Ketogenic Diet Foods List For Ultimate Brain & Body Performance
Do you want to lose weight and/or control your cravings?
Or how about boost brain performance and mental clarity?
Would you like to get better sleep and have more sustained energy levels throughout the day?
Well one way to help you achieve all of the above is to start changing your diet and kicking your body into fat burning state, otherwise known as ketosis.
I’ve been in ketosis around 70% of the time over the past 5 years and learning how to get into ketosis and stay there can have some really awesome benefits for your health.
Check out my video here where I go through the 3 main reasons that you may be having difficulty getting into ketosis.
So Just To Recap, What Is Ketosis Diet Foods Or Fat Burning State?
Well your body can use two sources of energy for fuel. Either glucose from carbohydrate or fat. What your body doesn’t receive enough carbohydrate from food for your cells to burn for energy your body turns to fat instead. During this process ketones are produced hence the name ketosis.
Let me be clear. There is a distinct difference between ketoacidosis which is a diseased state found in diabetic patients when their body no longer utilizes sugar and starts using fat for energy as an emergency mechanism. In these cases they typically have both elevated blood glucose and ketones in the very high and dangerous ranges of 15-20 millimolar.
What we are talking about is getting into “nutritional ketosis” where your blood glucose is perfectly normal and your ketones elevate to the 0.4 to 4 millimolar range. This range is extremely safe to be in and enables the body to access higher levels of healing and performance.
How Do You Get Into Ketosis?
It’s different for everyone. I would highly recommend that you watch the book summary that I do on “Keto Clarity” and “The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance” to learn more about the details of getting into ketosis.
In short you need to get your millimolar range between 0.4 to 4. This is a perfect nutritional ketogenic state.
How does one get there?
By eating the ketogenic diet foods below.
So What Blocks Ketosis?
Three factors block ketosis:
- Hidden Sugar - The first is consuming too many hidden carbohydrates.
- Too Much Protein - The second is consuming too much protein, that ends up turning into sugar, which can block ketosis (more information below).
- Not Enough Fat - And number three is not consuming enough healthy fats.
To start you want to try to consume less than 50 grams of carbohydrates per day. The ketogenic food charts below give you the details how many carbs you get from different foods. For people that are sugar sensitive, you may be looking at having to restrict your carbohydrates to less than 30 grams per day, perhaps even into the 20 grams per day.
Be patient with this process as it takes 2-6 weeks to get into ketosis.
During the process some people can feel a little lower energy. Some can experience what they describe as flu like symptoms for a couple days. This is what they call the “keto flu” that people can go into as they transition their bodies energy usage from sugar to fat.
The benefits far outweigh the cons, and if it does happen to you, it only happens for a short time.
So What Are Some Awesome Ketogenic Diet Foods That You Can Eat For Ultimate Brain And Body Performance?
Well when you’re NOT eating sugar, you’ve got so many options and you need to make sure you are consuming enough healthy awesome fats. In fact add an additional 6-8 tablespoons of healthy to your diet each day and then top this up with as many healthy vegetables and proteins as you like. Never feel restricted, eat healthy food but lose weight and feel energized!
Remember, fat is a superfood.
I wrote a book called “Eat More Fat” that’s published in Japan and Asia and it’s all about how fat makes you toned, how fat makes you function at a higher level, and how fat is full of essential micronutrients, anti-oxidants and minerals.
Lets start with Healthy Fats since they are a super important part of getting your body into fat burning state.
Healthy Fats
Below is a list of some awesome healthy fats to add into your diet when working towards getting your body into fat burning state. Note fats that are not included in the list below include any hydrogenated or heavily processed vegetable oils such as soybean, corn, safflower, sunflower or canola oil which can all be really damaging to your body. Some are GMO, some are too high in omega-6 while others are rancid fats due to over processing.
Also if you are cooking, go with some of the fats that have a higher smoke point like coconut oil, beef tallow or ghee. And keep an eye on the amount of nuts you are consuming. As you see from the table below they still have a higher carbohydrate content than some of the other foods, so stick to a handful each day.
| Fats | Macros (grams Per 100grams or 100mls) | ||
| Carbs | Protein | Fat | |
| Coconut Butter | 21 | 6 | 55 |
| Coconut Oil | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| Ghee | 0 | 1 | 81 |
| Grass Fed Butter | 1 | 1 | 100 |
| Free Range Chicken Fat | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| Beef Tallow | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| Avocado | 0.5 | 2 | 21.4 |
| Macadamia Nuts | 13.8 | 7.9 | 75.8 |
| Olive Oil | 0 | 0 | 91.3 |
| Almond Butter | 21.2 | 15.1 | 59.1 |
| Cashew Butter | 27.6 | 17.6 | 49.4 |
Healthy Protein
Consuming healthy sources of protein can help keep you satiated for longer and are an essential part of a ketogenic diet. When choosing any animal products including dairy go for grass-fed and organic wherever possible. Also go for raw dairy products over conventional where possible. Beyond Organic is great place to purchase your healthy dairy products! Click Here to find out more. Choose full fat where you can.
Choose free-range chicken and eggs and make sure that fish you consume is wild caught, not farmed. Also make sure that any bacon or ham you choose hasn’t been cured in sugar or hasn’t had any fillers or additives added to it.
How much protein is too much protein?
The general rule is you want to consume 0.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight. That’s 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram for all of you commonwealth folks reading this like myself. There is roughly 7 grams of protein in every ounce of lean protein. That means if you eat a 16 ounce steak, you’re consuming 112 grams of protein in one sitting! Most women can’t consume over 25 grams of protein in one sitting and most men can’t consume over 30 grams before the amino acids turn into sugar within the body.
So keep to a protein portion around the size of your fist when you eat protein.
| Protein | Macros (grams Per 100grams) | ||
| Carbs | Protein | Fat | |
| Wild Salmon | 0 | 20 | 6 |
| Wild Tuna | 0 | 23 | 5 |
| Wild Snapper | 0 | 21 | 1 |
| Free Range Eggs | 1 | 13 | 10 |
| Free Range Chicken | 0 | 19 | 15 |
| Grass Fed Beef | 0 | 23 | 3 |
| Natural Bacon | 1 | 12 | 45 |
| Natural Sausage | 0 | 18 | 28 |
| Chedder Cheese | 1.3 | 24.9 | 33.1 |
| Cottage Cheese | 3 | 11 | 4 |
| Full Fat Sour Cream | 4 | 2 | 20 |
| Heavy Whipping Cream | 3 | 2 | 37 |
| Full Fat Plain Yogurt | 5 | 3 | 3 |
Vegetables
Vegetables are a super important part of any healthy diet, including a ketogenic diet. However there are some vegetables that are higher in carbohydrates than others and so these are ones that you want to avoid while getting your body into fat burning state:
Vegetables that are high in carbs to AVOID:
| High Carb Vegetables | Macros (grams Per 100grams) | ||
| Carbs | Protein | Fat | |
| Potatoes | 18 | 2 | 0 |
| Peas | 14 | 5 | 0 |
| Corn (non-GMO) | 19 | 3 | 1 |
| Cooked Carrots | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| Parsnips | 18 | 1 | 0 |
| Black Beans | 62 | 22 | 1 |
| Yams | 28 | 2 | 0 |
| Lentils | 60 | 26 | 1 |
ALL OTHER VEGETABLES are awesome! See some to add into your diet below!
| High Fiber Vegetables | Macros (grams Per 100grams) | ||
| Carbs | Protein | Fat | |
| Arugula | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Asparagus | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Bamboo Shoots | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Beet Greens | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Broccoli | 7 | 3 | 0 |
| Brussel Sprouts | 9 | 3 | 0 |
| Cabbage | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Cauliflower | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Celery | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Cucumber | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Eggplant | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Garlic | 33 | 6 | 0 |
| Green Beans | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| Jalapenos | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| Kale | 10 | 3 | 1 |
| Lettuce | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Mushrooms | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Mustard Greens | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Onions | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| Radishes | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Snow Peas | 8 | 3 | 0 |
| Spinach | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Swiss Chard | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Tomatoes | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Turnip Greens | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Watercress | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Some people ask, we’ll what if I cheat one day in the journey to getting into ketosis? It may set you back a few days, but no big deal. Get back on track and don’t beat yourself up.
I hope this helps you get an idea of all the awesome foods you can consume and still have your body burning fat optimally. We have heaps and recipes and resources for you to get you body into fat burning state and stay there over at our high performance university! The number one community for maximising your performance, both of your body and your business. Click HERE to find out more!
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