Food Trends: Surviving the Keto Diet – Or Not

Up, close and personal with the latest weightloss fad - the keto diet

The keto diet, high on fat and moderate protein, unfortunately has no place for junk food like burgers.

(Photo: iStock)

I have always been an ardent reader of diets.

I read them through carefully, memorizing the dos and don’ts, giving myself mental high fives for eating something “right”, and speed-reading when they list any of my favourite grubs in the “must-avoid” section.

So when a couple of fellow gluttons (we call ourselves foodies and privately relish the comparison to Obelix faced with a platter of roasted wild boar) start talking seriously about the keto diet, I am naturally intrigued.

Keto Instead Of Cake?

Meat is an important part of the keto diet. (Photo: istockphoto)

It’s all the rage, they tell me. High on fat, moderate protein and near-zero carbs, the keto diet is known to achieve wonders when itcomes to weight loss. As you reduce the intake of carbs and pile up on protein and fat, your body achieves the metabolic state of ketosis, which then turns fatsinto ketones – the molecules that supply energy for the brain.

70 per cent of the energy comes from fats, 25 per cent from protein and five per cent from carbs from veggies or other ingredients.

Unlike other diets, keto encourages the intake of cheese, along with cream, butter and ghee. (Photo: istockphoto)

“It’s a diet that works and is not boring. You canhave all the yummiest food – we mean fatty pork, silly! And all kinds of meat, eggs, butter, cream, and cheese. Just imagine!” the dude and the dudettesay as they prance around me.

I smile what I like to think is my pacifist,non-committal smile.

Do Not Look At Thy (Dieting) Neighbours

Then they actually start on the diet.

And in three weeks, the dude, who chugs a couple (or four) of pints every night when December is in the air, and the dudette, who basically eats nine meals a day and has never been known to waste food, begin to sport considerably leaner frames.

I stare at them open-mouthed even as a plate of momos cool on my desk.

That single jaw-dropping moment

“You must do it! It’s the best thing in the world,” they assure me.

I am convinced. I plunge in enthusiastically.

Money, Money, Money, Must Be Funny...

And I am almost immediately trucked over by the bills. Tasty things are expensive – something you’d never guess from how those Jamie Olivers and Nigella Lawsons toss and munch through the pork chops and pot roasts and grilled haloumi.

And what do you do when a huge bunch of really expensive herbs you bought from the supermarket begin to rot after being used in two meals?

Bills!

I can solemnly testify that this diet was as close an experience of bankruptcy that I would care to live through.

Chicken is a good source of moderate protein. (Photo: istockphoto)

Hunger Games

Then there are the meals. The diet forbids all grains, especially rice and chapati. Great, I think. Unlike most people, I don’t miss the staples much. Till I realize that the substitutes don’t fill up my formidable tummy as well. No matter how much I eat, an emptiness gnaws my insides every three hours or so.

It’s actually the body kicking in to burn fat, but I advise you not to say that to a person on keto. Especially the one found staring at dirty Chinese stall wistfully or obsessively devouring food videos on Facebook.  

No wonder carbs make you fat – they have their weight.

Bread, fruits, milk, rice, and potato are some of the things to be avoided in a keto diet. (Photo: istockphoto)

Maida is also not allowed. So no biscuits, bread, cake, or anything nice to munch on. Dry fruits is what you have to resort to.

More bills.

Dry fruits are a great option for small hunger pangs. (Photo: istockphoto)

The Neanderthal Way

I find the diet a tad too meaty for my liking as well. Slanderous as it sounds, I like my meal more on the vegetarian side interspersed with non-veg delights (don’t get me wrong, I love my fish - any self-respecting Bong would tell you it’s a vegetable). So my enthusiasm kind of flags when I am looking at four meaty meals, seven days a week, for at least two months.

For vegetarians, paneer would be a great protein option for keto. (Photo: istockphoto)

Yeah, you can substitute it with paneer or (even) tofu. But again, how much of it can you eat on a daily basis? You are in some real danger of having to adopt a cow or at least the dudhwala for all that good stuff.

Bacon and eggs can be your dream keto breakfast. (Photo: istockphoto)

Even breakfasts become a pain. Milk, cereals and fruits are out of bounds and the prospect of making breakfast everyday quite apart from the other meals, maketh a very vile-tempered woman.

In My Defence

And the temper wins. As does Burger King. After two weeks.

PS: There’s also this little matter of potatoes. Who doesn’t like potatoes? How can anyone not eat potatoes?!

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