You don’t need to go keto to get the intermittent fasting results you want. It may help, and I certainly would recommend you try it, but it is not a requirement (nothing is a requirement except for, mmm, fasting). However, even if you are not keto, it’s a good idea to include more high-fat low-carb foods in your diet. These foods will help keep you satisfied longer and you will love how you feel.
Health Benefits of Eating More High-Fat Low-Carb Foods
Feeling fuller longer is helpful for weight loss, but it also helps you get off the blood sugar roller coaster. Many of us find that eating too many carbs makes us want to eat more food in general. Moreover, some evidence suggests that low carb high-fat diets can help improve some medical conditions like:
- diabetes
- some cancers
- Alzheimer’s
- heart disease
The metabolic benefits of eating more high fat low carb foods extend well beyond weight loss as you can see.
High-Fat Low-Carb Foods vs. Low-Carb Foods
I created a downloadable PDF Low-Carb food list, I recommend you check it out. This list is suited for a keto lifestyle and gives you the exact number of carbs per serving of fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds, protein, and dairy products. In today’s post, I wanted to give you an overview of foods that will increase the fat content of your meals while keeping your carb intake low. The higher fat content is a critical factor to help you feel full and satisfied. You could eat a plateful of low-carb veggies and not feel satisfied. Adding avocado, hemp hearts, olive oil to your veggies is what makes the difference.
High-Fat Low-Carb Food List
Again, let’s group these high-fat low-carb foods into categories: fats, protein, fruits and vegetables, and carbs (there are some higher-carb foods you can enjoy). When you make a meal, try to have at least half of your plate filled with veggies. Add healthy fats to your veggies, include a protein, and maybe some healthy carbs (depending on how low you want to keep your carb count).
Healthy Fats You Will Love On Everything
I enjoy adding a lot of healthy fats to my veggies. In fact, you can just make that a meal and I do sometimes. Here are some excellent high-fat low-carb foods that you can enjoy as toppings:
- olive oil
- coconut oil
- hemp hearts
- avocado
- butter
- cheese
- olives
- slivered almonds
- sunflower seeds
- pumpkin seeds
- sesame seeds
- walnuts
- pecans
- chia seeds
- macadamia nuts
- shredded coconut
- nut butters (use them for dressings, for example)
- dark chocolate (may sound strange, but I have used cocoa nibs on salads after seeing a friend do it, it’s good!)
This list is not exhaustive, but it gives you a good idea of how you can increase the fat content of your veggies. You will notice that these high-fat low-carb foods to your plate will make your meal a lot more satisfying.
Proteins
The following sources of protein are also excellent sources of healthy fats. They would also be perfect additions to your plate of veggies:
- sardines
- wild-caught salmon
- tuna
- mackerel
- trout
- herring
- eggs
- anchovies
- beef
- dark chicken meat and chicken skin
High-Fat Low-Carb Fruits and Veggies
Fruits and veggies have little to no fat except for avocado, olives, and coconut. Avocados have 21 grams of fat per fruit; raw coconut meat has 13.5 g per half-cup; 10 large olives have 5 g of fat. That’s why I am encouraging you to add fatty toppings to your veggies.
Best Carb Options
Obviously, if you are eating high fat and low carb, you will not be consuming many of these carb options. I wanted to include them anyway for days you need to satisfy your carb cravings:
- White potatoes (if you still think you need to avoid white potatoes, think again!)
- Sweet potatoes
- Winter squash
- Beans and legumes
- Rutabaga
Meal Ideas That Include High Fat Low Carb Foods
To conclude this post, I thought it would be useful to give you some meal inspiration. I don’t know about you, but I go through phases where I meal plan and buy groceries accordingly and phases where I just dig into my fridge/freezer and make up something. This section is meant to help you create meals from what you have on hand. These are not recipes, just versatile combination ideas.
Salads
If you have lettuce and olive oil, you can make a salad! Make your salads as simple or elaborate as you want. Sometimes, I just have lettuce, cucumbers, and olives. I drizzle that with olive oil and vinegar. You can add shredded carrots, apples, sprouts, nuts and seeds, cheese, or anything that you feel like eating, pretty much! Another good option to make a salad dressing using nut butter. Delicious!
My Favorite Salad Dressing Recipe
I almost always have this salad dressing already made. I keep it in a Mason jar and use it everyday on my salads. Here’s what I put in it:
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon salt
Roasted Vegetables
Roasted vegetables are among my favorites! The roasting seems to bring out the sweetness in the veggies. Prepare whatever veggies you have (I like do this this with Winter squash, broccoli, cauliflower, and potatoes in particular. Green beans work well too. Layer them on a baking sheet. Drizzle with your fat of choice like avocado oil, coconut oil or butter. Season the way you like (just salt works but you can use onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, etc.). Roast in the oven at 400 F until nice and golden. Once your veggies are roasted, you can even add more high fat low carb foods to your dish like a dressing, nuts and seeds, or avocados.
Stir-Fries
Sometimes, I just use of stir-fry veggie mix. You can also make your own using bok choy, sliced carrots, peppers, celery, cabbage or whatever else you have. Chop some garlic and ginger, add to your stir fry mix with sesame oil and tamari sauce. Sometimes, I just use olive oil. You can also combine both. Petty simple! Sesame seeds are an excellent addition to your stir fry for taste and fat content.
Ground Meat
I buy my meat from Butcher Box. I love that the meat is ethically raised on local farms. It’s very affordable as the family-sized plan is almost enough (I do buy some extra meat on top of that) to feed my family of 9 for a whole month for around $300. The only catch is, I picked the cheapest cuts (except for chicken breasts). So, I mostly have ground beef and ground turkey. It can get boring in some ways, but at the same time, ground meat as the be the easiest cut of meat to create simple and versatile meals from. You can cook it and season it in an infinite number of ways it seems! Add it to your stir-fries and salads. Cook it with veggies, diced potatoes, turn it into pasta sauce. Mix it with rice (obviously, that’s not low carb).
In Summary
That’s it, my friend! I hope you feel confident that you can consume high fat low carb foods every day without spending much time in the kitchen. It’s mostly a matter of selecting the right low carb foods and adding your favorite fats to them. It’s that simple!
