Snacking is a key part of every diet, including keto. How else could you sate that mid-afternoon hunger? So enjoy your delicious snacks—just make sure you're actually choosing healthy keto snacks. After all, since keto has become such a popular label, not every ketogenic snack you find in your favorite grocery store is actually good for you. In fact, some could even flush your metabolic efforts down the drain.
So how do you take charge of your shopping and get ketosis-boosting foods into your grocery cart? Easy, with these must-read tips on how to pick healthy keto snacks (and more).
Just because a snack calls itself keto doesn't mean it actually is keto-friendly. Read the nutritional facts label and decide for yourself, does this snack fit into your diet? In particular, pay attention to net carbs. Because our bodies don't digest dietary fiber, you don't have to worry about them when choosing snacks. Instead, calculate net carbs per serving: subtract fiber (in grams) from total carbs (in grams).
While on a keto diet, your daily carb intake should stay at or below 50 grams per day. How many carbs you can budget for your snacks will depend on your meal plan for the day. But generally speaking, since a snack is a smaller meal, you could budget 20% or less of your daily recommended intake of carbs for a snack. In other words, keep your snack under 10 grams of net carbohydrates.
Reading ingredient lists is also a good habit to get into, and not just because you're on the keto diet. Your snacks shouldn't have more than a few (if any) filler ingredients—components that are low-quality, inexpensive, and do not add any extra nutrition to the recipe. Instead, you'll want to choose snacks that are made with wholesome, minimally processed ingredients. As a rule of thumb, the shorter the ingredient list, the better.
Additionally, keep an eye out for sneaky added sugars. By now you know sugar is a big no-no in the keto diet (after all, it is just carbs), but you may not recognize sugar by its other names: dextrose, fructose, galactose, glucose, fruit juice concentrates, syrup, and so on. Once you start paying attention to ingredient lists, you'll realize just how common natural and artificial sweeteners are—and how hard it is to completely clear them from your diet.
You've probably heard of "dirty keto." It's a variation of the ketogenic diet that keeps carbs to a minimum but allows for all kinds of proteins and fats. As a result, people on this "dirty" diet end up eating a lot of fast-food and ultra-processed foods, which isn't good for your cardiovascular health in the long term.
If you want to improve your well-being while on the ketogenic diet, stay away from snacks that are high in trans fat and sodium. These two nutrients can truly wreak havoc on your body even though they are technically aligned with the high-fat, low-carb moto of the keto diet.
Eggs and meat are two big parts of a ketogenic diet, so it only makes sense to pay attention to where those foods are coming from. Especially since snacks made with free-range eggs and grass-fed beef tend to be more nutrient-rich.
Free-range chickens live a much healthier (and happier!) life than most caged egg-laying chickens —they're allowed to roam, exhibit instinctive behaviors, and are often fed a more natural, varied diet. This differential treatment translates to real chemical differences in the eggs they lay. Organic free-range eggs have lower cholesterol levels than "regular" eggs and may have higher levels of antioxidants, nutrients responsible for fighting cell damage.
Grass-fed beef also has an edge over conventional grain-fed beef. Because cattle are raised on pastures eating vegetation instead of corn, soy, and grains, the chemical makeup of their meat is superior. Grass-fed beef offers more heart-healthy omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, more vitamins A and E, and more antioxidants. Overall, grass-fed beef also has less fat than grain-fed beef.
Now that you've learned key tips on how to choose healthy keto snacks, you can shop by yourself with confidence. Head to the snack aisle to pick and choose what looks good. But if you're feeling stuck, these are just some of the store-bought snacks that will keep you in a fat-burning metabolic state:
If you'd prefer to make your snacks at home, these are some wholesome options to consider:
A keto diet is restrictive (it is an elimination diet at the end of the day), but you can still certainly enjoy snacking. The trick is choosing snacks that actually fit into your dietary plan so you can curb your hunger and still hit the health and well-being goals you've laid out for yourself.
Going through a busy week? You can also turn to nutrient-rich fully prepared meals. Factor offers several mouthwatering chef-made keto meal options every week made from high-quality ingredients. And because the meals are dietitian-approved, you don't have to worry if they work with the keto lifestyle.