Keto: Where to Begin?

Here are 5 guiding tips to keep in mind for the first week or two.

Consult with your doctor

I think the most important step before going into keto diet is consulting your doctor. Some people are not meant to go through this type of diet. If you suffer from pancreatitis or severe liver problems, stay clear or be sure to talk to your doctor.

Also, if you’re diabetic and receive oral hypoglycemic agents, talk to your doctor and measure your glucose levels frequently. Keto diets are very helpful to control blood sugar, but lowering your sugar too much can be dangerous, too.

Buy your implements

If you’re serious about keto diet, you want to measure your ketone bodies. You can do this with a simple urine dipstick test, and I strongly recommend buying one. This measure might not be extremely accurate, but it gives you an idea of your progress. Another option is measuring your ketone bodies in a blood test.

You need to reach a minimum ketone level 0.5mmol/L. Ideally after your first week or two, you can reach 1.5 to 3.0 mmol/L. If you measure from day one, you will see your progress and stay motivated as you do.

Learn to pick your foods

You need a completely different approach to eating and buying on the grocery store. You want to stay away from sugar -even honey-, sugary fruits such as bananas, apples, and oranges, tubers, and grains.

Instead, your pantry will be filled with dairy, meat, green leafy vegetables and other low-carb veggies, berries, avocados, nuts and seeds. To give you an idea of what to buy, I personally recommend choosing 4-5 keto recipes and buying their ingredients. Keep mastering more recipes as you continue with keto diet, and you will slowly get acquainted with this new eating pattern.

A very important recommendation if this is your first time: learn to read labels. Sometimes they have hidden carbs, under names like starch, maltodextrin, added sugar, or dextrose. They can slow down your progress and compromise your goals.

Don’t be scared away by keto flu

Some people experience flu-like symptoms as they reach their state of ketosis. But they usually disappear after one week or two. As they do, try to increase your intake of salt and drink more water. Supplements with magnesium and potassium may also help you get over the keto flu faster.

Medium-chain triglyceride oils (MCT oils) may also speed up your recovery. There are different MCT oil products in the market. Read the label and look for caprylic acid. This one converts into ketones very quickly and will be very helpful.

Above all, if you’re starting with keto diet, prepare yourself to learn every day. It’s a completely different nutritional path, and not everybody will understand what you’re doing and why. But if you’re willing to go through it, the benefits of keto diet will stay with you for as long as you want.

By the way, here you will find keto products on our shop which are hard to find at your local store:
https://naturamarket.ca/values/ketogenic.html