By now, you’ve probably tried going to the grocery store to find Keto-friendly food items. I know how overwhelming that feels. When I first started out, it took me an hour to filter out items that are okay and not okay.
So let me help you out. First, let’s discuss the nutrition label. This is the very first thing you have to check when buying packaged food. The first thing you should check is the ingredients list.
Some food items may claim to be “gluten-free”, “low carb”, “sugar-free”, “organic”, “raw”, “natural” or “high-fiber” but not everything that sounds healthy is “Keto-friendly”.
When we say “Keto-friendly”, it’s something that you can eat on a Keto Diet that won’t kick you out of Ketosis. Ketosis is a metabolic state, so technically you can eat anything as long as the serving size is small enough. However, it’s not a realistic and healthy way to approach Keto. Perhaps in time, a calculated carb intake can be applied but for people new to Keto, it’s best to start out strict.
We also have to consider other factors like insulin sensitivity and inflammation. People with hormonal imbalance are more sensitive to the rollercoaster effect of sugars, carbs and inflammatory ingredients. So while some people are okay with soy-based products, it could trigger a hormonal response in women with PCOS, for example.
A personal rule of thumb, when I shop for items that are below 4g carbs per 100gram or 100 ml servings.