Eating with enthusiasm doesn’t mean eating until you’re sick. If you are a fat burner, you should not eat in large quantities: it is better to stop when you are satiated.
If you’re a fat burner, you shouldn’t eat in large quantities: it’s best to stop when you feel full or a little sooner. And always, with any food you’re going to eat – including the ones on this list – read labels and avoid harmful ingredients. This warning is especially important for prepared or canned foods: Does the tuna contain soybean oil? Does the ketchup contain high-fructose corn syrup? Reading recipes isn’t about being picky: it’s about not letting you be taken advantage of by companies that are cheating you out of your money while cheating you. The foods on this list should be your bread and butter.
Young oily fish such as salmon, mackerel and sardines: it is good that they are young because fish that live in the oceans, contaminated with mercury, accumulate this mercury as they age and eat other contaminated fish. Ask the fishmonger to serve you young fish. The fats in fish are especially beneficial because they are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, and the fish also has good protein and no carbohydrates. If it comes with skin, eat it too: it is the fattiest part and tastes the best. Salmon skin, crispy but still fibrous, is my delicacy par excellence. When buying salmon, ask for it with skin.
Leafy greens: the darker ones accumulate more nutrients but also tend to have a stronger flavor; if you don’t like them, choose lighter green leaves. Their main contribution is not their nutritional value (we do not fully digest nutrients because they are bound to cellulose), but their relative safety, visual appeal and texture. For the most part, leafy greens pass through the digestive system and cause little or no harm. This does not sound like very convincing praise, but the truth is that no one gets fat or sick from eating them, and there are not many foods today for which the same can be said.
Mammals and poultry: whenever possible, eat meat from grass-fed, free-range, native, organic and pesticide-free animals, which should not be too difficult if you live near large cities or on a farm. In particular, organ meats are especially abundant in nutrients. When it comes to nutrition, liver is the star, but it is not easy to find liver from pasture-raised cows. In short, try to get meat from quality farms, not intensively farmed meat.
Coconut: especially coconut oil. It is low in omega-6 fatty acids and the best source of medium-chain triglycerides, which are quickly consumed as fuel. Best of all, it does not accumulate as fat, so if you are already in ketosis, it will keep you there. You can find it in any decent supermarket.
Eggs: free-range hens today are everywhere, so you no longer have to opt for eggs from hens that have spent their entire lives in a cage the same size as you with a light bulb over their heads. The whites are all protein; the yolks have both protein and fat. Eggs provide no carbohydrates, so you can eat plenty of them. By the way, you may think that a “free-range” hen roams freely on the land, but this is unregulated, so a free-range hen may not have more space than she occupies in the coop. If you want to buy eggs ethically, you may have to buy eggs at two to three euros a dozen at the farmer’s market. And even then, it’s still a good value considering the benefits an egg offers you.
Olive oil and macadamia oil are the best salad oils. Olive tastes better, but macadamia oil contains less omega-6 acids. Try using both.
Mushrooms: since they are not plants they lack cellulose, which makes them easier to digest, but they are high in potassium and offer no carbohydrates (unlike potatoes or bananas).
Red fruits: strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, currants… compared to other fruits , they are low in carbohydrates and rich in antioxidants. Eat them one by one, not in handfuls.
Even people with lactose intolerance can eat hard cheeses, since the lactose was extracted by draining the whey.
Peppers: the darker the better. They are one of the few crunchy foods that are low in carbohydrates and rich in nutrients. The extent to which these cellulose-linked nutrients can be harnessed has not been fully determined, but in a low-carb diet their main role will be to provide color and their crunchy texture, as well as being tasty and satiating (something precious that is in short supply in the carbohydrate-poor world). So, give yourself to peppers without worrying about diabetes or gaining weight.
Avocados: abundant in good fats, satiating and low in carbs; plus they don’t spike glucose or insulin. And that’s basically all we care about around here.
Cheese: good for you, as long as dairy is good for you. However, even lactose-intolerant people can eat hard cheeses, since the lactose was extracted from them by draining the whey. And the harder the cheese, the less whey, the less lactose and the less gas it has.
