"Keto is blowing up.
The ketogenic diet is a strict regimen of low-carb, high-fat foods that forces the body into a state of ketosis — when you burn fat, instead of carbohydrates, for energy.
With the help of social media and word of mouth, demand for keto-friendly products have gone through the roof.
Like Whole30, where dieters cut out sugar, grains, dairy and legumes for 30 days, and paleo, modeled after eating habits in the paleolithic era, keto has become trendy.
But interest in keto has far outpaced interest in other fad diets. A Google Trends chart over the past year shows searches for ""keto"" have dwarfed searches for ""paleo"" ""Whole 30"" and ""intermittent fasting.""
On Instagram, dieters share their progress. Accounts with tens of thousands of followers show before and after weight loss photos and snaps of keto-friendly meals. Often, users put their weight loss in their bios.
""Probably our first six months of sales were through people talking about us on Instagram,"" said Brian Hemmert, chief marketing officer for Fat Snax, which sells low-carb, high-fat cookies and matcha tea blends.
Because keto is is so strict, snacks and meal replacements are especially helpful to those trying to maintain the diet.
fatsnax 1
Fat Snax products are high in fat and low in carbohydrates.
Hemmert said that demand for Fat Snax products, which are available online, has been growing rapidly. In the next few months Fat Snax will be sold at a national chain.
""There's been such a groundswell on this,"" said Anthony Gustin, founder and CEO of Perfect Keto, which sells protein powders and other keto-friendly products and shares information on how to maintain the diet.
""Growth has been pretty wild."" Gustin said that Perfect Keto averaged 20% growth each month in the last year.
Ted Tieken, founder of Keto and Company, which makes keto meal shake powders, said that he's noticed a change in awareness around the diet.
About ""six months ago, I stopped having to explain what keto was to the average person,"" he said. And in the last several weeks, ""people get offended when I explain.""
Tieken is launching a meal-replacement shake, Sated, which is compatible with a keto diet. He used a Kickstarter campaign to gauge interest in the product. So far, hundreds of backers have pledged more than $172,000 dollars.
sated keto craze
Sated is a meal replacement drink for people who follow the keto diet.
Tieken said that he plans to produce somewhere between 1.5 million and 3 million bottles based on demand for the shake, a sweet, filling meal replacement.
He estimates that right now, Keto and Company has about 5,000 customers per month. But he noted that ""demand has been increasing consistently.""
Critics say the taxing diet is unrealistic. When people adjust to a lack of carbohydrates, they often feel fatigue and light-headedness. When US News and World Report ranked the 40 most popular diets this year, it put keto — and the similar Dukan diet — last. The panel of experts that created the list said the keto diet is difficult to maintain and that the high-fat intake could be dangerous for some.
But Keto fans say there are a number of health benefits to the diet, like more energy, better focus and, notably, weight loss.
The US diet sector is growing overall. According to Euromonitor, the meal replacement product category grew by 12% from 2012 to 2017. In that same period, the supplement nutrition drink category grew by 23%.
And people outside the niche keto community are paying attention.
Vincent Kitirattragarn, founder and CEO of Dang Foods, didn't set out to make foods that fit a keto diet. He started Dang six years ago to sell modern Asian snacks that are healthy.
About a year ago, Dang started developing FATBAR, a keto-friendly snack barHowever, Schmidt added that Americans are “way over the limit” on sugar. “And we really need to be thinking about ways to dial that particular ingredient down,” she said.
Mixed salty snacks. Flat lay table scene on a rustic wood background.
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But as many know, it’s not always easy to cut back on sugar because it lurks in so many foods, from the obvious (sodas, cakes and candy) to the more subtle (breakfast cereals, bread, yogurt and tomato sauce). By some estimates, added sweeteners are in 74% of packaged foods sold in supermarkets.
The reason why added sugar wound up in so many of food items is pretty straightforward, Schmidt said.
“The food companies have three ingredients that they can use to make food more palatable — some people say hyper-palatable, so extremely attractive to consumers — and that’s sugar, fat and salt,” she said. “And, pretty much, they vary the combination of sugar, fat and salt in most of our ultraprocessed foods. And often they’re put in there because the industrial food production process kind of makes stuff taste bad.”
Breaking up with sugar can be hard to do. Schmidt has five tips to tame your intake.
Stop slurping your sugar
Avoid liquid sugar, Schmidt said.
“Focus on reducing or cutting out sugar-sweetened beverages, such as sodas, sports drinks, energy drinks, fake juice pouches,” she said via email. “These are by far the largest source of added sugars in the American diet, especially for children, and have no nutritional value.”
Schmidt noted that liquid sugar can easily become a habit that leaves you consuming large amounts without really noticing.
Pouring cola water into the glass. Cola in summer. Cola soda. Cola at the party.
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Get rid of temptation at work
Reduce sugar cues in your work environment.
“Encourage your employer or work unit to join others that have stopped selling sugary drinks in vending machines and cafeterias at work,” Schmidt said, adding that these can be replaced with the “many delicious non-sugar alternatives.”
“Clinical trials show that when employers stop selling sugary beverages, regular soda drinkers lose, on average, a half inch in their waist circumference within 10 months,” Schmidt said, adding that SugarScience provides free materials to help workplaces reduce the availability of those beverages.
And while you’re at it, maybe take the long way around the candy bowl in the common area, so you don’t hear it calling your name.
Practice out of sight, out of mind around the house
Don’t forget to clean up your home food environment, too.
“Agree as a household not to have sugary junk foods and beverages around — have them when you go out instead, but not as staples at home,” Schmidt recommended. “Studies show that sugar reduction is best done in groups, not alone. So, make a reasonable plan together for what you will and won’t have lying around in the kitchen.”
Even if eliminating sugary junk food and soda at home is not enough to stop you from thinking about them, doing so will give you time to resist your impulse to indulge.
Jeffrey Odwazny sits for a portrait at his home in Chicago, on Tuesday, June 25.
Related article
‘This disorder has almost killed me’: His addiction to ultraprocessed food began as a child
Calm your cravings
Have a plan for dealing with the psychological stress of sugar withdrawal.
“Sugar cravings are very real. And there are easily learned, evidence-based strategies for coping with them,” Schmidt said. “They rely on cultivating the simple art of experiencing the craving in a relaxed state without acting on it — called ‘surfing the urge.’”
There are free “surfing the urge” guided meditations online. Schmidt also points to self-led audio resources that SugarScience uses to help soda drinkers quit who are participating in a 16-site, National Institutes of Health-funded randomized clinical trial.
assorted cookies STOCK
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Put sugary foods in their rightful place
Save sugary foods for desserts; don’t allow them to creep into every part of your diet.
“Adult women should confine themselves to less than 6 teaspoons of added sugar daily, 9 teaspoons for men, 4 teaspoons for children, and no added sugars for children under 2,” Schmidt said via email.
Ultra processed food final thumb
Related article
It’s not just what you eat, according to a doctor. It’s when and how
One way to control the intake of added sugars, Schmidt said, is to make desserts and treats yourself. “This means enjoy the sugar that you do eat by baking together and savoring together, making the (added) sugar that you do eat part of celebrating life,” she said.
Sticking as closely as possible to these guidelines means scrutinizing food labels. Look for the line that shows you the “added sugar” content in a food to tally up the grams of excess sugar you consume in a day.
We hope these five tips help you reset your sugar consumption. Listen to the podcast’s full episode here. And join us next week on Chasing Life when we explore the art of compromise.
CNN Audio’s Grace Walker contributed to this report.
Ultraprocessed foods linked to heart disease, diabetes, mental disorders and early death, study finds
But as many know, it’s not always easy to cut back on sugar because it lurks in so many foods, from the obvious (sodas, cakes and candy) to the more subtle (breakfast cereals, bread, yogurt and tomato sauce). By some estimates, added sweeteners are in 74% of packaged foods sold in supermarkets.
The reason why added sugar wound up in so many of food items is pretty straightforward, Schmidt said.
“The food companies have three ingredients that they can use to make food more palatable — some people say hyper-palatable, so extremely attractive to consumers — and that’s sugar, fat and salt,” she said. “And, pretty much, they vary the combination of sugar, fat and salt in most of our ultraprocessed foods. And often they’re put in there because the industrial food production process kind of makes stuff taste bad.”
Breaking up with sugar can be hard to do. Schmidt has five tips to tame your intake.
Stop slurping your sugar
Avoid liquid sugar, Schmidt said.
“Focus on reducing or cutting out sugar-sweetened beverages, such as sodas, sports drinks, energy drinks, fake juice pouches,” she said via email. “These are by far the largest source of added sugars in the American diet, especially for children, and have no nutritional value.”
Schmidt noted that liquid sugar can easily become a habit that leaves you consuming large amounts without really noticing.
Pouring cola water into the glass. Cola in summer. Cola soda. Cola at the party.
Related article
Diet drinks may boost risk of dangerous heart condition by 20%, study says
Get rid of temptation at work
Reduce sugar cues in your work environment.
“Encourage your employer or work unit to join others that have stopped selling sugary drinks in vending machines and cafeterias at work,” Schmidt said, adding that these can be replaced with the “many delicious non-sugar alternatives.”
“Clinical trials show that when employers stop selling sugary beverages, regular soda drinkers lose, on average, a half inch in their waist circumference within 10 months,” Schmidt said, adding that SugarScience provides free materials to help workplaces reduce the availability of those beverages.
And while you’re at it, maybe take the long way around the candy bowl in the common area, so you don’t hear it calling your name.
Practice out of sight, out of mind around the house
Don’t forget to clean up your home food environment, too.
“Agree as a household not to have sugary junk foods and beverages around — have them when you go out instead, but not as staples at home,” Schmidt recommended. “Studies show that sugar reduction is best done in groups, not alone. So, make a reasonable plan together for what you will and won’t have lying around in the kitchen.”
Even if eliminating sugary junk food and soda at home is not enough to stop you from thinking about them, doing so will give you time to resist your impulse to indulge.
Jeffrey Odwazny sits for a portrait at his home in Chicago, on Tuesday, June 25.
Related article
‘This disorder has almost killed me’: His addiction to ultraprocessed food began as a child
Calm your cravings
Have a plan for dealing with the psychological stress of sugar withdrawal.
“Sugar cravings are very real. And there are easily learned, evidence-based strategies for coping with them,” Schmidt said. “They rely on cultivating the simple art of experiencing the craving in a relaxed state without acting on it — called ‘surfing the urge.’”
There are free “surfing the urge” guided meditations online. Schmidt also points to self-led audio resources that SugarScience uses to help soda drinkers quit who are participating in a 16-site, National Institutes of Health-funded randomized clinical trial.
assorted cookies STOCK
Related article
Study finds link between ‘free sugar’ intake and cardiovascular disease
Put sugary foods in their rightful place
Save sugary foods for desserts; don’t allow them to creep into every part of your diet.
“Adult women should confine themselves to less than 6 teaspoons of added sugar daily, 9 teaspoons for men, 4 teaspoons for children, and no added sugars for children under 2,” Schmidt said via email.
Ultra processed food final thumb
Related article
It’s not just what you eat, according to a doctor. It’s when and how
One way to control the intake of added sugars, Schmidt said, is to make desserts and treats yourself. “This means enjoy the sugar that you do eat by baking together and savoring together, making the (added) sugar that you do eat part of celebrating life,” she said.
Sticking as closely as possible to these guidelines means scrutinizing food labels. Look for the line that shows you the “added sugar” content in a food to tally up the grams of excess sugar you consume in a day.
We hope these five tips help you reset your sugar consumption. Listen to the podcast’s full episode here. And join us next week on Chasing Life when we explore the art of compromise.
CNN Audio’s Grace Walker contributed to this report."
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