By: Mussy Raitman, Lubicom Staff
We live in world of weight-loss diets, high protein, low carb meal plans and a lot (A LOT) of keto friendly recipes.
This year Google searches for “keto” took a spike, outdoing both “Whole 30” and “Paleo.”
Google trends charts don’t lie.
The ketogenic diet is a very low-carb, high-fat diet that reduces the amount of carbohydrates one eats and replaces it with fats. This ultimately puts the body in a state called ketosis. Whilst in ketosis the body becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy.
So yes, no surprise that this diet has taken over, with major influencers swearing by it and posting pictures of their #BulletProofCoffee. The craziest thing I found was that this diet has been around for almost a century. It was originally found to treat epilepsy – apparently the way the body re-learns to burn fat on the keto diet helped prevent seizures from occurring.
This ain’t some millennial fad, the roots of this diet go way back in time and for some reason that makes me more ok with it all.
Generally the fats recommended on this diet include both saturated and unsaturated. This includes avocado, whole milk, mayonnaise, butter and fatty fish. Items like flour, sugar and even fruits are not recommended on this diet.
Good news for all those cheese lovers…
High-fat dairy is not only allowed but strongly encouraged on a ketogenic diet (!!)
If you’re looking for a free pass this Shavuos to eat all the butter, cheese and heavy cream your heart desires, hop on the keto train. Cheese may just be that extra boost of fat that helps you hit your daily macros. There seriously is a Yom Tov for everyone.
Here are the top 6 keto-encouraged dairy products:
- Butter– Being one of the most highly concentrated forms of milk and made up of 99% fat, butter is the perfect source of energy for those on the keto diet. It’s very important to stick to grass-fed butter, which is higher in heart-healthy nutrients. If your keen on incorporating butter into your lifestyle (which is not such a hard thing to do) make sure you use it as a meal enhancer, not as a meal itself.
- Whipping cream– Whipping cream is a gold ingredient amongst the keto nation, it’s almost too good to be true. It’s very high in fat, making it the perfect energy boosters with no carbs attached. Because milk isn’t a great option (high in carbs) whip cream is a great substitute. Most store-bought whipped creams have a lot of added sugars, so it’s probably best to pull out your hand mixer and whip some up yourself.
- Hard cheeses– Although you have to say goodbye to the glorious combination of cheese and bread, hard cheeses alone gets the keto approval. With just less than a gram of carbs per tablespoon, cheese is an essential tool for keeping your energy levels high all day. The harder the cheese, the lower in carbs (say hi to your new best friend, Parmesan)!
- Soft Cheese– A world without soft cheese…is a sad one. Even though hard cheese is the preferred choice, not all soft cheeses are high in carbs. Soft and gooey brie cheese, for example, has only 0.1 grams of carbs per ounce, meaning, yes it can remain the spotlight on your cheese boards.
- Greek yogurt and cottage cheese– Both Greek yogurt and cottage cheese contain small amounts of carbs per serving and are very much encouraged as long as you are aware of portion control. Both of these foods help one feel full and are easy foods to eat on the go, making the keto diet more attainable.
- Cream Cheese– As long as you stop spreading it on toasted bagels, cream cheese is another keto- friendly food. I must say, on this diet you get really good at learning to swap out bread for cucumber and lettuce wraps. However, just because bread is a no-no doesn’t mean you have to give up your beloved lox and creamy cheese combo.
Just like every diet, keto is not for everyone. The keto diet can be especially useful for losing excess body fat without hunger. If it works for you, great. If it doesn’t, I’m sure there is some other trendy diet that will fit your criteria.
Happy Shavuos to all those high-fat, dairy-loving people out there!
