Top 8 Keto Supplements and 5 Functional Foods
So you’ve decided to go keto and you’ve done all of your research on which foods you’ll be eating on the ketogenic diet. But before you do your next big grocery run, you may want to consider these keto supplements too.
While supplements aren’t 100 percent necessary on the keto diet, certain keto supplements can maximize your results by accelerating weight and fat loss and boosting your energy levels.
Some keto supplements are also helpful for reducing symptoms of the dreaded keto flu, and can help make the transition to a high-fat and low-carb diet much easier, especially in the early stages when you may want to give up.
In addition to dietary supplements, we’ll also let you know which superfoods — or “functional foods” as we call them — can be helpful. These foods are concentrated in essential nutrients and can further improve how you feel on the keto diet.
Let’s take a look at five keto-approved functional foods and the eight most popular keto supplements you may want to try, based on your individual needs.
We consider bone broth a functional food because it’s concentrated in so many beneficial nutrients, such as collagen, gelatin, glycine, and potassium. Since the bones used to make bone broth have such a long simmer time (24–48 hours), the nutrients become highly bioavailable, and easy for your body to use and absorb straight away.
Best of all, both varieties of Kettle and Fire Bone Broth fit into the keto diet macros nicely.
Kettle and Fire Chicken Bone Broth contains: 10 grams of protein, 1 gram of fat, and 0 carbs per serving.
Kettle and Fire Beef Bone Broth contains: 6 grams of protein, 0 grams of fat, and 2 grams of carbs per serving.
Chlorella is a single-celled green algae that many people take for energy, which can help increase your energy levels if you become fatigued in the early stages of going keto.
This is because chlorella contains a nutrient called Chlorella Growth Factor, which contains the nucleic acids RNA and DNA. These nucleic acids help with cellular repair and regeneration, which allows for more efficient energy transport between your cells (1). Read: healthy cells = more energy.
Chlorella can be found in supplement form (tablets, powders, capsules, or granules) at most health food stores. A high quality chlorella supplement will be made from pulverized chlorella and batch tested for heavy metal contamination.
Studies suggest green tea helps boost fat metabolism (2). Green tea also contains the antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which helps prevent cellular damage (3).
Green tea is keto friendly, especially when you add a spoonful of MCT oil to it.
Ah, turmeric: the famous anti-inflammatory spice, and one of the latest food trends. Turmeric’s active ingredient, curcumin, is said to be the reason for its health benefits, which also include improved digestion and antioxidation (4). The main benefit of adding turmeric to your keto recipes is its anti-inflammatory role, which can help counteract the effects of pro-inflammatory foods on the keto diet, such as dairy and non-organic animal products.
You can make a keto curry using turmeric, or try Golden Milk, a keto-friendly turmeric drink recipe. To make Golden Milk, all you need is full fat coconut milk, ginger, coconut oil, cinnamon, turmeric, and a zero calorie natural sweetener, such as stevia. A sprinkle of black pepper is also said to help with turmeric absorption.
Check out Wellness Mama’s Golden Milk recipe. Just be sure to substitute the honey for stevia if you use a sweetener.
Dandelion has properties that stimulate the gallbladder to produce more bile, which helps you digest and absorb fatty acids (5). If you experience digestive symptoms after eating fats, having a mug of dandelion root tea first thing in the morning can help you digest your meals better throughout the day.
Roasted dandelion isn’t the most delicious herb on the planet, but adding a squeeze of lemon can help neutralize the bitter taste and further promote digestion.
You can find dandelion tea at any natural health food store in bulk or in tea bags.
Perfect Keto is a powdered drink mix and keto supplement that provides your body with exogenous ketones (whereas your body produces endogenous ketones). Taking exogenous ketones provides ketone bodies for you to burn as fuel right away, whether or not you’re in ketosis. This is why some people who aren’t living a keto lifestyle will still take ketone supplements for energy.
Being made from exogenous ketones, Perfect Keto provides the same benefits that endogenous ketones naturally offer your body: long-lasting energy, improved cognitive function, athletic performance, mental focus, fat burning, and accelerated weight loss.
To be clear, exogenous ketones aren’t a replacement for the keto diet. While exogenous ketone supplements will raise the ketone bodies in your blood, they’re simply providing your body with a fuel source, rather than putting you in the metabolic state of ketosis where the “fat burning magic” takes place.
That being said, Perfect Keto can still be helpful for getting you back into ketosis when you’ve been following the keto diet and have exceeded your carb limit.
Energy, focus, concentration, cognitive function, improved athletic performance, accelerated weight loss, can help you stay in ketosis.
With a name like “7 Keto DHEA,” you’d automatically think it’s a keto diet supplement. And it is. But it’s also produced by your body naturally.
7 Keto DHEA is a metabolite of DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone), which is produced by your brain and adrenal glands (6). It acts as a growth hormone and can help stimulate the production of other hormones that play a role in burning body fat and increasing lean muscle mass, such as the thyroid hormone (7).
Some studies also suggest 7 Keto DHEA can help increase the activity of thermogenic liver enzymes, which means your liver cells are burning fatty acids more efficiently (8). This suggests 7 Keto DHEA may help you burn fat and lose weight on the keto diet.
Natural metabolism booster, weight and fat loss.
Many different brands make 7 DHEA and most health food stores will have it on their supplement aisle shelves. You can also order 7 Keto DHEA through online retailers like Amazon.
Not only are fatty fish one of the best foods to eat to stay in ketosis, but they’re rich in omega–3 fatty acids, which help reduce the risk for heart disease and cancer (9).
One of the cautions when following the keto diet is that some fatty foods (especially dairy) are rich in omega–6s, which we need in small amounts, but can become pro-inflammatory when we consume too many of them (10).
When we consume too many omega–6s and not enough omega–3s, this can promote systemic inflammation, which may play a role in the onset of many chronic illnesses and diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and arthritis (11).
Not all omega–6s are pro-inflammatory (for example, GLA is an omega–6 fatty acid found in evening primrose oil and has been shown to reduce inflammation)(12).
The pro-inflammatory omega–6s are primarily found in high oleic vegetable oils (soybean, corn, safflower, sunflower), and dairy products such as butter, cream, milk, ghee, and non-organic meat and poultry.
Now, we do recommend avoiding highly processed vegetable oils and dairy products whenever possible. If you do eat dairy, opt for small amounts of full-fat organic or grass-fed dairy.
Taking a fish oil supplement on the keto diet is an easy way to maintain a healthy omega–3 to omega–6 ratio.
Natural anti-inflammatory properties, contributes to keto diet high fat intake requirements.
Any health food store will carry fish oil in capsules or liquid form.
Creatine is an amino acid that plays an important role in energy production and muscle contractions (13). It’s favored by athletes, bodybuilders, and keto dieters who are looking to increase endurance during high intensity activity and build lean muscle mass (14).
Our bodies naturally produce creatine, but as we age our creatine production declines. Taking a creatine supplement can provide you with a concentrated dose of this amino acid so you can keep crushing your workouts, on and off the keto diet.
Weight loss, building lean muscle mass, strength, athletic performance.
Most health food stores carry creatine supplements in powdered form, and you can order creatine from online retailers such as Amazon.
MCTs, or medium chain triglycerides, are a type of fat molecule found in coconut oil, palm oil, cheese, butter, and yogurt. The cool thing about MCTs that sets them apart from other fatty acids is that your body can use them for energy right away.
With a shorter chain length than fatty acids, they take a much “quicker” pathway (think of it as a shortcut) when they’re metabolized, which allows them to be converted to ketones and used for fuel, rather than being stored as fat (15).
In other words, MCTs are extremely beneficial on the keto diet for energy and staying in a fat burning state.
Coconut oil is by far the richest natural source of MCTs — however, taking a fractionated MCT supplement, such as MCT oil or MCT Oil Powder, offers a more concentrated dose of MCTs.
The benefit of taking an MCT oil supplement over plain coconut oil is that the fatty acids have been separated from the rest of the nutrients in coconut or palm oil. This means your body has far less work to do when it comes to digestion, and results in an even quicker conversion of energy.
As a fatty acid supplement, MCT oil can also help you meet your daily fat requirements for staying in ketosis. You can add MCT oil to your favorite shakes and smoothies, and your keto beverages such as coffee and herbal tea.
Long-lasting energy, high fat content.
MCT oil can be found on Amazon.
Note: Some people may experience digestive symptoms from MCT oil. If this happens, you can try an MCT powder which is easier to digest, such as Perfect Keto’s MCT Powder.
One of the biggest concerns with drastically reducing your carb consumption is not getting enough electrolytes. This is because you’re cutting out the best whole food sources of electrolytes, which are starchy fruits and vegetables.
Low electrolytes are a primary cause of the keto flu, which some people experience when transitioning to a low carb diet. Symptoms of the keto flu linked to low electrolytes include fatigue, dizziness, muscle cramps, headaches, and nausea. Since these symptoms will make you want to throw in the keto towel altogether, an easy way to stay on track is to take electrolytes daily, especially if you’re active.
It’s also worth mentioning that calcium and magnesium are known as the “calming” electrolytes, which help reduce stress and anxiety (16). If the low carb transition is stressing you out, it couldn’t hurt to add a few extra naturally calming nutrients to your diet.
Avoid symptoms of the keto flu, healthy muscle function.
Any health food store or grocery store will carry electrolyte supplements. Try to find a blend that contains calcium, sodium, magnesium, and potassium.
To stay in ketosis, it’s important to make sure your electrolyte supplement doesn’t contain added sweeteners (meaning most electrolyte sports drinks are out of the question). Since most sports drinks contain high fructose corn syrup or sucrose, even a few sips could throw you out of a fat burning state.
We recommend Ultima Replenisher, which contains no sugar or artificial ingredients, and zero calories.
And let’s not forget: You can also get electrolytes from bone broth, and mineral salts such as himalayan rock salt.
L-glutamine is an amino acid that acts as an antioxidant. It’s recommended on the keto diet for those who are extremely active because intense exercise has been shown to deplete your natural stores of glutamine, and can produce free radicals (toxins) (17, 18). Cutting carbs means you may not be eating as many antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables, so supplementing with a powerful antioxidant like glutamine may help prevent cellular damage (19).
Glutamine also helps boost immunity and muscle recovery time between workouts (20).
Prevents free radical damage from intense physical activity, boosts immunity, reduces recovery time between workouts.
Glutamine can be found in the supplements aisle of any health food store, or purchased through online retailers such as Amazon.
Vitamin D doesn’t play a role in ketone levels, but it does have a huge impact on your overall health — from immunity to electrolyte absorption — so it’s worth mentioning here.
It’s estimated that over 1 billion people worldwide are deficient in vitamin D. This vitamin is not only recommended as a keto supplement, but a supplement for most people to take, especially those who live in colder climates or don’t spend much time outdoors (21).
You need vitamin D for calcium absorption, muscle function, and immunity. It’s found in a few keto food sources — such as egg yolks, fatty fish (including fish oil), and mushrooms — but the most powerful way to get vitamin D is to allow your body to produce it from the sun.
If you don’t spend much time outdoors, taking a vitamin D3 supplement each day will help you meet your daily vitamin D requirements.
Electrolyte absorption (calcium), immune system support.
You can buy liquid vitamin D3 (the form that’s best absorbed by your body) at any health food store in liquid or capsule form.
As you can see, keto supplements aren’t 100 percent necessary, but they can add a boost of energy, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory health benefits if you do choose to add them to your routine.
If we had to choose only three keto supplements and functional foods, we’d go for exogenous ketones (such as Perfect Keto), MCT oil, and of course, Kettle and Fire Bone Broth.
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