What Not to Do on the Keto Diet

You’re sold on the benefits of the Keto diet* and ready to throw yourself into it wholeheartedly. However—to achieve your noble objectives—what you don’t do will be just as important as what you do.

So (without being too negative) here’s what not to do on the keto diet.

Note: For our visual learners— here’s a helpful visual representation of the points discussed below.

1. Don’t Consume Fake Food.

Before there was fake news, there was fake food.

        The latter comes in the form of processed sustenance and includes everything from obvious no-nos like bacon and frozen dinners (think sugars, bad fat, and sodium) to more under-the-radar culprits like granola (sugar and overall lack of nutritional value).

So if even (seemingly) harmless snacks like granola are to be avoided, how can you be sure that you identify processed foods as such when you do come across them?

Here’s how to spot a processed food (Note that since even cooking counts as “processing,” what we really mean is highly processed foods):

• The food item contains ingredient names you can’t pronounce (e.g., maltodextrin, phosphates, and similar tongue-twisters).
• Ditto. But with dyes and sweeteners.
• Your purchase contains any form of refined sugar.
• The food item comes in a box or a can.

         One final hint: if a food contains more than five ingredients, there’s a good chance that it’s processed.

2. Don’t  Drink Alcohol, Milk, or Juice.

There’s a reason why Grandpa Pete could never be a keto-dieter (two reasons if his drink of choice was a Mudslide).

Yes, if you drink any type of alcohol, milk, or juice you can’t—in good conscience—qualify as a keto-dieter.

Here’s why:

Alcohol*=  Empty carbs, grain, and sugar.

*Although this rule does come with a catch: dry red wine, dry white wine, and unsweetened spirits are acceptable—if you’re in a weight maintenance stage of your diet.

Milk =  relatively high in carbs, difficult to digest, and may contain hormones.

Juice =  sugar content. Unfortunately, this restriction even includes products that are unprocessed and 100% juice.

3. Don’t Eat Grains.

Yes, this rule even includes whole meal (e.g., wheat, rye, oats, corn, buckwheat, sprouted grains, and many more).

There’s just no room for these types of food while you’re on the keto diet.

In full disclosure, you may have to work extra hard to stick to this rule, as soooooo many craveable meals come in grain form—pizza and pasta being only two such examples.

4. Don’t Use Vegetable Oils

While the rules for consuming fats and oils as a keto-dieter can be cumbersome to navigate, in general, you’ll want to avoid those from veggie sources in favor of alternatives like lard and coconut oil.

You can find more info here.

Finally (and just as important as all of the points above) is how you’ll want to avoid a Keto Diet altogether if you fall into any of the following categories:

1. You’re pregnant or breastfeeding.
   
2. Are a child, teen, or high-level athlete.
   
3. You’re experiencing irregular menstrual cycles.
4. You have adrenal fatigue.
5. You exhibit poor thyroid function.

*A ketogenic diet is a meal plan that’s very low in carbs, moderate in protein, and high in fat-based nutrition.  It works by training your metabolism to run off of fatty acids (or ketone bodies).