What is the Keto Diet and How do I Follow It?
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We reviewed the top 5 meal delivery services in the USA and here are the results.
The keto diet has taken Hollywood by storm. Celebrities like Kelly Ripa and a Kardashian have all been raving about its benefits. So, what is the keto diet? The keto diet, or ketogenic diet, is a low-carb and high-fat diet. The diet helps you remove sugars from the foods you eat and in response your body’s insulin and glucose levels lower. This boosts metabolism and helps you burn fat. In addition to increasing your metabolism, studies have shown that following a ketogenic diet might help you stave off diabetes, Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, and cancer. The diet isn’t restricted to Hollywood celebrities, it’s also a favored diet in Silicon Valley. Entrepreneurs and techies are getting in on the trend and sharing their ketone levels on Twitter.
Why is this diet so attractive to early adopters?
The keto diet has been around since the 1920s and was originally developed to treat children suffering from epilepsy. Later, doctors and researchers decided to take a deeper look at how the diet lowers glucose levels in the blood and found it might be a healthy diet for people with diabetes. With the advent and popularity of the Atkins diet, which essentially is a variant of the keto diet, people began thinking about the benefits of a low-carb and low-sugar diet. Both diets help you burn fat and not just residual sugars in the body. This is attractive to celebrities who are paid to look their best. It’s attractive to Silicon Valley types because the keto diet can increase productivity and brain function. It makes perfect sense that people are willing to give the diet a shot. And, you can pretty much eat all the bacon you want.
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Which foods can I eat on a keto diet and what’s restricted?
High-fat foods like meat and cheese are a big part of the diet paired with leafy greens and fiber-rich vegetables. Think of eating more eggs, fish, meat, butter, avocado, kale, and cheese. The goal is to increase the fat without sugar. You will want to stay under fifty grams of carbs a day. The traditional food pyramid suggests you eat between 200-300 grams of carbs a day. That’s a big difference. That means no breads, rice, pasta, corn, potatoes (and other starchy foods), and of course sugar. The diet is more complex than this and to truly follow it to the letter, you’d need to employ the services of a doctor and a licensed dietician. They’ll probably set you up with a strict diet and ketone testing device for you to track your progress. However, you can order prepared meal kits that are created specifically for people on the keto diet (more on this later).
How many people are following the keto diet?
The diet has gained in popularity since the nineties and it continues to grow today. Google searches for “keto diet” and “what is keto diet” have skyrocketed over the last three years. Before keto, the most popular diet searches were paleo and gluten-free. Now, the keto diet is trending and more people than ever want to give it a shot. As the market for keto dieters increases, new companies are testing out snacks that are high in fat and adhere to the keto diet guidelines. In addition to prepared, prepackaged foods, meal kit delivery services are rolling out their own keto diet meals. It can be difficult for people on the keto diet to eat out because most menu items have some form of carb or sweetener. For instance, you might think a mixed green salad could be a safe bet. Think again. Most salad dressings contain sugar. With dining options limited, preparing your own meals is ideal because you know every ingredient. Meal kits and meal kit delivery services allow consumers to have an easy option for a home-cooked meal that works with the keto diet.
What meal kit delivery services offer meals for keto dieters?
Here’s a chart of the top five meal kit delivery services with keto diet meals. Each one of these services will allow you to plan, schedule, and order keto-friendly meals that are delivered right to your door. Not everyone can have a nutrition team to support them. With meal kits, you can get that dietary guidance and try this diet out with ease. You may be wondering more about what a “meal kit delivery service” is. When you go to the grocery store, it can be stressful getting all the right ingredients for a recipe. Perhaps your grocery store doesn’t carry organic produce or more current healthy foods. With a meal-delivery kit, you can skip the grocery store altogether. You just pick which keto diet meals look the best to you and when you want them delivered. Many of the services allow you to schedule meals weeks in advance, which makes meal planning so much less of a hassle. The next thing you know, you’ll be cooking easy-to-prepare meals at home for you and your family. All the ingredients and seasonings will come prepackaged for you. It’s never been easier to follow a diet and save time while doing it.
Here are 5 providers that fit the Keto diet bill
If you don’t want to do any guesswork when it comes to your keto diet, Green Chef meal delivery system is definitely the right choice for you. They offer a full keto meal plan with low-carb, gluten-free dinners. Each menu is prepared specifically with the keto diet in mind. They have beautiful and colorful recipes like Smoked Chicken with Cotija and Sautéed Cabbage with Cumin. Each serving has only 17 grams of carbs and only 470 calories. Each recipe card breaks down the nutritional information for you to easily track your macros and calories. Their Mozzarella-Stuffed Meatloaf with Sautéed Chard, Cremini Mushrooms, and Caramelized Onions can make anyone’s mouth water. One serving has only 19 grams of carbs and 420 calories. All their produce is organic so you can have peace of mind that you are getting quality foods. It takes a lot of the headache out of thinking about what to cook, going grocery shopping, finding a recipe, and prepping all the ingredients. Instead, all you do is get your box, follow the enclosed recipe and use the pre-prepped ingredients to cook a meal in under 30 minutes. It’s a piece of cake, well not really. That wouldn’t fit into your keto diet!
PROs
- Easy Way to Eat Keto, Paleo, Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-Free or Pescatarian
- Easy way to follow a healthy lifestyle
- More meal choices for any lifestyle (i.e. keto, paleo, vegan, etc.) compared to our competitors
CONs
- Longer prep/cook times than advertised
- No free shipping
It can be hard to stick to a diet when you have to do all the counting of your macros and your calories. Using a home meal delivery service like Home Chef can make this so much easier. Each meal comes with the nutritional information of each serving so that you don’t have to do that. They have plenty of meal options for you to choose from to ensure that you can stick to your keto diet. Each recipe will break down the calories per serving, as well as your macros (carbs, protein, and fat) so that you can keep track easily of your daily consumption. Their meals are diversified and colorful, not what you would think of when you hear the word “diet.” You won’t feel deprived at all. They have some low-carb options, but their whole menu is so delicious you can always leave out the carbs. For example, you can get a steak dinner with asparagus and potatoes but opt to leave the potatoes out. The steak with balsamic sauce is to die for! You won’t even miss the potatoes. It will definitely help you make healthy home-cooked meals in less time and with less stress than doing it alone.
PROs
- Dozens of Weekly Options Including Oven Ready
- Up to 30 Weekly Meals + No Prep, No Clean Up Options
- No contact delivery to your door
- No Commitment, Skip or Cancel at Anytime
CONs
- Not ideal for people with dietary restrictions
- Food is not 100% organic
Hello Fresh boasts over 2500 meals to choose from. With options like that, you’re sure to find meals that fit into the keto diet. They love to offer international foods with fresh taste like Korean, Mexican, Russian, and more. They have plenty of lower carb meals and if you don’t have any carbs for breakfast and lunch, you can eat the whole meal and still stick to your carb intake for a true keto diet. Should you decide to have some meals and leave out the rice or potatoes, that will work too. There are just too many good-looking recipes to not take advantage of this meal delivery service. Their recipes include ones like Pan-Seared Steak with Roasted Butternut Squash and Green Beans Almondine, Bacon Caprese Chicken with Oregano Lemon Roasted Potatoes and Spring Salad Mix (if you leave out the oregano lemon roasted potatoes, you have a perfect keto meal), and Ribeye with Tarragon Sauce with Roasted Asparagus and (leave out the) Garlic Mashed Potatoes. The value in this is the convenience. It can be hard to come home after a long day’s work and cook something delicious while sticking with the keto diet standards.
PROs
- America's most popular meal kit!
- No commitments - skip or cancel anytime
- Choose from 20+ recipes each week
CONs
- You need to cook the meals which can be inconvenient for some people
- High shipping fees
Is the keto diet for me?
Ultimately, you’ll need to make that decision. You might want to consult with your doctor before giving it a shot. But, most people are seeing a lot of success following a keto diet. When you’re eating a bunch of carbohydrates, your body processes them and stores them as sugars. These sugars are quickly metabolized and as a result you feel a “crash” after. Think about the time after lunch when you got exhausted. You might reach for a coffee or tea to get you through the rest of the day. Then, you eat dinner and you’re faced with the same issue. People who eat using the keto diet guidelines will feel more sustained throughout the day. This is because their bodies aren’t breaking down a ton of sugars. They’re breaking down proteins and eventually ketones, and these provide much better fuel for the body. Your mind will feel sharper and you won’t get that three o’clock crash between lunch and dinner. Also, your body becomes a fat-burning machine. What more could you ask for?
Most people lose about ten pounds after the first two months of keto diet. It might seem counterintuitive that eating more fat will cause you to burn more fat, but when you’re not full of sugars, it works. With so many great meal kit options offering keto diet friendly meals, it’s just so easy to give this diet a try. You might surprise yourself.
