EatWild– Find local pasture-raised animal products such as beef, pork, poultry, eggs, and dairy. (US and Canada)
Graph guide
How to read the graphs: If the box is colored in then it is usually available for that season. No color means that the product is usually not available for that season.
Geography and availability of produce
Meteorological temperate seasons listed below, you can also reference the farmers’ almanac which provides long-range weather predictions for both the U.S. and Canada. Please know that where you live will influence the produce that is available throughout the year. For the best and most accurate information you can look up where you live + seasonality of vegetables or use the Seasonal Food Guide to help guide you. The extensive guide below is what is most common in most situations. If you live in the Southern Hemisphere these seasons are reversed: switching winter with summer and autumn with spring.
Proteins
Protein availability usually depends on the farmer, but more often than not protein is usually available year-round. Fish and shellfish are more subject to change with season change. Find locally-raised good quality meat and animal products at EatWild.
Level 1 vegetables
The plants below are the most common low carbohydrate options. Some vegetables may spill over into the next seasons depending on how big the farmer’s harvest was. Find your local Farmers’ Market here: Local Food Directories: National Farmers Market Directory
Level 1: Consume every day, as much as you want. Most aim for about 3 handfuls per day, but less and more can also work. Know that the more vegetables you consume, the higher your carbohydrate intake will be for the day.
Salad greens/leafy vegetables: all types of lettuce including iceberg, red leaf, arugula, romaine, kale, spinach, cabbage, etc…
Above ground vegetables: asparagus, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, celery, chard, eggplant, green beans, leeks, mushrooms, onions, peppers (bell and all variations), turnips, zucchini.
Level 2 and 3 plants
Level 2: 1 cup servings with up to 2 servings per day. Eat less of these if weight loss stalls.
In ground and sweeter vegetables: Cucumbers, carrots, beets, tomatoes, collard greens, pumpkin, summer squash, butternut squash, acorn squash, yams, and parsnips.
Level 3: Fruit is considered as “candy of the Earth” and should mainly be avoided due to their high sugar content and palatable taste. If you must have a dessert, berries are your best option. Eat only level 1 vegetables for your vegetables that day. Fruit: Berries only. Raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries are best.
Uncooked Beef tendon showing lots of connective tissue rich in collagen!
What is it?
Collagen is a type of protein that you can find in your body that gives you structure. It makes up your skin, bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons (aka connective tissue). Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body and is what gives you the ability to stretch. When you go down to touch your toes that’s thanks to collagen!
Signs of low collagen:
Age
The main characteristic sign of lower collagen is sagging skin. Young people are full of collagen which helps make their skin is very elastic. As time goes on and we get older our body’s ability to digest proteins goes down and the quality of our bodies collagen also goes down which leaves us with wrinkles in our skin. This is why I often recommend to my older clients that they increase their protein intake so that they don’t get too frail. This helps them also stay strong enough to get back up if ever they fall.
Injuries
Another characteristic of low collagen would be injuries from physical activity or sports. Sprained ankles, torn ligaments, and strained muscles are all signs of your collagen not being strong enough to hold you together. If you suffer from these kinds of injuries, you may want to consider incorporating more collagen in to your diet.
Sources of collagen:
Collagen can only be found in animal-based foods simply because plants do not have skin, bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Bone broth is the hallmark collagen source because it is so rich in two essential amino acids proline and glycine that make up collagen. Other collagen sources are foods that collagen helps the most like skin from poultry, gelatin (which is basically just cooked collagen), and tendons (hence my photo!)
How much collagen?
If you are not consuming homemade bone broth or other collagen rich foods at least 2-7 days a week then you are missing out on major health benefits. In this case, it is recommended to start using a collagen supplement everyday to make up for lost time. A collagen supplement does not replace bone broth, but it is better than nothing. That being said, some collagen supplement are just ground up chicken sternum, proving how essential bones are to your health. Furthermore, overshooting your collagen will not be harmful to the body and some spillover would actually be preferential to not getting enough.
Disease-causing bacteria and parasites can make you bloated and cause stomach pain. Sadly, this can completely stop weight loss. When these kinds of bacteria and parasites are present in your gut microbiome they can cause internal inflammation and mess up your iron metabolism (see below). When your iron metabolism is out of whack, your metabolic rate will slow down and stop you from losing weight. * (*=source)
Furthermore, these human gut microbes, the good and the bad, are closely related to how fat you are.* The good news is that your gut microbiome will naturally change with weight loss and your gut flora will become healthier as you become healthy yourself.
Your microbiome flora also adapts to change quite easily, this study shows that your microbiome can shift and change to a healthy or unhealthy one from a day-to-day basis.*
You can find out more about your microbiome by sending in a sample for analysis for pathogens. If pathogens are found you can have your doctor order you antibiotics. The side effects of stomach pain and bloating should disappear with the weight loss.
Iron deficiency – Stalled weight & Red meat
If you have been doing the keto diet without red meat and you have stalled with your weight loss, you may have an iron deficiency. Yes, you will have sources of iron from other foods, but if it is not heme-iron from red meat you will not be absorbing it in your hemoglobin in your Red Blood Cells, where you need it most.
Having low heme-iron levels (see ferritin in a iron blood panel) can 100% stall weight loss. This is because heme-iron helps the heme-protein cytochrome c.* The Cytochrome c protein is an enzyme that plays a role in your energy metabolism, if it does not work properly you will not be able to metabolize your stored fats and use them as energy.* This also means that if you do not have enough active cytochrome c you will have a lowered metabolic rate because the body will adjust to how much energy can be liberated.
The good news: Most heme-iron deficient individuals can lose weight without changing their diet, all they need to do is add in heme-iron supplementation.*
Too much fiber is wreaking your gut
Yes we have all been told that fiber is good for you, but too much of it can lead to a great deal of digestive discomfort. The ketogenic diet is one of those lifestyle where some of us consume vegetables like no other.
You might want to lower your fiber intake if you suffer from:
Anal bleeding
Constipation
Bloating
Strain with a bowel movement
Abdominal pain
Giving you GI tract a break for a little by reducing your fiber intake can completely eliminate these digestive issues.* As a side note, the 64 subjects in this study (see *) were all put on a low fiber diet for two weeks then they were given the choice to eat how they wished after. Only 6 individuals went back to consuming a high-fiber diet (some due to religious reasons), while 41 people chose to stick with the zero-fiber diet, and 16 people chose the reduced-fiber diet, respectively.
Plants have fiber just how like humans and animals have bones. In order to lower the fiber content of the food you consume, you will need to take out a lot of what gives the plant structure. Peeling and taking the seeds out of your plant products are a great way to reduce fiber.
Please note that cooking has ZERO effect on fiber and will not change its content.
High fiber foods on the keto diet are:
Nuts and seeds
Avocado
Berries
Cauliflower & Broccoli
Asparagus
Eggplant
Cabbage
For those with chronic constipation, know that it gets worse with increased dietary fiber intake.*
And for those worried about constipation, there is evidence that low fiber intake does not lead to constipation.*
This low fiber diet may be hard to accept with all the “fiber is good for you” conditioning we have been told, but this is a viable option and you can always turn back to fiber after a 1-2 week experiment. If you need guidance, feel free to contact me.
Sleep and Stress – Cortisol
Cortisol is the lifestyle hormone that gets elevated when you are under extended periods of stress. Cortisol also gets elevated if you’re not getting enough sleep*. What you need to know is that this high stress/ low sleep plus high cortisol levels cause insulin resistance (yes, just like when you consume too many carbs)*
Antihistamines, allergies calling for Zyrtec or Allegra cause weight gain when used over extended periods of time.*
Steroid medications, whether they are Glucocorticoids modifying your cortisol levels or Mineralcorticoids modifying your Aldosterone, they all have the potential to cause weight gain. They are found in:
Respiratory medications (inhalers) for asthma, bronchitis, and any other respiratory condition
Autoimmune disorders like Arthritis and IBS
Antidepressants, not all will cause weight gain, but those interfering with serotonin can cause an increased appetite and may experience weight gain.*
Insulin,the storage hormone necessary for those with diabetes also causes weight gain. The ketogenic diet can certainly help reduce your need for insulin due to its low carbohydrate content.*
Epilepsy medication, anti-psychotics, and some blood pressure medications can cause weight gain as well. Search the drug name on your prescription online to find it’s side effects.
Oxalate Imbalance – Kidney, leaky gut, gout, and skin problems
Oxalate Crystals from a Kiwi
Oxalates are a part of a plant’s defense system, they resemble spikes and crystals that we ingest* (this is why we dont eat the leaves on trees or even the grass on the ground).
Oxalates cannot be metabolized or broken down by our body, they need to pass through our entire system before they are peed out (ouch). We can even have oxalate deposits throughout our entire body (face, hands, feet…) and are represent 80% of today’s kidney stones.*
They are found in all seeds, nuts, Swiss chard, spinach, beets, chocolate, rhubarb, berries, black pepper, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon and other non-ketogenic foods. If you find that these are major staples in your diet, you might want to consider reducing your oxalate consumption.
Oxalates are most dangerous to those with kidney issues, digestive issues, and those with gout.*
Oxalates are hard as sand and cannot be broken down by pounding or by cooking, they must be dissolved and passed through the system in the urine. You can alleviate and breakdown oxalate concentrations throughout your body and in your kidneys with citrate (or just lemon juice).*
Oxalates also binds calcium, magnesium, and iron which can lead to metabolic dysfunction and or weakening of the digestive system.*
Lectins, Autoimmune disease, and obesity.
Lectins are also part of a plant’s defense system just like oxalates. Lectins are these types of sticky proteins that cannot be digested and bind to certain cells causing them to clump.* When these lectins clump to different cells, they block these cells from accepting other things like nutrients or hormones in your system. This is why lectins are sometimes referred to as “anti-nutrients” from this nutrient-blocking mechanism.*
Lectins being this anti-nutrient are bad news for your autoimmunity due to their inflammatory properties.* They can make autoimmune diseases like arthritis, GERD, IBS, MS, eczema, allergies, plus many others diseases much harder to live with. The good news is that most people aren’t allergic to every single lectin, it’s just matters of finding which ones you can’t tolerate and eliminating them from your diet.
If you suffer from an autoimmune disease and wish to try eliminating the lectinsthat may be causing this, feel free to contact me at matthewcress79@gmail.com.
Lectins can make you fat too
Lectins can mimic insulin and increase how much lipogenesis (fat-making) happens in your body. This is especially true for wheat-based products.*
Furthermore, lectins can partially block your leptin hormone from acting properly. Leptins main role is to tell you “I’m full, I can stop eating” when you’re having a meal.* When this hormone is blocked you just keep eating and eating and eating. So maybe you don’t have an autoimmune disease, but eliminating lectins can be a viable option for weight loss as well.
Lectins are found in the skin and seeds of plant products, but especially:
Grains (especially wheat),
Legumes
Squashes
Nightshades (tomatoes, eggplant, bell pepper, and potatoes)
Nuts and seeds, and
Certain oils
For those that are interested, a lectin-free diet consists of meats, certain green veggies, garlic, onions, mushrooms, and olive oil.
Lectins can be destroyed
That’s the good news! Unlike oxalates (see above), lectins can be destroyed by high heat, pressure cooking, and fermenting!
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There are certain indications that can help you decide if a food item is worth your money on the keto diet.
Ask yourself these questions:
“Are there obvious carbs in here” if the answer is yes, then put it down.
“Is this a protein, a vegetable, or a fat?” If it’s not, look at the label
“Do I know other ketogenic dieters that eat this?”
“Is what I’m looking at a marketing ploy?”
“Will it be easy or hard to fit this food item easily into my 80/20 fat to protein ratio?”
All of these questions should be considered when you are looking at food products to buy on the ketogenic diet. If what you’re holding doesn’t raise suspicion, turn it over and look at the Nutritional Facts label.
Where I look first
Where I look second
Where I don’t look
Daily Value: set up for the Standard American Diet (SAD) not, keto.
Saturated fat: Doesn’t cause heart disease or other adverse health conditions. (I’ll be publishing an eBook that’ll explain this in detail)
Trans fats: Are practically forbidden nowadays. Its found in processed foods.
Sodium: See Saturated fats for the same reasons
Micro nutrients: People following the SAD need to look here, those on the keto diet should not have micro nutrient deficiencies.
An example of a random Nutrition Facts label that you should avoid on the keto diet.
Sugars: what is naturally occurring in the product
Added Sugars: The extra sugars that they have added to the product.
Animal Products on the Ketogenic diet.
Ground beef along with many other animal products are common staples in the ketogenic diet. I would consume around 8 oz of this ground beef (so double the serving size) with some broccoli (see below). This will give me 40g of protein out of my 150g protein goal (getting another 5-10g of protein with the broccoli).
Total Calories for this one meal 540 from meat, 60 from broccoli = 600 calories
Egg perfection
Eggs are one of the most common keto meals. No carbs, rich in protein and fat, cooking versatility, cheap, and filling! Take a look at this Nutrition Facts Label along with the others to get a better understanding of what kind proteins, fats, and carbs are in eggs.
Vegetables
Most vegetables will not have a nutrition label on them, but that is just one internet search away. Look at this label along with the first one to understand what you are looking at. One of the great things about vegetables is that you can fill up your plate and your stomach without raking up extra calories left and right.
Be careful not to eat too many, kicking you out of ketosis.
Cress Keto 