As most of us already know, the keto diet focuses on low-carb intake, and thus allowing the body to produces ketones in the liver to be used as energy. While coming up with healthy meals and recipes for the keto diet may seem fairly easy for some, it still comes with plenty of challenges.

One challenge is to make sure your body is receiving enough essential omega-3 and omega-6 fats. Whereas most of our diets consist of omega 6, we should know that in most Western diets omega 3 fatty acids are usually lacking. What this means is we should focus on incorporating more omega 3 foods in our diet. By doing this we can make this low-carb diet all the more successful.

“Both omega-3 and omega-6 fats are essential, polyunsaturated fatty acids. However, studies show that Western diets are deficient in omega 3 fatty acids. Ideally, this ratio should be balanced at 1:1.

Unfortunately, our body is extremely inefficient in converting ALA to EPA and DHA. That's why it's so important to get omega 3 fatty acids primarily from animal sources.

When using animal sources, always opt for grass-fed meat for maximum omega 3 fatty acids. In fact, grain-fed meat is low in omega 3 but loaded with omega 6 fatty acids.”

Since we already established that most of us are getting plenty of omega 6 foods, let’s focus on what types of foods we can eat to increase our omega 3 intake:

• Wild salmon
• Grass-fed meat
• Sardines
• Wild rice
• Tofu
• Spinach
• Omega-3 eggs
• Fermented cod liver oil
• Walnuts
• Macadamia nuts

It’s good to write down a list of the foods we should be adding to the keto diet to ensure we are not only getting enough omega-6 fatty acids but omega-3 fats as well. This is yet another way to not only make sure the diet is successful, but also ensuring your body is getting the proper nutrition it needs.

For more about balancing your keto diet, check out KetoDietApp's Article on the topic.