Seriously, the Keto diet is trending. Photo / Getty Images
Seriously, the Keto diet is trending. Photo / Getty Images
By Rachel Grunwell
COMMENT: Is it me, or is Instagram full of people thanking the Keto diet for helping them to lose weight and look good.
Okay, I'm a wellness geek who follows lots of people who dig wellness. So it's going to happen!
But seriously, the Keto diet istrending.
Scott Gooding thinks so too. He's the author of The Keto Diet Cookbook, which boasts 150 keto recipes. He has also recently launched www.reconditioned.me.
Reconditioned.me is an eight-week online health programme where you can tap into low-carb meals, psychologist-led mindset coaching, mindfulness and workouts. It's an holistic approach to wellness.
Auckland-based clinical nutritionist and researcher Cliff Harvey is also involved in the programme. He's well-known for backing the Keto diet well before it became trendy and has done some research on it over the years and penned a few wellness books on eating with a low-carbohydrate approach.
I chatted to Sydney-based Scott via Skype and asked him for the low-down on Keto.
He says people should adopt it as a lifestyle, not a quick-fix diet. He says it's a lifestyle where you essentially eat real food that's mostly plant-based.
Scott Gooding, author of The Keto Diet Cookbook. Photos / Guy Bailey & Scott Gooding
"Eat mostly above-ground veges too," he says. "Plants are the hero on your plate and protein is the condiment."
He adds that this can often be the first thing people need to adopt well because Australians and Kiwis tend to be "barbecue nations".
So, the Ketogenic lifestyle is where you avoid processed foods, and embrace healthy fats like nuts, coconut, avocados, etc.
Ketosis is a word you'll hear often with the ketogenic approach. This is the metabolic process when the body burns stored fats rather than glucose for energy.
Scott says it's a great lifestyle to adopt for weight control and to uplift your health.
"It ultimately helps to lower inflammation, improve longevity and enhance cognitive function," he says.
He says lowering inflammation is important because "this is the corner stone to good health or ill-health". This is how we try to keep diseases at bay.
Steak with anchovy butter and chimmichiri. Photo / Supplied
Scott says being in ketosis will help to reduce the oxidative stress caused by a high-carbohydrate diet. Scott gets excited when he talks about good nutrition because he explains "we get to control everything that passes our lips".
While other stresses are harder to control like those in work, family, and relationships, he adds.
