Tag: keto

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When Hunger Strikes

Even though you may not feel like snacking much if you are eating keto or simply stay in mild ketosis during the day, there can be some days where a small low-glycemic snack is most welcome. During the busy holiday season, having healthy snack options on hand can be a big help when you have a long weekend to-do list. Here are 12 delicious options.

12 Keto-Friendly Snacks

  • Grass-fed beef, wild-caught salmon, or organic chicken jerky (homemade or minimally processed)
  • Canned smoked oysters, anchovies, etc.
  • Avocado mashed with sardines (out of a can) 
  • Hard-boiled eggs
  • Raw or dry roasted nuts and seeds. Make sure there are no vegetable/seed oils or added sugar.
  • Portable packets of almond or cashew butter (paired with cut-up raw vegetables)
  • Kale chips or seaweed chips
  • Any low-glycemic leftovers (slices of cold meat or poultry, roasted vegetables, etc.)
  • Pasture-raised/grass-fed or organic cheese made with raw milk (directly from a farm ideally)
  • Dark chocolate: 85% cacao or above
  • Magic Spoon cereals – one of my favorites!
  • Keto-friendly protein or collagen bars – I particularly enjoy the Bulletproof Collagen Protein Bars, Primal Kitchen Bars, Perfect Keto Bars, Epic Bars, and the Design for Health KTO BARS. Having one or two protein bars in your purse or bag at all times is a sure way to satisfy any hunger cravings and to stay away from unhealthy snack options. 

Do you have a favorite keto-friendly snack?

Until next time!

References

Axe, Josh. Keto Diet: Your 30-Day Plan to Lose Weight, Balance Hormones, Boost Brain Health, and Reverse Disease. New York, Little, Brown Spark, 2019, p.106.

Sisson, Mark. “My 14 Favorite Keto-Friendly Snacks.” Mark’s Daily Apple, 26 Apr. 2018, http://www.marksdailyapple.com/keto-friendly-snacks/. Accessed 29 Nov. 2021.

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No Recipe Needed

Have you ever tried cooking without a recipe? If you want a simple primal meal or snack, just putting a few ingredients together is all you have to do. Once your kitchen has the basic paleo/keto non-perishables, getting in-season vegetables and a few cuts of well-sourced meat is all you’ll need. These simple meals can be such a help at times!

How to Cook Without a Recipe

The following meal/snack ideas are mentioned in the Primal Blueprint Quick & Easy Meals, by Mark Sisson and Jennifer Meier:

  • A big salad: just mix together some green leafy vegetables with a few other pre-cut vegetables and a protein of your choice (a dinner leftover, a couple of hard-boiled eggs, a can of sardines, or a handful of nuts, for example). Add your favorite primal-friendly dressing (homemade or not).
  • Stuffed avocados: cut an avocado in half, remove the pit, and put a mashed hard-boiled egg in the center of it. Feel free to drizzle some bacon bits on top.
  • Nut butter, homemade or in a jar, is a great dip for veggies and fruits (also mentioned in my article, 12 “On-the-go” Healthy Snack Options).
  • Lettuce wrap: on a Romaine lettuce leaf, add bits of leftover meat, cut-up tomato, and avocado, for instance, with some mayonnaise. Fold the leaf over the filling tightly.
  • Omelet or frittata: add to the beaten eggs any leftover you have on hand, meat and/or vegetables, and cook in the pan.
  • Coconut soup: bring to a boil some chicken stock and coconut milk (about the same amount of each). Add to the mixture some spinach and shrimps. Cook gently 2-3 minutes.
  • Smoothies: these can be very simple too by blending together 2 or 3 ingredients of your choice. For example, you can have some coconut milk with frozen berries. Another idea is blending ice, cucumber, avocado, and tomato. There are tons of possibilities here!

In Summary

Simple primal meals and snacks take no time to put together. With a little bit of imagination, you can have delicious meals done in just a few minutes. This is one way to tap into your creativity as well. There are many delicious primal recipes to choose from, but it is also nice to know that you can eat primal even when you are in a big rush. One less thing to stress about!

Until next time!

Reference

Sisson, Mark, and Jennifer Meier. Primal Blueprint Quick & Easy Meals : Delicious, Primal-Approved Meals You Can Make in under 30 Minutes. Oxnard, Primal Blueprint Publishing, 2018, pp. xx–xxi.

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What is the Ketogenic Diet?

The ketogenic diet is a type of low-carb diet in which carb consumption is reduced enough so that the body can start making and utilizing ketones. As mentioned in a previous post, ketones (special energy molecules) are a by-product of body fat that is tapped into if we fast or if we limit our carb intake to a bare minimum. The body’s stored fat and the healthy fats consumed during the day (along with reasonable protein intake) become the main fuel source on a ketogenic diet, as opposed to getting glucose from carbohydrates for energy. Eating keto means eating mostly (well-sourced) meat, fish, eggs, certain vegetables, nuts and seeds, little fruit, and healthy oils.

If you’re wondering what type of meals one may be eating on a ketogenic diet, here are a few examples for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (as described in Keto for Life, by Mark Sisson and Brad Kearns).

Breakfast

  • Fasting with water, tea, or coffee
  • High-fat coffee or other beverage
  • Omelet with pastured eggs, vegetables, cheese, avocado, bacon, salsa
  • Hard-boiled egg bowl with walnuts, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado, and avocado oil-based mayonnaise
  • Full-fat yogurt with nuts, cinnamon, and cacao nibs
  • Bone broth with egg yolks

Lunch

  • Fasting after one of the above breakfast options
  • Salad with vegetables, nuts and seeds, well-sourced protein, and healthy oil dressing
  • Salad made with sauerkraut or kimchi

Dinner

  • Grass-fed beef, bone-in cuts
  • Organ meats 
  • Whole chicken or turkey
  • Wild-caught fish
  • Vegetables (mostly above-ground vegetables like cruciferous and leafy green vegetables, as opposed to starchy tubers): steamed, baked, or pan-fried, with plenty of healthy fats (butter, lard, coconut oil, avocado oil)

In Summary

As you can see, there are options abound on keto too! Limiting carbs doesn’t mean depriving yourself of delicious meals or snacks. For more ideas and recipes, you can visit Mark’s Daily Apple. Eating keto can have many benefits, as stated in Keto Answers, by Dr. Anthony Gustin and Chris Irvin: more energy, improved brain health/function, fat loss, improved insulin sensitivity, lowered inflammation, improved blood sugar control, improved mood, etc. Make sure you check with your physician first if you decide to start eating keto. As mentioned in My Paleo/Primal Eating Habits article, I like to stay in mild ketosis during the day and refeed with some healthy carbs at the end of the day. I enjoy the extra energy I get by eating that way. See what works for you!

Until next time!

References

Gustin, Anthony, and Chris Irvin. Keto Answers : Simplifying Everything You Need to Know about the World’s Most Confusing Diet. Middletown, De, Four Pillar Health, 2019, pp. 3-10.

Sisson, Mark, and Brad Kearns. Keto for Life:  Reset Your Biological Clock in 21 Days and Optimize Your Diet for Longevity. New York, Random House, 2019, p. 72, 82.

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Bacon seems to be an unlikely “healthy food” to eat when in fact it can be healthy depending on the source (if sugar-free and with no additives). How to source pork is the same as how to source beef, the topic of my previous post. Since pigs consume pretty much anything, sourcing pork is very important, especially because pigs are highly reactive to mold toxins in food.

That being said, well-sourced pork is perfectly fine to eat when eating primal/paleo and even keto diets. In the book Keto Answers, written by Anthony Gustin and Chris Irvin, they give a list of keto-approved pork products as listed below:

  • Bacon   
  • Ground pork
  • Sausage
  • Bratwurst
  • Pork rinds
  • Tenderloin
  • Pork loin
  • Pork shoulder
  • Ham
  • Pork chops
  • Prosciutto                    

Bacon doesn’t contain a whole lot of nutrients but is fine to eat every now and then, which I happily do without feeling guilty anymore. If you want to have pork rinds as a snack, the brand EPIC is a great option. And the links I shared in my previous post to find good-quality beef are valid for pork too. How about a nice bacon and eggs?          
             

References

Asprey, Dave. The Bulletproof Diet : Lose up to a Pound a Day, Reclaim Energy and Focus, and Upgrade Your Life. New York, Rodale Books, 2014, p. 172-73.

Gustin, Anthony, and Chris Irvin. Keto Answers : Simplifying Everything You Need to Know about the World’s Most Confusing Diet. Middletown, De, Four Pillar Health, 2019, pp. 151-52.


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