While I talk to people who want to get into the Keto diet, the one most frequent question I get to hear is – will giving up on the list of food items on the Keto Diet interfere with my well-being or not? And I always firmly reply no, however, it’s hard for me to clarify why in a call or a message, and that’s the reason I am writing this article to get you the answers to all the whys you have in your head.
Since in the Keto diet you must cut off many food items, it’s normal to be concerned if your body is getting sufficient nutrients or if you’re going to end up with a deficiency that might affect your health badly. But with the Keto diet, you don’t have to worry about it.
The Keto diet is just not a weight loss trick. It’s a healthy lifestyle and a unique way of transforming metabolism. It’s a low-carb, moderate protein, and high-fat meal plan that helps to shift the source of energy from glucose generated through carbs to fats. When carb intake is reduced and fat is increased, the body enters a metabolic state called Ketosis. In this state, the body starts turning fats into ketones, which are molecules that supply energy for the brain. After a few days on the Keto diet, the body and brain become very efficient at burning fat and ketones as fuel instead of carbs.
Transition to Keto diet
The transition to a low-carb Keto diet can be a little difficult at the beginning, after all, you’re restricting yourself from having a long list of food items that contain carbohydrates and as well as many other nutrients that are essential for the optimum functioning of your body. The good news is you could get all the vital nutrients from low-carb food options too. You only need to keep track of which micronutrients you are not getting while preparing your meal plan. You could change the meal plan to fill the gaps for you.
Sources Of Vitamins in Keto
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is extremely essential to ensure good neurological function, immune function and gene regulation of your body. The presence of this fat-soluble compound helps to ensure strong bones, clear skin and good eyesight. There are enough low-carb Ketogenic food items with vitamin A that you won’t have any problem having it in the daily value.
An ounce of beef liver will almost offer you the daily demand. Vegetarians can get their daily Vitamin A portion by consuming a cup of chopped kale or an equal amount of spinach. It will help them to reach 56 per cent of the daily value. Broccoli, butter, and eggs are Keto friendly and all mostly come with vitamin A. However, the content of Vitamin A is relatively smaller in them but with a planned diet, you could easily get the daily value you need. Carrots are also a good source of Vitamin A, but carbohydrates are fairly high so you have to be very careful about the quantity you take. Consuming one-quarter of a cup of sliced carrots will improve your vitamin A without adding too many carbohydrates in your diet.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is required for the growth and repair of tissues in all parts of your body. It is essential to maintain a balanced immune system and helps to form an important protein used to make skin, tendons, ligaments, and blood vessels. Including Vitamin C in the Keto diet to meet the daily required value is not tough.
Having only one cup of sprouts from kale, broccoli, or Brussels will meet one-third of your daily requirement of Vitamin C. You could either go for cauliflower, it is low in carb and contains an adequate amount of vitamin C to keep you your daily value fill. There’s about 77% of RDI (Recommended dietary intake) in one cup of cauliflower. Sweet peppers are also are a medium carb food with high content of vitamins. Consuming a small amount of it will go a long way.
Folate (folic acid) and The B vitamins
There are particularly 8 types of B vitamins that help a variety of enzymes to do their jobs, ranging from turning food into energy to producing sex and stress hormones, and transporting oxygen and energy-containing nutrients around the body. Vitamin B and its essential types can be found in many Keto-friendly foods. Non vegetarians will easily get the large portion of it from pork, beef, venison, salmon, tuna, chicken, and eggs. However, for vegetarians asparagus, broccoli, spinach, sunflower seeds, and green beans are good sources of Vitamin B.
Anthocyane
These aren’t particularly vitamins but flavonoids, known for their antioxidant properties with antidiabetic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anti-obesity effects, as well as prevention of cardiovascular diseases. The vital nutrition is evident in red-orange, blue, and purple food items.
Anthocyanins are mostly available in fruits although there are a few primary sources of vegetables you can get a vital amount of anthocyanin. If we talk about Keto-friendly options, violet asparagus, red cabbage, and eggplant are good sources of Anthocyanins. There are also a few fruits with low carb and sugar counts that you can have in limited quantities to keep you up with your daily Anthocyanins intake. These fruits can include strawberries, blueberries, mulberries, etc. In general, the more tart berries have fewer carbs.
Summary
Don’t be in doubt. Keto diet is an excellent source of vitamins. It will supply you with all the micronutrients that your body requires if you follow it precisely. Only because you’re limiting carbs that doesn’t mean that you would be missing on vitamins and minerals too. Just make sure you incorporate these vitamins in your Keto diet. Make sure you check my guide – What to eat and avoid in Keto Diet. And if you’re beginner here’s my complete Indian Keto Guide for you. You can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram to learn more about my Ketogenic lifestyle.
