When you look at a label on a keto product, it is super easy to think that it’s just as simple as the total carbohydrate content. Well I want to give you a few very important things that you should be paying attention to. Things that can affect your ketone levels, but more importantly things that can affect your overall health.
Sugar Alcohols and Artificial Sweeteners
Okay, the first thing that I want to look at is going to be sugar alcohols and artificial sweeteners. What should you be paying attention to on a label? Okay, when you glance at a keto product, you should be wary of anything that has a sugar alcohol in it. Anything that ends in “ol,” with the exception of erythritol. So we’re talking about sorbitol, we’re talking about maltitol, mannitol and xylitol. But there is a few other ones, just look for things that end in “ol.” Now in the world of artificial sweeteners, there’s two that you really need to be careful of: sucralose and acesulfame potassium. Now aspartame is unhealthy for you; however, it’s been shown that aspartame doesn’t necessarily spike insulin. So I don’t want to talk about that one in today’s video. But sucralose and acesulfame potassium trigger what is called a cephalic insulin response, which means they trigger an insulin release similar to carbohydrates. So that means that it could potentially knock you out of ketosis or at least slow down your ketone production.
Beware of Palm Kernel Oil
Now, of course, you could always test using your Keto-Mojo Meter to see what your individual response is to a given sugar alcohol or a given artificial sweetener. But it’s something that you just need to be careful of. Okay, now let’s take a look at fats for a minute. When you look at keto food you would think that there are all kinds of fats that you need to be concerned with. But the harsh reality is that there are only a few fats that are usually used in processed keto foods okay? And they’re usually halfway decent but you just want to be careful of things like palm kernel oil. Okay, palm kernel oil does not metabolize very well within the body and is not good ketogenic fat.
Different Types of Oils
Now, additionally, you want to be careful of things like vegetable oil and canola oil, or any kind of soybean oil, or any kind of oil that’s going to be really derived from a vegetable source. Now, that’s aside from avocado and olive oil and things like that. We’re looking at vegetable oils because they are highly, highly processed and very high in omega 6’s. So what do you want to look for in a specific keto product? Well, ideally you would like to see coconut oil as the primary fat source. You would like to see MCT oil and you’d probably like to see something like red palm oil, which is a sustainable version of palm, which is high in stearic acid, which is a good long carbon chain fatty acid saturated fat that you want. So, those are the ones you want to be paying attention to.
What is Hydrogenated Fat and Whey Protein?
Now, you also want to be wary of anything that says “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated fat.” Okay, this is simply put a modified fat that has been totally altered to become shelf-stable. We are seeing more and more of these occurring in keto bars and keto baked goods and things like that to make them shelf-stable as the Keto trend tends to get a little bit stronger. Another thing I want you to be paying attention to is whey protein concentrate. Companies will add this into a product just to add extra protein. So pay very, very, very close attention to that as it’s not necessarily something that you want to be having in your body.
The Benefits of Olive and Avocado Oil
Now another one that you really want to be paying attention to in a good way is going to be any food that uses olive oil or avocado oil or any kind of good healthy fat in that sense. We want good monounsaturated fats. Okay, monounsaturated fats like olive oil and like avocado oil, can be somewhat shelf-stable. They’re just not shelf-stable for a long period of time. Now, you will see them in some particular products. For example, some mayonnaise is made with olive oil instead of soybean oil. Some mayonnaise is made with avocado oil instead of soybean oil. Those are the kind of things that we want to look for.
What are Gums and Stabilizers?
Now additionally when you’re in like say, the refrigerated section or the dairy section, you just want to be careful of any other kind of gums or stabilizers. Now a little bit is going to be fine, like a little bit of acacia gum, or a little bit of tapioca gum or tapioca fiber. You’re not just going to see those in refrigerated foods, you’re going to see those all over the place. A little bit is fine as a stabilizer but you have to be cognizant of the fact that companies will add these into their products to give them more volume and to make it just a better margin for them. So be wary of that. But additionally, they’ll also use to jack up the fiber content. And what I mean by that is let’s say they have a product that has ten grams of carbohydrates. They know that if they were to go ahead and add five grams of acacia fiber or five grams of tapioca fiber not only would it make the product more volumized, it would also decrease the net carb ratio. Because it would improve the total carbs versus the fiber carbs, making it more desirable for people that are on a low carb diet.
The Importance of Testing with Your Meter: Keto-friendly food or not?
Companies are catching wind of this and they’re abusing it to some degree. So you just want to be careful when you’re looking at the ingredient profile, that it doesn’t have a high amount of tapioca fiber or a high amount of acacia fiber. Again, in moderation these are fine. You just have to be careful. And truly, it all comes down to the individual. Like I said with the artificial sweeteners if you want to see what’s really working for you and what’s not you need to be testing your own ketone levels. Because what I respond to might be totally different from what you respond to or from somebody else. That’s the benefit of utilizing the Keto-Mojo Meter. You could always see where you stand with each given food. So you can read your ketone labels individually, the way that you should. So as always, please keep it locked in with Keto-Mojo. Leave the guesswork out of the equation and leave the measuring to the meter. I will see you soon.
