This site is all about how truly great the ‘ketogenic’ (plus ‘alkaline’) diet is and what it can do for you. But before we start, picture the scenario…
You know that feeling at around 3pm…
You’re sat at your desk, another few hours of work to go and you get that mid-afternoon slump.
An hour or so after lunch, your sandwich is digesting and it’s doing its best to put you into a food coma…
Or at the very least, beckoning you to take a little nap.
A 20 minute snooze would be just the ticket but since you have an office of co-workers, emails to reply to and phone calls to make, it’s not really a viable option. (Unless you’re in Spain, win!)
So you choose the very next best thing – coffee and a cookie.
Caffeine + Sugar = just enough of an artificially-stimulated energy hit to see you through until home time.
Done.
Sound familiar?
I know it was for me for a long time.
But what if there was a better way to get through your day, week, life – with higher and stable energy levels?
[And before you throw your cookie at me, I’m not suggesting you give up coffee…no, the Lord has created this delightful little bean for all of us to enjoy!]
But what if you could get rid of the spikes and dips in sugar levels that make your day a roller coaster of inefficiency?
And swap it for clarity, calmness and alertness of mind…
Great digestion, a flatter stomach and a body that FEELS GOOD…
Less inflammation and aches and pains…
And to be free of time-sucking and enslaving processed food and sugar cravings, addictions and unhealthy habits?
Imagine being so engaged in your tasks and enjoying your day and energy levels so much that you truly didn’t think twice about eating.
…Enjoying your relationships, being less irritable and more present with your loved ones.
…Being able to go for hours upon hours without feeling hungry or food even crossing your mind.
Really?
Yes, my friend, this can be a reality for you. No matter how little willpower and self-discipline you feel you have, whatever your current weight is and how much you think you like your sugary treats.
Food freedom and a healthy, trim, energised body can be yours.
And it can happen to you much sooner than you imagine.
The key to all this?
The ketogenic diet.
Well, to be more specific, the keto alkaline diet.
I am currently 40 years old. Slim, healthy, with great energy and mood – from eating this way.
But it wasn’t always like this. Not at all.
I was once a slave to food (a sugar addict). I would think nothing of eating 2, 3, even 4 chocolate bars a day, or slices of cake or chips. Overweight (only slightly but enough to feel sluggish and lethargic) and unhealthy (a smoker for several years).
Even as a ‘healthy vegan’ for 6 years and running marathons and ultra-marathons, my energy levels were still out of whack and I STILL thought about food ALL. THE. TIME.
When I found the keto diet, this all changed.
Anyhow, you can read my full backstory here.
Back to you and your health goals.
First, I’d just like to say a big WELCOME to Your Eternal Health!
I’ve created a number of websites over the past decade and this is now the central hub, my online home and you are very welcome here anytime and I’d like you to be a familiar guest, (or a permanent resident)!
Think of me as the guesthouse owner and you can come and stay and enjoy and benefit from your time here whenever you want.
I’d like to guide and help you get from where you are now with your diet and health to where you want to be. I’ve been coaching people to better health for over 17 years, so you’re in safe hands. [Just take a look at my client testimonials and keto diet results.]
I’ll help you cut through all the noise and confusion and propaganda and you’ll discover the simple, time-tested, foods, health practices, tips and hacks even that will truly delight you with their results in your life and how you FEEL in your own body.
There are lots of free resources that I’d love to give you (many are somewhat hidden gems, so you’ll have to search for them!) and there’s also more in-depth and step-by-step, comprehensive, experiential guidance, coaching and courses that you can purchase whenever you’re ready that will support you in your journey and in getting the results you’re looking for.
What is The Keto Diet?
Many people I work with already know what the keto diet is and have tried it, others have no clue but are curious. So – to make sure we’re all on the same page here – let’s start with the basics…
The ketogenic diet is a way of eating that is high in fat, moderate in protein and very low in carbohydrates.
The macronutrient ratio goes something like this:
- 70-85% Fat
- 15-25% Protein
- 5-10% Carbs
In my Keto Life program, I find that the sweet spot and what I’ve created my meal plans and recipes around is 80% fat, 15% protein and 5% carbs – this works exceedingly well and gets great results for my clients.
That’s around 25g of net carbs per day (total carbs minus fiber) – I know, an intimidatingly low number when we first look at it.
You might be thinking – “How on earth is this doable, sustainable or even healthy?!” I had the same reservations for years.
Don’t worry, stick with me and we’ll explore this, but just to say here that the keto diet has been used in clinical settings for over 100 years in the management of epilepsy.
It’s also been researched and used widely by the world’s pioneering doctors to treat cancer, diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s and heart disease and a lot more.
You can check out the work of top keto doctors Professor Thomas Seyfried, Professor Jeff Volek, Professor Stephen Phinney, Professor Tim Noakes, Dr Dominic D’agostino, Dr Eric Westman, Dr Mary Newport and Dr Aseem Malhotra to name but a few – they all have research papers, books and free presentations on YouTube.
[BTW, I highly recommend signing up for my free Printable Keto Foods List (with alkaline foods) and you’ll also get my 7-day Keto A-Z email series that will give you a great grounding in the keto diet and answer a lot of common questions and objections.]
Why So Much Fat? Why So Little Carbs?
Good question. The idea with the keto diet is that when we reduce our carbohydrate intake right down and increase our dietary fats, it forces our body (in a nice way!) to start burning fat by converting it into ketones in the liver.
This puts our body in the state of nutritional ketosis (different to diabetic ketoacidosis, which is dangerous – don’t confuse the two as many keto naysayers do!)
Interestingly, ketosis is a fasting-mimicking state that produces pretty much all of the benefits of a prolonged fast, but allows you to continue your life and work as normal – and eat food!
[Aside: I did a 7-day water fast a few years ago and I had no energy to do anything all week and I felt dizzy and lightheaded, probably due to a lack of alkaline mineral electrolytes (more on them later).
When I follow the keto diet, I can simulate fasting and even do intermittent fasting but with a TON of energy, mental clarity, alertness and productivity.]
What are the benefits of ketosis and how does it mimic fasting?
There are a lot of benefits to be gained when you get into ketosis and becoming a ‘fat burner’.
On a basic nutritional level, fats contain 9 calories per gram, whereas carbs and protein contain just 4 calories per gram. So gram for gram, fats keep you sustained for longer.
Rapid & Easy Weight Loss
When your body gets used to burning dietary fat rather than carbs, it becomes a lot better at burning your own fat stores for fuel too…
And once your body’s comfortable using its own fat stores (of which most of us have a plentiful supply!) weight loss becomes easy, effortless, pretty rapid and without much hunger or cravings.
That’s how we can hear near-unbelievable stories of people losing 50, 80, 100, even 150lbs on the keto diet in a relatively short amount of time. Plus, it’s healthy and sustainable.
The keto diet for weight loss really is the best way to shed a large amount of fat that I know of…and I’ve tried and seen every diet under the sun in my 20 years of health research, experience and working with many thousands of people.
More Energy & A Sharper Mind
Ketones converted from fat in the liver are a superior fuel sourse in many ways. It’s like switching to super high octane fuel for your body and brain.
Superior fuel means superior performance.
And the real-world results of better performance?
- Get your work done faster.
- Communicate more eloquently in meetings.
- Sit down and focus and get that important document written (or book, or web page ;-))
- Better decision making.
- Better parenting, grand parenting and looking after younger people.
- Ability to handle stress with much more grace and elegance.
- Being more proactive rather than reactive.
- More mental space for helping other people.
- Getting into that joyous ‘flow’ state, where you’re on top of your game.
- Pay rise?
I have experienced all of these benefits in the past couple of years with keto and many of my clients report they do too.
Balanced Blood Sugar and Metabolic Flexibility
Since carbs and proteins are both converted to simple sugar carbohydrates (glucose), most of us are sugar-burners most of the time.
This means that we have frequent spikes and then dips in blood sugar and spikes in insulin. When we are producing insulin in response to eating sugar, it’s pretty impossible to lose weight and it takes its toll on our metabolism.
Over time, we can become insulin resistant and cause metabolic damage – which can lead to Type 2 Diabetes if left unchecked.
In fact, the World Health Organization states that 90% of Americans are walking around with insulin resistance and 90% of those people are unaware of it.
It’s a ticking time bomb of ‘diabesity’ – diabetes and obesity, which we can see all around us.
Maybe you’re already struggling with diabetes or pre-diabetes and being overweight?
[If so, you’re in the right place – the keto alkaline diet can really help and I’ve seen astonishing keto diet results with my clients! 😃]
If you’re not currently aware of any metabolic damage or pre-diabetes. Here’s an important question to think about…
If you’re eating a carbohydrate-heavy diet, how do you know you’re not one of the 90 million people who are on the path of insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and Type 2 diabetes?
So here’s the good news…
Fat is the only macronutrient that doesn’t raise your blood sugar and produce an insulin response in our bodies.
When we follow a low carb high fat diet, we minimise blood sugar spikes and so no insulin is needed to bring it back to normal.
Our liver converts dietary and body fat into ketones for fuel and we have a stable mood, energy and effortless weight loss.
So can you see how a keto diet mimics fasting?
If we don’t eat, there are no sugar or insulin spikes and our body turns its fat stores into ketones for fuel.
The same thing happens when we get into ketosis.
This sparks a powerful healing process called autophagy.
Autophagy
Autophagy is very powerful method that your body uses to clean out damaged cells and toxins and regenerate newer, healthier cells. It’s has anti-ageing effects and is kind of like a whole body detox on steroids.
It happens when we practice fasting or intermittent fasting and high intensity exercise – or get into nutritional ketosis.
Better Digestion and a Flatter Stomach
One of the key markers of a heavy-carb, insulin-resistance diet is the ‘paunch’. Yep, that protruding belly, replete with love handles and probably gas and bloating to boot, if you’re lucky.
Nice.
This is the bane of so many people’s lives and it can be sorted with a well-formulated keto diet.
As soon as I came out of a vegan diet heavy and beans, chickpeas and the like, and got into the keto diet, my digestion improved massively.
I couldn’t believe how settled my stomach was and how much flatter it became in only a week.
A well-formulated keto diet plan is very anti-inflammatory and will calm many digestive issues, like SIBO, IBS, Crohn’s, Colitis, GERD.
In my Keto Life meal plans, I’ve been very mindful to leave out inflammatory foods that are high in ‘lectins’ (plant chemicals usually found the seeds and skin) – which can irritate your digestion.
You can read more about the keto diet benefits here.
Keto Foods
On a ketogenic diet it means eating less than 50g of carbs per day (25g or less is better). So it will come as no surprise that the foods you’ll be eating on keto are low-carb foods.
Let’s start with the obvious foods that you can’t eat if you want to get and stay in ketosis and experience its benefits…
Non Keto Foods To Avoid
My strong suggestion, for whatever your diet and way of eating – keto or not – is to avoid the 3 most dangerous foods – industrial vegetable oils, white refined sugar and white refined flour, since eating them is the fast track to a whole host of health problems such as the big 3 western diseases – cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
[BTW, after years as a sugar junkie, I quit sugar and haven’t looked back – it can be done and is a necessary step for the keto diet. You can see how to quit sugar here and get my free10 Step Quit Sugar Plan here.]
We also need to be avoiding pretty much all foods and drinks that contain any significant amount of carbohydrates (not including fiber), such as sugar, potatoes, root veg, grains, beans, fruits, juices, honey, sweets, low fat diet foods, most alcoholic drinks most baked and packaged goods…
Hold on, does that mean no cakes, chocolate, chips, ice cream, pizza, bread??
Well no, not quite. In fact not at all. On keto you can eat an abundance of the foods you love, we just have to ‘ketofy’ them.
How to ‘Ketofy’ Your Favorite Carb Based Foods
One of the keys to starting out on a keto diet and transitioning from a higher carb diet into low carb and keto is to make keto versions of the foods you already eat and love.
Generally, we can ‘ketofy’ meals by switching out grains for nut flours, sugars for natural low carb sweeteners and adding in more fat.
Here are some of the healthy foods you can eat on the keto diet (from my Keto Life meal plan and recipe book).
[pictures of delicious keto foods]
Phew, that’s a relief!
You’ll probably find that once you get into ketosis and start to become ‘fat adapted’ you appreciate simpler foods and meals and may not want to replace your old foods with keto versions.
But it’s always nice to have some delicious keto cookies and cakes on hand and they’ll certainly impress your friends and family, who’ll likely think you’re ‘on a weird and boring diet’!
Eat These High Fat Low Carb Foods
Here’s an overview of ketogenic diet foods to enjoy…
Keto Diet Foods
Eat freely:
Healthy oils and saturated animal fats
Fatty cuts of meat and fish
Eggs
Avocados
Low carb vegetables (and other alkaline foods)
Unsweetened coffee and tea
Bone broth
Eat sparingly:
Berries and low sugar citrus fruits
High fat dairy and cheese
Nuts, nut butters and seeds
Low carb non-artificial sweeteners like stevia, erythritol and monk fruit
Dark chocolate and cocoa powder
Low carb alcohol
Embrace Saturated Animal Fats…Really?!
The most controversial food type on this list is saturated animal fats…
The thought of eating high saturated fat makes many people nervous (“won’t it clog my arteries and give me cancer?”).
If you’re new to the keto diet, it’s something that you have to educate yourself in to overcome your past dietary conditioning and false beliefs (thanks a bunch, erroneous nutritional guidelines).
The fact is that it’s not saturated fats that are clogging our arteries and making us fat and sick, it’s industrial vegetable oils and too many unhealthy carbs (source).
Plus, there are fat soluble vitamins only found in their most bioavailable form in animal fats – like Vitamins K2, D, A & E.
So we can and need to go ahead and embrace animal fat foods on keto, knowing that they’re not just ok for us but essential to our good health.
If you need more convincing/reassurance and to hear how I got over my fear of animal fats, check out my article Saturated Fat Foods – Aren’t They Bad For Us?
The simplest way to think about eating on keto is to base your diet mostly around whole, natural, single-ingredient high-fat foods and meals made up of them.
See my full keto foods guide here & free printable keto foods list here for a comprehensive list of low carb foods to enjoy on your keto adventure (with alkaline foods highlighted too).
Keto Diet Recipes – A Word of Warning
You’ll find a ton of keto blogs and keto recipes online and that’s great – by all means try some out and enjoy. But I’ll give you a word of caution…
Whilst keto recipes tend to follow the correct macronutrient guidelines (around 80% fat, 15% protein, 5% carbs), the majority of them do not factor in your micronutrient needs – particularly your alkaline mineral electrolytes.
If we just randomly download keto recipes and try them out, we are in danger of getting ‘keto flu’ symptoms – such as constipation or diarrhoea, sleeplessness, muscle spasms, sugar cravings and pounding heartbeat.
If we experience the keto flu for more than a few days or a week, we are very likely to give up and conclude that “the keto diet doesn’t work for me”.
Eek! That’s tragic! Keto is AWESOME…when done properly. So I’d hate for you to try out a sub-optimal keto approach and not experience any of the benefits and then give up.
Your keto diet needs to follow a well formulated keto diet plan in order for you to succeed and lose the weight, get your blood sugar in check, reduce inflammation and pain, improve digestion, mood, sleep and energy and feel GREAT.
So don’t just pick recipes in isolation, choose a plan that factors in all your nutrient needs and you’ll fly.
Remember, the keto diet done well will serve you for the rest of your life and you can come back to it time and time again.
It’s definitely worth investing some time and money to do this right – it’s a skill and a way of eating that will reap a high return in due course.
That’s why I follow and coach my clients in a keto diet high in alkaline mineral rich foods…
The Alkaline Diet & How It Relates to Keto
Long before I found and embraced the keto diet, I was an alkaline diet nutritionist, researcher and author.
I’ve written two alkaline diet books ‘The Alkaline 5 Diet’ published by Hay House in 2015 and ‘The 21-Day Alkaline Diet Plan’ published in 2019. I also run an online coaching program called ‘Alkaline, Slim & Energised’.
The alkaline diet is concerned with eating alkaline mineral rich foods and getting enough electrolytes – namely Potassium, Magnesium, Calcium and Sodium.
Most of us are woefully deficient in these alkaline minerals, whatever diet we’re on.
But on keto, we tend to lose more electrolytes as we don’t hold onto so much water weight and so we pee them out at a more frequent rate.
…Needless to say, I think alkaline mineral rich foods are very important.
Alkaline foods
We need to be eating plenty of alkaline foods to thrive on our keto diet. What kinds of foods are they?
In a nutshell – leafy greens.
Foods such as spinach, arugula (rocket, to us English folk), swiss chard, lettuce and cruciferous veg such as cabbage, kale and broccoli are all excellent sources of electrolytes, so eat plenty! They are also high in fiber so they’ll keep you regular and will help minimize any sugar cravings.
Some people like to take alkaline supplements and electrolyte powders.
I often take a wheatgrass juice or other greens drink, Magnesium Citrate before bed to aid my sleep and if I’ve had a particularly hard exercise session, I’ll also take Potassium Citrate and some extra pink Himalayan salt.
If you’re following a really well-fomulated keto plan then it may not be necessary to take supplements at all but I’ve found that this boost in electrolytes at particular times of stress helps me to feel on top form and sleep well. My clients have reported the same.
I also have an excellent alkaline water filter, which takes out harmful toxins and adds in alkalising minerals. I highly recommend getting yourself a good water filter – else your body has to act as the filter and it’s a huge burden on your system.
The Keto Alkaline Diet Is The Sweet Spot
A well-formulated keto diet that includes lots of alkaline foods is really the crème de la crème of diets in my opinion.
I’ve had 20 years of experience and experimenting with different diets in my own life and I’ve coached many thousands of people all around the world to towards better health and their optimum weight.
…And the simple fact is this:
Keto diet + alkaline foods = a killer combo for super health results.
Experience the Keto Life Benefits & Freedom
So you’re here, you’ve found the holy grail of diets and I am excited for you! I know the impact this can have on your life and I invite you to jump in and give it a try of yourself and see the results.
…Imagine getting to your ideal weight.
…Imagine being pain free, medication free.
…Imagine waking up each morning with joy and energy and ready to tackle the day with gusto!
…Imagine having foods freedom and truly enjoying delicious healthy meals.
It’s yours for the taking.
Ready?
Join us on the Keto Life here.
Blessings,
Laura “master keto diet coach & alkaline nutritionist (that’s a mouthful)” Rimmer
