Keto is all the rage and plenty of people are getting good results eating a high fat diet when it comes to weight loss and better energy.  However, it’s easy to overdo the fats and underdo the fiber which leads to reduced microbiome diversity and potential for increased disease risk.  American’s eating a standard American diet are already lacking sufficient dietary fiber intake, and those relying on too many animal products to hit metabolic ketosis may be even further behind the curve. 

Fiber factoids

Fiber plays an important role in optimizing health and is found in virtually every plant-based food.  There are two primary types of fiber, soluble and insoluble. Soluble fibers like those found in psyllium, chia and flax attract water in the digestive tract and turn into a gel-like substance.  These fibers can improve digestion and stool consistency. Researchers tout that soluble fiber consumption reduces risk of metabolic syndrome, heart disease and cancer. 

Insoluble fiber adds bulk to stool and can improve motility, or the speed of digestion.  Insoluble fibers are most often found in vegetables and whole grains. These fibers are not digested but are helpful in pulling waste and toxins out of the GI tract.

Fiber and your microbiome

Insoluble fiber travels through your intestines, unchanged.  While you can’t digest them and use them for energy, neither can your friendly gut microbes.  However, soluble fiber is another story. Soluble fiber is not digested in the small intestine, but can largely be metabolized by the healthy bacteria in your colon.

The most effective fibers for feeding microbiota are called prebiotic fibers, only recently defined in 1995 as “nondigestible food ingredients that beneficially affect the host by selectively stimulating the growth and/or activity of one or a limited number of bacteria in the colon, thus improving host health”.  These fibers are found in foods like chicory root, asparagus, onions, bananas, jerusalem artichoke, garlic and whole grains. Supplementally, prebiotic fibers called fructooligosaccharides (FOS), galactooligosaccharides (GOS) and inulin, acacia fiber, or partially hydrolyzed guar gum (PHGG). 

Keto and fiber deficiency

One of the best sources of prebiotic fibers is whole grains, but whole grains are not part of a keto diet.  In fact, many people rely so heavily on animal products to reduce carbs to ketogenic levels, that their fiber intake tanks.  While keto may be effective for attaining some health benefits like balancing blood sugar or losing weight, a low-fiber diet may result in elevated disease risk and lower bacterial diversity in the colon.  

Get your daily fiber with these Keto-friendly foods

The USDA recommends a measly 25 grams of fiber per day while functional medicine professionals like myself typically prescribe a diet of at least 40 grams a day as long as there are no contraindications such as SIBO.  Reaching 40 grams means including plenty of plants in your keto diet. Try adding these to your daily routine to reach your fiber goals and optimize wellness.

1. Chia – 10.6 grams per 2 Tablespoons
2. Flax – 6 grams per 2 Tablespoons
3. Psyllium – 9 grams per 1 Tablespoon
4. Jerusalem Artichoke – 2.4 grams per one cup
5. Asparagus – 2.8 grams per one cup
6. Jicima – 6 grams per one cup
7. Seaweed – 8 grams per 100 grams consumed
8. Avocado – 10 grams per 1 cup sliced 

Take away

Remember that eating keto may or may not be the best diet for you.  However, if you’re giving it a try, make sure to focus on plants for a good portion of your calories.  Current USDA recommendations are that adults consume between 8-13 servings of vegetables and fruit per day to obtain adequate micronutrient and fiber levels. 

Chia-walnut pudding

Here’s a great snack packed with tons of fiber and healthy omega-3 fats!

• 3 Tbsp. chia seeds
• 2 Tbsp. walnut butter
• ½ cup unsweetened nut milk
• 1 Tbsp. monk fruit sweetener

1. Mix all ingredients well and leave in the refrigerator to set for 30-60 minutes
2. Remove and mix again or blend in high speed blender for 20 seconds
3. Enjoy or store in the fridge for up to 3 days

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I’m Megan Barnett. 

I hold an undergraduate degree in conventional dietetics and a graduate degree in functional medicine. I’m currently working with people in clinic who are either trying to reverse chronic disease through nutritional therapy or simply optimize their health. 

Over the years, I’ve become more and more excited about all of the new research coming out; it continues to help us better understand that nutrition used to have a very standard, canned protocol for everyone. Today, we’re able to individualize nutrition to the individual, whether it’s through the microbiome, genetics, lifestyle, or the lifespan. My passion is to apply the most current research and information to my clinical treatment protocols so that I can help people optimize their health and achieve their goals.

Many of my clients come into my office believing they have a really good grasp on nutrition based on what they’re seeing publicized on Facebook, Instagram, or a magazine cover — but in reality, these are just trends. We have to dial it down and understand that there is no one-size-fits-all diet, and unfortunately, diets like the keto diet, paleo diet, and low-carb diet can cause more harm than good.

Part of this harm stems from our culture of instant gratification. Especially when it comes to food, we want our meals fast and easy, so we pick up something premade at the grocery store or we get something quick in a fast-food bag. But processed foods are really dangerous to our overall health and well-being, and when you look at the standard American diet, it’s no surprise that people are developing chronic illnesses at a significantly rapid rate. Beyond gaining some weight, this health decline may not be something we notice right away because it doesn’t necessarily deplete our energy; we get a lot of sugar and carbs that may contribute to our energy spikes. But despite the energy, if we rely on the standard American diet, we will undoubtedly find ourselves deficient in a variety of important micronutrients, vitamins, and minerals.

Generally speaking, these micronutrient deficiencies really put a strain on our bodies, as they try to decide where to send the micronutrients you do have. So let’s say you have sufficient levels of vitamin A; your body has to decide how much of it to shuttle to your eyes and how much it will allocate to the immune system within your gut. This is bad enough on its own, but think about this in the scope of a stricter diet like a ketogenic diet.

When you mix a strict diet with a culture dependent on processed foods, you get a potential recipe for disaster. Take the keto diet, for instance. There are a lot of food products out there that are labeled “ketogenic,” when in reality, a lot of the trendy keto-friendly foods have an abundance of processed ingredients that act as the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing. In other words, if you look closely at many of these processed keto foods, you’ll find fillers that, ironically, actually have very high carbohydrate content (which means it’s not really keto) or very high protein content. Now, the high protein content may not seem like an issue; however, it becomes problematic because your body converts protein into sugar, which becomes glucose, meaning that your body could be thrown out of ketosis when consuming a high-protein diet. In other words, you’re potentially denying your body crucial nutrients with a strict diet, but it could all be for naught if the processed foods inhibit your body from actually undergoing the process of ketosis.

At the end of the day, what’s important is that your caloric intake and the energy you’re putting into your body is matched with micronutrients, or else you’ll have enough energy but not enough micronutrient density for your body’s optimal function. So whether you decide to try out a keto diet or utilize another dietary plan, it’s important to steer clear of processed foods that will not contribute to your micronutrient intake. We don’t want our bodies choosing between functions or deciding to allocate all of its resources to one organ system. You need to give your body all of the micronutrients it needs so it can support every system in the body.