Foods to avoid

Foods to avoid on a ketogenic diet

It's important to get into the habit of reading nutrition labels — not just the nutrition panel, but also the ingredients list. Foods that may appear healthy often contain unhealthy ingredients such as high-fructose corn syrup, MSG, artificial sweeteners, or hidden forms of sugar.

When possible, avoid foods with these ingredients:

Hidden forms of sugar and carbohydrates

  • Brown sugar
  • Dextrose
  • Maltose
  • Sucrose
  • Fructose
  • Maltodextrin
  • Rice starch
  • Corn starch
  • High-fructose corn syrup
  • Corn syrup solids
  • Cane juice
  • Cane syrup
  • Fruit juice concentrate
  • Molasses
  • Wheat gluten

Artificial sweeteners

  • Equal
  • Splenda
  • Aspartame
  • Sucralose
  • Acesulfame

Other additive and preservatives

  • Natural flavors
  • MSG (monosodium glutamate)
  • Partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats)
  • Refined oils such as canola oil, soybean oil, corn oil, grapeseed oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil
  • Autolyzed yeast
  • Autolyzed vegetable protein
  • Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
  • Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA)
  • Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)
  • Propyl gallate
  • Sodium benzoate
  • Benzoic acid
  • Sodium nitrate
  • Sodium nitrite
  • Potassium bromate

If you can’t identify something or can’t pronounce it, you can’t generally assume that you shouldn’t eat it!

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