In a randomised trial published in Cell Metabolism, 42 people with obesity, prediabetes and fatty liver all lost around 10% of their body weight. In the keto group liver fat fell from 19.4% to 6.2%, more than on a Mediterranean diet or on a very low-fat plant-forward diet.
3 minutes read
Plenty of people say calories don't count on keto. In two studies run on hospital wards, keto neither burned many extra calories nor curbed appetite by itself; weight came down, as on any diet, when people took in less energy than they used.
3 minutes read3 min
A common belief is that keto brings the body close to ketoacidosis. Ketones rise in both states, but ketoacidosis needs a shortage of insulin and acidic blood. Type 1 diabetes and SGLT2 tablets are where caution is needed.
3 minutes read3 min
ArticleLifestyle
Turkey, pork and lamb have no carbs. Those come from the rice and chestnut stuffing, the roast potatoes and the sweets: 50 g of melomakarona has 25 to 30 g, more than a whole day of strict keto allows.
3 minutes read3 min
ArticleNutrition and foods
On EU labels the carbohydrate figure already leaves out fibre but still includes polyols. "Sugar-free" and "no added sugar" only refer to sugars, which is how a petit beurre biscuit with no added sugar ends up with 67 g of carbohydrate per 100 g.
4 minutes read4 min
ArticleLifestyle
Grilled meat and fish have almost no carbs; the grams hide in the bread, the chips, anything fried in flour and dishes such as mussels or a whole Greek salad.
4 minutes read4 min
GuideKetogenic basics
All three cut out bread, pasta and sugar. In place of the carbohydrates keto puts fat and the high-protein diet puts protein, while low carb simply cuts them less; as for weight, studies find only small differences.
4 minutes read4 min
GuideKetogenic basics
Keto keeps carbohydrates under 50 grams a day, the strict version under 20. On European labels the fibre has already been taken out, so anyone who subtracts it again gets the sum wrong; with vegetables, though, 20 grams will see you through a whole day.
4 minutes read4 min
GuideNutrition and foods
A week of keto built on Greek home cooking, from a feta omelette to sardines with greens, with no day going over 20 grams of net carbs. The shopping list is at the end.
6 minutes read6 min
GuideLifestyle
Keto decides what you eat and intermittent fasting decides when, so the two combine easily. In a year-long study, though, the eating window added little on top of simply eating fewer calories.
4 minutes read4 min
GuideKetogenic basics
In the first days of keto plenty of people feel as if they are coming down with something: headache, tiredness, dizziness. Most of it comes from the water and salts you lose, so a salty broth and a little patience usually sort it out.
4 minutes read4 min
GuideKetogenic basics
For the first two days you hardly notice a change; from day three to day five keto flu usually turns up, and by the end of the week it has mostly eased. Meanwhile the scales drop fast, mostly from water.
5 minutes read5 min
Dinner
The dough is melted mozzarella, cream cheese and almond flour, the mix known in the US as fathead pizza. The base is baked on its own first so it crisps up; the tomato, cheese and pepperoni go on afterwards. It makes one 28 cm pizza, enough for two.
45 minutesMedium
10.1 g net carbs per serving
Breakfast
Blitz cream cheese, eggs and a little almond flour in the blender and breakfast is ready in ten minutes. They come out thin and soft, somewhere between a pancake and a crêpe: about 8 small ones, enough for two.
20 minutesEasy
2.9 g net carbs per serving
Lunch
Sunday moussaka with two changes: the aubergines are baked instead of fried, and the béchamel is made without flour, from cream cheese, double cream and eggs. There are no potatoes. A 25 × 30 cm dish gives 6 servings.
90 minutesMedium
10.4 g net carbs per serving
Lunch
Strips of courgette stand in for the pasta in this Greek bake, roasted first so the dish doesn't go watery, and the topping is thickened with egg yolks and graviera instead of flour. A serving has about 8 grams of net carbs.
75 minutesMedium
7.7 g net carbs per serving
Lunch
Our take on Greek gemista, with grated cauliflower in place of the rice in the filling; mince, mint and parsley keep the taste of the home-cooked dish. We use green peppers, which have roughly half the carbs of red ones.
85 minutesMedium
11.5 g net carbs per serving
Lunch
The filling of a Greek spanakopita, bound with eggs and baked without filo in a cast-iron pan or small tin, with dill and spring onions giving it the familiar smell. It cuts into six slices, each with about 4 grams of net carbs.
60 minutesEasy
4.2 g net carbs per serving
Afternoon snack
A baked New York-style cheesecake, sweetened with erythritol and set on an almond flour and butter base instead of biscuits. It needs a night in the fridge. Of the ten slices, each has about 4 grams of net carbs.
85 minutesMedium
4.1 g net carbs per serving
Morning snack
Buttery biscuits for coffee, inspired by Greek koulourakia and made with almond flour and erythritol. The dough is too soft to twist, so you shape small discs and mark them with a fork. It makes 20, and a serving of two has under 2 grams of net carbs.
35 minutesEasy
1.6 g net carbs per serving
Afternoon snack
An egg-free mousse of whipped cream, dark chocolate and cocoa. It takes a quarter of an hour to make, then two hours in the fridge, and fills four pots with about 7 grams of net carbs each.
15 minutesEasy
7.1 g net carbs per serving
Meal plan7 days
Seven days of Greek home cooking in keto form. Every meal has its own recipe, such as the spinach and feta omelette or the prawn saganaki. The totals under each day are worked out by the site from its food database; no day reaches 20 g of net carbs (the nuts and olives in the snacks are left out of the totals and add at most 1.8 g).
17.1 g net carbs per day
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