Eating out on the ketogenic diet can be a challenge, but it doesn't have to be. With a few simple tweaks, you can find food options at almost any restaurant that won't stray from your diet. Steakhouses are a great place to start, as they offer smaller steaks and fish meals that are easy to customize. You can also find keto-friendly options at fast-food restaurants, such as McDonald's, Taco Bell, and Au Bon Pain.
The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that is used to treat epilepsy and promote weight loss. Generally speaking, the medical ketogenic diet used to treat epilepsy prescribes 3 to 4 grams (g) of fat per 1 g of carbohydrates and proteins, meaning you get 90 percent of your calories from fat, 6 percent from protein, and 4 percent from carbohydrates. A modified Atkins diet has no protein restriction and ends up being composed of approximately 65 percent fat, 30 percent protein, and 5 percent carbohydrates. When it comes to keto for weight loss, you can eat 70 to 80 percent of calories from fat, 10 to 20 percent from protein, and 5 to 10 percent from fat. At a steakhouse, you can choose the smallest steak or fish meal to keep proteins under control and pair them with a non-starchy vegetarian side dish.
At fast-food restaurants like McDonald's and Taco Bell, you can order keto-friendly items such as burgers without bread or sauce or ketchup, and bowls with lettuce, protein, cheese, veggies, guacamole, sour cream and low-carb sauces. At Au Bon Pain, you can order sandwiches without bread or wraps and bowls with salmon or steak fajitas without tortillas or rice. In addition to steakhouse meals and fast-food options, there are other foods that are keto-friendly. Oily fish such as salmon, sardines, mackerel and other oily fish are high in omega-3 fats which have been associated with lower insulin levels and increased insulin sensitivity in people who are overweight or obese. Dairy products such as cheese, yogurt and cottage cheese are also good sources of fat and protein.
Butter and cream are rich in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which has been linked to fat loss and improvements in body composition. Eggs are high in protein, B vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Eating out on the ketogenic diet doesn't have to be difficult. With a few simple tweaks you can find food options at almost any restaurant that won't stray from your diet. Steakhouses offer smaller steaks and fish meals that are easy to customize.
Fast-food restaurants like McDonald's and Taco Bell offer keto-friendly items such as burgers without bread or sauce or ketchup. And Au Bon Pain offers sandwiches without bread or wraps and bowls with salmon or steak fajitas without tortillas or rice. In addition to steakhouse meals and fast-food options, there are other foods that are keto-friendly such as oily fish which are high in omega-3 fats; dairy products such as cheese, yogurt and cottage cheese; butter and cream which are rich in CLA; and eggs which are high in protein, B vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
