What foods you should be avoiding, not eating at all, and definitely eating more of, on a lower carb, healthy fats & protein, keto diet.
"Food is the cure"
Your body needs to recover balance.
This will help get started.
Specific food products can be found here.
- Don't eat these foods for a while
- Don't eat these foods again at all
- Restrict these foods as much as possible
- Do eat these foods!
- Digestion during the switch and after
- What I eat daily
Once your body is in balance and recovered you can resume some of these in moderation. I consume things like cake or ice cream every 5 to 7 days now. (8 months in) and Wine - 1-2 x a week.
- Alcohol especially beer - 1 to 3 months, longer for beer depending on how long it takes to recover.
- Soda - Permanent ban, this stuff is toxic to your system. Some recommend not even drinking diet soda.
- Potatoes, white rice, noodles, pasta - Holding off on these for a few weeks or more really helps jump-start recovery. Later I found adding back in small amounts of certain potatoes, sweet potatoes, and rice helped with evening cravings and sleep.
- Chips, snacks, ice cream, cookies. I gave up chips. I will have ice cream out at a specialty store, I do eat my own healthier versions of scratch pastry.
- Any highly processed foods and flours, cereals.
- Seed oils - The top seed oils to avoid are Cottonseed, Soybean, Sunflower, Canola, Corn, Rapeseed, Grapeseed, Sunflower, Safflower, Rice Bean. Anything highly processed. They are not fit for human consumption. Don’t confuse the food with the oil. Flax for example is good for you but flax oil is not good for cooking. Oils explained (Link Coming)
- Soda - even artificially sweetened
- Juices - too much fruit sugar (bad) with no fiber, reduced nutrients. This goes for smoothies too.
- Margarine (Some vegan butters are ok but I am not well read up on this)
- Energy drinks
- Nuts roasted in oil.
Avoid - Store-bought white or whole wheat bread, potato chips, fake maple syrup, smoothies, certain deli meats (ham, prosciutto - whatever has Sugars, BHT, MSG, aspartame), frozen breakfast sausage, factory eggs (too high in omega 6), grain-fed meats (more on meats later), fructose, soy protein isolates, whey protein powder, maltodextrin, MSG
- Very small amounts or no white sugar. When your body is in balance then you can have moderate occasional treats within or near the fasting window and regular meals. Have that cookie right after dinner, not between meals or at 9 pm. Read more on recommendations for quality sugar replacements like Stevia, Erythritol, and Monkfruit.
- Fruits high in sugar like peeled apples, and bananas. Small amounts are fine.
- Anything high in Omega 6 as it blocks Omega 3 absorption. (Grain-fed foods)
- Canned soups (read the label, most have white sugar)
- Factory milk. It's the hormones used that affect your system. Some in coffee/tea is ok. “Grass Fed” ½ & ½ is better.
- Processed Dairy Cheese like American Cheese, some bagged shredded cheese. Shred your own.
- Seasonings with listed bad ingredients - MSG, sugar, chemical flavorings, etc.
- Deep fried foods. All “trans fat-free” oils used now are full of chemicals and once reheated produce trans fats anyway. There are no “good” processed plant oils for deep frying.
- Boxed breakfast cereals. Full of refined grains, sugars, & cheap vitamins.
- Water - Lots more water. As you start fasting your body sheds water and you may experience headaches or muscle cramps. (I didn’t) You’ll need either electrolytes or enough salt & magnesium. A pinch of Himalayan pink salt or Celtic salt on the tongue helps.
- Healthy fats - Grass Fed Butter, Olive Oil (both are not for high temp cooking, add after), Grass Fed meat fats, Ghee (clarified butter) for high heat instead of Olive Oil, Avocado, Coconut/macadamia/almond oils, Egg Yolks (below). Olive oil tips link coming.
- Non-starchy vegetables
- Green / Colorful Veggies - Broccoli, Spinach (cooked not raw), Peppers, Avocado etc.
- Eggs - Look for "Pasture Raised" since "Free Range" is a marketing term. More on eggs in the Products section.
- Berries in moderation. Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries.
- Homemade salad dressing on Spring Mix salads.
- Kimchi, Sauerkraut, fermented foods.
- Kefir, yogurt without sugar
- Dry roasted nuts only, nothing “roasted” in any oil. Check the label for peanut oil. The peanuts themselves are good. It’s the oil for roasting you should avoid. Peanuts along with cashews are legumes. Also good are walnut pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, and macadamia.
Olive Oil brands tested for quality:
Oleum Viride
California Olive Ranch
Kirkland Organic
Other trustworthy brands:
Cobram Estate, Lucini, Lucero (Ascolano), & McEvoy Ranch Organic.
Brands that failed to meet high-quality extra virgin olive oil standards:
Bertolli, Carapelli, Colavita, Star, Pompeian, Filippo Berio, Mazzola, Mezzetta, Newman’s Own, & Safeway.
People quickly switching their diet to full keto/carnivore warn of “keto flu” where you experience a wide range of unpleasant symptoms such as headaches, cramps, agitation, and even aggressive diarrhea. By gradually changing your diet you can avoid 99% of this. Your body needs time to adjust. You can either make gradual changes or expect some problems.
If you already have issues then temporary use of Psyllium husk capsules or powder may help regulate your digestion and keep you regular while your body begins to adjust. Small amounts are enough to do the trick. After 2 weeks to 2 months, you will no longer need a fiber supplement.
While transitioning your diet, unless you are going full carnivore make sure you include fiber from cooked vegetables. Contrary to doctrine fiber is not necessary for proper elimination. If you get gassy you are consuming too much undigestible carbs/fiber from vegetables along with sugars that are fermenting in your lower intestine. You need to dramatically cut down on processed sugars including juices.
Lots of water is important! Protein shouldn't be too lean.
Shortening your eating window (16:8 fasting) and eating the right foods (cutting out the junk) will give your digestive system a huge break. Once the garbage volume from junk foods is gone you’ll notice a big difference.
My Typical Daily Diet
I follow an omnivore, lowered carbohydrate, healthy fats and protein diet. I’ll still eat carbohydrates but in the best form possible except for an occasional glass of wine, my own low-carb cake, or even some ice cream.
8:6 Fasting. “Breakfast” is at noon. Dinner is done by 5:30 pm. NO food after dinner
Wake up at 6am - Coffee or Green Tea caffeinated.
Noon Breakfast
examples
3-4 eggs scrambled with diced tomato, and some leftover chopped meat if available. 1-2x a week I sautee spinach in the pan first.
"Sandwiches" with keto-friendly bread (covered later in products) - keto-friendly lunchmeat, mustard, pickles, greens, olive oil mayo
Water / Green Tea
(Vitamins and Meds)
Coffee. You can sweeten with half a teaspoon Stevia/Erythritol (See video on 10 best sweeteners) and use 1 Tablespoon grass feed ½ & ½ - There is also a brand of organic grass-fed whole milk available.
Hard Boiled Eggs - Great on top of salads too. Add vinegar to the water to make it easier to peel. Cover the eggs with 1” of water, bring to a boil, cover & remove from heat for 10-12 minutes. Place in ice water to cool. Peel using a teaspoon to get under the shell.
5pm - Dinner
Salad - Spring mix greens, sliced cucumber, tomato, homemade olive oil & vinegar dressing. Sliced hard-boiled egg on top.
Veggies - Broccoli, green/french beans, cauliflower, carrots
Proteins
Grass Fed ground beef for meatloaf. I put 2 eggs in a bowl, salt, pepper, parmesan cheese, a couple of drops of mustard, some shredded carrot. If it’s still too liquid a small amount of old bread is ok. Stir that all up and add the meat. Shape and pour some sugar-free pasta sauce on top. You can add sauteed onions to the mix.
Dr. Berg has a similar diet & timing.
https://youtu.be/EhZK_MUPxrc
Yes, I still eat Cake - I enjoy my homemade Pound Cake, sliced and chilled then dunked in coffee. I make it with good eggs and grass-fed butter. I’m working on a recipe that replaces the cane sugar with Stevia & honey. I did severely limit this for the first few months. As of summer 2022, I’ll have a couple of servings per week. I’ve never been a fan of the icing so I bake plain loaves. I only eat cake within my fasting window right after a meal and to keep your blood sugar spike down it’s a good idea to take a walk after dinner.
Chocolate - Lilly’s makes Stevia sweetened chocolate bars and baking chips available in the health food aisle. Dark chocolate is better for you.
Supplements (as of 2024)
Personally, my most important supplements are D with K2, Fish oil, nattokinase, zinc, multivitamin
It's best not to take these vitamins several hours before sleep.
1 - Vitamin D, competes with Melatonin production.
2 - Vitamin C, reflux, stimulant
3 - Vitamin Bs, stimulants
4 - Multivitamins, best early in the day with a meal
5 - Calcium, competes with relaxing magnesium
6 - Fish oil, causes reflux & boosts serotonin that disturbs sleep