Tweaking keto foods

Tweaking keto foods can be a challenge at first, when you’re told to just focus on eating anything that’s low in carbs. I don’t like to tell people what they can and cannot eat on keto, but I have been asked many times about this thing or that, so I’d be doing my followers a disservice by not offering this info.

In my last post, I outlined as many non-keto food items that I could think of to avoid eating/stop buying when trying to get your household on board with the keto diet/lifestyle.

Then, I realized there are some foods that are even keto-friendly which should be eliminated if you’re struggling with keto (which many of us have). However, there are some that should be completely avoided if you are serious about restriction/elimination testing to regain your health.

I hope this article will help you with tweaking keto foods to succeed in the ketogenic lifestyle!

This is one list I dreaded making, to avoid getting heckled by the low carb & keto police… but there DEFINITELY are a few products you should avoid that are “animal”-based but not very keto-friendly at all. I’ll start with the dairy department…

Milk

When it comes to avoiding or tweaking keto foods, milk might seem obvious, but for some, it’s not. I avoid milk on keto, since it’s almost pure sugar, and stick to heavy cream. Half milk & half cream is OK in small amounts. I only use half & half if I’m out of cream for coffee. Once in awhile I still use it in cooking.

Whole milk, especially raw, is just fine with many folks in paleo or other traditional diet communities, so you could check into that. If you drink low fat/skim milk and don’t like like whole milk but find you have a hard time giving up, maybe stop cold turkey?

As for milk alternatives, I really don’t have any. Neither almond milk nor cashew milk sounds appetizing to me, and after years of eating nuts of all kinds on keto, I don’t think they’re ideal for my body, so there’s that. Coconut milk is fine for keto, if you aren’t allergic to coconut. Also, I know there are lactose-free milks now available on the market, but your mileage may vary on that.

Cheese

Most cheeses are fine on keto, especially if you know it’s pure cheese. Ingredients of cheese should be mostly limited to: milk/milk cultures, enzymes, salt, and that’s about it. Cheeses made from cow’s milk, goat’s milk, and sheep’s milk are totally fine on keto if dairy is not a problem for you.

Note: not all cheese has lactose in it!.

If the kind of cheese you eat comes in plastic-wrapped singles, or a large, gold rectangular box whose brand starts with a V, that’s not cheese!

Any cheese product with soybean oil or that says “pasteurized processed cheese food” on the label is mostly starch and oil (not the good kind, either), with very little cheese added. So stick to cheeses that just list milk, salt, and enzymes, to be on the safe side.

I find some domestic/store brands of cheese—which are totally LC/keto-friendly—aren’t best for me on the keto diet. European cheeses, or even just domestically-produced grass-fed varieties of cheese are the kind I have better results with.

Why? Most mass-produced cheeses fall into two camps (in my experience): 1. They’re bland to me, so I wind up using more of them in cooking than needed. 2. They contain ingredients or use preparation methods that for some reason, make them very addictive/easy to overeat.

I don’t have a problem limiting myself on cheese when it comes to the better quality stuff (don’t get me wrong, I’m not consuming less of it just because it’s more expensive, because trust me, I never pay full price, or at least, I try not to!).

However, there’s no need to start exclusively buying cave-aged Gruyère when tweaking keto foods if you can’t afford it. Simply do what I do: I watch for sales at the deli counter and look at European brands & domestic grass-fed brands. I will then buy a small wedge of a type of cheese I already like by a brand that’s new to me, or something completely different.

Give it a try, and I promise you’ll have a newfound love for good, real cheese (the difference is phenomenal)!

Now, I’m not thumbing my nose at mass-produced cheese! I’m just pointing out how sometimes these varieties can spiral into binging for me, due to the way they’re made. I usually shred it and bake them into a quiche to avoid snacking them straight out of the fridge constantly. If they work for you to stick to your way of eating and don’t cause you to overeat, great! But know what your cheese is made of.

What about cottage cheese?

While it’s higher in carbs (3-5 g per half cup), cottage cheese is cultured, so you’re getting very little carbs in digestion. If you’re sensitive to whey, avoid cottage cheese, but otherwise it’s a decent source of protein that’s lower in fat.

When choosing cottage cheese, keep in mind 4% milkfat cottage cheese is ideal. 2% and low fat cottage cheeses use skimmed milk (higher lactose, aka milk sugars), instead of cream. While low-fat dairy can sometimes get a bad rap with the keto community, whichever works and doesn’t stall you out is best for you.

Bottom line: If you find yourself struggling or at a plateau, I recommend examining your cheese choices when tweaking keto foods. Thomas DeLauer has a great video about the best kinds of cheese for this lifetyle (and it’s not expensive!).

Yogurt

Another thing I found out when tweaking keto foods! You’ve probably seen it vilified on online forums or keto groups, but it’s really not! Since it contains live bacteria, it’s excellent as a probiotic for maintaining a healthy gut flora (your healthy gut bacteria will eat most of the carbs in yogurt before you do…keeping those suckers happy!)

Yogurt isn’t the devil

If you’re wanting to tweak your protein to energy ratio. Yogurt is totally fine on keto. But if you’re eating yogurt and struggling with keto, here are a couple talking points:

Plain yogurt is best, certainly not “plain vanilla”, fruit flavored or sweetened, even just sucralose or aspartame. Additionally, yogurts sweetened only with honey are not going to do you any favors on keto, either (honey is still sugar, honey)!

Plain Greek yogurt that’s low fat is great for keto, it doesn’t have to be full-fat. Since Greek style yogurt is formulated with less whey/is strained out, it results in much less lactose.

Regardless of whether you prefer regular yogurt or Greek style, look for them to contain live & active cultures. Also, even good yogurts will contain 4-9 carbs per serving. But don’t forget most of those carbs are absorbed by the gut before being digested (read up on probiotic benefits of yogurt).

Meats

Okay, this is probably what’s going to get me crucified by the “IIFIYM” folks.

My favorite sources of protein are ground beef, pork chops/shoulders, steaks, roasts, salmon, tuna, and very little poultry.

I also eat chicken eggs, about 2-3 a day (my digestion is better when I don’t eat too many).

However, I still buy and eat bacon and sausage, and ham. I also occasionally enjoy deli meats like corned beef/pastrami, roast beef, smoked turkey, pepperoni, and salami.

There’s nothing wrong with eating deli meats occasionally; I like them, especially on road trips, or events where food options are limited to a meat and cheese tray. But…

Getting most of your protein consumption from cured or processed sources isn’t ideal

There is a ton of sugar and crapola in deli meats, none of which we need. If you have been eating like this on keto more often than not and struggling to lose weight or feel good, it’s no surprise you have a rough time. Especially if you rarely include whole fish or meat in your meals.

Anyone serious about improving their health and weight with a keto lifestyle would really benefit to focus on mostly buying and eating unprocessed cuts of animal foods, even if that means consuming bunless ground beef burgers and inexpensive pork chops! It’s what I do, and it works well.

From personal experience, I was at a plateau/juggling the same 3-5 lbs on keto for over a year after losing the first 30 lbs. Once I started to prioritize protein at my meals from unprocessed fatty cuts, I felt much better and my weight started going back down.

I’d been keto over three years and now am almost 97% carnivore, after still dealing with health issues that are leftover. When tweaking keto foods over time while on this way of eating, you my see that your calorie needs change, as well as your fat intake. I found that upping my protein to 28-30%, reducing my fat to no more than 68-70%, while still keeping my carbs at 5% or less of my daily calorie intake, has been more helpful for me in terms of blood sugar management and weight loss.

You don’t have to buy steaks and salmon, if you can’t afford it. More often than not, I buy the 3-5 lb trays of ground beef (or beef burger patties), the cheap steaks whenever they go on sale, or the family pack of pork chops.

Succeeding on keto means whatever works for your body. If your body is not giving you the results you want with this way of eating, I encourage you to revisit this list, and keep on tweaking keto foods as needed!

*if it fits in your macros