To enter ketosis, you need the right proportion of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Which leads to a common question: How many carbs should you eat for keto?
One of the basic principles of ketogenic diet is to keep carbohydrate intake extremely low – less than 50 grams per day. Below, you will learn how many carbs most people consume for keto, why your macro goals may vary, and how to calculate your carb, protein and fat intake. You will also learn about some healthy sources of carbs to consider your keto diet.
How Many Carbs Can You Have for Keto?
The purpose of keeping carbs low is that your body has to use fat as a primary energy source instead of glucose from carbohydrates. Fat is a very energy-dense molecule, and some of it is converted into ketones. Most cells in your body can use ketones for energy instead of glucose. When your body switches to use fats and ketones as the primary energy source, you are in a state of nutritional ketosis.
Most people consume 70-75% of their daily calories from fat, 20-25% from calorie protein, and only 5-10% of calories from net carbs on the keto diet. This is a ballpark range – your individual macronutrient goals will vary depending on your age, body structure, activity level and any fat loss target you have.
How to calculate your carb intake?
Most ketogenic diet guidelines advise you to live between 15 and 30 grams of net carbohydrates per day or 5-10% of the total calories.
Net carbohydrates = total carbohydrates – fibre – a sugar alcohol
In general, if you are a very active person who exercises 4 to 5 times a week, you are more likely to be able to consume more carbohydrates and stay in ketosis.
But if you live a motionless lifestyle and are overweight, we encourage you to keep carb intake at the bottom to get a status of ketosis. Carb targets to stay in ketosis.
How to Calculate Your Protein Intake
Protein should be kept in adequate proportion. Consumption of about 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per kilogram of lean body mass (0.68 – 1 gram protein per pound lean body mass) is ideal. Your protein intake target will be higher only if you want to build muscle, lift heavy weights almost every day, or follow a high protein keto diet.
How to Calculate Your Fat Intake
After calculating your protein and net carbs, your remaining calories of the day will come from sources of fat. As mentioned earlier, it usually constitutes 70-75% of the total calories of your day.
To give you an idea, 70% of 2,000 calories is 1,400 calories. If you divide 1,400 by 9 (since one gram of fat is equal to 9 calories), you get 155.56 grams of fat per day.
Do calories matter on a keto diet?
Carb targets to stay in ketosis
As per the 2018 review of a variety of ketogenic diets, a person should consume 50 grams (G) of carbohydrates per day to stay in ketosis.
A woman should consume 40-50 grams of protein per day on a keto diet, while a man should consume 50-60 grams of protein daily.
But different keto diets allow different amounts of carbs, proteins and fats:
- Standard ketogenic diet: Overall, 70% of a person’s intake is fat, 20% is protein, and 10% is carbs.
- Cyclic ketogenic diet: There is a cycle of 5 fewer carb days and 2 high carb days.
- Targeted ketogenic diet: A person can eat more carbs around high-intensity workouts.
- High protein ketogenic diet: Overall, 60% of a person’s intake is fat, 35% is protein, and 5% is carbs.
Standard keto diets have been the subject of most research, and experts who recommend a ketogenic diet are more likely to make such a recommendation.
How does the keto diet work?
It may be noted that limiting the intake of carbs burns fat instead of carbs for body energy. As a result, glucose levels fall.
It forces the body to produce ketone, acids that appear in blood and urine when fat burns in the body. When the body uses fat as energy and releases ketones, it is called ketosis.
During ketosis, the body also produces less insulin, and this results in low-fat accumulation.
If it is a goal, Keto diet can help in weight loss by reducing appetite levels and increasing metabolism. It can also help manage type 2 diabetes as the diet can lower glucose levels.
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List of Carbs You Can Consume on Keto
Some of the foods listed below still contain some carbohydrates, so it’s best to make sure to read the label and track your intake carefully so that you don’t overdo it, especially if you’re a newbie.
Also read: food lists for paleo diet
Meat, poultry and substitutes
- beef
- deli meats
- game
- lamb
- organ meats
- pork
- poultry
- sausages
- tempeh
- Tofu, extra Firm
Keto-friendly fish and seafood
- anchovies
- crab
- All types of fish
- lobster
- prawn
- squids
- tuna
Ways to eat eggs
- Boiled, hard or soft
- fried
- In quiches or frittatas
- omelette
- poached
- Scrambled
Best keto vegetables
- cauliflower
- avocado
- broccoli
- cabbage
- snake gourd
- spinach
- asparagus
- kale
- green bean
- brussels sprouts
Also read: What to avoid in low carb diet?
Best keto nuts and seeds
- almond
- Brazilian Nuts
- walnut
- Macadamia Nuts
- peanut
- Pecans
- pine nuts
- walnut
Best keto Fruits and Berries
- black berries
- coconut
- lemon
- lemon
- Raspberry
- Strawberries
Cheese and full-fat dairy
Cheese, butter and cream can all be part of the keto diet. Greek yoghurt, in particular, makes protein-rich snacks with some carbs. Avoid low-fat flavoured yoghurt which is often filled with extra sugar.
healthy high carb good food lists
Summary
By changing high-carb sources with low carb foods listed above, you will provide fuel and essential nutrients to your body that are required to grow it.
If you are smart about it, consuming these low carb foods will also help you stay full, which will greatly reduce your cravings.
You may also like: low carb diet for weight loss
Before starting the keto diet, contact the doctor to ensure that the change is safe.
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Faq
Polyols are a special type of carb that cannot be absorbed by the body (depending on the type). By law we have to count polyols as part of carbs on the label – but when you are counting carbs as part of a low carb or keto diet you don’t have to calculate carbs from polyols.
Like most diets, some foods on the keto diet should be avoided if a person is going to get benefits. Carbohydrate-rich foods such as pasta, rice and potatoes should all be avoided, as well as foods with high sugar content such as fruits, soda, beer and chocolate.
The crumpet (1 serving) contains a total of 38.3 grams of carbs, 36 grams of net carbs, 0.8 grams of fat, 6 grams of protein and 183 calories.
How much sugar or carbohydrates a person will kick someone out of ketosis will vary from person to person. Common factors affecting one’s carbohydrate limit include the overall body size, especially muscle mass and activity levels. Make sure sugar, along with all other sources of your carbohydrates, stays below the limit of about 50 grams a day.
