Keto Food Substitutes | Eat This Not That!

 You can still satiate your taste buds but in a different way!!!

 Congratulations on your keto journey, You have hopped on the keto train with many others in this journey with you. The good news is you will lose weight fast without being hungry, and the bad news is You may miss some of your favorite food groups; Pasta and fries being on top.

 But We have come with a solution for you. By making a few changes in your kitchen, refrigerator and, pantry, you might enjoy all your favorite treats without going overboard on carbs. With few food swipes, you can go full keto and enjoy your favorite foods, including desserts.

  •  A Ketogenic diet is a restrictive diet that limits carbohydrate intake.

 •  Your total caloric intake should come from 70% fat, 20% protein and, 10 % carbohydrates. 

 •  Rice, sugar, sweet fruits, trans fats, starchy vegetables, including tubers, are a big keto no-no.

 How do you enjoy keto meals without compromising on taste and nutrition?

 Read below and find the answer!

 Sugar substitutes:

 If you thought you were eating that creamy cheesecake with crackers base or molten lava chocolate cake for the last time before starting your keto voyage, you were wrong! You can enjoy your favorite desserts with no guilt at all, but you need the right sweetener for them.

 The best keto sweeteners are :

 • Stevia

• Erythritol

• Monk fruit

• Xylitol

• Yacon syrup

 Stevia is a natural sweetener that comes from the plant species Stevia rebaudiana native to Brazil as it’s a plant and not refined sugar, so it’s completely safe to use.

 Stevia, Erythritol and, Monk fruit do not spike blood glucose in the body. The taste is highly tolerable, and you can use it to make smoothies, shakes, cakes or, keto chocolate bars.

 Xylitol and Yacon syrup are good alternatives but stick to the recommended amount and use them sparingly.

 You may find this easily in the supermarket or on amazon. But beware of marketing techniques that say zero sugar but have sugar in them. Read the labels that say: maple syrup, dextrose, sucrose. Avoid them at all costs. They are hideous names for table sugar.

 Satiate your sweet tooth at restaurants by ordering keto desserts or make them at home!

 Flour Substitutes:

 Baking without flour can be a tricky thing. Speaking of keto, refined wheat flour is a big no-no. Instead of wheat flour, try using:

 • Almond flour

• Coconut flour

• Xanthum gum

• Whole eggs

 Almond flour can be a great keto food substitute to all-purpose flour because it’s rich in fat, and fat is what you need in a keto diet. Almond flour can be a little hard as compared to wheat flour, but you don’t need to succumb to the power of refined flour. Almond flour will perfectly work. Once opened, refrigerate it.

 Coconut flour works exactly like almond flour and gives an additional benefit of being rich in medium-chain triglycerides.

 Xanthum gum can be used as a binding agent in baking, along with eggs.

Use this flour for making keto bread, cookies, and cakes. Keto bread can be toasted and eaten with a fried egg in your daily breakfast or spread avocado on it. You may have it with almond or peanut butter.

 Pasta Substitutes:

 Who on earth doesn’t love pasta? This is not Italian food, this is a global food now, and every age group person loves eating it. Be it your regular spaghetti and meatballs or fancy Fettucine Alfredo pasta; everybody loves it. And gets sad about not having them on keto.

 We are going to introduce you to some staple wonderful pasta substitutes:

 • Zucchini noodles or Noodles

• Shirataki noodles

• Palmini

• Butternut squash

• Cabbage noodles

• Kelp noodles

 I am starting with the Zucchini noodles. No wonder why it pops up in keto discussions. Zucchini is a keto-friendly vegetable acting as a lovely keto food substitute. You can spiralize zucchini and make pasta dishes with it.

Maybe we will be having noodles and meatballs this lunch!

 Shirataki noodles serve as a quite good replacement. It is the go-to choice of many pasta lovers because it maintains its beautiful texture and can make several noodles dishes. It is packed with all good flavors that burst in your mouth.

Once you eat Shirataki noodles, you may forget your ordinary wheat noodles.

 Another keto pasta substitute could be palmini, made from hearts of palm. Or try cabbage noodles. Slice that cruciferous purple cabbage thinly and have it on your next pasta craving.

 Thinly sliced butternut squash makes the perfect alternative for lasagna sheets. Just add the tomato sauce, mozzarella, cheddar, meat and, enjoy it!

Kelp noodles are something new that you might not know about. Kelp noodles are a low-carb alternative to normal pasta. It is rich in micronutrients like iodine, calcium, iron. Kelp noodles are now available in supermarkets. They are crunchy, and you can eat them raw.

 Rice Substitutes:

 Rice is a staple food worldwide, but they are very high in carbohydrates and can’t be consumed on a keto diet.

 So what’s the alternative?

 Cauliflower rice! Use them in your sushi rolls, make fried rice, or have it as a side on your chicken or Salmon.

 To make cauli-rice, chop cauliflower in a grating blade food processor and cut it in fine pieces until they achieve the size of rice. After cooking, the texture will be like cooked rice. Apart from cauliflower, you can use broccoli to make rice. You can prepare it fresh or in advance and then freeze it. Here is a recipe for cauliflower mashed. 

 Milk and Dairy Substitutes:

 Milk is high in fat and high in sugars, making no space in your keto pantry list. Milk is a big source of calcium, and being on the keto diet can make you calcium deficient if you are not evaluating your health keenly. The great calcium substitute will be cheese and cream that is allowed on the keto diet.

 You can have nut and seeds milk fortified with added calcium, and they taste heavenly. Some popular milk in this regard are:

 • Almond milk

• Coconut milk

• Cashew milk

 You can buy it from the store or make it on your own at home.

 For making almond milk:

1. Take peeled off soaked almonds and water in a milkshake blender, blend them.
2. Strain the almonds and put water to stand in a fine fabric.
3. Let it stand for 6 to 7 hours. The resulting dripping liquid will be your pure unsweetened almond milk.

If you buy from the store, make sure to get an unsweetened one, preferably containing added calcium.

 If you don’t like plant-based options, you can blend heavy cream with little water. Cream and cheese are a staple and keto-friendly food.

 For yogurt, Eat greek yogurt. This thickened creamy yogurt has high protein and fat content with low carbs making it a perfect meal for people looking for keto substitute foods.

 Fruit Substitutes:

 Fruits are high in vitamins, minerals and, anti-oxidants but have enormous sugar content make them out of the keto-approved food list. You can still enjoy some fruits, including strawberries, raspberries, avocado, blackberries. 

 Carb count 100 gm of these fruits are:

 – Blackberries: 4.31 g net carbs

– Strawberries: 5.68 g net carbs

– Raspberries: 6.7 g net carbs

– Avocado:     1.2 g net carbs

 Fat Alternatives:

 A Keto diet is high in fat, but that doesn’t mean you can have all types of fats.

Fats are of two types:

• Good fats

• Bad Fats

 Good fats that are allowed in keto are saturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat.

 Bad fats include Trans fats. Margarine and vegetable oils are trans fats that are the leading cause of cardiovascular disease and heart attack. Trans fat lodges the coronary arteries. It builds up in arteries causing atherosclerosis. It may cause inflammation in the body. Inflammation means the body will swell, and that’s not what we want on keto!

 That’s the reason why we can’t have KFC fried chicken cause it’s all fat and protein. Bad fat can cause more harm than good.

 Try making meals in butter, extra virgin olive oil or, Ghee. Try walnuts or Salmon that are superfoods that contain Omega-3 fatty acids. Only these two foods have omega-3 that fights inflammation and must be a vital part of your daily diet.

 Fast Food Substitutes:

 Do you miss the drive-thru? Or ordering pizza when you wanted. Well, you still can have your burger, pizza and, fries. Yes, you read right! You need to put some extra effort into it, but who is getting the hot body and muscles in the end? You! Today’s actions will bear fruit tomorrow.

 Pizza is our go-to food when we are in a bad mood. Thankfully, pizza has all keto-friendly ingredients except the pizza dough! You can have a cauliflower base pizza or baseless pizza with lots of your favorite cheddar and stringy mozzarella cheese with meat and Italian herbs.

 For burgers, you can enjoy unless a grilled chicken burger or use portabella mushrooms for your burgers. When cooked in the oven, these large mushrooms turn so crispy that you will not miss your old bun at all.

 Fries can be replaced with zucchini fries. They have an almost similar texture, size and, shape. They can be crisped in the oven mimicking your normal French fries. You may rename it Chiiries! 

 If you liked this blog, share it with your friends and let them know about these keto food substitutes!