The do’s and don’ts of the keto diet are relatively well understood: Protein and healthy fats reign supreme, avoid carbs at all cost, and keep your sugar to a minimum. However, dietitian and certified diabetes instructor Ali Miller, R.D., L.D., CDE, believes going keto isn’t so simple.

In fact, she tells us the one thing most people do when they “go keto” that’s disguised as healthy but actually isn’t is lean too heavily on noncaloric, artificial sweeteners.

On the keto diet, sugar is restricted, as it can lead to glucose spikes, cravings, and blood sugar imbalance. But, Miller says, people often substitute their sugar for noncaloric sweeteners, which she notes are just as harmful.

“We’re breaking up with sugar, so that’s a good thing,” Miller tells mbg co-CEO Jason Wachob on Episode No. 156 of the mindbodygreen podcast. “But we’re replacing that addiction with another abusive partner: noncaloric sweeteners. And whether they are chemically derived or ‘natural,’ most of them have a digestive disturbance.”

According to Miller, zero-calorie sweeteners are bacteriostatic, meaning they can actually eliminate positive bacteria in the gut, which can get in the way of having a healthy microbiome.

Additionally, Miller says zero-calorie sweeteners provide a similar glucose response to traditional sugar. There’s a taste receptor on your tongue called “glucagon-like peptide” (GLP1) that causes your body to have a response to sweet tastes. So even though you might not be eating sugary junk food, your body might still respond to the sweet taste itself. “It’s like you’re ding-dong-ditching your body,” Miller says.

Miller believes we have a false norm in our society that we need something “sweet” after meals. “We’re just maintaining this addiction that sweet is safe,” she says, when really, we should nix the sugary-sweet tastes in our lives and focus on whole, savory foods.

She does acknowledge, however, that truly natural forms of sugar—like the sugar content in fruit—are healthy for a balanced keto diet.

She believes that people often have a false conception of keto itself. “As long as you metabolically are producing ketones, you are in keto,” she says. That said, even if you do have a tiny bit of coconut sugar in a recipe, you can still technically be following keto if you’re producing enough ketones.

The bottom line: If a recipe calls for a little coconut sugar or half a banana, those sweeteners tend to be much better for your digestive system than a half-cup of erythritol.

To learn more, check out our beginner’s guide to the keto diet or our complete list of keto-friendly foods.

The post An RD Explains The Big Mistake We’re Making On A Keto Diet + How To Fix It appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Let’s face it: Healthy, Keto-friendly meals require some form of food prep.

If you’re pressed for time, or you’re the world’s worst cook, or just feeling lazy — it’s OK. You can still reap the benefits of healthy food using a keto meal-delivery service. These low-carb, high-fat foods are more than just your average salad and protein. You can expect healthy, delicious meals that deliver on flavor and variety.

Keto meal delivery kits are a great option, whether you’re kick-starting your health goals for the year or looking to try new healthy recipes. Either way, check out some of our favorite Keto meal-delivery services below.

Factor 75

Factor 75 meals focus on the fact that 75 percent of your fitness results come from what you eat. Therefore, lean proteins, heart-healthy fats, low glycemic carbohydrates and antioxidant-rich spices are part of each meal. While the meal service offers a variety of options for all diets, it also offers keto-friendly meals. The dishes are filling and meet ideal caloric intake, in addition to macro and micronutrients.

Pricing starts at $60 for four meals and goes up to $198 for 18 meals per week. Customers can choose their meals every week, which include breakfast options, and can pause deliveries as needed or cancel at any time. The meals arrive in insulated boxes to keep them at refrigerated temperatures and arrive on Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays, depending on your location.

Diet-to-Go

Diet-to-Go offers a few healthy eating options, but the Keto-Carb 30 plan is designed to make sure you don’t get more than 30 grams of carbs per day. The carb-restrictive meals are filled with meat, eggs and cheese, and you won’t find any fruit, sugar or bread here.

To ensure you’re getting meals you’ll actually want to eat, you’ll answer questions about your favorite foods and then will be given a meal-rotation plan. Delivery frequency is two or five times a week and you can opt for two or three meals per day.

Ketoned

If organic, grass-fed and sustainable meals are important to you, then Ketoned Bodies has you covered. The keto meal-delivery service uses only healthy fats, and you won’t find a stitch of sugar in the recipes. In addition, food is free of gluten, grains and preservatives.

You can order meals a la carte starting at $14 each or sign up for a weekly plan. Weekly pricing starts at $70 for five meals and goes all the way up to $950 for a one-month plan. The Keto meals are prepared fresh and arrive frozen, so you just have to heat and eat.

Keto Fridge

With Keto Fridge, you can expect meals that are about 75 percent fat, 20 percent protein and 5 percent carbs. But if you love sweets, then you’re in luck, because it also has Keto-friendly baked goods to choose from.

Keto Fridge requires customers to order at least $69 worth of food per order, but the menu changes weekly, so you can expect a wide range of choices. Meal pricing varies but you can expect to spend $9 to $18 for most dishes and $6 to $12 for desserts that come in two-packs.

Green Chef

If you’re looking to up your cooking game, then this Keto meal delivery kit is for you.

Green Chef requires a little bit of work on your end, because the organic meals show up as pre-portioned, pre-measured and prepped ingredients. However, the dishes come with easy-to-follow instructions that take 30 minutes or less to cook, which isn’t too bad considering you don’t need to meal plan and go grocery shopping.

You can choose from a two-person plan or a family plan, and meals are delivered weekly. With a two-person plan you get three dinners per week, and with a family plan, you get two dinners per week for a family of four.

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Indian cuisine is rightly called ‘extensive’. A whole range of vegetables, lentils, pulses, roti and rice varieties adorn our dining table for almost every meal. Some vegetables or sabzis are like staple Indian dishes and made repeatedly in our households. One of them is cabbage or patta gobhi ki sabzi. It is mostly paired with dal, raita, pickle and roti. Cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable that is low in calories, low in carbohydrates and rich in fibre, vitamins and antioxidants. It was always a great food for weight loss diet. But, if you are following the Keto diet, this recipe adds in some variations to make it suit your diet.

The multi-layered vegetable of cabbage contains almost all important vitamins  – A, B1, B2, B6, E, C, K, and minerals like iron, calcium, iron, iodine, potassium, folate, sulphur and phosphorus. This vegetable may be dense with nutrients but is super light and airy to eat. It doesn’t weigh down your tummy yet it satiates with its high amount of fibre.

To make it Keto-friendly, this sabzi is cooked in clarified butter (ghee) instead of regular cooking oil. Unlike many other Indian meals, this recipe is easy, not complex, doesn’t contain too many ingredients and dispenses with the overkill of spices. The recipe is shared by food vlogger Sahil Makhija through a video posted on his YouTube channel ‘Headbanger’s Kitchen’.

The post Weight Loss: Turn Simple Patta Gobhi (Cabbage) Ki Sabzi Into Keto-Friendly Dish appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

When our friend or family member talks about being on the keto diet, images of bacon swimming in runny eggs, or a steak topped with butter often come to mind. In other words, “meatless” and “keto” don’t really seem to go together.

The post 5 Keto-Friendly Recipes for Meatless Monday appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Does it get too monotonous for you to use same regular keto ingredients in your keto recipes? Fret not, we’re here to give you a stellar recipe of one of the keto essentials that can come quite handy in your keto diet plan and is sure to add variety to your meals. We’re talking about keto basil pesto! This high-fat condiment can be paired with sandwiches and bite-sized nibbles. The recipe is a fusion of basil and parsley and both the ingredient complement each other quite well. Other than this, there’s garlic, Parmesan cheese and pine nuts to take the flavour game a notch higher. It’s fairly easy to prepare this delight at home, that too, in just 5 minutes. All you need to do is blitz some ingredients together and you’re good to go.

This delightful keto swap is abundantly rich in nutrition and has the goodness of olive oil in it. You can use this pesto sauce as a spread on keto-friendly pizza base and make a wholesome meal for yourself. The recipe of keto basil pesto has been shared by Sahil Makhija, a popular YouTube chef and food vlogger, on his channel ‘Headbanger’s Kitchen’. Now, that we have shared with you the recipe of a keto essential, try to make it at home and get started by pairing it with different keto-friendly dishes of your choice.

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