Keto Clarity: Your Definitive Guide to the Benefits of a Low-Carb, High-Fat Diet (64 page)

Keep in mind that a ketogenic diet isn’t necessarily healthy unless high-quality food and dietary fats are a meaningful part of the equation. Hospital-prescribed ketogenic prepackaged “food-like substances” include partially hydrogenated fats and oils, high fructose corn syrup, and highly processed, denatured protein powders. “Ketogenic” can mean all kinds of things. I am very careful to focus on foods that most closely mimic what we ate as ancient hunter-gatherers.

– Nora Gedgaudas

Just one meal a day is actually my usual pattern of eating, and I enjoy the freedom that comes with not having to worry about what I’m putting in my mouth. Remember, you won’t be eating this way very long—just one more week on the kick-start meal plan—so give it your best shot. If you get hungry four to twelve hours after eating, then you didn’t eat enough food and/or enough fat. Bump it up in the next meal by adding more butter or your favorite fat and see how you do.

Being satisfied on just one meal a day isn’t impossible, and I think you might be surprised at how well you can endure the periods of intermittent fasting this week. And don’t lose sight of why you are doing this: those periods of fasting will help you produce more therapeutic ketones.

Nutritional ketosis is a natural consequence of following a ketogenic diet of whole foods consisting of meat, poultry, fish, and eggs, along with non-starchy vegetables; low-sugar fruits, including olives, avocados, and berries; nuts and seeds; and added natural fats, including tallow, lard, butter, cream, aged cheese, and coconut and olive oils.

– Dr. Keith Runyan

Day 15

• Meal 1:
  Jimmy Moore’s Keto Eggs (
  see here
  ) and Macadamia Avocado Freezer Fudge (
  see here
  )
  

Day 16

• Meal 1:
  Beef hamburger patty cooked in coconut oil, cheese, bacon, Jimmy Moore’s Homemade Really Real Keto Mayo (
  see here
  ), and Almond Butter Keto Bombs (
  see here
  )
  

Day 17

• Meal 1:
  Jimmy Moore’s Bacon-Wrapped Salmon (
  see here
  ) topped with Jimmy Moore’s Homemade Keto Béarnaise Sauce (
  see here
  ), and Luscious Lemon Bars (
  see here
  )
  

Day 18

• Meal 1:
  6-ounce sirloin steak cooked in butter and cucumber slices with Keto Skordalia (
  see here
  )
  

Day 19

• Meal 1:
  Pepperoni slices and mozzarella cheese cooked with butter and Gary the Primal Guy’s Keto Chocolate (
  see here
  )
  

Day 20

• Meal 1:
  A whole rotisserie chicken and Keto Vanilla Ice Cream (
  see here
  ) with Jimmy Moore’s Keto Chocolate Shell Topping (
  see here
  )
  

Day 21

• Meal 1:
  Keto Pot Roast (
  see here
  ) and Bacon Brussels Sprouts (
  see here
  )
  

Eating keto may seem daunting at first, but it’s really not as hard as you think, and once you commit fully to becoming ketogenic to improve your health (and, for some people, to shed some pounds) it becomes even easier. Find the pattern of eating that works best for you and enjoy your pursuit of nutritional ketosis.

I’m excited to hear about your keto journey, so let me know how you are doing by e-mailing me at [email protected]. I’m always thrilled to hear how a low-carb, moderate-protein, high-fat, ketogenic lifestyle is working for others. Once you’re there, the sky truly is the limit.

By definition, when fat, protein, and carbohydrate are manipulated to produce ketosis, a reduction in carbohydrates is a fundamental part of the diet. For diabetics, this means a reduction in insulin output and lower insulin levels.

– Dr. Mary Newport

I find I have much better drive and focus when in a state of ketosis. I have a lot more mental clarity and productivity.

– Bryan Barksdale

When I stopped believing that I had to eat a low-fat, high-carb diet in order to lose weight and get healthy, it was perhaps one of the defining moments of my entire life. Never again would I look at nutrition and its impact on health in the same way. I hope that reading this book has been a similarly transformative experience for you, and that the knowledge and wisdom within these pages leads you to all the health benefits ketosis brings.

Many cultures throughout time would have experienced long-term nutritional ketosis.

– Dr. Zeeshan Arain

So many people who would benefit from a low-carb, moderate-protein, high-fat, ketogenic diet haven’t even heard of it, because it’s not well understood or represented in the mainstream media. That to me is the biggest travesty of all. How many people in your life are suffering from one of the many conditions that have been shown to improve on a ketogenic diet—type 2 diabetes, obesity, epilepsy, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, and so many more? Don’t they deserve to know about a completely natural nutritional therapy that could be more effective than drugs and other treatments? You bet they do! And that’s what inspired me write this book: to share honest, practical information about ketosis in everyday language. I wanted to empower you with the knowledge, wisdom, and experience to feel confident about pursuing ketosis as a viable means for bringing about major improvements in your health.

People are now living longer but are sicker, destined to experience decades of poor health before they finally kick the bucket. And it’s all because they have lost their connection to ketone bodies. Virtually every chronic disease that physicians deal with every single day is caused by eating a diet high in simple sugars and processed food.

– Dr. Bill Wilson

The ball is now in your court. Your friends, family, and even your doctor may wonder what in the world you are doing eating this way. But now you should feel confident enough to be a living, breathing example of the great things that can happen if you dare to give ketogenic eating a go.

Being in ketosis forces a physiological shift from a sugar-based metabolism to a fatty acid– and ketone-based metabolism. Nutritional ketosis suppresses insulin and forces a “fat-adapted state” that produces a wide range of health benefits. Especially when combined with resistance training, nutritional ketosis typically produces dramatic body composition alterations and improvements in overall metabolic profile.

– Dr. Dominic D’Agostino

Your keto journey begins right here, right now.

Nutritional ketosis may not be required for general health, but it may very well be a conduit to optimal health.