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5 Keto Diet Tips for Beginners

While following a keto diet, one must take special care in certain cases. The following tips can help you follow the diet a lot better:

1. Decrease Stress

The stress hormone cortisol ends up elevating the body’s blood sugar levels. Thus, this prevents the body from burning fat for energy due to the presence of excess sugar in it. Chronic stress can, therefore, severely hinder the body’s ability to enter ketosis.

2. Prioritise Sleep

Less sleep plays a major role in higher stress levels. As discussed earlier, this can prevent your body from being able to burn fat. Maintaining a proper schedule can help improve one’s quality of sleep. This, in turn, helps reduce stress and thus, make the keto diet effective.

It is ideal to get about 8-9 hours of sleep every night. Plenty of studies have found that sleeping for fewer hours can hurt one’s weight loss attempts.

3. Increase Salt Intake

While we have always been taught to reduce our sodium consumption, this is necessary only in the case of high-carb diets. High-carb diets have naturally higher levels of insulin, leading to the kidney retaining sodium.

When you reduce your carb intake as you do with a keto diet, insulin levels are a lot lower, and the body excretes a lot more salt. Therefore, you can increase your salt consumption by 3 to 5 g while in ketosis.

4. Exercise Frequently

While on a keto diet, a regular exercise schedule can help boost ketone levels, and transition into a low-carb, high-fat diet a lot faster. Getting rid of any glucose present in the body is key to the body getting into ketosis.

While exercising, the body uses different types of energy for fuel including carbs, amino acids and fats. Frequent exercises helps the body get rid of its glycogen stores quicker.

5. Drink Plenty of Water

Staying hydrated is important at all times, but it is much more so in the case of a ketogenic diet. This is because the body releases more water from the body when the carb intake is a lot lower. Ideally, one should drink more water on days where they are likely to sweat more.

5 Foods to Eat on a Ketogenic Diet

The Keto diet has several food requirements that must be met. Keto foods are normally low on carbs and high in fat. Here’s a list of foods that one can consume while on a keto diet:

1. Seafood

Although rich in B vitamins, selenium and potassium, salmon and other fish are almost carb-free. This makes them extremely keto-friendly.

The carb content varies across the various types of shellfish, however. You can always choose the low-carb variants to include in your keto diet. Two servings of seafood a week would be of great help to any individual on a keto diet.

2. Cheese

Considered both nutritious and delicious, cheese is generally low in carbs and rich in fat. Thus, they are a great fit for a ketogenic diet.

Although rich in saturated fat, cheese hasn’t been known to increase the risk of heart disease. On the contrary, some studies claim that this dairy product can in fact reduce these risks.

3. Low-carb Vegetables

Non-starchy vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms and lettuce, are low in calories and carbs but they are rich in several nutrients, including vitamins and minerals. Vegetables contain fiber, that your body will not digest, unlike carbs.

The antioxidants present in these vegetables help protect the body against free radicals, or unstable molecules that cause cell damage.

4. Eggs

A single large egg contains less than one gram of carbohydrates, and less than 6 grams of protein. This makes them an ideal food for the ketogenic diet.

Eggs are also known to make an individual feel full, while keeping their blood sugar levels stable. This leads to lower calorie intake for almost 24 hours.

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5. Meat

Meat and poultry are considered staple food of the keto diet since they contain no carbs and are rich in B vitamins and several minerals. They are also a great source of high quality protein, helping preserve muscle mass in the absence of carbs.

It is ideal to choose grass-fed animals for meat since they consume more omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants than grain-fed animals.

Non-Vegetarian Keto Diet Plan

A typical keto diet plan is low on carbohydrates, while being high in protein and fats. The following is a non-vegetarian keto diet plan that one can follow.

Time                                 Meal

6:30 AM                     Bulletproof coffee without sugar

8:00 AM                     Scrambled eggs with cheese

12:30 PM                   Roasted chicken breast Lettuce, cucumber and mushroom salad with olive oil and vinegar dressing

4:00 PM                     Soda with lemon

8:00 PM                     Tandoori chicken with mint chutney

Vegetarian Keto Diet Plan

A keto diet’s primary requirement is to be low-carb, and high-protein. Vegetarians that wish to follow the low-carb diet can refer to the vegetarian diet plan shown below.

Time                                 Meal

6:30 AM                       Bulletproof coffee without sugar

8:00 AM                      Paneer mushroom bhurji with spinach

12:30 PM                     Keto flour roti with soya bhurji

4:00 PM                        Lemon soda without sugar

8:00 PM                       Broccoli mushroom stir fry with cheese

In spite of the keto diet’s immediate results, nutritionists generally do not recommend it. Ideally, it is best to maintain a balanced diet that provides an individual with all the necessary nutrients.