Dairy free Keto! Can Keto work for you without Cheese, Butter and Cream?
As part of the Keto Mini Challenges in 2021 we focused on Dairy Free Keto for one week. What sounded like a walk in the park ended up being more tricky than most of us expected. It’s just about cutting out dairy, right? Well yes, but that comes with side effect and calls for more creativity.
How does Keto dairy free work?
Basically doing Keto dairy free means that you’re not just trying to keep your Carbs low (under 20-25g net carbs) and aim for 5% carbs, 25% protein and 70% fats but also that you will do so without dairy products.
No:
Butter
Heavy Cream
Whey (Protein Powder)
(Cream) Cheese
Yogurt
Some Mayos
Some Chocolates
What are benefits of Dairy Free Keto?
These are possible benefits you could encounter when going dairy free. Now keep in mind that depending on your body, doing a 6 day dairy free fast like me might lead to some or none. I did some research and many recommend at least 2 weeks of dairy free to ensure benefits can set in.
Reduced inflammation
Healthier, clearer skin
Improved digestion
Fat loss
Break a plateau
Recognize a dairy / lactose sensitivity
Increase energy
Examples of meals for Dairy Free Keto
I continued Intermittent Fasting while doing Dairy Free meaning I only eat between noon and 7pm. Here’s what I my meals and snacks looked like while doing Dairy free Keto and insights and learnings to follow after!
To preface, I usually cook with butter and switched to sunflower oil for most of my meals. I later learned more about oils - separate blog post to follow - and realized that sunflower oil is not the best choice. Also, for Lunch I’m pretty boring and usually just throw meat and veggie in a pan.
Day 1 - Dairy Free Keto:
Lunch: Chicken Breast with guacamole and cucumber
Dinner: Chicharrones with guacamole, Chicken Breast with broccoli, Strawberries
Snacks: Bolthouse Farms Chocolate Hazelnut Drink, Fbomb Macadamia Pecan Sea Salt
Day 2 - Dairy Free Keto:
Lunch: Chicken with Broccoli
Dinner: Loaded Avocado made with Avocado and Ground Beef - recipe to follow below
Snacks: Unsalted Almonds, Kiss My Keto Chocolate which is dairy free
Day 3 - Dairy Free Keto:
Lunch: Avocado Toast made with Aldi Zero Carb Bread, Avocado and scrambled eggs
Dinner: Left-over Ground Beef from the Loaded Avocado with Broccoli and Lolli’s Cookie Clusters in Peanut Butter Macadamia (Granola)
Snacks: ChocZero Keto Bark Hazelnut which is dairy free, Unsalted Almonds
Day 4 - Dairy Free Keto:
Lunch: Loaded Avocado (yes, I really ended up loving it) with a side of Bacon and asparagus
Dinner: Lettuce wrapped burger, with Beef burger, Lettuce, Avocado, Sugar Free Ketchup and a side of Zucchini with granola as a dessert that I enjoyed with unsweetened almond milk.
Snacks: Unsalted Almonds
Day 5 - Dairy Free Keto:
Lunch: Beef Burger with a Zucchini and Asparagus mix with a bit of Pancetta and Granola as a ‘dessert’
Dinner: Keto Pad Thai - and wow! that was amazing! Recipe below!
Snacks: ChocZero Keto Bark Coconut and 2 Advent calendar pieces - yes, I stocked up on those calendars :D
Day 6 - Dairy Free Keto:
Brunch / Lunch: Bacon, Eggs, Cucumber and Avocado
Dinner: Ate out at Hampton Social and ordered Crispy Brussels Sprouts and Wings
Snack: Creminelli Salami Minis and Chicharrones from 4505
Recap of the dairy free store bought snacks I ate:
Lolli’s Cookie Clusters: Enter code KETOANYWHERE for 10% off at checkout
ChocZero - Enter code KETOANYWHERE at checkout for 10% off
Recipes to try when eating Dairy Free Keto
Loaded avocado
Ingredients: Avocado, 1/4 lbs Ground Beef, Taco seasoning or other seasoning of choice
What to do: Cook your ground beef and season to liking. Cut your avocado in half and remove the pit. Place on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Fill the gap in the avocado with your cooked ground beef. Place in the oven for 5-10min. If you’re topping it with cheese, keep it in until the cheese is melted!
Keto Pad Thai-ish
Ingredients: Coconut Oil, 1 Chicken Breast, Nut Butter (I love the one from Left Coast Performance), Almond Milk, Zucchini
What to do: Cook your chicken in 2 Tbsp of Coconut Oil. Once cooked, add your zucchini to cook and brown all together. Add a few Tbsp of unsweetened Almond Milk and add your Nut Butter. I used it in a pouch and added one pouch. Cook it in until it thickens. Enjoy!
Videos to follow soon!
What snacks are Keto friendly and Dairy free?
You might wonder about all the snacks in my meal plan and to be honest, it made me wonder too because usually I do not snack between meals.
Before I get to why those snacks become relevant, let’s cover Keto friendly and Dairy free snack options:
Pork Rinds / Chicharrones - check ingredients. Most are dairy free
Avocado, Cucumber, Zucchini sticks
Eggs
Dark chocolates - many are dairy free
Nut butters
You can find the ones I ate above below the meal plan!
Now why were these snacks relevant? Because I was very hungry between meals when eating Dairy free. The fats I was using did not keep me satiated like the dairy based fats I usually consume.
I tracked my macros and continued to hit my 70% fat but was still hungry which meant that every afternoon I snacked on some of the above and sometimes also after dinner.
I’m not a fan of that as I like to stick to Intermittent Fasting with 2 meals - lunch and dinner and no snacks in between but I also listen to my body and if I get to hungry I’d rather eat something small than overeat later.
How did Dairy Free Keto work for me and others?
Crunch time! Similar to when I did my egg fast and carnivore fast I tracked my weight while I was doing this, as well as level of Ketosis. I also observed hunger, sleep, energy and here are my results. Now, this is just me and further below I will share the experience of others too for a more complete picture.
I wasn’t going in with any expectation to loose weight, so I wasn’t voerly surprised by my curve which pretty much matches my usual fluctuations with weight over a one week period. Others did lose weight though so keep reading to learn more about them.
I also measured my level of Ketosis, Glucose and the resulting Ketone Glucose Index. That ‘curve’ is pretty boring. Really not much to see here beyond the minimal usual fluctuations I have on a regular Keto diet.
Lastly, I also tracked my Macros as mentioned earlier to make sure I was hitting my ‘fat’ and wasn’t hungry because of that.
Overall, for me, this was a very underwhelming fast when it comes to stats BUT I did have learnings which will be helpful as I continue on my Keto journey. Before we get to those though, let’s not forget ‘Transition’
How to transition after eating Dairy Free for a week
If I’ve learned one thing during the Egg fast and Carnivore fast is that you should NOT just go back to ‘normal’. It’s important to transition slowly.
Unfortunately for me, Transition Day 1 coincided with the Super Bowl and I just had to have my Quesadilla and some sour cream. I knew as I was eating that I should keep the portions small but I guess it was still too much because I paid for it with cramps and my digestion being messed up.
Day 2-5 continued to be on the path of a slow transition. Adding a bit of butter. A bit of cheese. But my digestion continued to disagree with my choices.
I would have never thought that it would take me 6+ days to eat dairy again without stomach pains.
My learnings with eating Keto and Dairy Free for 6 days
After doing egg fasts and carnivore, this fast seemed easy. Much more choices of things to eat and ‘just’ cutting out dairy.
Well, to my surprise it wasn’t that easy for me. I realized and learned the following things:
My main source of fat is dairy. I coook with butter. I add cheese to almost anything. I love to have a side of sour cream or a dessert of full fat greek yogurt
While - digestion-wise - it is easy to switch to dairy free. Reintroducing it is not.
Dairy-based fat keep me full longer
You can eat out and stay Keto and Dairy Free
More snacks than I expected are dairy free! Wish I had realized on Day 1 that my favorite chocolate is dairy free :D
Lactic acid does not mean something has dairy! We assume when reading ‘lactic’ that it = dairy, but it actually doesn’t
Every BODY is different! While dairy did nothing for me really, some of my friends had amazing results with it. Some also experienced negative side effects which led to them deciding to stop earlier than initially planned. Listen to your body and read on to learn more!
Keto & Dairy Free Testimonials
This dairy free fast was part of a series of Mini Challenges I started on Instagram in which groups of people do these together, provide moral support and encouragement. Here’s how it went for a few of them.
HUGE THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE!
@caitlinqstyles: “My experience with Dairy-Free Keto was not what I expected at all! On day 2 I was feeling constant hunger and started having cravings for non-keto foods. By day 3 my cravings were so bad I started feeling uncomfortable. I suffered in the past from binge eating and I recognized all the signs of a binge about to happen! I was immediately scared that I would fall back into old habits and have a huge binge-fest that would ruin all my progress so far. Even if the binge was all keto food. I then realized I needed to listen to all the signs my body was giving me and immediately had a string cheese. I'm not joking when I say the cravings stopped within 10 minutes of eating cheese! Such a crazy experience!”
@fatness.be.gone: “Let me start with saying ANYTHING you commit to is Possible! I did not believe I could stick to Dairy-Free for 5 days however, I ended up doing 9 days 😱 During the Challenge I lost 4.8 lbs from Mon 1/31/21 to Mon 2/8/21. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be but it was a real eye opener on how much Dairy is a part of my diet.
At this time I won’t go Dairy Free completely but it may be something I will consider in the future. What this challenge has done is make me realize I use Cheese, Sour Cream & Whip cream pretty often and maybe it actually is causing me some inflammation.
Pro’s: Quicker Weight loss, had more Veggies
Con’s: Not as regular as before bowel wise (no constipation), had to plan ahead what I would be cooking
*A Special Thanks to @thatketosis for inspiring me to join the Dairy-Free Mini Challenge that she Lead & all the girls in the Group Challenge! I was overall happy with the experience especially alongside such a positive group”
@akj_fit.mom: “I learned that I can actually substitute dairy free products for dairy products and that I can actually work on reducing my dairy consumption.
I also learned that I’m a very cheesy person and that cheese is life for me. Nevertheless it was a nice experience!
I’d like to echo Abrar (@akj_fit.mom) that Dairy Free Keto confirmed for me that I love my cheese and I love my butter.
Dairy Free is not a change in my diet I need to make at the moment and it did not benefit me, so back to regular Keto it is with more Mini Challenges to come like Vegetarian / Vegan and the Fat Fast. Stay tuned for those blog posts!
If you’d like support in trying something like Dairy Free Keto, check out my Personal Coaching!