Carbohydrates: Keep net carbohydrate intake to 25 grams per day or less. Net carbs is total carbs minus fiber grams.

Protein: Make your calories from protein around 15% of total calories. The most common way people do a ketogenic diet incorrectly is to eat too much dietary protein and too little fat. Excess protein will convert into glucose and compromises ideal ketosis

Fat: Prefer cold-pressed olive oil as your primary oil for cooking and topping of foods. Calories from fat should be 80-85% or greater.

Diet tracking in the first week: Tracking your diet can be a useful exercise in the first week but it’s not mandatory for success. We recommend using the diet-tracking app, Cronometer.

Measuring Ketones: You can measure your ketone levels through urine, blood, and breath. Optimal level of ketones for weight loss is 1.5 - 3 mmol / L. You do not need to measure ketones to be successful on a ketogenic diet but some people like the feedback to know their levels in response to their diet.

Fish & Shellfish: Any fish and shellfish.

Meat: Beef, pork, lamb, veal, buffalo, venison.

Poultry: Chicken, duck, turkey, or other fowl.

Eggs: Whole eggs.

Leafy greens: Arugula, chard, endive, kale, lettuce, parsley, spinach, radicchio, and watercress.

Non-Starchy vegetables: Artichokes, asparagus, bok choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, chives, cucumber, eggplant, green beans, jicama, leeks, mushrooms, okra, onions, peppers, pumpkin, radishes, rhubarb, scallions, shallots, snow peas, sprouts, peas, summer squash, tomatoes, wax beans, zucchini.

• Olives
• Cheese
• Avocado
• Whole fresh berries
• Macadamia nuts
• Pork rinds
• Beef Jerky

• Keto Brownie Bars
• Almond flour cake
• Chia puddings
• Keto chocolates
• Coconut macaroons
• Stevia

• Water: Is what you should be drinking most on a ketogenic diet
• Coffee and Tea: Aim to drink without additives but MCT oil powder creamers are okay.
• Electrolytes: Many experience less side effects , like headaches and lethargy, when they take supplemental electrolytes.
• Diet Soda: Okay but prefer water and teas to diet soda.
• Alcohol: Dry Farm Wines are keto-friendly. Low-carb beers. Hard alcohol. Diet soda mixers.

Getting started can be rough as your body switches from using glucose and glycogen as fuel to using ketones. Why? Well, it can take a few days before the liver kicks in and starts to produce ketones and since you’re taking in very little carbs during this time, the brain lacks fuel. This can lead to the ‘keto flu’ where you can literally feel flu-like symptoms, brain fog, moodiness, fatigue, and apathy. We recommend you try adopting a low-carb diet (<50 grams of net carbs per day) the week prior to starting a ketogenic diet. We also recommend adopting a shortened eating window in this week-long, pre-keto diet period. Aim to eat all your calorie within a 10-hour window daily in the week prior to starting keto.

Exogenous Ketones: The function of these products is currently unclear. One idea is that they can make the transition into keto easier as you can provide ketones the brain can use before your body begins to produce ketones on its own. Using exogenous ketones may actually delay the time it takes for your body to enter ketosis, but again, they may make the transition more comfortable.

Meal number and timing: Eat two-to-three meals a day and one snack if hungry. Eat dinner as early as possible each night. Okay to eat breakfast late. See our chrononutrition guide for more information on eating timing. Try this: Have a large breakfast, a small late snack with tea, and an early dinner.

Food Preparation: Prefer slow cooking, stewing, boiling, steaming, and microwaving. Okay to bake, stir-fried, sauteed, or grilled.

Exercise: Vigorous-intensity exercise will be harder. A great physical activity approach during this diet is to walk a lot daily and to weight train or InTUNE Training on humanOS.me. Shorter bursts of exercise use a different fuel substrate than glucose/glycogen, so performance in this type of exercise is maintained during ketosis.

• Longevity Properties of Beta-Hydroxybutyrate. Podcast with Neil Copes
• When Dietary Fat Is Fattening and When It Is Not: The Fat Thermostat
• Ketones and Exercise: A New Way to Enhance Athletic Performance?
• The Ketogenic Diet and Diabetes: The Virta Health Study. Podcast with Stephan Guyenet
• Is “Moderate” Drinking Really Healthy? Podcast with Todd White