Please and thank you

(Jan) #1
  1. What is the suggested daily carb intake?
  2. Are the small Mission Zero tortillas ok?
  3. Is Sparkling Ice no sugar drinks ok?
  4. Eggbeaters?
  5. Please, how to count carbs, versus net carbs.
    Thanks!
#2

Hello Jan,

Welcome to the forum!

Lots of people here recommend eating below 20g of carbs, as do many of the scientists and experts in this area, however if you are in decent metabolic health you can have quite good results with a limit closer to 50g.

Low carb products (like tortillas) and artificial sweeteners are popular and can definitely help you stay below your carb limit, but how much you use these really depends on your overall health goals. For example, some people might prefer to limit ultra-processed food, or find that continuing to eat sweet things keeps their cravings strong.

I’m not familiar with Egg Beaters, but if they are just eggs (perhaps processed in some way to last longer), they are fine and a great choice!

You count net carbs, by subtracting grams of fibre from total carb grams. This means for example that fibrous vegetables, while appearing high in carbs, are very often still a good choice because they are so high in fibre the net carb score ends up quite low.

Good luck with your eating and let us know how it goes!

#3

And some carbs from sweeteners too… Erythritol, for example, is 100% carbs but many of us counts it as zero net carbs (some count more, it’s a bit vague both with sweeteners and fibers, actually… some labels are impossible to figure out too but if I just don’t buy anything with sweetener in it, it’s no problem even if I want to track. as good things with sweetener in them is basically impossible to find if it’s me, it’s zero loss :smiley: ).

Some people have found they are better with a low total, others don’t care about total at all. We all should do what works for our individual body but if one wants to be super sure, they should stay low with both net and total carbs. The carb limit is individual too. 20g works for almost everyone but even if we can afford more, it may not be ideal, the type of carbs matter too. It is very apparent my body is just fine with animal sugars, it’s not that perfect with plant carbs though I handle those too. But with plants, I almost inevitably go too high with my carbs (and calories) so it’s good to be careful with them anyway. Still, the difference is quite noticeable. Eating a bunch of plant sugar all alone feels the worst so I try to be careful with very sweet fruits.

Highly processed things (with those weird ingredients… I don’t care so much about mere processing myself) may fit into the carb limit but we avoid them for health reasons (and others. I find most of them not enjoyable or just unnecessary. or overpriced. I easily make my own food). It makes sense, most of us probably do keto to feel better, be healthier, it won’t do eating low quality, unhealthy low-carb food galore! Once in a blue moon, I can understand that but I personally try to get rid of those things too. Sometimes I replace it with my much better version, sometimes I just eat a better though very different food. And sometimes I am forced to compromise but my body is sturdy enough to handle it and it’s better than the alternative. So even if crutches are there in the beginning as they are very needed, it’s best to get rid of the worst items and eventually abandon the not so horrid but still bad ones. If you ask me or other health-conscious ones, at least, it’s quite possible mere keto (unless it is done in an extremely bad way) will solve most problems diet can solve and all will be well enough. It’s up to the one in question, it’s their life. And our body handles things differently anyway… I still am against highly processed food, with good reason. I am not against high-carb as some people are thriving on it (or just don’t have any other options).

Somewhat processed things are fine for me, very helpful to have some sausage around - but I look at the ingredient list. There are better and worse ones, of course.

Sweeteners are individual, some people should avoid them, others not necessarily but overdoing them, I can’t see that as a good thing. And if we want to end up with zero and almost zero, we may be able to go cold turkey or we may need years just to drink our coffee unsweetened (I am the latter)…

So, there are no very definite answers, we have different bodies, priorities, goals, even circumstances or cooking abilities…

Good luck!

(KM) #4

Welcome!

A keto diet is one that aims to keep carbohydrates low enough to induce ketosis, which is a different metabolic way for your body to fuel itself using fat - either dietary fat or your own fat. The limit will depend on your own physiology. As has been said, a recommended starting point is 20 carbs per day, your body may respond differently. Whether you count total carbs or net carbs is up to you and how your body responds.

Technically all the foods you mentioned are okay from a carbohydrate standpoint. The issue I might have is that none of them are very nutritious. Were you planning on making these your staple foods, or just checking if they’re okay once in awhile?

I would not bother with Eggbeaters, with keto you’re looking for a higher fat, higher nutrition diet and if I recall they are only egg white. The point here is not to severely limit calories. Low fat options are not ideal, and they often contain more carbohydrates. (Eggbeaters doesn’t have more carbs and there’s nothing wrong with it, keto-wise, but it’s missing all the good stuff.) Plain old eggs are fine!

Honestly, the easiest way to do keto is with plenty of full fat animal products, which, other than milk, have basically very low or no carbohydrate beyond what’s used in preparation. Red meat (by which I mean any mammal) gives the most bang for your buck, but fowl and seafood and full fat dairy are also fine. It is possible to do a more plant-based keto diet, and there are a few people who are even vegan keto, but it is much harder to keep your macros (protein, carbs, and fat) in line without meat.

#5

They may be very good choices though. I should aim to eat as lean as possible for me on my good but not fat fast days so egg whites are my friends (not like they help much, lean meat is much better but every little thing may help)… As I eat a ton of fat even when I minimize it (it just inevitably comes like protein :frowning: ), it’s no problem. Of course, we shouldn’t heavily depend on lean stuff and avoid fat but lots of lean stuff with a little fat (100g is almost nothing, I get it from a few bites sometimes…) may be great sometimes, for someone… I NEED lean things to balance out the fat I just can’t avoid getting. And some people need way less fat than what I can afford to eat according to their stories.
Some people adore chicken breast and lean fish so they should eat them on keto too. The fat can and should come from other items.

Even so, I don’t understand Egg Beaters. Even egg whites are better as long as they come without additions, I have no idea, we don’t have those things, just eggs and egg powders and they are 100% egg.
Whole eggs are tastier, way more nutritious and useful, I agree with that, a few don’t even have much fat but tastes and priorities differ… Still, I understand avoiding fatty meat way more than avoiding yolks unless there is some good reason for it.

And I am a sworn enemy of all low-fat dairy items (I mean, the kind that has a higher-fat version too, some dairy items are inevitably low-fat. like quark. it doesn’t go over 7% here but it’s a great item. I usually mix it with something fattier). Or I deny their existence. Either of the two. BUT if someone loves low-fat dairy, well, it’s their choice. Just eat their fat too from something else, on any diet.

I can get behind that :smiley: It works best for me personally, I just need to be careful with the fat but it’s me. If one tends to overeat, it’s very useful and potentially needed to figure out what items are most satiating. I probably would have little problem with fatty meat and little else! Many of us easily overdo fat using dairy, I have this with eggs too (to a smaller extent) but red meat tends to be very satiating. Some people don’t get well satiated by pork but it’s pretty rare, it seems.
I keep dairy for pure joy - and helping me out with protein on days when I don’t fancy much meat.

I mostly agree but it depends on the person, I would think… Meat is very helpful, sure and I personally couldn’t do vegetarian keto with very low-carb but a heavy dependence on animal products (and possibly gluten if it suits one) can keep the carb intake nicely low. Getting enough fat and protein is way too easy on any diet I ever did but I can imagine meat could help someone even there. Especially on OMAD. Though very satiating meat can keep one from doing OMAD too.
In general, I totally agree, lack of meat makes it harder. I just like wondering about special cases especially when I can relate. My vegetarian diets always were rich in fatty animal proteins, it’s probably not typical for vegetarians.

(Jan) #6

Thank you everyone for taking the time to answer.

(KM) #7

Shinita

1h

kib1:

Low fat options are not ideal

They may be very good choices though. I should aim to eat as lean as possible for me on my good but not fat fast days so egg whites are my friends (not like they help much, lean meat is much better but every little thing may help)… As I eat a ton of fat even when I minimize it (it just inevitably comes like protein :frowning: ), it’s no problem. Of course, we shouldn’t heavily depend on lean stuff and avoid fat but lots of lean stuff with a little fat (100g is almost nothing, I get it from a few bites sometimes…) may be great sometimes, for someone …

Sorry, my quote button doesn’t seem to be working. When I say “low fat” I mean processed products that are specifically designed and marketed to have the fat sucked out of them. Skim milk, no-fat yogurt, the notorious Snackwell cookies. Many of these things have carbs added to make them tastier, or the macros change. (Example, I have a 9 oz serving of something that has 3 oz carbs, 3 oz protein and 3 oz fat. If take away the fat now I have a 6 oz serving. If i want a 9 oz serving of this new fat free product, it will contain 4.5 grams of carb and 4.5 grams of protein.) Foods that are naturally ‘lean’ are a different story, there’s nothing intrinsically problematic about a leaner meat, for example.

#8

  1. There isn’t, many go with 20g and stay there forever, but many can go decently higher and still spend most of their days (or all of it) in Ketosis. That’s up to your metabolism.

  2. Been using them for years without issue,

  3. Yup!

  4. Use them all the time

  5. Carbs are whatever the label lists, net carbs are that minus fiber and sugar alcohols. Many low carb things already do the math for you.

#9

Welcome to the ketogenic lifestyle and forum!

Some people consider net carbs useful while others think it doesn’t matter because it’s just carbs.

Speaking of tortillas/bread, I know people who munch on Lewis Keto Bread.