What is Keto?

Keto (short for ketosis) is another way for your body to obtain energy vs. glucose. So rather than using glucose for fuel, in ketosis your body metabolizes body fat to make ketones which it can use as an energy source (vs. glucose). One advantage of this is that as long as you have body fat, when you are in ketosis you have a constant energy supply independent of what you eat. So no low blood sugar crashes or bonks. E.g. I can go 18 hours without eating and still have plenty of energy for a long hike or killer workout.

How Do I Get Into Ketosis?

Your body goes into ketosis (metabolizes fat into ketones) when you significantly reduce carbohydrate intake. To do this you need to lower net carbs per day to under (20g to 50g) for a 2,000 cal/day diet. Fair warning, this is seriously low vs the average US consumption of around 300g of carb/day. To put this in perspective, eating a bagel might put you over on carbs for the day. And so much of the food we eat is loaded with obvious and hidden carbs. Intermittently fasting (e.g. not eating say between 6pm to 10 am the next morning) and exercise will also help you achieve ketosis.

Keto Challenges on the Trail

There are some distinct challenges to keto backpacking food:

1. You need to be bonafide keto adapted before using this on the the trail. This means you likely need to follow serious keto diet at home for at least a few months. And you need to test daily that you actually are in ketosis using a:
   1. Blood testing meter (Keto Mojo is the best and what I use) or
   2. Breath meter (Amazon) although I use the KEYTO Breath Meter
2. Fair Warning: If your try keto on the trail for a 3 to 7 day trip without being adapted you are going to be a very, very unhappy camper. Trust me, I’ve seen this with clients.
3. Limited food variety. While it’s easy to get the protein and high fat food in your diet. Keto requires that carbs be super low. So forget about eating 50% to 70% of foods that we are accustomed to & culturally feel is part of our diet (see Super Limited Carbs for Keto below). To put this in perspective the amount of carbs allowed to stay in ketosis for a 3,000 cal/day diet is about 75 g net carbs per day from all sources. So eating a bagel might put you over on carbs for the day.

Super Limited Carbs for Keto Backpacking Food

For Keto pretty much all of this is OUT: grains (wheat products, oat products, rice products, pasta, couscous; crackers, tortillas, cookies, breakfast cereals, and grain based granolas), potato chips & potato products, most energy bars (super full of sugar and grains), and bean products (also high in carbs for the protein they contain), and dried fruit which is all carbs. But I do have a bit of dried fruit with very dark or 100% chocolate for dessert.

Protein & High Fat Food Options for Keto

High fat foods are in and great. Protein is best consumed with high fat foods like hard cheeses, fatty meats, etc. All animal proteins are in. And high fat foods like nuts are also good. And most of the foods on the  7 Core backpacking foods are fair game. Off piste are crackers (and any grain products or trail bars) and unless you are veggie or vegan, it’s best to avoid legumes (including soy) as a protein source.

Vegan Protein for Keto

Legume products including beans, soy, and soy jerky have limitations as a protein source.  They are low in calories and high(er) in carbs so should be used with discretion. The exception is Soy Protein Powder which is a good source of veggie & vegan protein. It’s a complete protein & low on carbs. It can be added to drinks and meals. (Just make sure you get the kind without added sugars!).

Note: Keto is quite the fad and there is tons of “snake oil” being sold as sketchy companies try and make a buck. That is much if not most of the food that is touted as keyto is highly processed and questionably keto at best. I stay away from these and stick with unprocessed foods that my grandmother would recognize.

Other Resources: See our Best backpacking food Guide