Nuts n’ Seeds For Keto Please!
Oh Keto! So many people ask me if my nut butters, brownie balls, and super seed balls are keto-friendly. Yes, they are, but I want to unpack the term “keto-friendly” because it means different things to different people. The same way that the words “workout,” “diet,” and “good driver” are relative and easy-to-hyperbolize terms.
Keto is not a definitive term. There are variations of this popularized but not-so-modern diet, and while the common desired outcome is weight loss, getting your body in ketosis produces a variety of benefits.
Before I dive into it, I want to make clear that I am not a registered dietitian or nutritionist or anything of the sort. But I am super curious about everything to do with what goes into good food and why people like what they like.
Everything I know about the keto diet, I’ve learned through reading the latest research and talking to people who have experienced the diet. I know that if someone is super committed to it, they can lose weight quickly. But it doesn’t work that way for everyone. Who knows why, other than genes, perhaps? However, even if it doesn’t result in weight loss, the keto diet (even a mild version of it) gives us a useful guideline for a healthier eating.
So, What is the Keto Diet?
Originally developed in the 1920s as a treatment for epilepsy and glioblastoma, a deadly brain tumor, the keto diet has morphed into a conventional weight loss regimen (1, 2). Because it has high-fat, low-carb parameters, it also helps to keep inflammation levels and free radical production low (free radicals are those nasty cell-damaging molecules that cause disease).
The keto diet makes fat your body’s main energy source. See, when you eat, your body uses glucose as an instant source of energy. The problem is that glucose is sugar, and if you don’t burn off that sugar right away it gets stored as fat in the liver and muscles, which puts you at risk of developing diabetes and obesity.
Eating a low-carb, high-fat diet (and I’m talkin’ about the good fats) creates ketones, which your body burns for energy rather than glucose. That metabolic state is called ketosis.
The overarching goal of the keto diet is to become fat-adapted, a state in which your body burns rather than stores fat. You feel less hungry between meals and your body becomes optimized to choose the most efficient fuel source. Staying in ketosis for a long time will reap you the greatest health benefits.
But here’s the thing: You don’t have to be super committed to the keto diet to enjoy its benefits. Simply upping your good fats and kicking down the carbs can inspire noticeable benefits. The trick is getting in good, satisfying fats that don’t leave you feeling starved for carbs.
Nuts n’ Seeds Please!
Everyone loves protein, especially those body-builder, gym-rat types. Protein builds muscle after all. But becoming a lean, mean, fat-burning machine actually requires you to eat fat––really!
That’s why these gym guys (and gals) love my balls so much––ahem. They’re chock full of nuts and seeds. They contain a good dose of fat and protein, without a lot of carbs, and absolutely no sketchy or hidden ingredients. We’re talking 5 grams of raw protein and 5-6 grams of polyunsaturated fat per ball.
Zippilcious balls are a snack that fills the hunger gap, satisfies the craving for something dense, chewy, and delicious, and gives you a good hit of fat and protein so you can keep to your keto parameters.
Wanna know why raw protein makes all the difference?
Protein is heat volatile, so when you cook an egg or a steak or some other popular protein source, you actually lose some of the protein. Plant-based protein sources like raw nuts and seeds retain their viable protein, which means you actually get more from every bite.
Check out my range of nothing-added nut butters and super-power energy balls here.
References
- William Li, MD (2019). Eat To Beat Disease: The New Science of How Your Body Can Heal Itself.
- Ketogenic Diet and Epilepsy: What We Know So Far
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