THE KETOGENIC DIET - Amazon S3 · the weight. And even worse, I couldn’t lose the weight very...

THE

KETOGENIC DIET FOR BEGINNERSA Practical Approach for Losing Weight, Boosting

Energy, and Feeling Great

JEREMY HENDON

J&L Publishing LLC.

THE

KETO DIET A Practical Approach for Losing Weight, Boosting

Energy, and Feeling Great

JEREMY HENDON

J&L Publishing LLC.

All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced or distributed—in whole or in part—by any means or in any form, electronic or otherwise, or stored in a database or other retrieval

system, without the express, written permission of J&L Publishing LLC.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Very Important Medical Disclaimer ..................................................1

Guide to Using this Book ..................................................................5

Introduction ......................................................................................7

Chapter 1: What is a Keto Diet and Why Should You Try It? ..........11

Chapter 2: The BEST Way to Eat a Ketogenic Diet.........................23

Chapter 3: How to Get Started on a Ketogenic Diet .......................35

Chapter 4: Common Mistakes on a Keto Diet ................................43

Chapter 5: Frequently Asked Questions on a Keto Diet ..................55

Chapter 6: Weight Loss ...................................................................81

Chapter 7: Special Conditions .........................................................87

Chapter 8: Recommended Ketone Tests ..........................................93

Chapter 9: Is a Keto Diet Right for Everybody? ...............................95

Chapter 10: And Don’t Forget… .....................................................97

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VERY IMPORTANT MEDICAL DISCLAIMER

You might think that the only reason I’m including this disclaimer is to protect myself.

And sure—that’s one reason. But in addition, you really should take this seriously. I am NOT a doctor, and even if I were, I don’t know you or your situation. So if you use the information in this book without thinking about your particular situation or without consulting a medical professional, then bad things could happen for you.

Here’s what I mean…

You might have a medical condition or disease that is known or unknown to you. It’s certainly unknown to me. You might then read information in this book that is generally “good” and “true” information. However, there’s always a chance that your particular medical condition or disease could cause that otherwise “good” information to be very bad for you. You could get sicker or worse.

That’s my simplest way of saying to please use the information in this book to inform yourself, but please don’t blindly implement all (or any) of the information in this book. Make informed decisions for yourself and consult your doctor or other medical professional.

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With all of that in mind, here is a more technical disclaimer, which you should also read:

Jeremy Hendon (the “Author”) has written and is providing this book (this “Book”) on an “as is” basis. The Author disclaims and makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to this Book or its contents, including, without limitation, warranties of merchantability and fitness for any particular purpose.

In addition, the Author does not represent or warrant that the information in this Book is complete or current. (Quite the opposite, in fact—there is definitely a lot of information that nobody knows yet with respect to metabolism and nutrition.)

Any statements made in this Book about products and/or services have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

More importantly, any information or statements contained in this Book are NOT intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any condition or disease. Please consult with your doctor or other medical professional about any information, recommendations, or suggestions in this Book.

Neither the Author nor the publisher will be liable for damages of any kind arising out of, or related to, the use and consumption of this Book, including, without limitation: (i) compensatory damages; (ii) direct, indirect, or consequential damages; (iii) third party damages.

This Book contains information directly related to nutrition and health. You understand that the Author is not a doctor or nutritionist and has no professional training in the medical, health, or nutritional fields. More importantly, the information in this Book is given generally—and not specifically to your particular situation or health condition(s).

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In no way will this Book or the information contained herein be construed as medical advice.

This Book is NOT a substitute for consultation with a licensed health practitioner.

Please! Before you modify your diet, lifestyle, or other area of your health, talk to your doctor or other licensed health practitioner to make sure that you are in good health and that the information and program contained in this Book will not harm you. And definitely consult your doctor or licensed health practitioner if you start experiencing any troubling or unusual symptoms when trying to implement the information in this Book.

There are risks with any diet and lifestyle changes, and you agree that if you implement any changes as a result of reading this book, then you assume all risks—known and unknown—or injuries that might result from making those changes.

You release the Author and the publisher, JL Publishing LLC, from any liability related to this Book to the fullest extent permitted by law. This includes, without limitation, any damages, costs, or losses of any nature arising from or related to the use of this Book and the information provided herein.

If you don’t agree with any of the above, then please do not use this book. And above all else, please be safe and smart about any changes you make to your diet or lifestyle.

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GUIDE TO USING THIS BOOK

Honestly, a keto diet isn’t all that complicated. Except for 2 things…

1. It’s easy to do a keto diet badly, and to make mistakes thatimpact your health, weight loss, energy and well-being.

2. Even though a keto diet is pretty simple, there’s a lot of badand confusing information out there. So you’ll inevitablyhave a lot of questions.

If you’re on a keto diet or about to start a keto diet, then you’re doing it for a reason. You might be trying to lose weight, gain more energy, have more mental clarity, or you might even be using a keto diet to help treat a disease.

Whatever your reason is, this book is here to help you achieve your goal more easily and more quickly. In other words, I want to help you get results.

So please use this book as a toolbox. Take what you need and ignore what you don’t. You wouldn’t use a saw if you need to tighten a screw, but it’s still good to have a saw in your toolbox.

This book will focus primarily on 3 topics:

1. How to get started on a keto diet, and what to think aboutwhen you’re starting out.

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2. Common mistakes to avoid.

3. Questions that frequently come up.

Sometimes I’ll discuss weight loss, sometimes I’ll discuss energy or athletic performance, and occasionally I’ll mention therapeutic uses of a keto diet. If any of those situations don’t apply to your situation, then keep reading until you find the information you do need.

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INTRODUCTION

There is no evidence that humans need to be on a ketogenic diet. In fact, there’s a lot of evidence that humans can do quite

well eating a higher-carb diet.

So why should you consider a keto diet at all?

The answer is probably because your body, your health, or your energy aren’t where you want them to be. Perhaps…

• You’ve been trying to lose weight for a long time, but you’ve had little or no success and feel stuck.

• Your energy is low, and you feel constantly tired or fatigued.

• Your brain isn’t working the way it used to. You forget more easily, and you can’t focus as well.

• Your medical report is starting to worry you. Your blood sugar, cholesterol, and inflammatory markers like CRP (C-reactive protein)1 aren’t looking good.

• You’re an athlete and have realized that your performance has been suffering, but working out more just isn’t helping.

1 CRP is often tested for by doctors as it can be a good indicator of your body’s inflammation levels.

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Really, there could be a hundred other reasons. In the end, you don’t feel, look, or perform as well as you want to.

And you’ve heard that a keto diet could help.

You’ve Come to the Right Place

A keto diet can be an amazing tool.

• I’ve seen countless people lose weight when nothing else worked.

• I’ve seen people regain cognitive function and energy that they didn’t even know was possible.

• And I’ve seen people who were feeling constantly sick and tired completely turn around their health.

All of that and more is possible.

Like any diet or lifestyle change, this might be a little bit hard at first. But that’s OK. Your results are going to be proportionate to the effort that you put in.

And here’s the best news:

Unlike most diets or lifestyle changes, a keto diet just gets easier and better. You’ll have more energy, less hunger, and more mental clarity. So sticking to a keto diet is not only possible—it’s almost addictive.

It took me a long time to get here, and I’m still trying to improve my own health. But it doesn’t need to take you that long…


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My Story: A Lifetime of Struggle and Frustration…

As a kid I was always fat.

I wasn’t obese, but I was fatter than the other kids. I was picked last for many sports, I was slower, and I felt insecure from a very early age.

It affected me in so many ways. I was uncomfortable with my own body, and I didn’t believe that other people could possibly like me very much. You can imagine how that made me feel for most of my childhood.

So when I was 18 and arrived at college, I felt like I had a chance at a fresh start, and I began getting very “serious” about losing weight and getting in great shape. I did all of the things I was “supposed” to do. I ran, I ate low-fat, and I did tons of cardio.

Here’s the twist…

It worked. I lost 55 pounds in the first 8 months. I was ecstatic and in the best shape of my life. You’ve probably had some success in the past, so you might be able to imagine how excited and happy I was.

But like any bad approach to health, it only worked for a while. I started hitting snags and plateaus, and before I knew it, I had regained the weight. And even worse, I couldn’t lose the weight very easily again.

From that point, I struggled for years, until I first came across “low-carb” diets. This was almost 15 years ago, but low-carb was a revelation to me. For the first time in my life, I was able to eat until I was full and still lose weight.

I can’t say that I’ve never looked back or fallen off the wagon (I’ve had months at a time of eating badly). Still, once I discovered that it

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was possible to eat delicious food, be full, lose weight, and have more energy, I’ve never forgotten that lesson.

Along the way, I’ve learned many other lessons. I’ve learned that just because a food is low in carbs does NOT mean that it’s automatically healthy (my journey through the Paleo diet taught me that). Our bodies still need vitamins and minerals.

And finally, a few years ago, I started learning about and experimenting with keto diets. I already ate relatively few carbs, but it was amazing to me how much better my body could function (and how much better I could think) when I was in ketosis—and not just “low-carb.”

I Want You to Have the Same Experience

In fact, I want you to have a better experience than I had. I want it to be easier, faster, and better for you.

I want you to have more energy, to be able to easily lose weight if you want to, to think more clearly, and to improve your health in more ways than I have.

Those type of results will allow you to feel better about yourself. But having more energy and better health will also allow you to perform better in the rest of your life—with your family, in your relationship, and even at work.

And that’s why I’ve written this short guide to making a keto diet work for YOU and YOUR BODY.

So please, take what I say to heart, and take action. After all, it’s the actions you take—not just what you know—that will determine your success and your results.

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Chapter 1

WHAT IS A KETO DIET AND WHY SHOULD YOU TRY IT?

You’re probably already thinking about trying a ketogenic diet. After all, you’re reading a book all about the keto diet.

You might know a LOT about ketosis, or you might not know very much at all. Really, you don’t need to know very much in order to benefit from a keto diet. You could just follow the recommendations in this book and likely reap the rewards.

Think of it this way. Most people don’t know very much about how their cars work. I include myself in that category.

I know that the engine in my car “uses” gas to create power that turns the wheels and operates all of the electrical and mechanical parts of my car. But really, that’s not much at all. And if something goes wrong with my car, there’s a 99% chance that I won’t know how to fix it.

You can use a keto diet like a car and just get the benefits. You don’t need to know very much other than the basics—how to get started, what to eat, etc.

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But because this is your body and your health we’re talking about, I believe that knowing a little more is always better. You won’t earn a PhD from reading this chapter, but you will know what a keto diet is, how it works, and why it might be beneficial for your body.

What is Ketosis?

The best place to start is with “ketosis” and what it means for your body.

Ketosis simply means that your body is relying more on fat—and a byproduct of breaking down fat is called “ketones” (or ketone bodies)—to generate energy for your cells.

You see, your body really is like a car. It needs energy to run and to operate. In fact, every single cell in your body constantly needs energy.

Your car creates energy from gasoline, and if you were to put water or milk in your gas tank, your car wouldn’t run at all. That’s also true of your body.

The cells in your body can create energy from either sugar (glucose) or from fat (ketones). [In case you’re wondering, protein must be turned into sugar or fat before it can be used as energy in your body.]

When I say “sugar”, that includes all carbohydrates, since all carbohydrates can be broken down into sugars. And when carbs are stored or used in your body, they’re always stored or used as sugars.

It’s very important for your body to be able to create energy from both sugar and fat.


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If your body has sugar available, then your body will use that sugar for energy before it uses fat for energy. Also, a small percentage of the cells in your body (particularly some of your blood cells) can only use sugar for energy—they can’t use fat/ketones.

On the other hand, fat is incredibly important because your body stores only a small amount of sugar. If you had to rely on sugar alone for energy, you’d run out of energy in 2-3 days (and you would die). That’s where fat comes in—most of us have enough fat in our bodies to last for months without eating. In fact, the longest recorded time without eating is one man who fasted for 382 days (he started at almost 450 pounds).2

So the basic lesson is that your body can create energy from either sugar or fat.

And as I stated above, “Ketosis” simply means that your body is relying primarily on ketones (rather than sugar) for energy.

Without getting too technical, most experts consider you to be in ketosis if you have a certain level (over 0.5mM/L) of ketones in your blood.3 In other words, you could be “mildly” in ketosis or you could be “deeply” in ketosis, depending on just how reliant your body is on fat for fuel.

Now that you generally know what it means to be in ketosis, that brings us to the more important question…

2 Stewart, W. K., and Laura W. Fleming. “Features of a successful therapeutic fast of 382 days’ duration” Postgrad Med J. 1973 Mar; 49(569): 203–209. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495396

3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_evJd_iZZzs

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What is a Keto Diet?

A “keto” or “ketogenic” diet puts your body into a state of ketosis.

Later, I’ll explain the potential benefits of being in ketosis. But for now, it’s enough to know that a keto diet is a tool to get your body into a state of ketosis.

There are other ways for your body to get into ketosis, but they’re generally undesirable. For instance, the most common way to get into ketosis is starvation. Anyone who doesn’t eat enough food will eventually go into a state of ketosis, because they’re having to rely on the fat in their body to produce enough energy.

But don’t worry—eating a keto diet is nothing like starvation, just like being in a coma is really nothing like being asleep. Apart from being much healthier and less painful, a keto diet is also much easier.

Most people can get into ketosis by eating very few carbohydrates, a lot of fat, and a small to moderate amount of protein. Getting into ketosis can take as little as a few days or up to several weeks on a keto diet.

Here’s a very simple explanation of what happens when you eat a ketogenic diet:

1. You limit the amount of carbohydrates going into your body.

2. Because you aren’t eating many carbohydrates, your body quickly uses up its stored sugar and can’t create more (generally—your body can create a small amount, but not enough for all the energy you need).


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3. When your body runs out of sugar, your body starts breaking down fat.

4. Ketones are produced when fat is broken down, and your body starts using those ketones for energy.

And basically, that’s all a keto diet is—just a way to get your body into ketosis.

Two side notes:

1. Your body always produces some sugar—either from protein or from the breakdown of fat.

2. The fat that your body breaks down for energy can come either from stored fat or from fat you eat.

Of course, none of that tells you why you’d want to be on a keto diet. In the next section, I’m going to cover the biggest benefits of being in ketosis (and eating a ketogenic diet).

The definition also doesn’t tell you about the best ways to do a keto diet. That’s very important, because there are many ways to eat a poor keto diet. In Chapter 2, I’m going to show you the best way to eat a keto diet—and that may be the most important chapter you read.

Finally, there are many mistakes that people make on a keto diet, including simple things like eating too few vegetables or eating “keto” junk foods. Those mistakes will not only make you less healthy but will also keep you from getting results on your diet. So please make sure to read Chapter 4, which deals with Common Mistakes on a Keto Diet.

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So What are the Benefits of Being in Ketosis and Eating a Ketogenic Diet?

There are some very real and very positive benefits that come from eating a keto diet. And I love a keto diet for so many reasons.

In this section, I’ll show you all of the most common benefits of eating a keto diet.

But, to be clear, a keto diet isn’t magic. This diet works if you stick to it, and it works because you’re eating better and healthier foods.

With that in mind, here are some of the primary benefits of a keto diet:

1. Decreased Appetite and Increased Weight Loss.

If you’re trying to lose weight, then this is typically the biggest benefit.4

It may not sound like much, but automatically decreasing hunger is one of the best things a diet can do for you. In general, the reason losing weight is so hard in your modern life is because you have delicious food readily available, and your body is programmed to want to eat all of it.

So if your diet can help automatically regulate your hunger, then losing weight becomes much easier and more likely.

The reason that a keto diet does this is because keto food is more filling than normal, and also because you avoid foods that combine fat and carbs (which are the most addictive

4 Johnstone, A. M., et. al. Effects of a high-protein ketogenic diet on hunger, appetite, and weight loss in obese men feeding ad libitum. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Jan; 87(1):44-55. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18175736


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foods). A keto diet is better than almost any other diet at this.

2. Increased Energy.

This is the most surprising benefit for most people on a keto diet, but it’s also the benefit that keeps people on a keto diet.

Whether you’re an athlete, lawyer, or retiree, having more energy is part of living a great life. If you feel constantly fatigued, then it’s hard to live your life the way you want to. You won’t have enough energy to pursue hobbies, to play with your kids, or even to hang out with friends.

There are many reasons that a Keto diet tends to give you more energy. In general, it eliminates many inflammatory foods and many foods that your gut might be sensitive to. A keto diet can also help repair mitochondrial function in your cells, which is where most of your energy is produced.

You don’t really need to know how a Keto diet is improving your energy, because once you feel more alive and energetic, that’s all that will matter.

3. Improved Insulin Sensitivity.

In a way, you probably don’t care very much about your insulin sensitivity. It’s not something you wake up thinking about in the morning.

However, improving your insulin sensitivity brings you a lot of other benefits, including some I’ve already mentioned (decreased hunger and increased energy).

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In addition, improving your insulin sensitivity is great for your health. It helps you avoid diabetes, lowers your risk of cardiovascular disease, and makes it more likely that you’ll live longer and be vibrant as you age.

A keto diet is one of the best ways to improve your insulin sensitivity,5 because you’re not constantly overloading your cells with energy, which is the main reason that you become insulin resistant in the first place.

4. Mental Clarity.

You might not even know how much your brain is impaired right now. Or you might be very aware.

One of the most observable benefits of a keto diet is that you will think more sharply and clearly, and your outlook will tend to be more optimistic and positive. You’ll be more alert and function better socially.

And this is one of the least-surprising benefits, because keto diets have been used for well over 100 years to treat various brain disorders like epilepsy. Keto diets are also showing a lot of promise for treating Alzheimer’s disease.

And much more research is showing that keto diets improve mental functioning in various ways—including by producing more efficient energy, by repairing and

5 Boden, G. Effect of a low-carbohydrate diet on appetite, blood glucose levels, and insulin resistance in obese patients with type 2 diabetes. Ann Intern Med. 2005 Mar 15;142(6):403-11. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15767618


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rebuilding mitochondria, and by increasing levels of glutathione (a major anti-oxidant).6

5. Decreased Inflammation.

Much like insulin sensitivity, you might not think too much about inflammation.

However, chronic inflammation is responsible for almost everything bad that happens in your body. It leads to heart disease and cancer, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, sinus infections, acne, decreased athletic performance, and much more.

In other words, you should care very much about the EFFECTS of chronic inflammation, because your health is entirely dependent on limiting chronic inflammation.

By helping to heal both your gut and your cellular mitochondria, and by also raising your antioxidant levels, a keto diet can dramatically decrease chronic inflammation. That will improve your life in a variety of ways.

You’ll feel less tired almost immediately, much of your pain (back and joints) will disappear, your skin will clear up, and you’ll often see muscle gain and fat loss. Then, in the long-term, you’ll be less likely to develop various diseases like cancer, heart disease, and much more.

6 Gasior, Maciej, et. al. Neuroprotective and disease-modifying effects of the ketogenic diet. Behav Pharmacol. 2006 Sep; 17(5-6): 431–439. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2367001

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6. Possible Disease Prevention.

This is an area of research that is growing very quickly in keto research.7 Without going into too much detail, many researchers are finding that being in a state of ketosis can both dramatically limit your chances of developing cancer and also help you to recover from cancer.

The research is certainly not yet definitive, but it appears that there are several ways that a keto diet can help, including by starving and killing off “pre-cancer” cells—much like fasting can do. In addition, because of the decreased inflammation I mentioned above, if you eat a GOOD keto diet, then you will also decrease your chances of many other diseases, like heart disease, Alzheimer’s8, etc.

7. In addition, here are several other potential benefits:

• Decreased anxiety

• Stabilized blood sugar

• Better sleep

• Improved mood control (happier)

• Lowered blood pressure

• Faster recovery from exercise

7 McPherson, P.A. and McEneny J. The biochemistry of ketogenesis and its role in weight management, neurological disease and oxidative stress. J Physiol Biochem. 2012 Mar;68(1):141-51 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21983804

8 Choragiewicz T., et al. Anticonvulsant and neuroprotective effects of the ketogenic diet. Przegl Lek. 2010;67(3):205-12. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20687386


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• Reduced heartburn

• Improved fertility

• Less acne and eczema9

Now, speaking of how to eat a GOOD ketogenic diet, it’s about time that we got around to that…

9 Paoli, A., et. al. Nutrition and acne: therapeutic potential of ketogenic diets. Skin Pharmacol Physiol. 2012;25(3):111-7. doi: 10.1159/000336404. Epub 2012 Feb 11. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22327146

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Chapter 2

THE BEST WAY TO EAT A KETOGENIC DIET

In chapter 1, I explained the basics of how ketosis works in your body and how a ketogenic diet can help your body get into ketosis.

In this chapter, I’ll show the RIGHT way to eat a keto diet. And I’m not shy about there being a right and a wrong way to eat a keto diet.

You see, the food that you put into your body matters. And it matters for more reasons than just getting your body into a state of ketosis.

Your body needs vitamins, minerals, and other “nutrients”, just as much as it needs the energy it gets from fat, carbs, and protein. In fact, your body couldn’t even produce energy if it had no vitamins or minerals, and you’d die just as quickly as if you had no fat, carbs, or proteins.

And more than that, many foods actively create trouble in your body.

Some foods directly increase inflammation. That’s a fancy way of saying that certain foods cause very minor damage to your body every time you eat them. And your body is pretty good at cleaning up this damage—especially at first or every once in a while.

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But if you’re continually eating foods that cause inflammation, then eventually your body can’t keep up, and the inflammation causes trouble. The trouble can start in minor ways, like allergies, a cold, acne, sinus congestion, or achy joints. But if you give it enough time, that inflammation will eventually lead to more serious problems like arthritis, autoimmune diseases, and even heart disease.

Two examples of foods that cause inflammation are wheat and alcohol. Neither of these foods/drinks will kill you, of course (not immediately at least). But in both cases, these foods cause inflammation in your body each time you consume them.

Don’t worry! I’m not going to tell you that you can never have alcohol again. But I am going to show you the BEST way to eat a keto diet so that you get ALL of the benefits I mentioned in the last chapter (from weight loss to disease prevention).

And from there, it’s going to be up to you to make the best decisions possible. You don’t need to be perfect, although it helps to be more perfect at first, so that you can get quick results and establish a good baseline for how foods affect your body.

Do We Have the Science to Back This Up?

My quick answer is that of course we do. I’ll reference a lot of science in this guide, and I’ll often cite many studies. I’m a geek about science, and I love reading studies—as hard as that might be to believe.

And one of my unique talents is that I’m more willing than most to incorporate evidence that is contrary to things I believe to be true. For instance, I believe that meat can be incredibly healthy for us to eat. But at the same time, I recognize that there is a lot of science that seems to show that vegetarianism can be healthy.


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So I read all of that science and try to figure out why it seems to conflict with what I believe. In truth, it doesn’t conflict at all—people who are more health-conscious and who eat a lot of vegetables are generally going to be healthier than people who aren’t as serious about their health and who eat junk food.

But it’s a little bit more complicated than just relying on scientific studies. If you’ve peeked at your TV or the internet over the past few years, then you’ve noticed that there are people claiming they have studies for EVERYTHING.

And usually, those studies seem to conflict. I guess what I’m saying is this…

I rely heavily on the science, but when it comes down to it, you need to do what works. And that’s what I’ve tried to give you in this book. It’s what has worked for me and for tens of thousands of other folks just like you.

So ask for and demand the science to prove what you want to know. But also understand that the science of nutrition isn’t complete. We don’t know everything yet. In particular, we don’t know why some things work as well as they do.

What Does a GOOD Keto Diet Look Like?

This is where the rubber meets the road.

In Chapters 4 & 5, I’ll discuss exercise, sleep, and other lifestyle changes a little bit. But for the most part, getting into ketosis requires changing what you eat.

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At the end of this chapter, I’ve included a full list of keto diet foods. (And you can also go to the website listed at the end of the chapter and download the full list as a PDF to print out.)

In the next chapter, I’ll talk about the total amount of carbs, fats, and proteins that you should be eating, which is important for getting into and staying in ketosis.

But first, let’s talk about WHY you should or shouldn’t eat certain foods…

Food Groups to Completely Avoid on a Good Ketogenic Diet:

Processed Sugars. By processed sugars, I mean any “sugar” that is not in a completely “natural” form. So table sugar, coconut sugar, agave syrup, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, dextrose, etc. are all forms of processed sugars.

First and foremost, all sugars keep your body from being in ketosis and burning fat as its primary fuel. So eating any processed sugars will quickly kick your body out of ketosis.

In addition, processed sugars are often inflammatory and hunger-inducing. And most processed sugars are added to foods in order to make foods more addictive.

No matter whether you’re on a keto diet or not, if a food has any form of processed sugar, don’t eat it. Processed sugar isn’t the worst thing you can eat, but from a health perspective there’s really never any reason to eat it.

Grains. Grains include wheat, oats, barley, rye, corn, rice, and anything made from any of these grains—including any flour, rice flour, most


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breads, most cakes, most cookies, most chips, tortillas, and most baked goods.

Although grains have some protein in them, they are made up mostly of carbohydrates, which quickly turn into sugar in your body. And once again, limiting carbs and sugar in your body is the central point of a ketogenic diet.

At least as importantly, though, many grains (especially wheat) are highly inflammatory for your body and provide very little nutritional value. Don’t believe the hyped-up claims on packages of bread about it being fortified with a variety of vitamins and minerals. Even after fortification, those foods are still very low in vitamins and minerals and will cause more harm than benefit to your body.

In general, even if you aren’t on a keto diet, it’s best to avoid grains.

Legumes. For the most part, legumes include beans, lentils, and peanuts.

If prepared properly, legumes can be fairly healthy. They have a lot of fiber and a fair amount of vitamins and minerals.

However, for the purposes of a keto diet, you’ll want to completely avoid legumes. They’re high in carbs, and particularly if you have any digestive issues, legumes can exacerbate or keep those digestive issues from healing.

If you eventually want to transition off of a keto diet to just a generally healthier diet, legumes are something you might consider adding back into your diet. But for now, avoid them all.

Dairy. Dairy includes milk, cheeses, yogurt, butter, and kefir.

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Many people will tell you that some dairy is ok on a keto diet—particularly cheese and butter. And it’s true that you can get into a state of ketosis while eating cheese and butter, since those foods are mostly fat.

However, all dairy has a few problems. First of all, even cheeses will make it slightly harder to stay in ketosis, since they have a bit of sugar and protein. Most importantly, though, dairy tends to cause a lot of inflammatory issues.

Theoretically, dairy could be part of a healthy diet. But when it comes down to how people actually react to dairy, the most common side effects are sinus issues, acne, and other obvious signs of inflammation.

Finally—and this may be what actually convinces you—if you’re trying to lose weight, cheese and butter are very easy to overeat, which makes it much harder for you to lose weight.

So no matter if you’re trying to lose weight, boost your energy, or just feel better, stay away from all dairy while you’re on a ketogenic diet. (The one exception is ghee—a form of clarified butter that does not cause inflammatory issues.)

Seed Oils. Seed oils include vegetable oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, rapeseed oil, canola oil, and any other oil that comes from a vegetable, grain, or flower.

Seeds oils are the worst things you can eat. They have no redeeming qualities. And yet, many people will tell you that they’re fine on a keto diet.

I won’t go too much into the science here, but seed oils are created in such a way (with chemicals or very high heat) that the fats in the seed oils can’t be properly used by your body. The effect is that your body


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more easily stores fat, you get hungrier, your hormones get disrupted, and you experience greater inflammation.

There’s just nothing good about seed oils, so stay away from them whether you’re keto or not.

Potatoes and Tubers. This category includes potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots, radishes, turnips, and related root vegetables.

Unlike many of the other foods on this list, the ONLY reason we’re excluding these foods is because they’re very high in carbs. Other than that, they’re quite healthy. They just make it hard to keep your body in ketosis.

Fruits. This includes almost all fruits—bananas, apples, oranges, kiwis, pineapples, cantaloupes, melons, watermelon, guava, pears, peaches, nectarines, etc.

Like potatoes and tubers, fruits aren’t really that bad for your body in general, but they’re usually very high in carbs. So for the purposes of your keto diet, avoid them all, except for the few that I’ll list below.

Box or Bag. Finally, this is a catch-all. There are a few ways to think about this, but generally, if a food is already in a box or a bag at the grocery store, then you shouldn’t buy it.

Think about it. Vegetables, meats, and seafood—unless frozen—generally aren’t in boxes or bags until you put them into a box or a bag when you’re ready to buy them.

On the other hand, almost everything else in the grocery store IS in a box or bag, including pretty much all of the junk food.

Obviously, there are exceptions to this rule. Potatoes and fruits aren’t in a box or bag, but you still need to avoid them on a keto diet. And

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frozen vegetables and canned sardines are in bags or boxes, but they’re completely fine to eat on a ketogenic diet.

Still, those are the exceptions, and for the most part, if you avoid foods in boxes and bags, then you’ll be fine.

Another way to think about this is to avoid buying foods that have more than one ingredient.

Foods You CAN Eat on a Ketogenic Diet:

Vegetables that Grow Above Ground. Apart from the potatoes and other tubers I listed below, any other vegetable is going to be fine. That includes lettuce, spinach, kale, arugula, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, zucchini, bell peppers, onions, garlic, eggplant, squash, and much more.

Vegetables should be the bulk of what you eat. They’re very high in vitamins and minerals, very high in fiber that’s good for your good, and delicious as a vehicle for fat (like olive oil).

Seafood. Any seafood is perfect to eat, including tuna, salmon, sea bass, cod, mahi mahi, red snapper, shrimp, squid, octopus, clams, oysters, seaweed, and pretty much anything else you can think of.

Like vegetables, seafood is very high in vitamins and minerals. Some seafood is higher in protein than others, so if you’re trying to watch your protein intake (which I’ll discuss in Chapter 3), then you might pay attention to that. But in general, eat any and all seafood.

Meat (including organ meats). This includes beef, chicken, pork, turkey, bacon, venison, elk, and organ meats like liver, kidney, and heart.


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If you can, try to eat more organ meats—they’re incredibly high in vitamins, minerals, and fats. “Regular” meats like beef, pork, and chicken are fine also, but they’re higher in protein and slightly lower in vitamins and minerals.

Still, you’re generally fine eating any meat or organ meat.

Nuts. Nuts vary a lot in terms of how many carbs they have. In general, you should probably avoid cashews and pistachios, which both have a lot of carbs. Most other nuts (almonds, brazil nuts, macadamias, pecans, walnuts, etc.) are higher in fat and are generally fine.

The only thing I’ll say here is that nuts are very easy to overeat—especially if they’re salted. Overeating nuts isn’t necessarily a problem, but it will make weight loss much harder if that’s what you’re trying to achieve.

Also, if you have digestive issues, nuts can sometimes exacerbate those issues, so just be careful and observant.

Eggs. Eggs are a staple of a good keto diet. Most people stick just to chicken eggs, although any eggs (quail, duck, etc.) are fine.

Some Fruits. Avocados, olives, lemons, and limes are fruits that are very low in sugar and perfect to eat on a keto diet. There’s no need to limit any of these foods.

In addition, berries (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc.) are also OK to eat, but don’t go crazy with them. It’s easy to eat too many and see your carb count start creeping up.

Spices and Herbs. All spices and herbs are perfectly fine to eat and cook with. But note that they do add a small amount of carbs.

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Good Oils. Finally, you’ll need fats to cook with and to put on salads and other foods. In general, most people stick to olive oil and coconut oil. These are the easiest and least expensive good oils, and they’re both very healthy.

You can also use any animal fat—tallow, leaf lard (not hydrogenated), duck fat, goose fat, etc.

The Full Keto Food List

I’ve tried to give you a basic rundown of what to eat and what not to eat on a keto diet, but for easier reference, please download our Keto Diet Food List here if you’d like a printable PDF copy.10

A Quick Note on “Keto” Treats

If you look around, you can find recipes or even pre-packaged versions of “keto” treats like keto cakes, keto breads, keto cookies, and other “keto” treats.

If the ingredients of these recipes/products include only the good keto foods listed above, then they’re probably fine.

However, I would encourage you not to overdo it with these foods. They’re fine to eat from time to time (and our own cookbook11 includes some recipes for some amazingly delicious keto treats and Dominic D’Agostino, a leading researcher on ketogenic diets, spent several

10 https://ketosummit.com/ketogenic-diet-food-list/

11 The Essential Keto Cookbook, https://ketodiet.team/p08-keto-

cookbook-free/

https://ketosummit.com/ketogenic-diet-food-list/

https://ketodiet.team/p08-keto-cookbook-free/


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minutes raving about his keto ice-cream dessert on The Tim Ferriss Show12). But just remember that these treats are easy to overeat, and they’re usually not quite as healthy in general as more basic keto foods like vegetables, seafood, and meats.

12 http://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/11/03/dominic-dagostino

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Chapter 3

HOW TO GET STARTED ON A KETOGENIC DIET

Chapters 1 and 2 covered a lot of the information that I believe will help you make the best decisions for your ketogenic diet (and

for your overall health).

This chapter is a completely practical guide to quickly getting started and doing it the best way possible.

If you stick to these instructions, then there’s an excellent chance that you’ll see great results very quickly. The vast majority of people do.

Let’s jump right in…

4 EASY STEPS FOR GETTING STARTED ON KETO

As I mentioned earlier in this book, a ketogenic diet is actually very simple.

Along the way, you might have questions and need to make small changes, but to get started in the BEST way possible, simply follow these 4 steps:

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Step #1: Eat Less Than 25 Grams of Net Carbs per Day

Your first task is to eliminate almost all carbs from your diet.

Is 25 grams a “magic” number? Not at all. But from my experience, if you keep your carbohydrates below 25 grams per day, then 99% of people will start seeing results, and the majority of people will be able to get into a state of ketosis.

Some people can get into ketosis while eating more carbs. That doesn’t matter.

Start by eating less than 25 grams of Net carbohydrates per day (not counting fiber).

This is low enough for almost anyone to move into ketosis, and it will allow you to do it more quickly than if you’re eating a higher amount of carbs.

And don’t guess on the 25 grams of carbs. Read every label and measure everything you eat to make sure you’re below 25 grams per day.

(In Chapter 5, I answer the question of Total versus Net carbs, if you’re wondering).

Also! You might be wondering what percentage of fats, carbs, and protein you should be eating on a keto diet. I cover this question in Chapter 5, but for now, my answer is to not worry about it. Stay under 25 grams of carbs per day and don’t worry about percentages.

Step #2: Eliminate All Foods Not Allowed on the Keto Food List

If you want to get great results, Step #2 is at least as important as Step #1.


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Use the Keto Diet Food List which you can download as a printable PDF from our website.13

If a food is not allowed on that list, then do not eat it. Generally, this will mean eliminating all grains, beans, dairy, fruit, and processed foods. Don’t eat anything that comes in a prepackaged box or bag. Eat only seafood, meats, organ meat, nuts, and vegetables that grow above ground (no potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc.).

If you’re wondering why I eliminate some foods that other people don’t eliminate, please re-read Chapter 2.

Step 3: Measure Your Ketones

The most important thing is that you get the results you’re looking for. That might mean losing weight, having more energy, or performing better as an athlete.

Keep that in mind. Because if you’re getting results, that’s really all that matters. And you might be able to do that without high ketone levels.

But at first, it’s also important to measure your ketone levels. I recommend getting a glucose ketone meter like Precision Xtra14. This is more expensive than the typically recommended urine ketone measuring sticks (like Ketostix15), but they provide you with more precise information.

13 https://ketosummit.com/ketogenic-diet-food-list/

14 https://amzn.to/2tZWKud

15 https://amzn.to/2Nw6JzK

https://ketosummit.com/ketogenic-diet-food-list/

https://amzn.to/2tZWKud

https://amzn.to/2Nw6JzK

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Most people measure when they first get up before they eat and perhaps after certain meals for the first few weeks to determine how far into ketosis they are.

Again, the point of your keto diet is to help you look and feel better, not to have high ketones.16 Still, it helps to know that you’re doing everything right when you get started and that your body is responding like you expect it to.

Step #4: Eat Lots of Salt and Drink Lots of Water

This is a critically important step, because if you don’t get enough sodium and water, you’re going to feel terrible. And then you’ll quit and won’t get any of the benefits.

So add salt to all of your food (Himalayan salt if you can get it), and drink many glasses of water every day. Obviously, don’t go completely crazy—drinking enormous amounts of water can also be bad for you, but somewhere between 100-200 ounces (3—6 liters) is probably plenty.

If you follow the steps above, you’ll likely see very good results. Don’t try to overcomplicate things. These 4 steps are enough. Simple is usually better and more effective than complicated.

Even if you’ve done this before or have read a lot about keto diets, the 4 steps above are the most fundamental and important things you can do.

16 For more information on what optimal ketone levels may look like, check out this article: https://ketosummit.com/optimal-ketone-levels-for-ketogenic-diet/

https://ketosummit.com/optimal-ketone-levels-for-ketogenic-diet/


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However, I also have 3 tips that are good to remember when you’re getting started (or re-started).

3 Big Tips

1. Be very strict. Especially when you’re starting out, it’s important to be strict. You don’t yet know which rules you can bend and get away with. That’s something you have to learn through experience with your body. Also, the stricter you are, the better your results will be, and the more likely you’ll be to stick to the diet.

2. Be patient. You’ll probably see some quick changes to your body and mind. But you’ll also see days or weeks without “major” progress. In general, it’s best to be patient when that’s the case. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re doing anything wrong—your body may just need time to adjust.

3. When ready, tweak things one-at-a-time. I encourage you to be patient at first, but if you’re not feeling good or not seeing results for more than a month, you might need to change something. When you do, don’t change 5 or 10 things. Change just one. This could include eating more fat, eating more or fewer carbs, or even changing your lifestyle by walking or sleeping more. There isn’t an exact formula, but the key is to make just one change at a time, wait a few weeks, and see if you start getting results. If you make too many changes at once, then you’ll either get bad results or else you won’t know what worked for you.

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8 Smaller Suggestions

Again, so long as you follow the 4 steps above, that’s enough. Don’t overcomplicate.

I’m including these 8 suggestions just because they come up frequently for people who are just getting started…

1. If you feel really tired/dizzy during the first few days…Try adding some MCT oil17 to your diet (start by adding1/2 teaspoon as it can give you diarrhea if you’re not usedto it). Try eating more as well.

2. Start your ketogenic diet during a non-stressfulweek. Don’t start the week before Thanksgiving orChristmas or when you’re moving houses or going on aroad trip. If you’ve been on a high carb diet for a longtime, then it does take quite a bit of mental perseverance tostick to it initially.

3. Track your progress. Don’t go crazy with this, but trackinghas been shown in numerous studies to help people stickto a diet and succeed at it. So, if you can, track what youeat, how many hours you sleep, and how much exerciseyou do. Just write it all down on a piece of paper or recordit somewhere. This also makes it easier for someone totroubleshoot your keto diet if you find your weight lossstalls or you’re not losing very much.

17 MCT oil is medium chain triglycerides, which is a type of fat that is easy for your body to break down and use for energy quickly. https://amzn.to/2KvW2yB

https://amzn.to/2KvW2yB


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4. Explain to your family and friends what you’re doing. Explain why you’re doing it, and ask for their help and support. This will mean they’re more understanding when you say no to their freshly-baked cookie.

5. Exercise some. There’s no requirement here, but just moving on a daily basis really helps, even if it’s just walking 30 minutes per day.

6. Sleep more (especially initially). Sleep not only helps you to lose weight, but it also helps you lessen cravings. And the best part is that you’re not only catching up on the sleep deficiency you’ve accumulated from a lifetime of lack of sleep but you’ll also be getting that annoying carb flu period over faster.

7. Don’t worry about your protein or fat intake (especially at first).

8. Stick to easy meals as much as possible. This will use up less of your time and mental energy so you won’t be as tempted to fall off the wagon. If you haven’t checked out our Keto Cookbook & Meal Plan Bundle, you can go here to find out about it: https://ketodiet.team/p05-keto-cookbook-bundle/

https://ketodiet.team/p05-keto-cookbook-bundle/

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Chapter 4

COMMON MISTAKES ON A KETO DIET

In this Chapter, I’ll cover some of the mistakes that I often see people make on a ketogenic diet. If you can avoid these mistakes,

then you’ll be much more likely to lose weight and feel better.

Mistake #1: Starting with a Bad Mindset

Many people treat a ketogenic diet as something they’ll “try for a week or two.” They want to dip their toe in the water to see if the diet “works.” But they definitely don’t want to commit.

There are two problems if you do this.

First, if you’re not committed, then you will give up at the first sign of trouble. If you get tempted, or if you don’t lose weight for a few days, then you’ll give up. And I can guarantee that not everything will go perfectly for you. It never does.

The second problem is that no diet works unless you approach it as a lifestyle.

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If you want, you can lose some weight and then go back to eating junk food. But if you go back to eating those junk foods all the time, you’ll also go back to gaining weight. That is what we call the yo-yo dieting trap.

To avoid this mistake, start by writing down all the reasons that you’re committed to making these changes in your life. Write down what bad things will continue to happen if you don’t make big changes, and write down all the ways in which your life will improve if you do make these changes.

And then commit to these changes as a lifestyle change. That doesn’t mean you’ll need to be perfect forever or never eat a treat again. It just means that you’re serious about making these changes a part of your life, rather than something you try out for a few days.

Mistake #2: Not Enough Sodium, Potassium, and Magnesium

These are nutrients that you need no matter what. But they’re even more important when you’re eating a keto diet, mostly because your body will use and/or expel them more quickly.

Sodium, in particular, is a nutrient that many people who start a keto diet don’t get enough of. And when you don’t get enough sodium, you’ll feel tired and sluggish.

Many people call this the “carb-flu”, but it’s more often attributable to just not having enough sodium. That’s why I made Step #4 of getting started to eat enough sodium. It’s that important.

But potassium and magnesium are also very important, so make sure you’re getting enough of each.


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In general, adding salt to foods will provide sodium, avocados and spinach will provide potassium, and you might need to supplement with magnesium tablets.

Mistake #3: Not Testing Your Ketone Levels

Our bodies are all a little bit different. Two people eating the same ketogenic diet can sometimes get different results.

One person could be in ketosis and losing weight, and another person could be struggling.

That’s why ketone testing is important at first. As I mentioned above, results are the most important thing. So don’t forget that.

However, it’s still best to make sure that you’re actually in ketosis. That way, you can see what kind of results you can get from being in ketosis.

And if you measure and find out that you aren’t in ketosis, then you can make adjustments to your diet and life.

This isn’t something you need to keep doing forever, but at first, it can make a big difference to how you feel and the kinds of results you see.

When you’re in ketosis, your body will produce ketone bodies. There are 3 types of ketone bodies: Acetoacetate (AcAc), Beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), and Acetone.

In your blood, you can measure all 3 ketone bodies. In your urine, AcAc and Acetone can be measured. And in your breath, just Acetone.

Your blood ketone levels are the best indicator of ketosis. Unfortunately, measuring blood ketone levels is also the most expensive method.

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That’s why many people still measure their urine and breath ketone levels instead.

No matter which method you use, test more frequently in the beginning. Once you’re in ketosis, you won’t need to test as often, because your body will more easily stay in ketosis.

In Chapter 8, I list (with links) many of the currently available methods for testing your ketone levels.

Mistake #4: Too Few Vitamins and Minerals

On a ketogenic diet, you’ll pay a lot of attention to the “macronutrients” (fat, carbs, and protein) you eat. Getting the right proportion of fats, carbs, and protein is very important.

But don’t forget that you also need to be getting enough vitamins and minerals.

You might be aware of some terrible things that happen if you’re severely deficient in a micronutrient. For example;

• You can get scurvy if you don’t get enough vitamin C.

• You can get goiter if you’re deficient in iodine.

• Or you could go blind if you don’t get enough vitamin A.

Besides those acute problems, chronic deficiencies can also be a huge problem. Often, nutrient deficiencies are not so severe that you exhibit a particular disease. That doesn’t mean that they’re not making you less healthy.

Over time, if you’re low in vitamins and minerals, your body just won’t function well. That can lead to illnesses, fatigue, and more. Even minor


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vitamin and mineral deficiencies might be making it harder for you to lose weight.

An easy way to boost your micronutrient intake is to eat more nutrient-dense foods. Most of these foods fit well into a ketogenic diet.

For instance, green leafy vegetables, organ meats, and seafood are all ketogenic-friendly. And they’re some of the most nutrient-dense foods you can eat. In general, you should be eating a LOT of vegetables. You should also try to regularly eat seafood and organ meats.

Finally, supplementation with a good multivitamin is also helpful. My favorite at the moment is this one from Thorne Research, a really great supplements company.18

If you’re into testing, then try working with a practitioner and getting a SpectraCell analysis19 or a Urine Organic Acid test20. Both of these tests will tell you which vitamins and minerals you’re deficient in. That way, you can focus specifically on those deficiencies.

Mistake #5: Eating Toxic, Inflammatory Foods—Even if They’re Low Carb

Not everything that is low in carbs is good for you. Period.

For example, you can go to most grocery stores these days and find low-carb processed foods. You can get low-carb bread, low-carb cookies, and low-carb snacks.

18 https://amz.run/3JIo

19 https://www.spectracell.com

20 Talk to Chris Kelly at Nourish Balance Thrive if you’re interested in doing this test.

https://amz.run/3JIo

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You might be able to stay in ketosis while eating those low-carb foods, but they’re still bad for your body. Many of them contain wheat, gluten, and other inflammatory ingredients.

And as I mentioned, inflammation always makes it harder for you to lose weight.

Go back to Chapter 2 and be sure to avoid all foods that I’ve listed in the Avoid section of the Keto Food List. In particular, always be sure avoid the following, even in low-carb foods:

• Wheat, Rye, and Barley. New technology has created a way to make these foods low-carb sometimes. But they still always contain gluten, which will inevitably cause inflammation in your body. Plus, they’re not very nutrient-dense.

• Dairy. Yes—even cheese. In the abstract, dairy might be ok. The problem is that you don’t live in an abstract world. Milk will pretty much always keep you out of ketosis. And the vast majority of people have some level of sensitivity to dairy products like cheese. (This is most likely true even if you aren’t lactose-intolerant.)

• Vegetable and Seed Oils. This includes Vegetable Oil, Canola Oil, Corn Oil, Sunflower Oil, and similar products. Your cooking oil also makes a huge difference to your weight loss. As Dr. Shanahan points out in her book, Deep Nutrition, the production of these oils produces trans-fats, which can block your enzymes for burning fat.

• Any food you have an intolerance to. Start paying more attention to your body. If you wake up one day and notice that you’re congested or that your joints are stiff, ask


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yourself what you ate. You’re likely sensitive to one of the foods you ate the day before.

Also, be careful with nuts. Many people have allergies or sensitivities to nuts. But more than that, nuts are easy to overeat. Again, a ketogenic diet is not magic, so eating 3,000 calories of nuts per day is going to make a difference.

Mistake #6: Ignoring Sleep, Exercise, and Stress

At first, concentrate entirely on your diet. It’s usually the change that will make the biggest difference in your life and help you reach your goals most quickly.

However, your diet is not all that matters. For general health, weight loss, performance, mental clarity, disease prevention and more, your lifestyle also makes a difference.

Many weight-loss studies have stressed the importance of sleep21 (7+ hours), exercise22, and de-stressing. It’s tough to get everything right all at once. Still, any small efforts you make in these areas will pay off in the end.

The point here is just to keep these things in mind. Don’t try to be perfect at everything from the beginning. But do remember that if

21 Kruger, A. K., et. al. Do sleep-deprived adolescents make less-healthy food choices? Br J Nutr. 2014 May 28;111(10):1898-904. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24524288

22 Ohkawara K., et. al. A dose-response relation between aerobic exercise and visceral fat reduction: systematic review of clinical trials. Int J Obes (Lond). 2007 Dec;31(12):1786-97. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17637702

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you’re not getting results, it could be because you’re sleeping 4 hours a night or are incredibly stressed out at home or at work.

Mistake #7: Not Being Patient

Remember, Big Tip #2 from Chapter 3? Well, I want to say it again.

Please be patient.

It can take up to two or three weeks to become “keto-adapted” and feel like your body is properly breaking down and using fat for energy. So if you’re going to give the ketogenic diet a try, then actually give it a try and be patient.

And along the way, you’ll definitely go through times when your progress isn’t as fast as you’d like.

It’s taken you a lifetime of eating poorly to get to where you’re at. You can’t expect to fix all that damage in just a few weeks.

Mistake #8: Not Eating Enough Fiber

Mainstream nutrition has gotten a lot of things wrong.

One thing they’ve gotten right is the importance of fiber.23 In particular, the past few years of scientific research has shown just how important fiber is for your gut health.

23 Clark, M. J. and Slavin, J. L. The effect of fiber on satiety and food intake: a systematic review. J Am Coll Nutr. 2013;32(3):200-11. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23885994


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And gut health is important for everything from weight loss to mental clarity and disease prevention. The health of the bacteria in your gut can impact 99% of how you feel and look.

Many people make the mistake of going keto and eating only meats. Meats are healthy, but they lack certain things, including adequate fiber. And your gut bacteria NEEDS fiber. So be sure to eat enough vegetables.

In addition, fermented foods like sauerkraut are also excellent for your gut.

There’s no right or wrong amount that you need to eat. And personally, in addition to vegetables, I also supplement with fiber (a combination of inulin, acacia, and psyllium husk). But generally, if you just try to make the majority of your food (by volume) vegetables, then you’ll be fine.

Mistake #9: Too Much Added Fat

This is very controversial, so please let me explain.

For over 50 years now, most of the world has been very scared of fat. And they were wrong. In general, fat is not only necessary for humans, but generally very good for humans.

The fattiest parts of animals tend to contain most of the vitamins and minerals we need, especially A, D, E, K, etc. And fat is also very satiating, meaning that it keeps you full for longer.

So you don’t need to be afraid of fat. (Side note—just make sure to avoid the BAD fats I listed in Chapter 2).

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HOWEVER!

You also don’t need to unnecessarily add tons of fat to everything you eat. Fat can be delicious, but if you add tons of coconut oil, olive oil, and ghee to every dish you eat, then you will very quickly consume an excessive amount of calories.

One of the best things about a keto diet is that you don’t usually need to count calories or measure how much you eat. And I hate counting calories.

Because a keto diet is more “satiating”, you will naturally and automatically eat less than if you were eating a standard (junk food) diet.

Still, if you eat a ton of fat, then you can gain weight. At the very least, it will stop you from losing weight.

So please, don’t be afraid of fat—it’s not bad for you. But also be reasonable and don’t eat an entire jar of coconut oil or ghee every few days.

Mistake #10: Cheat Days

“Cheat days” or “cheat meals” are when you schedule a day or meal to eat whatever you want—which almost always means junk food like ice cream, cake, and pizza. Often, people will schedule these days or meals once a week.

Please don’t do this.

You do not need to be perfect. And if you’re in a situation (like a holiday meal with family), where you feel like it’s necessary to not stick


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to your diet, then that’s fine. Make a decision like an adult that you’re not going to stick to your diet in that situation.

But don’t justify it to yourself that a cheat meal or cheat day is good for your health. Eating junk food is always bad for you. It’s inflammatory, period.

Cheat days create an unhealthy relationship with food. When you schedule cheat days, you start to feel like you’re depriving yourself of the foods that you really want on all the other days.

In truth, you’re nourishing and revitalizing your body every day that you stick to your diet. That’s not a deprivation—that’s an act of love.

So don’t beat yourself up about not being perfect, but also don’t justify junk food with the idea of a cheat day or cheat meal.

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Chapter 5

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON A KETO DIET

Although a ketogenic diet is very simple, there are always a lot of questions that come up.

I’m not a psychic, so this chapter may not be 100% comprehensive. However, I’ve talked to or worked with enough people to know most of the questions that will come up for you. And I’ve included answers to all of these questions in this chapter.

The questions are not in any particular order, so browse through when you have a question and find the answer that helps you most.

Question #1: Is dairy allowed on a keto diet?

Quick Answer: No.

Long Answer: Often, dairy in the form of hard cheese, cream cheese, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, butter, and heavy cream has been permitted on ketogenic diets. These foods are low in carbohydrates

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and high in fats, which means that you can usually stay in ketosis while eating them.

However, there are several reasons why more and more people are suggesting cutting out most forms of dairy from a ketogenic diet.

In Chapter 2, I gave one very important reason to avoid dairy—it’s often inflammatory and causes issues like acne, sinus issues, joint pain, and more. In addition, here are 3 other big reasons to avoid dairy on a keto diet:

1. Many people have lactose and/or casein sensitivities that they may not be aware of (especially if they might also have leaky gut issues). From a health perspective, many people find cutting out all dairy (except for perhaps butter or ghee) helps with sinus issues, acne, as well as achy joints. Even if you don’t have these symptoms, it’s very common for dairy to affect your health in ways that you can’t immediately see or feel.

2. It’s very easy to overeat dairy products. Just think how addictive cheese alone can be. While a ketogenic diet isn’t about counting calories, if you eat 5,000 calories when you’re not a hard-core athlete, then you’re still going to gain weight. And unfortunately, it’s far too easy to eat too much of dairy products without even realizing it.

3. Most modern dairy products are pasteurized and homogenized, so they’re lacking many of the enzymes in raw dairy that help your body to digest them properly. This is one of the biggest reasons that they’re inflammatory.


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So, in general, stay away from all dairy except for ghee if you’re not highly sensitive to lactose or casein. Ghee (also known as clarified butter) is pretty much the pure oil from butter—much of the lactose and casein is removed during the processed used to make ghee.

Question #2: What Percentage of Fats, Carbs, and Proteins Should I Eat?

Quick Answer: Don’t worry about it

Long Answer: This is probably the most common question I get asked.

Should you eat 5% carbs, 15% protein, and 80% fat? Or should you eat 10% carbs, 12% protein, and 78% fat? Or what’s the perfect ratio?

If you look around, you’ll find many different answers. Let me explain why so many people have different answers to this question.

Ketogenic diets were originally used to treat kids with epilepsy.24 Doctors and researchers found that if they got kids into a state of ketosis, they could usually prevent seizures, which were often life-threatening. Modern research has focused on various other issues, such as brain cancer and Alzheimer’s.

In those situations—what we usually call “therapeutic” situations—it can be really important to have high levels of ketones (usually above 3mM/L). And in Chapter 7, I discuss some of those situations (although not in great depth, because I’m not a researcher, and this book is not really a guide to using a keto diet for treating disease).

24 Wheless, J. W. History of the ketogenic diet. Epilepsia. 2008 Nov; 49 Suppl 8:3-5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19049574

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But if you’re using a keto diet to treat a disease, then having higher ketone levels can often make a big difference.

On the other hand, if you’re using a keto diet for weight loss or to boost your mental clarity or energy levels (or even for athletic performance), then it’s not nearly as important to have high ketone levels.

In addition, the amount of fat, protein, and carbs required to get you into a state of ketosis will vary dramatically from one person to another. An elite athlete might be able to eat 50 grams of carbs and 17% protein and still be in ketosis. A 55 year-old office worker with pre-diabetes might need to eat less than 20 grams of carbs and 10% protein to get into ketosis.

In other words, it’s impossible to give you accurate percentages for getting into ketosis.

But in the end, I don’t need to. All you really need to do is to monitor your results. If you’re feeling better, losing weight, and having more energy, then you don’t need to eat less protein or more fat.

On the other hand, if you’re not seeing results, then you might need to reduce your carb or protein intake. (Or you might need to increase your fat intake to make sure you’re not eating too little food.)

In Chapter 3, I gave you a very easy and simple 4-step process to getting started on a keto diet the RIGHT way. If you follow that process, then you will almost certainly see results.

If you don’t, then you might need to change things up a bit, but there is no magic percentage that you need to hit.


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Question #3: How much protein should you eat on a ketogenic diet?

Quick Answer: If you’re trying to lose weight, eat as much protein as you want at first. If your weight loss stalls, try lowering your protein, but not too low (at least 75-80 grams per day on average).

Long Answer: A ketogenic diet is a high fat diet. It’s also generally advised that you eat low or moderate amounts of protein, since protein can be converted to glucose via gluconeogenesis and thereby reduce your production of ketones.

However, there’s a lot of disagreement about how much protein you should eat on an optimal ketogenic diet (and part of the answer may depend on your goals). 25

While there’s disagreement as to exactly how much protein we should eat, there is agreement that a ketogenic diet is NOT a high protein diet. It’s a high FAT diet with moderate protein intake.

So, what should you do?

If you’re starting a ketogenic diet for weight loss purposes, then my suggestion is to not think too hard about how much protein you’re eating right now. Just cut out all the bread, pasta, sugary fruits, tubers, etc. first.

25 http://www.ketotic.org/2012/08/if-you-eat-excess-protein-does-it-turn.html

http://www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com/daily-protein-requirement.html

http://www.truehealthunlimited.com/blog/lowcarbapproach

http://ketogains.com/2016/05/protein-over-consumption-ketosis/

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If you’re finding that you’re not losing weight after 1-2 weeks and your ketone levels aren’t very high, then try lowering your protein intake and increasing your fat intake.

High protein diets have been found in studies26 to work really well when it comes to weight loss and keeping you satiated, so if weight loss is your goal, then try not to be afraid of protein in the short term.

Of course, everyone’s body is slightly different. So if it’s not working, then tweak it, but just don’t worry about it initially.

Also, if you’re doing a ketogenic diet for the treatment of certain illnesses like cancer or neurological conditions, then you’ll likely need to eat less protein in order to get higher blood ketone levels.

{As a quick reminder and disclaimer, this book is for informational purposes only, so work with a medical practitioner if you’re using a ketogenic diet for medical issues.}

Question #4: Should I Count TOTAL or NET Carbs?

Quick Answer: Use NET Carbs.

Longer Answer: This is a huge debate among folks on keto diets. Let me quickly explain the difference.

Basically, a carbohydrate is a molecule consisting of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms. But that’s a bit technical.

26 Weigle, David S., et. al. A high-protein diet induces sustained reductions in appetite, ad libitum caloric intake, and body weight despite compensatory changes in diurnal plasma leptin and ghrelin concentrations. Am J Clin Nutr July 2005 vol. 82 no. 1 41-48. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/82/1/41


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For the most part, carbohydrates are the part of your food that will break down into sugar inside your body. So fruits, potatoes, grains, breads, baked goods, pasta, etc., are all primarily made of up carbohydrates. Once you eat these foods, they break down mostly into sugar in your body.

However, there’s also another type of carbohydrate: fiber. Fiber is anything that your body can’t really digest.

And to make it even more complicated, there are 2 types of fiber—soluble and insoluble, and these types of fiber react differently in your body.

Soluble fiber is almost always “fermented” by gut bacteria in your colon and turned into fats, which your body then absorbs. Insoluble fiber often passes straight through your body, although some insoluble fiber is also fermented and turned into fats by your gut bacteria.

Many people are concerned that these fibers will potentially raise your blood sugar, since they’re fermented and then absorbed by your gut.

However, most recent research shows the exact opposite. It appears that both soluble and insoluble fiber actually DECREASE blood sugar.27 28

Now…this research is not conclusive. Still, it appears very unlikely that fiber will increase your blood sugar or decrease ketones in your

27 Lattimer, James M. and Mark D. Haub.. Effects of Dietary Fiber and Its Components on Metabolic Health. Nutrients. 2010 Dec; 2(12): 1266–1289. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3257631

28 Hagander, B. Dietary fiber decreases fasting blood glucose levels and plasma LDL concentration in noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients. Am J Clin Nutr. 1988 May;47(5):852-8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2834942

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blood. Additionally, most modern research is showing us that long-term health is highly dependent on the health of your gut bacteria.29

When you add all of that together, it’s probably a very good idea to eat more fiber rather than less. So when it comes to counting either Net or Total Carbs, the easy answer is to count Net Carbs. In other words, subtract the amount of fiber in your food from your total carb count. That way, you’ll be able to eat more fiber without worrying about it.

Please note that in North America (the USA and Canada), the labels on food will tell you “Total” carbs including fiber. However, in many other countries, “Total” carbs will actually mean net carbs—not including fiber.

Question #5: How Many Carbs Can I Eat?

Quick Answer: Less than 25 grams per day.

Longer Answer: It’s different for everybody. But start with less than 25 grams of Net carbs per day.

The primary point of a keto diet is to get your body into a state of ketosis. But the amount of carbs you can eat to stay in ketosis differs from one person to another. One person might be able to eat only 10 grams per day, while another person might be able to eat 80 grams per day.

29 De Vadder, Filipe et al. Microbiota-Generated Metabolites Promote Metabolic Benefits via Gut-Brain Neural Circuits. Cell , Volume 156 , Issue 1 , 84—96. http://www.cell.com/abstract/S0092-8674%2813%2901550-X


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We can’t give you an exact number for your body as it depends on how active you are, how much weight you need to lose, your body-fat percentage, etc. So we’ve put together a handy keto calculator to help you estimate what amounts to eat.30

Please use this as a guide in your keto diet and remember that it’s just an estimate. Also, many factors affect weight loss, not just diet.

Question #6: Can I Eat Artificial Sweeteners or Sugar Alcohols?

Quick Answer: Avoid them if you can.

Longer Answer: There is a lot of disagreement about artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols. Some people will tell you that they’re healthy and fine to eat on a ketogenic diet. Some people will tell you the exact opposite.

Honestly, the science isn’t completely clear yet.

However, from what we currently know, you’re probably better off avoiding artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols. There are 2 big reasons for this:

1. Surprisingly, many sugar alcohols and artificial sweetenershave calories, and many of those calories are carbs. It’s oftennot a lot of carbs, but it’s enough to make it harder for yourbody to stay in ketosis.

30 https://ketosummit.com/keto-calculator/

https://ketosummit.com/keto-calculator/

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2. More importantly, artificial sweeteners have been shown by some studies to disrupt your gut bacteria.31 I don’t talk a whole lot in this book about gut bacteria, but the health of your gut bacteria is strongly tied to the health of your body as a whole.

If you occasionally eat something with an artificial sweetener or a sugar alcohol, it probably won’t be a problem. But try not to do it regularly.

Pure stevia is the artificial sweetener we typically recommend for when you want to make a keto dessert.

Question #7: How Many Vegetables Can I Eat on a Ketogenic Diet?

Quick Answer: Eat a lot, so long as they’re on the food list.

Longer Answer: This is another topic that causes some disagreement in the ketogenic community. Traditionally, a ketogenic diet has been pretty low in vegetables, since all vegetables contain some carbohydrates.

However, in recent years, with more and more studies showing the importance of good gut health and the benefits fiber has on gut health, many people have started emphasizing the importance of eating more non-starchy vegetables (especially green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale, arugula) on keto diets.

In fact, many people now think it’s good to discount the carbohydrates in green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale, or cabbage. And I happen to agree.

31 Suez, Jotham et. al. Artificial sweeteners induce glucose intolerance by altering the gut microbiota. Nature 514, 181–186 (09 October 2014). http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/pdf/nature13793.pdf


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So, eat plenty of salads. If you’re really finding it hard to add enough vegetables into your diet, then try using a good greens powder like Amazing Grass as well.

The other benefit of eating lots of vegetables that are high in fiber is that they also help keep you full and satiated and provide you with tons of essential vitamins and minerals that most of us are deficient in.

Question #8: Is a Ketogenic Diet the Same as a Low-Carb or Atkins Diet?

Quick Answer: Not exactly, but they’re very close

Longer Answer: In most ways, a ketogenic diet is very similar to a low carb or Atkins diet.

In particular, you must restrict carbohydrates in all three diets.

The primary difference is that a ketogenic diet places more emphasis on trying to get your body into a state of ketosis. It’s not absolutely necessary (you can experience many of the benefits without fully being in ketosis), but that is one of the main goals of a keto diet.

On the other hand, a low-carb or Atkins diet is focused primarily on the amount of carbohydrates you eat, even if that amount doesn’t get your body into a state of ketosis.

Limiting the amount of carbs you eat is a big part of getting into ketosis, but it’s not the only consideration.

For instance, if you are very active (e.g., if you’re an athlete), then you might be able to get into ketosis while eating 100-150 grams of carbs per day. If you’re not very active, then it’s much more likely that you’ll need to eat far fewer carbs.

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In general, men can eat more carbs than women and still stay in a state of ketosis, primarily due to increased amounts of muscle.

In a way, a ketogenic diet is a more PRECISE version of a low carb diet. You will pay closer attention to what’s going on inside your body, rather than just the food that you’re putting into your mouth.

By doing this, you’ll ensure that your body is relying primarily on fats for energy, rather than carbs.

But please don’t get stuck on the labels. In the end, you can be on a low carb, ketogenic, or even Paleo diet, and still be eating exactly the same foods!

Each diet places a slightly different emphasis on one or more aspects of what you eat, but the results can be identical. And in each case, you could be eating a “good” or “bad” version of that diet.

For instance, you could be ketogenic while eating a ton of cheese and vegetable oils, but those foods will increase your inflammation and probably limit the results that you get. (I’ll talk more about keto foods below). On the other hand, if you eat a healthy keto diet with lots of vegetables, meats, and good fats, then your results will be much better.

My best suggestion is to forget about the classifications. Instead, ask yourself these questions about the food you eat:

• What is this food doing for or to my body?

• Does this food provide me with nutrients (e.g., vitamins, minerals, essential amino acids, etc.)?

• Does this food contain toxins (gluten, processed sugar, etc.) that could prevent my body from functioning well?

• Does this food hinder my body from staying in ketosis?


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Question #9: How Many Calories Should I Eat?

Quick Answer: Don’t count calories—especially at first.

Longer Answer: Don’t worry about how many calories you’re eating, at least not in the beginning.

I’m not arguing that calories don’t matter. They do.

But the beauty of a good keto diet is that you don’t need to worry about it, and you’ll still see amazing results—typically including significant weight loss.

How does that work?

Well, first of all, your body naturally adjusts the amount you eat when you feed yourself only whole, nutrient-dense foods. And if you’re following this program, then that’s exactly what you’ll be doing.

Secondly, when your body is dealing with less inflammation, a number of other things start to happen, including healing and weight loss. This is not always 100% true, but it’s true in almost every case.

Question #10: What is a Good Portion Size for a Meal?

Quick Answer: Don’t measure portions.

Longer Answer: The answer to this question is the same as for calories in Question #9. In general, your body will automatically regulate how much you eat, especially after you’ve been on a keto diet for a month or more.

So stick to the foods in Chapter 2, and you’ll be fine.

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Question #11: Isn’t Ketosis Dangerous? What about Ketoacidosis?

Quick Answer: Ketosis is safe for almost everybody. Ketoacidosis is completely different.

Longer Answer: Ketosis is a normal and natural state for humans. And if you are absent of other medical conditions, it’s completely safe. (Obviously, check with your doctor if you have any medical conditions.)

On the other hand, ketoacidosis is a condition that is prevalent only in very unique circumstances, such as somebody with Type I Diabetes (or sometimes late-stage Type II Diabetics). Normal, healthy humans cannot get ketoacidosis.

What happens in Type I Diabetics, for instance, is this. If they don’t have an insulin shot, then their body will be unable to move sugar into cells. So their body will believe that it’s starving. Because of this, the liver starts to make ketones out of fat (for fuel). However, because there is no insulin, their body will not stop producing ketones, and both their blood sugar and ketone levels will get extremely high. When this happens, their blood becomes acidic, which can cause serious damage or death.

Again, though, that is completely different than the state of ketosis. Unless your body has no ability to produce insulin, it will stop producing ketones long before your blood become acidic.

Question #12: Is It Healthy to Be in Ketosis?

Quick Answer: Yes—Ketosis is safe for almost everybody.

Longer Answer: Yes. Ketosis is a very natural state for humans.


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Babies are often in ketosis.32 And whenever humans throughout history had shortages of food, their bodies would go into states of ketosis. Plus, ketogenic diets have been used for more than a hundred years to successfully treat certain disorders like epilepsy.33

But even more than that, your own body relies on ketones for fuel at any time you’re short on sugar and start using fat as a fuel source. That might not be very often in today’s carb-abundant world, but it’s true for everybody.

In general, ketosis is completely safe for a healthy human. It’s simply one of two ways that your body can produce enough energy for your cells to survive.

See Question #11 for more information.

Question #13: What’s the Difference Between Keto and Paleo?

Quick Answer: They’re very similar, especially if you’re eating the version of Keto in this book. However, a paleo diet will not necessarily get you into a state of ketosis.

Longer Answer: Historically, the ketogenic diet was developed to treat health conditions like epilepsy, and so the traditional ketogenic diet doesn’t look very similar to a Paleo diet.

32 Medina, J. M. and A. Tabernero. Lactate utilization by brain cells and its role in CNS development. J Neurosci Res. 2005 Jan 1-15;79(1-2):2-10.

33 Wheless, J. W. History of the ketogenic diet. Epilepsia. 2008 Nov; 49 Suppl 8:3-5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19049574

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However, the more modern keto approach (and my approach in this book) is to emphasize a very similar approach to Paleo—including healthy fats and lots of vegetables. In fact, some Paleo and Primal experts like Robb Wolf and Mark Sisson believe that going into nutritional ketosis now and then is compatible with a Paleo/Primal diet and can be beneficial if you’re trying to lose fat or when you’re training for certain athletic events.34

Nora Gedgaudas (author of Primal Body, Primal Mind)35 and Stephen Phinney36 (co-author of The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living37) have both pointed out that some ancestral diets like that of the Inuit are both Paleo AND Ketogenic. Some of these ancestral diets are so high in fat and low in carbohydrates that these people stayed in ketosis for much of the year.

An easy way to think about a healthy ketogenic diet is that it’s a lower carb version of Paleo. This isn’t the whole picture, but if you’re already familiar with a Paleo diet, then this is the easiest way to understand a ketogenic diet. You cut out the sweet potatoes, raw honey, sugary fruits, and you’ve arrived at a ketogenic diet.

If you’re looking for a more technical answer, then the difference between these two diets is determined by what they emphasize. Paleo emphasizes nutrient density and avoiding foods that are most likely to

34 Presentations on The Keto Summit.

35 Primal Body, Primal Mind: Beyond the Paleo Diet for Total Health and a Longer Life (2011), Nora T. Gedgaudas, Healing Arts Press.

36 Dr. Stephen Phinney—‘The Case For Nutritional Ketosis’, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_evJd_iZZzs

37 The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living (2011), Jeff Volek and Stephen Phinney, Beyond Obesity LLC


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be inflammatory (like grains, legumes, and dairy). A ketogenic diet, on the other hand, emphasizes the metabolic state of ketosis, rather than any particular foods.

Here is a summary of the main differences between a Paleo and Ketogenic diet:

• A ketogenic diet emphasizes being in nutritional ketosis.

• A ketogenic diet doesn’t include high carb Paleo foods like sweet potatoes or other tubers, honey or other “sugars,” or sugary fruits like bananas and dates.

• Some versions of a ketogenic diet may include foods that are considered non-Paleo like peanut butter, tofu, soy milk, and low carb processed foods that contain grains. I highly recommend avoiding those foods on a ketogenic diet because food quality matters a lot—it’s not just about burning ketones!

Question #14: What is the Modified Atkins Diet?

Quick Answer: The Modified Atkins is a slightly higher protein version of a ketogenic diet.

Longer Answer: You might hear the term “modified Atkins diet” or MAD when different people are discussing the ketogenic diet.38 And this term can be confusing.

38 http://www.epilepsyqueensland.com.au/modified-atkins-diet

http://primaldocs.com/members-blog/your-brain-on-ketones

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The traditional ketogenic diet was developed for treating epilepsy (especially in children). And that traditional diet wasn’t very appetizing—it usually included drinking some mixture of fats (egg yolks, oils, and heavy cream, for instance).

And most scientific studies carried out on ketogenic diets used that unappetizing meal as the basis of the study.

Over the years, people figured out that feeding humans this mixture of fats wasn’t delicious or in fact very healthy, particularly since it lacked many vitamins and minerals.

The Atkins diet is a low carbohydrate diet that was developed and popularized by Dr. Robert C. Atkins several decades ago. His best-selling book, Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution, was first published in 1972.

In that 1972 book, he recommends an initial week of zero carbohydrates in order to get your body into ketosis. More recent versions of the book increase the number of carbohydrates permitted during the initial induction phase of the Atkins diet.

A modified Atkins diet is effectively a less restrictive version of the traditional ketogenic diet. It’s not zero carb, and it’s also not low protein.

Unlike a keto diet, the sole purpose of a modified Akins diet is not to get your body into a state of ketosis. The goal is longer-term health, weight loss, and often, improved neurological and brain function.

Question #15: What ketone levels are ideal?

Quick Answer: This varies a lot depending on your goal. Above 0.5 mmol/L is fine if you’re looking for weight loss. 1-3 mmol/L is better if you want improved mental clarity and athletic performance. If you’re


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using a ketogenic diet for therapeutic reasons, then you might aim for 3-6 mmol/L.39

Longer Answer: This is another issue that many people often worry about. So, let me start by stating that if you’re starting a ketogenic diet for weight loss purposes, then your ketone levels are not very important.

Yes, it’s good to measure your ketone levels so that you can see how you react to different foods and how you feel when your ketone levels are high or low, but it’s just one piece of data to help you. So, don’t stress about it.

As with the protein question (Question #3), there’s a lot of debate within the keto community about just what ketone levels are considered optimal.

Typically, you are considered to be in a state of ketosis if your blood ketone levels are above 0.5 mmol/L.

So if you’re looking for weight loss or improved athletic performance, then seeing blood ketone readings of 0.5 mmol/L or above is a good sign that your body is producing ketones and using ketones for energy production.

If, however, your goal is improved mental performance or some type of therapeutic benefit, then having higher blood ketone levels is generally recommended.

39 https://ketosummit.com/optimal-ketone-levels-for-ketogenic-diet/

https://optimisingnutrition.com/2016/08/08/how-to-make-endogenous-ketones-at-home

https://ketosummit.com/optimal-ketone-levels-for-ketogenic-diet/

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For example, Dr. Thomas Seyfried, a professor of biology at Boston College who researches cancer and the uses of a ketogenic diet in curing and preventing cancer, states in The Complete Guide to Fasting book: “The key to therapy is prolonged therapeutic ketosis (blood ketones in the range of 3–6mM), together with reduced blood glucose levels (3–4 mM).”

The reason why I started this chapter with a warning about not stressing over your ketone levels is because higher ketone levels don’t necessarily mean more weight loss. Many people can increase their ketone levels by taking MCT oil or exogenous ketones, but those are energy sources that have to be used up by your body or else stored in your body as fat.

However, if you’re looking for mental clarity and performance, then MCT oil and/or exogenous ketones may help.

Question #16: How Much Fat Should I Eat?

Quick Answer: Eat until you’re full. If you need higher ketone levels, then eat more fat. But make sure that you actually need higher ketone levels.

Longer Answer: There is no specific amount of fat that you need to eat. If you’re on a ketogenic diet, then you’ll be getting far more than the minimal amount of fat that your body needs to function properly.

However, you will often hear that you need to eat a certain amount or percentage of fat in order to be in ketosis.

The answer is that fat will make up most of your calories, since you’re eating low carbs and only moderate protein. But there’s no set amount you need to eat.


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Just make sure that you’re eating enough to be full. And if you’re very active or are an athlete, then make sure that you’re getting enough calories, which might mean needing to eat more fat.

And finally, if you need to go deeper into ketosis for any reason (therapeutic, neurological, or otherwise), then adding fat can often help.

Remember, though, that if you’re trying to lose weight, adding fat for no good reason will just make it that much harder for you to lose it. Don’t be afraid of fat, but also don’t feel like you need to add extra fat for any particular reason.

Question #17: How long should I stay in ketosis for?

Quick Answer: As long as you want.

Longer Answer: There’s no strict rule about this and ketosis is not a magical state. In fact, your body will often be in mild ketosis in the mornings if you haven’t eaten for perhaps 10-12 hours since dinner the night before.

If you eat a high carb meal one day, then yes that will mean your body won’t be in ketosis anymore, but if you start eating your ketogenic diet again, you should go back into ketosis in a day or two. It might just be a bit painful as many of us have such emotional attachment to certain junk foods and sugary/high carb foods often make us feel hungrier and crave foods more.

Many people use a ketogenic diet as a tool to lose weight over a short period of time but then increase their carbohydrate intake by adding in some starchy vegetables and fruits when they’ve lost the weight they wanted.

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Other people enjoy the benefits of a ketogenic diet so much, they stay on it pretty much all the time.

Question #18: Should I take exogenous ketones like Keto OS to help me? What about MCT oil or coconut oil?

Quick Answer: Only take exogenous ketones if you need them for a particular purpose, such as athletic performance, therapeutic purposes, or increased mental performance.

Longer Answer: For most people looking to lose weight, exogenous ketones are not necessary. In fact, they can be counter-productive in many cases.

As I mentioned earlier, exogenous ketones are an energy source. That means they have calories and need to be burned like any other energy sources. So if you’re trying to lose weight, then exogenous ketones will only make that more difficult.

On the other hand, there are a few possible scenarios when you might want to use exogenous ketones or MCT/coconut oil as a supplement:

1. If you’re going through Keto flu (also known as “low-carb flu”—a state of carb withdrawal when you first start a ketogenic diet), then taking some exogenous ketones or MCT oil can sometimes help you get through the first few days more easily.

2. If you’re looking for mental clarity, then MCT oil and/or exogenous ketones may help. The evidence is not clear on this point, but it’s likely true.


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3. For treatments of certain illnesses, MCT oil and/or exogenous ketones will likely help, since these supplements will raise your ketone levels above what you could likely achieve otherwise.

Question #19: Can or Should I Fast?

Quick Answer: Fasting is great. Do it if you want to, but it’s also not necessary.

Longer Answer: You do not need to fast while on a keto diet. However, if you want to, fasting can be a healthy tool to use.

In fact, the main way to get into ketosis has long been to fast for a few days.

If you’re new to the idea of fasting, then please don’t stress out. This is not something you need to add in now or even in the near future, but it’s something you might eventually grow to love.

There are various ways to fast. Most of the time, people start off with what’s called 16:8 fasting. What that means is that you will fast for 16 hours each day and eat within an 8-hour window. And that’s not as tough as it sounds.

You probably already fast from, say, 10pm in the evening until 7am the next morning. That’s already a 9-hour fast. If you wanted to fast for 16 hours, you would simply fast from 8pm until 1pm the next day (or whatever times you chose).

Some people are then tempted to try longer fasts. Personally, I prefer longer fasts, and a 1-2 day fast can be a great way to start a ketogenic diet if you’re willing to do it.

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For weight loss, I find it helpful to fast for 36 hours one or two times a week. A 36-hour fast would mean not eating between dinner on Saturday night and breakfast on Monday morning. So it’s really only a fast for the day of Sunday in that instance.

Finally, to get deep into ketosis, a 7–9 day fast can help you get much higher ketone levels (3-4 mmol/L if not higher). 40 Additionally, there’s a lot of research that is beginning to show that 7-9 day fasts can be very healthy if you do it 2-3 times per year.

Question #20: Do I Need to Exercise on a Keto Diet?

Quick Answer: I highly suggest exercising. It’s healthy for you regardless of your diet.

Longer Answer: When it comes to exercise, it really doesn’t matter if you’re on a ketogenic or high-carb diet. Exercise is pretty much always good for you, so long as you don’t overdo it.

In particular, there are 2 things that you should focus on:

1. Walking.

If you want to do cardio, or kickboxing, or spin classes, or anything else, then that’s fine. But walking is one of the best things that you can do. And ideally, you should be walking at least 12,000 steps per day. This will help you stay healthy, but it will also help you lose weight if that’s what you’re trying to do.

40 The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting, Jimmy Moore and Dr Jason Fung, Victory Belt Publishing (2016)


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2. Resistance Training.

This could mean lifting weights, using machines, or doing bodyweight exercises like pushups. No matter what you do, you need to give your body a reason to build and keep muscle and bone. And the only way to do that is to use your muscles in a way that pushes you past where you’re comfortable. This is particularly important if you’re older or are trying to lose weight, because the amount of muscle and bone you have is directly related to how healthy you are and how long you’re likely to live.

A ketogenic diet works well with exercise in helping you to lose weight and control your blood sugar levels. In fact, people who exercise more can typically eat a lot more carbohydrates and still stay in ketosis.

So make sure you move enough (walk) and lift something heavy 1-2 times per week.

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Chapter 6

WEIGHT LOSS

Will a ketogenic diet help you lose weight?

The answer is almost always “YES.”

However, a ketogenic diet is not magic. So if you do it badly, you could even gain weight. That doesn’t happen very often, but it’s possible, so I just want you to be aware that you need to pay attention to some of the details of your diet.

I obviously can’t guarantee any particular results. However, I have seen many people lose a lot of weight with ketogenic diets. And I truly believe that a ketogenic diet is one of the most effective and healthiest ways to lose weight.

In this chapter, I want to show you exactly why a ketogenic diet will help you lose weight, and also to give you a few tips in case you get stuck.

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There are a few big reasons why ketogenic diets work so well...

1. Controlling Hunger

This is the single biggest reason that ketogenic diets are great. And it’s also the biggest reason that most other diets fail.

Ketogenic diets help your body regulate hormones and neurotransmitters.

One of the results is that you feel much less hungry. That means reduced cravings for junk food, less cheating, and more weight loss.

If you’ve ever dieted before, then you know that sticking to it is the hardest part. Sticking to a ketogenic diet is much easier, because you don’t face the same hunger.

2. Metabolic Flexibility

If you’ve been eating a high-carb diet—particularly processed foods—then your body is excellent at burning carbohydrates for energy.

That makes sense when you’re eating a lot of carbs. But it also means that your body is often not good at burning fat.

Ideally, your body should be able to switch back and forth between burning carbs and fat. When your body can’t do this, it’s called “poor metabolic flexibility.”

In that case, you don’t burn much fat, you get cravings for sugar and carbs, and you have a hard time losing weight. That’s one of the reasons that you might get hungrier on a high-carb diet. If your body can’t burn fat well, then you’ll be hungry whenever your blood sugar is low.


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A ketogenic diet can help you regain metabolic flexibility. By putting your body into a state of ketosis, you force your body to get better at burning fat.

And many people find that they end up burning a lot of their bodies’ fat stores, which is exactly what you want for weight loss.

3. Hyper-Palatability

You’ve probably never heard of hyper-palatable foods.

However, nothing has contributed to obesity more in modern times than hyper-palatable foods.

A food is hyper-palatable when it has a “magic” combination of fat, sugar, and salt. The result is that foods become addictive. You can’t stop eating them, even if you’re full.

And food manufacturers make use of that combination to create irresistible processed foods. From potato chips to cookies to donuts, humans have created a thousand addictive foods.

But none of these foods occur in nature. Fruits usually have sugar, and meats usually have fat, but you don’t find foods with both.

By removing refined carbohydrates, a ketogenic diet also removes hyper-palatable foods. And that means you won’t feel an unstoppable need to keep eating and eating.

The result is that most people feel less hungry and have fewer cravings.

This means you’re effortlessly restricting your calorie intake, leading to more weight loss.

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4. Inflammation and Toxins

Finally, a ketogenic diet also helps you to remove toxins and reduce inflammation.

You may not even see or be aware of chronic inflammation. But inflammation in your body is a big obstacle to weight loss.

And the main causes of inflammation are many of the foods you eat. The biggest culprits are wheat and other grains, milk, and processed sugar.

Coincidentally, these are all foods that you must avoid on a ketogenic diet.

5 Tips If You Get Stuck or Hit a Weight Loss Plateau

I don’t want to give you bad news, but I want to be honest. And if I’m being honest, there’s a 99% chance that you will hit some speed bumps along the way.

You might lose weight for a couple months and then stall for 2 months. Or you might lose weight for 3 months and then gain some back for a few weeks. Or you might have trouble losing weight in the first place.

None of this is because a keto diet doesn’t work. These things happen because your body doesn’t want to lose fat. Humans were low on food for most of our existence, and the humans that survived were the ones who held onto extra fat most easily.

Also, your life will sometimes get in the way. You’ll get sick, you’ll get busy at work, or you’ll splurge during the holidays. We all know that these things happen, but then we act surprised when they do.


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So instead of ignoring what is likely to happen, here are 5 tips to help you get through weight-loss obstacles when they come your way.

1. Measure Ketones. By itself, this won’t necessarily lead to weight loss. After all, ketones are just a form of energy and don’t directly cause weight loss. But if you find yourself hitting a plateau, then measuring your ketone levels can often help to get you unstuck by forcing you to be stricter with your diet. And the stricter you are with your diet, the better you’ll do. In these situations, you probably don’t need to measure for more than a week or two, and your weight loss will hopefully have re-started.

2. Don’t Go Wild on Fat. I also mentioned this in Chapter 5. There’s no reason to be afraid of fat, but you also don’t need to “go wild” with the fat. If you find that you’re eating a ton of nuts, coconut oil or coconut butter, ghee, etc., then it’s quite possible that you’re going overboard. It’s not necessarily bad for your health, but it could certainly keep you from losing weight.

3. Walk More. This is actually my #1 tip in terms of importance. I find that everybody (including myself ) loses weight MUCH more easily if they’re walking a lot. I understand that your job and the weather may prevent you from walking a lot of times, but try to get in as much walking as possible. I find that at least 12,000 steps per day is a good target for most people to aim for.

4. Sleep Enough. Sleeping enough (at least 7 hours every single night) is absolutely necessary for health and weight loss. If you’re not sleeping enough, your body will desperately hold

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onto fat and will also make it much harder for your brain to stick to a low-carb diet. (You may however find that you naturally sleep a bit less when you’re keto-adapted but make sure to sleep more when you first start a keto diet.)

5. Fasting. Finally, if you’re really stuck, then I suggest trying to add in some fasting. You can do this in one of two ways. The first way is to eat within an 8-hour “window” every day. So for instance, you would only eat between the hours of 1pm and 9pm, or whatever block of time you decide is best for your life. That’s the most common choice. The second option is to fast for 36 hours, and do it one or two times per week. This is harder for most people, but I prefer it, and I also find that it’s generally more effective for weight loss. To do this, you would simply fast from 8pm Tuesday night until 8am Thursday morning (or whichever days you choose).

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Chapter 7

SPECIAL CONDITIONS

In this chapter, I want to briefly address a few “special conditions,” including things like digestive issues, diabetes, etc.

Remember! I am not a doctor, so please don’t take this as medical advice. This is just information for how a keto diet generally interacts with these conditions, as well as some suggestions for additional things you might want to consider.

Autoimmune Disorders

If you have an autoimmune disorder (such as Hashimoto’s, Crohn’s, Addison’s, etc.), then a ketogenic diet alone is probably not enough to help heal your body. You will likely need to be even more restrictive in terms of the foods you eat and to try an autoimmune protocol.41

Diabetes

A ketogenic diet can really help regulate blood sugar.

41 https://healingautoimmune.com/definitive-guide-to-the-paleo-autoimmune-protocol-aip/

https://healingautoimmune.com/definitive-guide-to-the-paleo-autoimmune-protocol-aip/

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However, if you’re already on medication—especially insulin—then please be careful. When you start eating a ketogenic or low-carb diet, your blood sugar will not rise as much, and you might not need as much insulin.

I am NOT telling you to stop taking your insulin or even to reduce it. I am suggesting that this is an issue you need to think about and to discuss with your doctor in order to make sure that your blood sugar does not go too low.

High blood pressure

A ketogenic diet could lower your blood pressure so if you’re on high blood pressure medication, then there is a chance that it’ll move your blood pressure too low. Please be aware of this issue and check your blood pressure accordingly.

Cancer

The research on whether a ketogenic diet can prevent or treat cancer is definitely not conclusive. However, many people (including Dominic D’Agostino42 and Dr. Tommy Wood43) have said that they would go on a ketogenic diet in addition to other cancer treatment if they found out they had cancer.

In addition, though, the vast majority of the research is focused on various forms of brain cancer. There has been very little research into using ketogenic diets with other forms of cancer.

42 http://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/11/03/dominic-dagostino

43 Keto Summit Q&A session.

https://questions.ketosummit.com/


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I know I’ve included a lot of disclaimers, but if you have cancer, please don’t stop other treatments and just use a ketogenic diet. Talk to your doctor, make your own decisions, and be smart.

Breastfeeding

When you’re breastfeeding you are usually losing carbohydrates (in the breast milk), so you will probably need to take in a higher amount of carbohydrates during that period. Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt recommends at least 50 grams per day while breastfeeding.44

Digestive Issues

Many people with IBS or similar digestive issues experience a lot of relief on a ketogenic diet. The reason this happens is probably because many people have overgrowths of bacteria in certain areas of their digestive tract, and a ketogenic diet removes many of the foods that feed those bacteria, including starches like grains and legumes.

However, you might find that you still have digestive issues on a ketogenic diet, and in a small percentage of cases, you might find that your digestive issues are worse on a ketogenic diet. If that’s the case, here are a couple of things to think about:

1. Try cooking your vegetables more thoroughly and perhaps avoiding cruciferous vegetables for a while. Raw veggies are great and are very healthy. But if you’ve got digestive issues, then raw veggies can sometimes be hard to digest and can cause discomfort. So try cooking your vegetables

44 https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/when-breastfeeding

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thoroughly for a while, and also try to avoid things like broccoli and cauliflower, which tend to feed certain gut bacteria more than other vegetables like spinach.

2. Try using digestive enzymes. Sometimes the issue is simplythat you don’t digest fat or protein well enough. This isusually caused by your body not producing enough bileor stomach acid. Luckily, it’s easy to supplement withthose things—I use the Source Naturals brand of digestiveenzymes.45

Athletes

If you are an athlete, then a ketogenic diet could be fantastic for you. Or it could be not very good at all.

Most of the studies of the effect of a ketogenic diet on athletes have been done on endurance athletes like long-distance runners, long-distance cyclists, and rowers.46 47 48 In those cases, being in ketosis can be a huge benefit, because ketones are actually a far more efficient fuel source

45 https://amzn.to/2UaoVF4

46 Lambert, E. V., et. al. Enhanced endurance in trained cyclists during moderate intensity exercise following 2 weeks adaptation to a high fat diet. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol. 1994;69(4):287-93. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7851362

47 Volek, J. S., et. al. Rethinking fat as a fuel for endurance exercise. Eur J Sport Sci. 2015;15(1):13-20. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25275931

48 Volek, J. S., et. al. Metabolic characteristics of keto-adapted ultra-endurance runners. Metabolism. 2016 Mar;65(3):100-10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26892521

https://amzn.to/2UaoVF4


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than glucose. The research bears out this benefit, and many endurance athletes show significant improvement, even at an elite level.

However, if your sport is more sprint and power-based, then it’s much less likely that you’ll benefit from a ketogenic diet. For instance, soccer players and Olympic lifters probably won’t do as well on a ketogenic diet. In those cases, it’s probably better to rely on glucose for short bursts of power and speed.

If your sport is somewhere in between, then it might require some testing on your part.

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Chapter 8

RECOMMENDED KETONE TESTS

Here is a list of the tests I recommend for testing your ketone levels:

1. Urine Strips (Ketostix).49

You basically pee on these or dip them into some of your urine that you collect. The strip will change color in proportion to levels of Acetoacetate (AcAc) in your urine. If you’re just getting started on a ketogenic diet, then these reasonably cheap strips can offer you a quick and easy indicator of whether or not your ketogenic diet is going in the right direction.

49 https://amzn.to/2Nw6JzK

https://amzn.to/2Nw6JzK

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2. Blood Ketone Meters (along with ketone measuringstrips).50

This is very similar to the blood glucose meters (and in fact, they also work as a blood glucose meter if you buy the glucose measuring strips)—you prick your finger with a lancet and then use the ketone measuring strips connected to the blood ketone meter to soak up a small drop of blood. The blood ketone meter will then do its thing and give you a blood ketone level reading. The main problem with these is that the ketone measuring strips are super expensive (around $3-4 per strip).

3. Breath Ketone Meter (Ketonix).51

This is a reusable meter that measures ketones in your breath. There’s no prick to draw blood, it charges through a USB plug, and no strips are required. You warm up the meter for a few minutes, blow into the meter for 6-15 seconds, and then it gives you a reading.

50 https://amzn.to/2tZWKud

51 https://www.ketonix.com

https://amzn.to/2tZWKud

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Chapter 9

IS A KETO DIET RIGHT FOR EVERYBODY?

As I mentioned at the beginning of this book, I believe that a keto diet is a very powerful tool. A keto diet is incredibly useful

for losing weight, boosting your energy, improving mental clarity, and potentially even helping to prevent or treat some diseases.

But as powerful as it is, there are a few situations where a keto diet might not be ideal…

1. In Chapter 7, I covered how certain athletes might not benefit from a keto diet. The jury is still out on that one, but there’s good reason to believe that athletes of certain sports may perform better when not in ketosis.

2. If you’ve got an illness or medical condition, then there might be times when your body isn’t ready for a keto diet. In those cases, it might be beneficial to hold off on going into ketosis.

Finally—and this is the most important point…

A keto diet will ALWAYS work best if you’ve first dealt with any underlying issues. This could include vitamin deficiencies, gut pathogens, or other conditions.

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If you have the resources and opportunity, it is in your best interest to run a variety of lab tests before starting a keto diet. In particular, the following tests are the best ones for finding underlying issues:

1. Urine Organic Acids (from either Doctor’s Data orGenova).52

2. Comprehensive Stool Analysis (from Genova).53

3. DUTCH Hormone Test54

4. Regular blood biochemistry (including Glucose, HbA1c,Kidney function and electrolytes (sodium and potassium),RBC, Liver function, Full Thyroid Panel, CBC/FBC,Basic blood lipids and LDL particle, CRP, ferritin, &homocysteine)

These are tests that will generally show you if there are underlying problems in your body.

If you find problems, then working with a practitioner to resolve those issues can often bring incredible results. After that, implementing a keto diet will usually get even better results.

It’s certainly possible to start a keto diet and get amazing results without first running these tests or working with a qualified practitioner.55 But you will definitely get the best results if you run the tests first.

52 https://www.gdx.net/product/metabolic-analysis-test-organic-acids-urine

53 https://www.gdx.net/product/comprehensive-digestive-stool-analysis-cdsa

54 https://dutchtest.com

55 Find a practitioner: try http://www.nourishbalancethrive.com or https://www.wellnessfx.com

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Chapter 10

AND DON’T FORGET…

You deserve a huge round of applause for investing in your health and well-being.

But make sure you take the next step now…which is to get started.

Go back to Chapter 3 and make those steps a reality.

If you need keto recipes or meal plans to help you along the way, then don’t forget to check out our cookbooks and meal plans—we’ve put them into a bundle so that you can get them all for a huge discount.

You can fi nd that deal here: https://ketodiet.team/p05-keto-cookbook-bundle/



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