A low-carb, low-fat diet is a dietary approach that restricts both carbohydrate and fat intake… If you eat less fat on keto, that doesn’t mean no fat. You don’t have to take things to extremes. It might be as simple as skipping the butter and coconut oil in your coffee if you’re partial to fatty coffees every morning.
What if your approach to keto is all wrong? What if aiming for an ultra-high fat intake is preventing you from getting the results you want? What if cutting back on fat could help you move toward your goals?
Could you benefit from a low carb diet that’s also low in fat?
How Keto Works
“Keto” is often used interchangeably with the phrase “low carb, high fat,” abbreviated as LCHF. So it’s easy to think that keto needs to be a high fat diet. But the way keto really works – what switches your body from being fueled mostly by carbs (glucose) to burning mostly fat and ketones – is the absence of the carbs, not the presence of lots of fat.
If getting a large percentage of your calories from fat were the secret to success on keto, then you could eat as much sugar and starch as you wanted, and as long as you slathered everything in melted butter, heavy cream, or your favorite oil, you’d experience keto magic. But that’s not how keto works. (Too bad, ‘cuz that sounds delicious!)
If your main goals are losing weight or reversing your type 2 diabetes (among the most common reasons why people follow a keto diet), then you don’t need to follow any particular macros. (Managing the numbers is a bit more important if you have epilepsy or are using keto as a dietary therapy for a serious mental health condition.)
In fact, overdoing fat on a keto diet can be a roadblock to fat loss.
How’s Keto Working for You?
If you’re currently consuming a lot of fat and keto is working well for you, great! Keep it up. If you’re happy with the results you’re getting, then you don’t need to change anything. Some people do just fine on keto while including liberal amounts of fat. But if you’ve already been doing this for a while and you’re disappointed with how things are going, consider eating less fat.
I know … LESS fat? On KETO? But isn’t keto a high fat diet?!
It can be. But again, if you’ve already been eating lots of fat and you’re not getting the results you want, why not experiment with cutting back? The approach you’re using now isn’t working, so why not try something different?
Low-Carb, Low-Fat Diet
A low-carb, low-fat diet is a dietary approach that restricts both carbohydrate and fat intake. This type of diet typically focuses on high-protein foods and non-starchy vegetables.
So, what does a low carb, low fat diet look like? Is it even possible to do this? After all, if you cut way back on carbs, you need to replace that fuel with something, right? And on keto, you’re typically told to replace it with fat.
This is true, but replacing that energy with fat doesn’t have to mean eating a lot more fat. Some of that fuel can come from your stored body fat – and tapping into that stored fat is exactly what you want if you’re trying to lose weight.
If you eat less fat on keto, that doesn’t mean no fat. You don’t have to take things to extremes. It might be as simple as skipping the butter and coconut oil in your coffee if you’re partial to fatty coffees every morning. Rather than snacking on nuts and cheese, reach for hard-boiled eggs, zero-sugar beef jerky or meat sticks, cold leftover steak, or sliced cucumber, jicama, peppers, and other low-carb vegetables.
Another simple swap is to choose leaner proteins – sirloin steak instead of ribeye, 90/10 ground beef rather than 80/20. And go easier on condiments. Mayonnaise and high-fat salad dressings can add a lot more fat than you might realize, especially if you don’t measure them.
(You’re not alone if you typically use much more blue cheese dressing than the measly 2 tablespoons most manufacturers consider “one serving!” Who are they kidding, anyway?)
Not the Same as a PSMF
Eating a lower fat version of a keto diet isn’t the same as a protein-sparing modified fast (PSMF). The PSMF is ultra-low in fat, carbs, and total calories.
It’s a hard-hitting tactic intended for quick weight loss, typically when someone needs to lose weight for a surgical procedure, and it’s also used by fitness models who need to shed every last bit of body fat that they possibly can, because their livelihoods depend on it.
Think of cutting back on fat as simply returning to old-school low carb. When the late, great Dr. Robert Atkins wrote his first book in 1972, he encouraged people to enjoy fatty steaks, heavy cream, macadamia nuts and other high-fat foods, but he didn’t mention a need to get any particular percentage of calories from fat. The most important principle of the Atkins diet was to keep the carbs very low.
Chasing a fat macro and deliberately loading things up with extra fat and oil is a new – and, for some people, misguided – angle on keto. (But again, if you’re doing that now and things are going great, then please don’t worry that you’re doing something wrong. The proof is always in the results you’re getting and whether you are satisfied with them.)
Bottom Line
If you’ve been following a high fat approach to keto but the results you want aren’t coming, consider cutting back on fat for a few weeks and see if that gets the needle moving. You certainly won’t starve or go hungry. There’s still plenty of great food to eat on a keto diet without chugging heavy cream and surrounding everything in a lake of melted butter.
Looking for a low-carb meal?
Then try Keto Chow! Keto Chow is a keto-friendly meal shake with 1/3 of your daily recommended nutrients. Not only does it come in 25+ delicious flavors, but you can adjust your fat intake to match your caloric or macro nutrient needs. Learn more about how to make Keto Chow here.
