The ketogenic diet, also known as keto, is quickly becoming one of the most popular and effective types of low-carb diet. When people follow the proper methodology laid out by this diet plan, they often see the amazing results that they have always want when improving their lifestyle.
One mistake that many people make while on keto, however, is not eating enough fat! Fat is an essential part of following the keto diet properly, and not having enough in your diet will cause problems.
What happens if you don’t eat enough fat on keto? Today, we’ll learn all about that mistake and how you can remedy it with ease.
What Happens If You Don’t Eat Enough Fat on Keto
We’ll give you a few different scenarios that might happen if you aren’t able to reach the goal of eating between 60% and 75% fat as part of your diet every single day. The effects won’t be the same for everyone, but some of these situations might sound familiar to you.
You’ll Be Hungry and Tired
The most likely thing that will happen to you if you consistently do not eat as much fat as you are supposed to on keto is that you will be hungry and tired.
Why Is that?
Not eating enough fat is likely to cause a large calorie deficit since most of your calories are going to be coming from fat while you follow a keto diet plan. Your body will decrease how much energy it has when you don’t get enough calories, and you’ll also start to feel hungry.
Feeling hungry while on a diet is one of the top ways that people fail their plans, so this is definitely something that you want to avoid allowing to happen.
Your Metabolism Will Slow Down
If you’re able to fight the hunger pangs and continue not to eat enough fat for the keto diet, it’s possible that your metabolism will slow down. Anytime that your calorie deficit is too big, your body can do this in order to function more efficiently.
For that reason, we suggest making sure that you eat at least enough fat to keep your calorie deficit below 30%. If it is any more than this, you’re definitely going to see some negative side effects.
Proteins, Not Fat, Are Interfering
When you get hungry on the keto diet, it is easy to reach for a fatty food that will satisfy your craving while also giving you fats, right? Most people reach for something cheese or nuts. One thing that you need to consider when you do this, however, is the amount of protein in the food as well.
Protein levels should be kept to a moderate point—not more than 30%—throughout your diet. Many foods that are rich in fats are also rich in proteins, so you’ll need to be careful about how frequently you consume these foods. The goal of keto is high fat, not high protein.
If you consume too much protein, it can interfere with the ketosis process and actually cause you to lose less weight than you might if you followed the keto diet macro guidelines properly. For that reason, it’s important to monitor your fat intake as well as your protein intake.
Tips to Add More Fat on Keto
Now that you know more about why having enough fat in your diet is important to find success with the keto diet, let’s talk about a few easy ways that you can up the number of calories you get from healthy fat sources each day.
Avoid Trans Fats
First, remember that even though you want to add more fats to your diet, you don’t want to add unhealthy trans fats. Healthy fats are the best thing to add to your keto diet, and unhealthy trans fats can cause an unwanted increase in cholesterol that could cause your body more harm than good. Be smart about what fats you add.
Mix Fats Into Drinks
You cannot have traditional dairy products in your coffee or other favorite drink while on keto, but you can help your body get enough fat by adding some fats to your favorite drinks before you enjoy them!
Whether you like drinking tea, coffee, green tea, chai tea, sugar-free hot chocolate, or something else, you can easily add some fat to that drink to make it more keto-appropriate. Try adding any of the following fats to your drink. All it will do is add a creamy taste and texture, much like traditional milk would:
- MCT oil
- Coconut oil
- Cacao butter
- Grass-fed butter
- Coconut cream
All that you need to do is add a single tablespoon to your drink, and voila! You’ll be getting more fats in your body in no time.
Enjoy High-Fat Dips
Cut up some of your favorite low-carb vegetables (such as zucchini) and enjoy them with a high-fat dip! Some common high-fat dips that you might want to try out are:
- Cream cheese
- Dairy-free almond or coconut cheese
- Nut butter
- Guacamole
As long as you choose one that has no added sugars, you’re good to go! You can even mix up your own version of these dips at home by blending together oils and your favorite base ingredients. You can use cream cheese, macadamia nuts, avocados, and so many other healthy fat bases to start. Add your favorite seasonings, and you’ll have a delish dip in no time.
Conclusion
Remember, the goal of the keto diet is to put your body into ketosis. What happens if you don’t eat enough fat on keto? Your body cannot properly enter ketosis, or the effects of ketosis will not be as effective as it could be if you were eating enough fats.
It can be hard to add fats to your diet at first, but following the tips and tricks laid out in today’s article should help you be able to eat the high-fat, low-carb diet necessary to get your body into the healthiest shape it has ever been in!