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Whether you’ve decided to start a ketogenic diet as part of a larger lifestyle reset project mid-pandemic, or you’ve been in ketosis for basically years now, the fact remains that sometimes you do not want to cook. Keto shakes are easy meal replacements, but shopping for keto shakes takes some research. Does it contain ingredients that are going to throw your whole system out of whack? Is it filling enough to get you through the afternoon? Does it taste like chalk?
How Does a Keto Diet Work?
A ketogenic diet is based on maintaining a metabolic state of “ketosis,” achieved through a low-carb, high-fat diet. Generally speaking, a ketogenic diet is comprised of five percent carbohydrates, 25 percent protein, and 70 percent fat. When you’re in ketosis, your body is highly efficient at burning fat for energy, which is why it is such an effective weight-loss program. The diet has also been shown to have other positive health effects, like boosting insulin levels in people with type 2 diabetes or who are pre-diabetic.
How Do Keto Shakes Work?
Unfortunately, maintaining ketosis is a delicate balance, which makes any food choice a more complicated proposition. Which brings us back to keto meal replacement shakes. In accordance with the ketogenic principles, keto shakes should be high in fat and low in carbs and sugars. Keto dieters also look out for ingredients like MCT oils and fat supplements that are easier to digest than what you find in other foods. Since a keto diet requires such specific ratios, it’s also important that meal replacement shakes are actually filling, so you’re not starving until your next meal.
Some keto shakes can also be repurposed in cooking or as coffee creamers, which is certainly a bonus. It’s also important that the shake taste good, because no one deserves a bland and clumpy semi-liquid breakfast.
Before you start on any diet or look for meal replacement options, make sure to consult with your doctor or dietician to make sure it’s right for you. If you’ve got the “okay” and are looking for some easy, tasty, options, we’ve rounded up some of the most popular keto shakes below.
