Keto Made Simple - Learn With Doctor Westman

Send us Fan Mail People often write to Dr. Westman to ask for his opinions on the ever-growing selection of low- and zero-carb foods and beverages available now.  There’s a dizzying array of diet and no-sugar soft drinks and carbonated beverages out there, but which ones are best? The main rules are: don’t force yourself to drink something you don’t like just because it’s zero-carb!  Drink what yo...

Send us Fan Mail For decades, people were told to limit fat in their diet—saturated fat, in particular. But now, we know that eating too much sugar—and for some people, too much carbohydrate of any kind—is the real culprit behind obesity, type 2 diabetes, PCOS, fatty liver, and more. Watch Dr. Westman’s latest video to learn why he says, “Most chronic medical conditions today—if not all chronic me...

Send us Fan Mail When people find Dr. Westman and learn about his method for doing keto, they’re often surprised that the food list he’s been using in his clinic for twenty years doesn’t include nuts. That means no nut flours or nut butters, either. These things aren’t bad for you, but they’re very common “trigger” foods – for many people, once they start eating them, they can’t stop. (If your ser...

Send us Fan Mail Should you check your blood sugar (a.k.a. blood glucose) at home? You can use a fingerstick glucometer for a one-time measurement of your blood sugar, and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) that measure it 24/7 are increasingly available, too. Do you need to use one of these? They can be helpful, but they’re not necessary for most people. (Remember, people have been using low-carb...

Send us Fan Mail It’s normal for your blood sugar to rise a lot after a meal, right? Not necessarily! A small rise is pretty normal, but you don’t want it to go up substantially. People with healthy metabolisms will see only a relatively small rise in blood glucose after a meal. The more sensitive you are to carbohydrates – the more insulin resistant you are – the more your glucose will rise. (But...

Send us Fan Mail One of the best things you can do to control your blood sugar is to avoid beverages sweetened with sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, and other caloric sweeteners. Even for people not following low-carb or keto diets, ditching these can go a long way toward improving health. And that doesn’t mean you can never drink anything that tastes sweet. The way that Dr. Westman has been teach...

Send us Fan Mail Lots of keto programs out there focus on following “macros” and recording your food in an app so you can make sure you’re getting enough micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). It’s not “wrong” to do this, but the method Dr. Westman has been using for more than two decades keeps things ultra-simple and helps people get great results without focusing on specific numbers with regard...

Send us Fan Mail How much protein should you eat? It’s a controversial topic! Ask twenty different doctors and dietitians and you’ll get twenty different answers. The way Dr. Westman teaches people to do keto, the only things people need to control are the total carbs they eat and the amount of fats and oils they add to their food. For most people, protein is self-limiting because it’s filling and...

Send us Fan Mail Don’t inadvertently sabotage your results on a keto diet!  Food manufacturers are getting more savvy. With the growing popularity of low-carb and keto diets, they know consumers are on the lookout for products that are low in carbs. So, if a food product says “no added sugar” on the package, can you include it in a low-carb diet? Not always! Be sure to look at the total carbohydra...

Send us Fan Mail If you avoid candy, pastries, and other sweets, you might think you don’t eat much sugar.  But what about high-carb foods that get digested into sugar?  What about sweet or starchy things like bananas, potatoes, rice, crackers, granola, or pretzels?  Even when things don’t taste sweet, if they’re high in carbs, they can still raise your blood sugar – sometimes even more than a ver...

Send us Fan Mail People are very surprised when they see the food list Dr. Westman uses—there’s no fruit! With other ways of eating, it often seems like the more fruits & vegetables, the better. But keto diets are different. Fruit isn’t “bad” for you, but when you need to keep your total carbohydrate intake very low in order to lose weight or reverse chronic issues like type 2 diabetes or meta...

Send us Fan Mail Let’s face it: most people eat too much sugar. Whether we’re talking about the refined sugar found in things like candy, cookies, pastries, and other sweets, or the complex carbs that get digested into sugar (like pasta, rice, bread, and crackers), to your body, ultimately it’s all just sugar. How do you know if you’re eating more of these than your body can handle? Watch Dr. West...

Send us Fan Mail If you want to lose weight, “everyone knows” that you have to burn more calories than you take in. This means all you need to do is eat less and move more, right? Not quite. If it were that straightforward, then millions of people worldwide wouldn’t be struggling with weight loss, and my clinic wouldn’t have a 6-month waiting list because nobody would need any help! The simplistic...

Send us Fan Mail Your body holds glucose in three places: your muscles, your liver, and your bloodstream. Muscles store the most glucose, the liver stores a bit less, and your bloodstream carries the least.  In fact, when your blood sugar is around 100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L), there’s only one teaspoon of glucose in your blood. That’s right – just one teaspoon! If you have type 2 diabetes, the amount o...

Send us Fan Mail If you follow a low-carb or keto diet, there's a huge variety of foods you can enjoy while reaping the benefits of weight loss, reversing type 2 diabetes, and more. But what are the "best" keto foods? It depends on your own taste preferences, but looking at micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and total carbs, it's hard to beat eggs. Plus, in these difficult...

Send us Fan Mail Have your bowel movements changed since starting a keto diet? It's okay to talk about this! It's important, in fact, because there's a lot of confusion out there about what's "normal" when it comes to bowel movements. Are you supposed to "go" every day? Is it a problem if you don't? Is constipation defined by how often you have a bowel...

Send us Fan Mail Stubborn belly fat -- it's a common issue that plagues so many people! Keto diets can help you get rid of that "maddening middle" by keeping your carb intake very low -- because excess carbs turn into fat. You also need to be careful with the fats & oils you add to your food.  If you're struggling to lose stubborn fat even on a keto diet, cut back on butter...

Send us Fan Mail When you find a way of doing something that works well -- say, boiling an egg, or ironing a shirt -- you probably don't go looking for lots of other ways to do it.  You just stick with the way you know works. What about your diet?  If you have a way of doing keto that works why search online for other approaches that might lead you astray?  If you're getting good results...

Send us Fan Mail Sound the alarm!  A new study says that eating fat is bad for you! But wait a minute ... I've been helping patients lose weight and reverse chronic health problems like type 2 diabetes, PCOS, acid reflux, and more, by teaching them to follow a low-carb diet that allows for bacon, steaks, pork chops, avocados, and other fatty foods. So what gives?  Should you abandon your keto...

Send us Fan Mail What's the fastest and simplest way to lose weight on keto? Do you need to fast?  Should you put butter and MCT oil in your coffee?  What about macros? Should you use a blood or breath meter to make sure you have a high ketone level?  We'll let you in on a secret: it's all much more straightforward than that! Get the details in Dr. Westman's latest video, wheth...

Send us Fan Mail Are there people in your life who warn you that keto is okay to do for a short time, but it's dangerous to do for the long term? Are they right?  Is it harmful to make a keto or low-carb diet your permanent way of eating? Check out our newest video where Dr. Westman sets the record straight on this.

Send us Fan Mail There's a lot of confusion about drinking alcohol on a keto diet. Can you or can't you? You can! It's not a dealbreaker, but you do have to be strategic about it. Even if what you choose to drink is very low in carbs (like dry wine or distilled liquor), those beverages still provide calories, and your body has to burn through the alcohol before you get back to burni...

Send us Fan Mail Can you use artificial sweeteners and other non-sugar sweeteners on a keto diet? Yes! You don't have to, of course -- ideally, none of us would ever "need" anything sweet -- but that's unrealistic for some folks. So the good news is, you can include certain sweeteners and still get great results with keto.    If you're living with obesity, type 2 diabetes,...

Send us Fan Mail Have you experienced digestive issues or an upset stomach on a keto diet? Dr. Westman has been helping people with this way of eating for more than twenty years, but it's only recently that patients have been mentioning these problems. So, what's changed? What's new or different about the way people are doing keto now that's causing issues that rarely came up i...

Send us Fan Mail People who want to talk you out of trying a keto diet -- or scare you away from it even if you're already doing it and getting great results -- will tell you that it's too restrictive. Sure, high-carb foods like pasta, rice, potatoes, and beans are off the menu, but that doesn't mean keto is restrictive. Do you like steak? Burgers? Bacon? Ham & cheese omelets? R...