The Foods You Strictly Cannot Eat On A Keto Diet

Relying on some diet is quite a hard decision to make. You not only invest your time, money, and resources on a diet but you also bargain your mental health, it’s a risk! Keto diet is a low-carb diet, moderate in proteins and at the higher end with healthy fats. How does it work?

It’s proven and occurs through an induced metabolic process called ketosis. Your body needs energy, and primarily this energy is driven from carbs. Thus, glycogen (basically sugar) is your energy source in normal conditions. 

The Keto diet deprives your body of carbs and in turn gets you in ketosis, a state wherein your body turns to fats for energy as it runs out of carbohydrates. This helps you lose your extra fats within no time and at the same time helps you with your chronic conditions like Diabetes Type II, PCOD, etc. A dose of those extra proteins helps you get better skin and hair.

A healthy thing that keto does to you is that it helps you get rid of your unhealthy snack cravings. When you want to, you can have low-carb/keto snacks, which some brands are offering right now. On a Keto Diet, You are not only cutting down carbs, but you are limiting them to the point that you stimulate supported ketone creation — something that you can’t do with other mainstream diets.

A comprehensive list of disallowed Keto ingredients that you strictly need to eliminate for a healthy Keto Diet will be the main issue to be discussed in the article. What foods to avoid on keto diet is more important than the foods allowed.

Which ingredients can or cannot be consumed is one of the hottest topics of debate among Keto Diet followers. Especially the newbies think that doing a Keto Diet is about eating a set of food ingredients that will make them lose weight. The Ketogenic Diet, for the most part, is not ingredients dependent. It is a dietary regime that relies on the macro and micronutrients in your diet. The heavy lifting of the Keto Diet is done through a specific ration of Carbs, Fats & Protein. This is then followed by supplementing the diet with micronutrients. You can skip to the last section to find the complete list of ingredients and foods that you cannot eat on a Keto Diet.

People usually ask questions like “Can I eat carrot on a Keto Diet?” or ” Can I drink milk on Keto?” So which ingredients are Keto Compliant and where can you find a complete list of Keto compliant ingredients? These questions cannot be answered in black and white and secondly there is no such comprehensive list till now.

Whether an ingredient can be consumed on a Keto Diet is not only determined only by its nutrient composition. It’s also determined by how much of that ingredient you are planning to consume. So typical advice about carrots is that “You cannot eat carrots on Keto” but as long you are within your daily Carb, Protein and Fats intake limit you will be fine. A simple rule of thumb is as follows

Total Carbs (Restrict to 50-55g per day) = Net Carbs (Restrict to 20-25g per day) + Dietary Fibre

So go out and get yourself a carrot! With that said, there is indeed a list of ingredients that are a STRICT NO-NO from both Keto and health perspectives. A list of foods to avoid on keto diet is given in the next section:

Foods To Avoid On Keto

Any foods containing any amount of these ingredients are a Big No on a keto diet. 

Additives & Exogenous Ketones:

1. Artificial flavors including food colors and artificial seasonings
2. Gluten (Wheat Protein) – has harmful inflammatory properties and prevents the body from reaching a fat-burning state
3. Alcohol Ketone Bodies
4. Ketone Esters
5. Sugars & Sweeteners:
   • All types of sugar – White, Brown Sugar, Date, Cane, Invertor anything else
   • Maltitol
   • Sorbitol
   • Xylitol
   • Mannitol
   • Glycerin
   • Sucralose
   • Corn Syrup
   • Artificial sweeteners such as Saccharin, Cyclamate, Acesulfame, Aspartame
6. Partially-Hydrogenated Oils
   • Partially-hydrogenated oils
   • Soybean and extracted fats
   • Margarine

Every day, new ingredients are launched in the world of Keto. This list of Disallowed Keto Ingredients will be updated regularly for the benefit of everyone.The foods to avoid on keto diet generally comprise fruits (not all), starchy vegetables, legumes, dairy products, unhealthy fats, etc. Most fruits should be avoided on a keto diet. A list of fruits you can have on a keto diet is given in another article. Most fruits are high in carbs/sugars, thus do not compliment keto.

Starchy vegetables are not good to include if you are on a keto. You can look for some keto-friendly vegetable alternatives.Dairy Products are typically low carb foods when eaten in moderation. You should always avoid too many dairies. Consuming a healthy amount of fat is an integral part of the keto diet. Unhealthy fats will only hamper your progress.

Legumes such as beans are high in protein and other vital nutrients. Because they are high in carbs, they are amongst the foods to avoid on keto.The aim of a keto diet is to get you in ketosis by limiting your carb intake. Grains are high in carbohydrates and will definitely hamper your ketosis. You should move to some keto-friendly flour if you are on a strict keto diet.

Most beverages are high in sugars and carbs. Avoiding beverages will add to the benefits of your keto regime. Though some beverages can be taken in moderation. You can read our other articles to know about the same.We hope you have a better idea about the foods to avoid on keto. This little guide will help you get the most out of your keto.

If you are thinking amount starting your keto regime or get to a keto diet, please give our other related articles a read. These articles will tell you the most things you need to know about the keto diet, its benefits, and probable side effects that you might face on a keto diet if you are having any related health issues.

We wish you good luck with your keto health regime!