To follow the ketogenic diet correctly, you need to eat foods that are predominantly made of fat and protein with some low carb vegetables and keto-friendly fruits mixed in for their health benefits.
Almost all of your calories will come from these foods:
- Meats – fish, beef, lamb, poultry, eggs, etc.
- Low Carb Vegetables – broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, kale, and other low-carb vegetables.
- High Fat Dairy – hard cheeses, high fat cream, butter, etc.
- Nuts and seeds – macadamias, walnuts, sunflower seeds, etc.
- Avocado and berries – raspberries, blackberries, and other low glycemic impact berries
- Sweeteners – stevia, erythritol, monk fruit, and other low-carb sweeteners.
- Other fats – coconut oil, high-fat salad dressing, saturated fats, etc.
And you should avoid foods like:
- Grains – wheat, corn, rice, cereal, etc.
- Sugar – honey, agave, maple syrup, etc.
- Fruit – apples, bananas, oranges, etc.
- Tubers – potato, yams, etc.
Exactly what you eat depends on how fast you want to get into a ketogenic state. The more restrictive you are with your carbohydrate consumption (e.g., eating less than 15g per day), the faster you will enter ketosis.
How much protein-dense food (like meat and eggs) you should eat depends on your protein needs. If you are more active and/or trying to gain muscle mass, then it is best to up your protein consumption to around 1 gram per pound of lean body mass. On the other hand, if you are sedentary and just trying to lose weight, we recommend eating between 0.6 and 0.8 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass per day.
To find out how many grams of protein, fat, and carbs you need to eat to achieve your goals, use our keto calculator. Once you’ve done that, I recommend checking out our keto diet food list and keto recipe page to get a better idea of all the things you can eat while you are on the ketogenic diet.