Most nutritionists would not recommend the ketone diet, but the diet plan has some good results.
Cutting consumption of processed foods is always a good thing, and limiting carbohydrates can help people control problems like diabetes.
Make sure to choose high quality proteins and fats to make up for the lack of carbohydrates.
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The ketone diet is not for everyone. In fact, the high-fat, low-carbohydrate dietary pattern has been rated one of the worst diets by the US News & World Report year after year.
“As a nutritionist, keto is not the ideal diet that we would recommend for someone who is trying to improve their overall health,” Alyssa Pike, RD, manager of nutritional communications for the International Food Information Council, told Insider.
Critics say the ketone diet is very restrictive, “nutritionally incomplete” and lacks evidence of how it can affect long-term health. On the other hand, some anecdotal evidence suggests that diet can help people manage diabetes.
Read More: Keto is good for controlling blood sugar, but a low-fat vegan diet is better for weight loss.
While the ketone diet principle of eating mostly fats and almost no carbohydrates – a way to force the body into ketosis, a state in which it burns fat for energy instead of glucose – may seem too extreme for most people, some aspects of the diet can be applied in more moderate ways.
In addition, we could all benefit from choosing superior quality carbohydrates, Gabby Landsverk previously wrote for Insider.
Insider talked to nutrition experts about how to incorporate keto-like eating patterns without going all in.
Start by cutting out processed foods and added sugar
Nutritionist Wendy Bazilian said the first step in starting any diet is to cut out processed foods.
“In a ketone-style eating pattern – like any other – I would start limiting ultra-processed foods, bakery products, ‘indulgent’ carbohydrates (donuts, cookies, cake), I would look at added sugars and focus on limiting them,” author of “Eat Clean, Stay Lean”, wrote in an email to Insider.
Eliminating sugary drinks is another way to reduce unnecessary carbohydrates, said Bazalian. This includes the sweetener you can usually add to coffee or tea – even a tablespoon of honey comes close to the 20 grams of carbohydrates per day allowed in some ketone guidelines.
Read More: Eating processed foods can increase risk of early death from heart disease by 58%, according to study
If getting rid of sweets works for you, the next step would be to stop eating bread. The ketone diet also prescribes not to eat whole grains, but other low-carbohydrate eating patterns may allow you to eat something like quinoa or farro in moderation.
You can eat some fruits and still keep a low carb diet
The real ketone diet involves not eating fruits, most vegetables, grains, potatoes, sweets or any kind of carbohydrate-rich foods, Pike told Insider. But it can be difficult for people to maintain so many restrictions in the long run.
Bazilian said that while she encourages someone who is keto-curious to be “selective” about what fruits and vegetables they eat, she would not recommend eliminating them altogether.
“I think it is possible to enter the keto, but I know that many people would suggest otherwise,” said Bazilian. “But it’s also not really keto if you still have a lot of carbs in the mix.”
Strawberries and blueberries are low in sugar and high in antioxidants, and tomatoes and olives can work as tasty snacks with relatively low carbohydrates. Just be sure to avoid eating so many fruits and vegetables that you exceed your carbohydrate limits – most ketone eating plans will limit carbohydrates to 20 to 50 grams a day.
Read More: Six scientific benefits of blueberries, according to nutritionists
Photo by Cathy Scola / Getty Images
Eat more healthy fats and don’t forget about vegetable proteins
Since the ketone diet consists mainly of fats and proteins, it is possible to eat keto and be less healthy. Low-carbohydrate diets, on which people depend on saturated fat and cholesterol, have been associated with an increased risk of some diseases.
If you cut a certain macronutrient, like carbohydrates, it’s important to make sure you’re eating high-quality food from the remaining groups, said Bazilian.
Read More: One of the first supporters of the keto says that the diet has gone “too far” and that we need to stop demonizing carbohydrates
Make sure your fat intake includes heart healthy foods and anti-inflammatories, such as avocado, nuts, olive oil and flaxseed.
Many people who try the ketone diet increase their animal protein intake, Pike told Insider. But eating two or more servings of meat a week has been linked to an increased risk of
heart disease .
Adding a vegetable protein, like powdered pea protein, can help preserve lean muscle mass without getting bad cholesterol levels out of control.
If you like the way you feel, shoot some ketone targets
If cutting carbs and eating more healthy fats and proteins works for you, you can work to follow stricter ketone guidelines.
“There are a few different distributions of macronutrients that you can follow if you are on the ketone diet, but a common distribution is to eat 5% of total carbohydrate calories, 20% protein and 75% fat,” Pike said, adding that an amount so low in carbohydrates it doesn’t meet most people’s dietary needs.
Read More: A nutritional journalist has been on a diet all his life and has gained weight. Then he tried the ketone diet and ‘it was like a switch being thrown’.
Bazilian said he recommends that his clients evaluate how they feel – not just physically, but also mentally – during the first month of any diet. And if you’re looking to lose weight or control blood sugar levels, be sure to follow these steps from the beginning to see if you’re getting results.
