What is Keto anyway?

Disclaimer - I am not a Doctor or Nutritionist or any other health related professional. Always seek professional advice before making changes to your diet. Good luck with that conversation with your GP.

What is Keto?

Keto is not the name of the latest craze or fad diet. Keto is from the word Ketogenesis. Ketogenesis is the process by which ketone bodies are produced as a result of fatty acid breakdown - the things that are stored in your fat cells that make us fat.

In a nutshell Keto diet is performed by restricting your carbohydrate intake and forcing your body to use it's fat stores for energy.

Some people describe Keto as "High Fat, Moderate Protein, Low Carb", and that can be quite a scary thing. I tend to agree, except I wouldn't describe Keto as "High fat" in any way other than in contrast to a typical low fat diet. 

Why does cutting carbs help?

Carbohydrates are turned into glucose by your body - a substance that, while able to provide energy, is also toxic. your body needs to get rid of this from your body so it releases insulin to deal with it - to convert it into energy. One of the things that insulin does in addition to dealing with the glucose, is that it tells your body to "Retain Fat". You simply cannot burn fat if there is insulin in your body. By reducing the carbohydrate intake you reduce your insulin production and so allowing your body to release the fatty acids that can be used as energy.

The bad news.

You have to give up bread. Bread, and cereal, and rice, and pasta, and sugar, and potatoes, and fruit, and even some of the sweeter veg. These are all stuffed with carbohydrates and have got to go. 

The good news

After a while you sugar cravings disappear, and things taste sweeter. For example, I use milk as the sweetener for my coffee. You will eat less because you are always full, and the reduction of food in also means a reduction of food out, and associated gaseous fragrances.

So, is Keto just about weight loss?

No, not at all. Keto has other health advantages like lowering risk for heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, and much more.

Follow these simple rules

1. Low in Carbs
• Less than 50g/day for most people, better below 20g.
• Fiber isn't counted in your carbs. Vegetables are perfectly acceptable.
• Adequate Protein
2. Enough Fat
• Majority of energy
• Variable depending on goals of weight loss or maintenance
• The Right Kinds of Fat
• Eat monos and saturates for fuel (butter, olive oil, coconut oil)
• Limit high polyunsaturated sources (soy, corn, cottonseed)
3. Keto Flu
• Supplement sodium 2g/day (e.g. drink 1-2 cups of broth per day)
• Replace magnesium to stop muscle cramps
• Drink lots of water
4. When in Doubt, Eat Less Carbs
5. When in Doubt, Eat More Fat

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Low Carb Keto: Five Spice Szechuan Chicken

I'm getting a little tired of trying to substitute carb-based foods for Keto equivalent and have been getting a little demotivated and generally fed up of this way of eating, so tonight I just wanted to cook something fresh and new.
This is probably the nicest dish I have made while on Keto, and I highly recommend that you give it a try. I'm not going to give you nutrition information as I expect you to use your own measurements to suit your own personal macros. Think of this as inspiration.

Chicken

For the chicken I covered it with a generous amount of Chinese Five Spice, Salt, and Szechuan Pepper. I then fried the chicken in Butter (a slice from the stick), Coconut (about 2 heaped tablespoons of cold cream - just enough for there to be a little "sauce" in the pan) Cream, and a few slices of (not even a full one) Red Chili Pepper, and Ginger. I actually used freeze dried ginger and chili but fresh is probably better anyway. Cook your chicken until there is no pink in the middle, and the sauce reduced to an almost crispy coating.

Vegetables

Broccoli, Kale, and Spinach. Use majority spinach (pretty much a pan full), but add the broccoli and kale for a varied texture and mixed taste.Once again, fry the vegetables in butter and coconut cream. You will need to add more coconut cream to the veg, maybe twice as much as for the chicken. I also added a dollop of Ricotta Cheese just to add creaminess to the sauce. Also, and this is the key ingredient for the veg - Nutmeg. Nutmeg really brings out the flavour and is a fantastic addition to green veg. 

Enjoy!

This is a pretty simple dish, but tastes amazing! It's very moreish and will be devoured by you and your family in seconds! If you find the flavours a little bland (highly unlikely) for your liking, you can add a dash of fish sauce to the chicken. And If you are looking for a little more of a kick then mix up some Grated Chili Pepper, Grated Ginger, Crushed Garlic and Lime Juice, and drizzle over as-is.

Are you going to try this?

Did you try this, or is it on your menu? Please let me know! Telling me how you got on or what you plan to do is the best way of saying thanks. Just comment below. Thanks!

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A perfect low carb pizza base - An amazing discovery!

A Perfect Low Carb Pizza Base!
Carbs: 5.82 approx (Base only)

Since I started Keto - which has been one of the best health decisions of my life - I've been craving pizza. I've been on a mission to find a replacement, and I think I may have achieved something magical here.

Here is a list of all the different pizzas I've tried since starting Keto.

• Ground Beef base Meatzza
• Cauliflower base pizza
• Almond base pizza
• Lunch Meat snack size pizza
• Gammon (Ham) steak meatzza
• Oopsie bread base pizza

As you can see there have been a few variations!

I've not found a pizza that is satisfying my pizza craving (even tho the gammon meatzza tastes amazing!)

Until Now...

I made oopsie bread for the first time today and decided to put a pizza on the top of it. Although it was "ohh kaaay" it had its faults. the base wasn't very strong, it burnt easily.. it wasn't right. but it was the closest to real "bread" I've eaten so far.

I decided to do some experimenting - I had some ideas in my head already, but wasn't sure on the finer details of the recipe, but i threw some stuff into a bowl and started making magic!

What You Will Need

• 50g Ground Almonds
• 2 Medium Eggs
• 90g Cream Cheese
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• half teaspoon cream of tartare
• 50g grated cheese (Optional, but i thought "why not?")

Method

1. Preheat oven to 150C (About 300F)
2. Line an 8 inch cake tin with grease-proof paper
3. Throw all the ingredients into a bowl at the same time.
4. Mix with electric whisk until everything is mixed together.
5. Pour into your cake tin
6. Bake for about 30-40 minutes (Just keep an eye on it - i've only done this the once)
7. Leave to cool and transfer onto a baking (cookie) tray.
8. Add your toppings (I'll leave this up to you!)
9. Back in the oven to melt the cheese and warm through.

Madness

It's as simple as that. It tastes great! very bread like, and very filling.

The "bread" can easily be used for other things - sandwiches etc.

As you can see - the base is rather thick

And makes a lovely round pizza.

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The ULTIMATE Meatzza

The ULTIMATE Meatzza

I've always been a big fan of pizza, and has been one of my greatest losses since starting a ketogenic lifestyle. I've tried recipes and experimented a plenty, but today I believe I've come up with the ultimate meatzza!

Ground beef meatzzas - that I have found at least - have not really held their form, and I usually end up with a bit of a mess. A tasty mess, but a mess non the less. Cauliflower based pizzas are just the same, except for the taste. These just end up as a mess. I've even tried ground almond based pizzas which held their form rather well, however the taste was overwhelming and very dense. I even tried coming up with my own mini pizza bites - which were great, but something wasn't quite right.

Gammon. I had some gammon steaks sitting in my fridge the WHOLE TIME! Why didn't I think of this before? I got so excited about the idea I had to phone home and tell someone.

Start up by frying your gammon steak - i also fried up some mushrooms in the same pan

Once cooked, place on a baking tray and cover with tomato sauce of your choosing.

I went for a mix of tomato puré and olive oil to help thin the tomato as it's quite high in carbs (per 100g)

Cover in mozzarella, pepperoni, mushrooms, and mascarpone. Or any other topping of your choice.

I then broiled the meatzza in the oven for 5-10 mins. I didn't time it, i just looked at it to see if it was done.

Voilà! Meatzza done! It was very robust and easily moved to one's plate.

The best part - it tasted amazing! Definitely my new go-to meat pizza!

Im not going to provide nutrition info as each meatzza will be different. I hope that if any of you give it a shot that it turns out great, and please please comment below to let me know how you got on!

Thanks for reading! I appreciate comments and feedback, and If you are a Facebook user and wish to keep updated, then hit the like button below!