6 Foods You Didn’t Know Are Keto-Friendly

Following a strict Ketogenic diet becomes easy when you know all the tricks. Here are some cool tips to ace your keto game.

It may seem that- to follow a strict keto diet you have to give up all your favorite foods from pizzas, burgers, pastas to many wholefoods including fruits like bananas, mangoes; starchy vegetables like potatoes, peas, carrots etc. But that’s really not the case. There are plenty of different foods that you can enjoy while being on keto and still keep your carb intake under 25-30gm.

So, to get you started with your keto journey without ripping all the fun off your plates, we have listed some foods that are surprisingly keto friendly! Get ready to tantalize your taste buds and have a happy keto-life!

Go through this list of 6 items that you didn’t know are keto-friendly foods-

1. Dark Chocolate

Rich dark chocolates having 70-90% of cocoa content is an absolutely keto-friendly food. Unlike other common milk or white chocolates, dark chocolates with high cocoa content have considerably low amounts of carbs.

Typically, a piece of dark chocolate contains 1-2gm of carbs. So, it follows the keto 'guidelines’ and you can easily fit it into your daily carb intake. We know it’s easy to binge on chocolates so keep the intake in check according to your whole diet plan.

2. Desserts

Keto beginners may get shocked after knowing that ‘desserts’- which they believed all their lives to be a huge contributor to their excess weight- is actually on top of the surprising keto-friendly foods list!

Yes that’s true! But with a twist.

The normal desserts are rich in white flour and sugar, but the keto desserts are made of low-carb flour like almond and coconut flour. As a substitute for the carb king- sugar, natural carb-free sweeteners like stevia, erythritol, monk fruit etc. are used.

High fat ingredients for the mouthwatering keto desserts include peanut butter, unsweetened cacao powder, unsweetened shredded coconut, full fat cream cheese, heavy whipped cream, nuts, seeds and much more.

Ketogenic diet requires consumption of food with high healthy-fat content- to send the body into ketosis mode. The mode where the body turns into a fat burning machine, by using fat as fuel rather than carbs.

So, desserts made of a combination of high-fat ingredients and low-carb sugar substitutes act as delicious keto-friendly foods.

3. Tomatoes

Many fruits and vegetables that have high carb content are out of the keto foods list. But tomatoes are here to be your friend.

Having only about 2-3 grams of carbs in 100 grams of tomatoes, it is the perfect fruit to be added in your keto diet plan. It’s versatility makes it easier for it to be added in a variety of keto recipes, making your ketogenic journey a breezy one.

Packed up with fiber and minerals, tomatoes are a great choice for your salads and other keto snacks keeping you healthy and energized. But make sure to be away from tomato puree or ketchups which contain added sugars- a no-no for keto dieters.

4. Mushrooms

Good news for mushroom lovers! You don’t have to worry about giving up your favourite mushrooms while following your keto diet. You can make them a part of it without flinching!

Having only 16 calories and 2.3 grams of carbs per cup- this superfood has made its way through the trickiest diets of all. Not only it is low in carbs but also has various other nutritional benefits- containing dietary fiber, antioxidants, vitamin B1, B2, D and much more.

So keep the mushrooms with you in your keto-journey!

5. Greek Yogurt

When consumed in moderation, greek yogurt is great to put in your keto diet food plan. It is healthy and contains important good bacterias that take care of your gut health.

Additionally, it is high in protein so it fills you up even when taken in small amounts. So you don’t have to go through the frequent hunger pangs.

A half cup of plain greek yoghurt contains 4 grams of carbs, making it non-interruptive for ketosis. Make sure you don’t fall into the traps of flavoured or sweetened greek yogurts out there in the departmental stores!

Infact, instead of buying overpriced Greek yogurt from the stores, you can make it at home. All you have to do is-

• Take your home-made curd and sieve it through a muslin cloth or a fine sieve to remove all the excess water.

• Now cover it with a lid and refrigerate it for 8-10 hours.

• Finally, you’ll get a thick creamy yogurt of the same consistency like cottage cheese (paneer).

• You may dilute it with some water as per your requirement.

6. Oil-Roasted Peanuts

We have talked enough about keto-friendly ingredients for meals and desserts here, now it’s time to look at tasty keto snack.

Peanuts, when deep-fried in oil and topped with a bit of salt, makes the perfect keto-friendly snack. Using ghee or groundnut oil for is perfect for this purpose. Although they are deep fried, it does not significantly increase the fat content of the peanuts as they are pretty high fat to begin with, but deep-frying does reduce the carbs and increases the protein content that makes oil-roasted peanuts a great choice over roasted peanuts for Keto. For vegetarians oil-roasted peanuts can be a tasty way to complete on their protein goals. A word of warning though, peanuts are calorie dense, highly addictive and easy to overeat. To avoid that - always weigh out your portions to ensure you keep it within your carb limits as well as your caloric goals.

We are sure this surprising list of keto-friendly foods has brought some light into your life. Now you don’t have to worry about sacrificing your taste buds to put your body in ketosis.

Relish these keto foods and lead a healthy life!