Recently, keto food (high fat low carbohydrate, LCHF) has become very popular. Who does not just talk about him, however, there are few healthy and boring statements on the Internet. Recently I found an @ cilantro.ru account on Instagram that I want to read: fun, witty, clear and practical! The author of the account and the online version of Cilantro, Olena Islamkina, a journalist and keto coach, I asked her to talk about keto. If you have any questions, write in the comments. More information on the website cilantro.ru and in Olena’s Instagram account @ cilantro.ru.
– How did you come to this diet? Were there health problems, weight problems, or just experimentation? How quickly did you feel it was “working”?
— Accidentally. There were problems in general – work and personal life were not pleasing, I wanted to change something, I decided to start with myself. I switched to proper nutrition – protein and vegetables, excluded sugar, pastries, pasta, rice. But I really love delicious food, so I didn’t last long on such a diet – I began to imperceptibly fatten food. Suddenly there was more strength, my brains “brightened”, my mood improved, the weight was melting before my eyes. And then I accidentally stumbled upon information about keto / LCHF and the picture was formed. Since then I have been conscientiously eating food.
– What do you eat for breakfast and dinner?
— Now I am breastfeeding my newborn daughter, I – #mamanaketo, in Instagram terms, changed the diet and the frequency of meals. Before pregnancy, I ate 2 times a day – breakfast and dinner, practiced interval hunger strikes – 8:16 (16 hours without food) or 2: 5 (2 times a week for 24 hours on a fast).
For breakfast, I ate, for example, scrambled eggs with bacon, vegetables and cheese, plus some delicious cheese or nut butter. In the evening – something protein, cooked in fat with vegetables and fat. For example, duck breast, mushrooms and vegetables fried in duck fat. Or French meat and salad with olive oil or homemade mayonnaise. Plus, I try to add probiotic foods – sauerkraut or Greek yogurt – to one of my meals. Berries – when you really want to, as a delicacy.
Pregnant and lactating women are advised to eat more often and add carbohydrates. Now I have 3 meals, two solid and one lighter. The set of products is about the same, I eat more berries.
– What carbohydrates and how much are acceptable on a keto diet?
— A common misconception is that you don’t eat carbohydrates on keto. They are limited. I don’t eat bread, pastries, pasta, potatoes and cereals at all. Fruits are extremely rare (the fact that they contain a lot of vitamins and without them is impossible is not true).
On the other hand, the keto diet contains a lot of greens and vegetables, they are sources of carbohydrates and fiber. And with fat, they are 100 times tastier than steamed or baked without oil. Try making Brussels sprouts with bacon or broccoli puree with a generous helping of butter. Eat your mind! Nuts and berries also contain carbohydrates. There are only a few of them, they are packed with fiber and do not contain nasty things like gluten.
– Vegan and LCHF compatible?
— I’ve seen keto vegan diets and they seem far from perfect to me. Vegetarians can usually put together a decent fatty diet, another question is how much it will cost. Still, in our latitudes, it is more profitable to eat lard than avocado.
– How Does the keto diet affect the functioning of internal organs?
– Numerous studies do not confirm that the heart and liver suffer from fat, as many are still mistaken. Fatty liver is treated with a keto diet, your heart will thank you if you eat fat instead of whole grain bread, your brain, nervous and hormonal systems suffer without fat. For epilepsy, PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, for autism and even cancer, keto is used. For a healthy person, a diet will help maintain health, be more productive and more energetic.
More information on the Cilantro website