Not only do the carnivore and keto diets work when it comes to weight loss, but you also don’t have to give up some of your favorite food. In fact, you can indulge in them. You can eat burgers and bacon by the bucket load! But an important part of any diet is to have as much variety as possible. It’s going to be harder to avoid carbs if you’re bored with your keto meal plan. So, here are 5 keto diet foods that you might not have even thought about trying, but should absolutely be eating more of and slapping them on your shopping list.
1. Oily Fish
Let’s start with something straightforward, possibly a bit obvious, and not very shocking: oily fish.
Oily fish include:
- Anchovies
- Herring
- Mackerel
- Salmon
- Sardines
All of these are high in protein and are rich in minerals. But the real selling point is the fact they’re packed with Omega-3. This seemingly miraculous fatty acid can help you with everything from improving your vision to reducing the risk of heart disease.
However, some people find the strong fishy flavor of these a little too hard on the palette, especially for stronger tasting ones like anchovies and herrings. But if you can suffer the taste of this feisty little swimmers, their oiliness provides you with plenty of fat for turning into ketones, along with their other benefits.
2. Oysters
Shellfish are good to eat on both the carnivore and keto diets. They’re high in protein and full of minerals and that fantastic Omega-3, but there’s one shellfish that really rules over them all: oysters.
Why? because of the insane amount of zinc in them.
One serving of oysters contains more than 1500% of your recommended daily intake (RDI). Some of the many things that zinc does are boost your body’s immunity and repair systems, as well as increase your cells’ metabolism rate. This means you’ll recover quicker after a hardcore workout or a seasonal illness, and burn energy quicker.
And yes, the rumors about them boosting your libido is true. Oysters also help increase sperm count and sperms’ swimming ability, whilst helping support estrogen production and ovary health in women.
3. Bone Marrow
Now we’re getting onto the more interesting keto diet foods: no bones about it! Have you ever thoughts about eating the inside of a bone? Probably not. But it’s a great carnivore and keto treat.
Marrow is the soft bit that’s in the center of a bone. When an animal is alive, it’s responsible for creating new blood cells. When bone marrow is cooked, it’s a brilliant source of Omega-3, gelatin, and collagen. All of these help to keep your digestive tract healthy and boosts your immunity and healing ability. It also keeps your joints healthy which is great if you’re doing high impact exercise.
What’s more, it’s the perfect ketosis food. The marrow itself is made up of 96-97% fat!
To get bone marrow into your diet, buy bones from your local butchers. Beef joints are best to cook with as they’re usually the biggest. Make sure you ask the butcher to cut the bones up into smaller pieces, as it can be quite difficult to cut bones in your home without the correct knives.
4. Bone Broth
Scoping out the squishy bit from the inside of bones is hardly elegant and probably quite unappealing to some. So, you might want to consider drinking or cooking with bone broth instead.
Bone broth is made by boiling down bones and joint tissue for a long period of time. Bone broth is different to stock because it has been cooked for significantly longer, meaning there’s a lot more of the nutrients from bones and joints in it: specifically protein, gelatin, and collagen.
What’s great is that it can be used just like stock. So you can add it to soup to give them a keto boost. You can even flavor it with some herbs and spices and drink it by itself. Drinking it will help keep you hydrated, which will help combat some of the symptoms of keto flu.
Make it yourself by buying bones and joints from your butcher and popping them in a crockpot or slow cooker for 10-20 hours.
5. Animal Organs (Offal)
This is probably the wildest suggestion on this list. Animal organs as carnivore and keto meats sounds as crazy as it is off putting. But it needn’t be either.
Animal organs are full of vitamins and high in protein, making it one of the ultimate keto diet foods. Particularly, they’re usually packed with vitamin B12. This vitamin is key to maintaining healthy bones and warding off osteoporosis. B12 is also said to give you an energy boost. This will give you a little extra vim over what the ketones are already fueling you with.
Different organ meat has slightly different benefits to the next. For example, liver is packed with a vast variety of vitamins. Tongue is full of that great fat you need for ketosis. Whilst heart is packed full of folate, iron, zinc, and selenium.
However, the idea of eating any of these can be unappetizing. Sitting there with a slab of meat that looks like a heart because it is a heart can make it difficult to tuck in. Also, some organs have quite distinctive and strong tastes which can get some getting used to. That’s if you can stomach it in the first place.
Therefore, start by using milder tasting organs such as liver and heart. Furthermore, you can also chop them up and mix them with your usual meat to make food like meatballs. This makes them a little more edible if the thought of eating them by themselves makes you queasy.
Level Up Your Carnivore and Keto Diet Foods
So, there you have it. 5 great carnivore and keto meats and foods you can put onto your carnivore and keto shopping list. Try your best to get as much of these into your diet as possible. However, some of these will certainly require a bit of bravery, and maybe even a bit of adjustment to eating.
But try to try them.
If they’re really not working for you, don’t worry. Remember, as much as variety is important on any diet, enjoyment is too. Don’t ever force yourself to eat something you dislike. If you’re not finding the keto or carnivore diet fun, you’re going to be less likely to stick to it.
However, if you’re able to broaden your food horizons, it could have some great benefits for you.
Ketogenic Endurance 
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