The Keto Cookbook: Delicious Low-Carb Recipes for a Healthier You

The ketogenic diet, which is very high in fats and low in carbohydrates, was first developed almost 80 years ago. It causes the body to burn fat rather than glucose for energy. Two out of every three children who try the diet benefit, and one in three may be completely free of seizures, provided that they are closely monitored by a medical team who is familiar with its use. It is a strict diet, and takes a strong commitment from the whole family. The ketogenic diet is not a do-it-yourself diet. It is a serious treatment that, like other epilepsy treatments, can cause side effects that need to be monitored. The Keto Cookbook is a cookbook for those using the diet to treat epilepsy and other neurologic conditions. There are 96 recipes in the book, organized into breakfast and brunch, appetizers and snacks, lunch and dinner, and sweets and treats categories. The book includes a 16-page color insert illustrating each recipe. Because many children begin the Keto Diet before they can speak, the pictures of the meal and snack options let them choose what they want, which helps them overcome food refusal caused by a lack of variety or a loss of control over food options. Options tested and approved by Registered Dietitians are presented in this book for parents and children. Features of The Keto Cookbook include:read more

96 kid and dietitian tested and approved recipes for the keto diet presented in full color

Symbols are used to code recipes to indicate cooking times and personality types. Allergy information for the eight most common allergens

Practical recommendations to assist individuals in "keto-proofing" their lives, from the classroom to the car to the kitchen. Four sample shopping lists and vacation guidelines will help families prepare for the unexpected

Examples of the Emergency Room/Primary Physician, School/Daycare Center, and Transportation Safety Agency forms Additional Sections include: 1. A Short History of the Ketogenic Diet; 2. The story of Charlotte; 3. Community and Household Hazards; 4. a. Recipes Breakfast and Brunch, b. c. Appetizers and Snacks Dinner, d. E. dinner Treats and Sweets; a. Resources Sample letter for visiting the ER or outside hospital, b. Sample letter for travelling (TSA), c. List of stores/products, d. How to compile simple meals (protein + fat + carb)Are you considering trying the ketogenic diet? Before you start filling your shopping cart with grass-fed butter and bacon, know this: While you’ve likely heard about this high-fat, very low carbohydrate diet — and you probably even have a friend or two who have tried it — there’s still a lot of confusion about what it really takes to follow keto.read more

According to Seattle-based Ginger Hultin, RDN, owner of Ginger Hultin Nutrition and author of the Anti-Inflammatory Diet Meal Prep e-book, "in general, people say they're on the ketogenic diet, but it's not actually the case — a lot of times they're just doing a low-carb plan." The reason for this, says Hultin, is that the diet itself is challenging to follow. According to her, "if you’re doing the diet correctly, you need to be calculating, weighing, tracking, and measuring what you’re eating" because "80% or more of your calories must come from fat." According to Harvard Health, popular resources suggest that an average of between 70 and 80 percent of your total calories come from fat, up to 20 percent come from protein, and only 10 percent or less come from carbohydrates. However, there are no official guidelines regarding the proportion of macronutrients that are required to follow the ketogenic diet. For a 2000-calorie diet, this translates to about 165 grams fat, 40 grams carbohydrate, and 75 grams protein.read more

Ketogenic Health Dangers to Know Also, the diet isn’t without risks. According to Hultin, "people often don't know it's a medically prescribed diet for patients with epilepsy." She says that people with epilepsy, most of whom are children, receive routine blood work and lab tests and are under medical supervision to ensure that they are getting the vitamins and minerals they need to stay healthy. Keto beginners may follow the diet incorrectly and miss out on potassium, calcium, magnesium, and fiber — essential nutrients that are commonly found in whole grains, certain veggies, and fruits, which are limited on a keto menu. Hultin provides the following explanation: "So when people decide to try the diet to lose weight, they are often doing so without the medical specialists they would otherwise need." Another risk? If the kidneys are already damaged, the diet can put strain on them. “If you already have kidney issues, the diet is likely not going to be right for you,“ says Hultin. Beyond that, since many foods on a ketogenic diet are high in saturated fat, people who are at risk for heart disease will probably want to avoid the diet or talk to their doctor before trying it. The American Heart Association recommends saturated fat because it raises your LDL, or “bad“ cholesterol, which increases your risk of heart disease. People with type 1 diabetes, women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, individuals with a history of eating disorders, and those whose gallbladder has been removed are among the other people whom dietitians advise to avoid the keto diet. Also, a review published in the September–October 2019 issue of the Journal of Clinical Lipidology found that a low-carb diet (like the ketogenic diet), may help lower blood sugar, but at the same time could raise that LDL cholesterol. (However, overall, the research on how keto affects cholesterol is mixed.) Keto requires additional research. Scientists are looking into whether the ketogenic diet might be promising for those suffering with brain tumors, although the study, published in July 2021 in the journal Neurology, was conducted in a laboratory setting, not on humans.read more