Starting the Ketogenic diet can be intimidating at first. But if you equip yourself with the right battle gear, or in this case, the right food and grocery to stock in your fridge, it will be an easy breezy healthy journey.

As you know, Ketogenic Diet gets its name from a fat-burning metabolic state called ketosis, which occurs when you limit carbs (50 grams or less per day) and force your body to use fat as fuel instead of its preferred energy source, glucose. This produces compounds called ketones, which are your body’s signal that you’re officially in ketosis or “fat-burning” mode.

Now for the fun part. These are the things you need to stock up before starting your Keto meal plan:

Vegetables

Starting off with the greens…it may come as a surprise to you, but not all veggies are allowed in Keto diet. What you must look for are cruciferous and non-starchy vegetables.

• Kale
• Cauliflower
• Cabbage
• Bok Choy
• Broccoli
• Celery
• Cucumber
• Endive
• Green beans
• Romaine lettuce
• Spinach
• Swiss chard
• Zucchini

Another type of veggies that you must remember is the allium family. Their characteristic taste, smell and tear-inducing pungency actually give a wide array of health benefits such as cardiovascular protection, anti-cancer activity, lowering blood levels of cholesterol, triglycerides and blood pressure. Cool, right? Better buy lots of these in your next grocery shopping!

• Garlic
• Onions
• Shallots
• Leeks
• Scallions
• Chives

Fruits

When it comes to fruits, avocado is one of the staples. They have a good amount of heart-healthy fat while being low on carbs. They are also packed with vitamin B, vitamin C, vitamin K, and vitamin E. All this goodness comes at a mere 2g carbs per 100g of fruit. Can we say, hallelujah?

Berries, on the other hand, are full of antioxidants and are superfoods. They are one of the very few fruits that are keto friendly and are best when eaten raw or when paired with cream for a tasty dessert.

Protein

The fatty cuts of meat are you friend, as well as oily fish. A fresh slab of salmon fillet is one of the things you’ll always see in our fridge. Fancy, we know. But we need the polyunsaturated fats, these are the essential fats required for a normal body function.

Make sure to limit your lean meat intake though. These cuts are rich in protein, and excess protein can turn into glucose and that will interrupt ketosis. We don’t want that, do we?

Here’s the complete guide:

• Beef
• Fatty fish (cod, halibut, mahi mahi, salmon, trout, and tuna)
• Organ meats (liver, kidney, and tongue)
• Pork
• Poultry (chicken, duck, and wild game)
• Shellfish (clams, oysters, lobster, mussels)
• Unsweetened nut butters (almond and macadamia)
• Whole eggs

Dairy Products

Raw and organic dairy can be a great way to add extra fat to your meals. Everything in moderation, of course.

What we love? Cottage cheese, greek-style yogurt, hard cheese (aged cheddar, parmesan, feta), mascarpone and soft cheeses (mozzarella, colby & brie)

Fats & Oils

As you know, Ketogenic is a high fat, low carb type of diet. And we think it’s one of the best diets out there! It makes slathering butter in your steak guilt-free and adding cream in almost all of your food okay.

One of our favorites when we need to increase our fat intake is Keto Creamer. It’s a combination of liquified ghee butter and MCT Oil that makes anything you make creamier. This is one of our staples when creating bulletproof coffee.

When it comes to oils however, choose oils that are high in saturated fat or monounsaturated fat. Stay away from trans fats. The best oils to use are, coconut oil, avocado oil, extra virgin olive oil and MCT oil.

Always remember that Ketogenic diet is made up of rich fats and moderate amounts of protein. It includes lots of eggs, cheese, meat, seafood, plant-based oils, and some non-starchy veggies.

Now you have the Ketogenic Food List, you’re now ready to make your own Keto meal plan! Hooray! What’s your first meal going be?

Leave some comment below if you find this helpful.

And head over here for Keto recipes you definitely have to try.