Occasionally These are good choices, but do contain some carbs.

Liberally All herbs and spices fit in a keto diet, but if you’re using large amounts, Mancinelli recommends counting the carbs.

Unsweetened carbonated water (limit only if bubbles make you bloated).

Black coffee (watch caffeine consumption).

Tomato sauce (look for those with no added sugar).

Mayonnaise (ensure there’s no sugar added).

Liberally None always practice moderation with sweeteners. Meaning, if you eat something as small as a serving of blueberries, your body could revert to burning carbohydrates for fuel rather than fat. One thing to remember: “It’s easy to get ‘kicked out’ of ketosis,” says Mattinson. Total carbohydrates minus fiber equals net carbs, she explains. As for carbs: “Every body is different, but most people maintain ketosis with between 20 and 50 g of net carbs per day,” says Mattinson. The remaining calories in the keto diet come from protein - about 1 gram (g) per kilogram of body weight, so a 140-pound woman would need about 64 g of protein total. (This is different from a traditional low-carb diet, as even fewer carbs are allowed on the keto diet.) That means you’ll eat meats, fats, and oils, and a very limited amount of nonstarchy vegetables, she says. Roughly 60 to 80 percent of your calories will come from fats. If you’ve decided to move forward in trying the keto diet, you will want to stick to the parameters of the eating plan. This isn’t something to take lightly or dive into headfirst with no medical supervision,” she says. “A diet that eliminates entire food groups is a red flag to me.

You may also work with a local registered dietitian nutritionist to limit potential nutrient deficiencies and talk about vitamin supplementation, as you won’t be eating whole grains, dairy, or fruit, and will eliminate many veggies. These symptoms usually resolve within a few days to a few weeks, and you can help to counter them by drinking plenty of fluids with electrolytes, according to an article published June 2020 in StatPearls.īefore starting, ask yourself what is really realistic for you, Mattinson suggests. In the first few days after you begin your keto diet plan, you may experience headaches, muscle cramps, fatigue, nausea, constipation, and other flu-like symptoms, according to Harvard Health Publishing.

One study, published in March 2020 in Frontiers in Nutrition,įound that across 43 different online forums for people following a keto diet, about a third of commenters reported experiencing this short-term keto side effect. Another potential downside to the keto diet: the keto flu.

Limits and fits chart