternate five days of a normal keto diet with two non-keto days.^{[14]
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- For example, a “keto day” could have 75% fat, 15-20% protein, 5-10% carbs, while an “off day” could have 25% fat, 25% protein, 50% carbs.
- Even on your off days, try eating fruits, starchy veggies, dairy, and whole grains for your carbs instead of sugary or highly processed foods.

9

Try a high-protein keto diet to build muscle.

If you lift weights 4-6 times a week, this is a good option for you. For reference, a high-protein keto diet is around 60% fat, 35% protein, and 5% carbs.^{[15]
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- This diet is easier to follow because you replace some of the fat from the standard keto diet with protein.
- If you are using a ketogenic diet to lose weight or build muscle mass, eat approximately 1g of protein per pound of body mass.

10

Test for signs of ketosis.

This is a surefire way to know if your ketogenic diet is effective.^{[16]
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Research source} To know for sure, use ketosis test stips to see how many ketones are in your urine. You could also try a breathalyzer test, which checks for acetone in your breath.^{[17]
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- For really accurate results, ask your doctor to test your blood for serum blood ketones, or invest in a blood glucose meter that tests for ketones.
- When you’re in ketosis, you might have bad breath, low energy, flu-like symptoms, constipation, and frequent urges to use the restroom.
- It will usually take about 3 days to get into ketosis, though this number can differ depending on how old you are, the speed of your metabolism, and how much you’re limiting your carb intake.^{[18]
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  PubMed Central
  Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health
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11

Consult your physician before starting a keto diet.

They can help you make sure you’re pursuing ketosis healthily. Also, discuss the possibility of potential complications if you have preexisting health conditions or metabolic disorders.^{[19]
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- Ask your doctor if a ketogenic diet might help treat existing health conditions or preemptively treat conditions you might be prone to, like diabetes.
- Check with your physician or doctor to see if you are at risk for ketoacidosis.^{[20]
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Expert Q&A

Question

What are the benefits of pursuing a ketogenic diet?

Lyssandra Guerra
Certified Nutrition & Wellness Consultant
Lyssandra Guerra is a Certified Nutrition & Wellness Consultant and the Founder of Native Palms Nutrition based in Oakland, California. She has over five years of nutrition coaching experience and specializes in providing support to overcome digestive issues, food sensitivities, sugar cravings, and other related dilemmas. She received her holistic nutrition certification from the Bauman College: Holistic Nutrition and Culinary Arts in 2014.

Lyssandra Guerra

Certified Nutrition & Wellness Consultant

Expert Answer

When you're eating a ketogenic diet, your body burns more energy from fat as opposed to glucose, which is sugar from fruits, starchy vegetables, and grains. Instead, you eat a lot of healthy fats such as avocados, olive oil, and almonds, which will help create ketones in your body. Those ketones will help you burn energy, calories, and weight.

Warnings

Keto can put you in danger of DKA if you have diabetes. DKA, or diabetic ketoacidosis, can lead to unconsciousness or death when too many ketones build up in the blood of a diabetic. It can be caused by low blood sugar or not enough insulin.^{[22]
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American Diabetes Association
Health-based nonprofit focused on preventing and researching diabetes
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Kidney disease patients are more likely to require dialysis on keto. Because there are more ketones in their blood, their renal system has more to process.^{[23]
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A keto diet may decrease the performance of trained endurance athletes. However, moderate to vigorous intensity exercise doesn’t seem to be impacted.^{[24]
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PubMed Central
Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health
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The high fat content of keto could increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. Your blood will have an increased concentration of fats after just 6-8 weeks.^{[25]
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