Are You Missing Fruit

On Keto?

I miss fruit…there, I’ve said it!  But I can’t really say that I feel deprived on Keto.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times-I really try to focus on the things that I can have–instead of the things that I can not have.  I certainly have not eliminated fruit from my diet, however, I have had to scale back from what I once considered to be “a normal amount of fruit” (what does that even mean).  I remember a time when a normal day looked something like this:  bananas in my cereal for breakfast, an apple for a snack before lunch, another piece of fruit for a snack after lunch and maybe, just maybe a piece of fruit for dessert after dinner (if I wasn’t having something worse)!

When enjoying my favorite sweet treats, I try to limit myself to about 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup max and I stick to fruits that have lower glycemic index, like raspberries!  I find that when I look at fruit as my treat for the day, I tend to not overindulge and I really, really appreciate it!

Since making the decision to live a Keto lifestyle, I have had so much fun playing with all of my favorite fruit flavors, but with extracts!  Who knew?! One of my favorite dishes that Kristi makes is a deliciously sweet, tangy orange chicken–just by adding a little orange zest and orange extract, I can completely feel like I’m having a dish with  real orange juice!  You can find this recipe here.

One thing that I thought I would never be able to have again is a Strawberry Banana smoothie (my little taste of heaven)! However, through a little trial and error, I have found something even better (stay tuned)!

Enter the avocado.  Did you know that avocado’s are actually fruit?!

I’m going to take a minute and gush over just how versatile avocados are…Avocados actually have a fairly mild taste, but I think it’s their texture that really gets me. When paired with strawberries, I find that I can really appreciate their natural sweetness. However, when I throw avocados in a keto taco, their “sweetness” is perfect for balancing out some of the saltiness. Did I forget to mention how much I love avocados for their creaminess?

Recently, I have discovered that I love avocados in my smoothies.  The combination of strawberries, chia seeds, avocado, a tiny bit of banana extract and coconut milk makes me a very happy camper.

Fruit is the topic of this post because there are so many wonderful things about it, and making the decision to go Keto does not mean that you have to completely eliminate it from your diet.
I came across a video by Dr. Berg recently and I was really blown away from all of the information. I have a lot of family and friends ask me why we can’t have fruit-fruit is supposed to be healthy! Well, without having to do any homework at all, Dr. Berg gave me the answer to that very question. He starts out the video with a very matter of fact statement-he says he never claimed that fruits were so healthy! I had to laugh because I love how upfront and straightforward he is. Dr. Berg went on to say, that the fruit that we consume today are hybrids-and they’ve been created to be sweeter and sweeter! Another important thing that Dr. Berg points out is that the sugar we consume from fruit is fructose-which means that 100% of that sugar goes straight to our liver. Well, if we are eating fruits that are super high in sugar (for example, a honey crisp apple-I love them, so this breaks my heart as much as I’m sure it’s breaking some of yours), all of that sugar that goes into your liver, sends your liver to a point of insulin resistance, which causes a spike in insulin-and therefore turned into triglycerides, fat and cholesterol. If you are interested, you can check out Dr. Berg’s video here!

I hope that this blog may have helped at least one of you reading this!  And just remember-we’re all in this together and WE want to be your biggest fans.

Until Next Time!

Kristen