A Couple Questions, Keto newb here

(Tony) #1

I’ve read up a lot about the Keto diet, and just officially went all in on it in the past couple of days. I understand the basics of it, higher fat than protein, low carbs (I know it’s a little more in depth than that but obviously don’t need to explain that here).

My struggle is with what healthy fats to add essentially to supplement what I’m not getting in regular meals. I love eating eggs in the morning (cooked with bacon fat), and avocados are delicious. I understand MCT oil is very good for this, but it seems to be very expensive for an oil to me. How does this compare to say for example the below oil?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077NQRSZ8/ref=s9_dcacsd_dcoop_bw_c_x_1_w
My local grocery store currently has these on sale for $5 a bottle.

If MCT oil is still the way to go, how much am I supposed to be using?

I know macadamia nuts are delicious too, but expensive, any places where I can get them in bulk for a reasonable cost?

Caffeine. I’ve built up a big tolerance to caffeine over the years but don’t really care for coffee so I am not going the bulletproof route. Am I still ok to keep drinking the Absolute Zero Monsters (1 carb/no sugar) and MiO Energy (no carb/no sugar) at least on occasion?

And last question, is making homemade jerky worth it? I’ve noticed a lot of store bought jerky is low fat and has some sugar/carbs in it. Just wondering if putting in the time is worth it for a keto snack. Or if I should just avoid this if I’m worried about costs piling up high?

(Lonnie Hedley) #2

MCT oil isn’t for cooking with. It’s more for energy. Add it to salad dressings. Or since it has no taste, take it straight. Start slow, maybe 1tsp, and work your way up SLOWLY to 1-3tbls.

In the oil you’re looking at, avocado and coconut are good, but I’m not so sure about safflower oil.

Cheapest place to get bulk macadamias is probably Amazon.

Those “zero carb” monsters are fine, but the sweetness may cause craving for other sweet things.

If you LOVE jerky, making your own could work fine. Just remember there isn’t much fat in the meat you typically use to make jerky.

Lastly, none of this is necessary. Olive oil to add fat to salads. Butter (or bacon grease) to cook eggs in. Dukes store bought jerky if you want a snack.

(Tony) #3

Thank you for the response!

Do you know how MCT compares to regular coconut oil? Are the benefits of MCT just more concentrated?

I have noticed when I drink those my cravings for other junk food are increased. I just wish I enjoyed coffee, I’ve tried liking it like a hundred times, tastes like dirt to me unless I add a bunch of junk to it.

I really enjoy jerky, but I guess I didn’t realize until recently that there wasn’t a lot of fat in it.

(Lonnie Hedley) #4

Coconut oil is about 2/3 MCT.

Coffee can be an acquired taste. I used to add a bunch of stuff to it, now it’s just straight. I’ve started making my own cold brew. If you do dairy, I found adding HWC would make it deliciously creamy. Some say adding salt lessens the bitterness.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #5

If you like drinking oil, stay away from seed oils, which contain far too many polyunsaturates. Stick to olive, coconut, or avocado oil.

It should not, however, be necessary to drink oil in order to get enough fat. Butter, tallow, bacon grease, and lard are good sources of saturated and monounsaturated fats (the former to regulate your cholesterol, and the latter for energy), so they are great to cook with. Buy the fattier cuts of meat, avoid skinless chicken, eat high-fat cheese and cook with heavy cream (if you’re able to tolerate dairy), put blue cheese dressing on your salad—that sort of thing—and you should be fine.

We don’t recommend either eating to percentages or cutting calories. What we do recommend is (1) keeping carbohydrate under 20 g/day; (2) eating a reasonable amount of protein in relation to your lean body mass; and (3) filling the rest of your diet with fat to satiety. In other words, eat enough so that you are not hungry when you’ve finished eating and can go several hours between meals. Don’t eat again until you are hungry again; you are trying to minimize the amount of time each day that your insulin level is elevated. Fat is not a magic weight-loss substance, by the way, it is merely the safest source of calories because it stimulates insulin production the least.

(Garry (Canada)) #6

You have the basics down and have been given some great advice. My only suggestion is don’t try to complicate it… Keep it simple.

Here’s an example of my typical breakfast. 3 eggs are fried in salted butter. (I only eat the yolks in order to control my protein intake) Old white cheddar, Cherry tomatoes, Avocado, garlic. :smile:

Welcome to the Better Life!

BTW…Save your bacon grease/etc for frying. Good Luck.

(Lonnie Hedley) #7

Even better idea. Eat your bacon grease. Add butter for frying. Then eat that too. :grin: