Is Bacon Keto? How Bacon can improve your Ketogenic Diet

Cooking bacon renders a lot of the fat out and this can be saved up and used to cook other foods to add more flavour such as using the fats to cook a steak. To keep bacon grease for longer, pour the oil through a strainer and discard any remaining residue and only keep the grease.

Lard is composed of mostly saturated and monounsaturated fats, making it an idea fat to use for cooking at these types of fats don’t oxidize easily under high heat.

A serving of bacon is 1 slice weighing 12 grams with 22% water content and 54 kcal of calories.

One serving of bacon (12 grams) has 0.2g net carbs and is keto friendly.

Bacon as with most animal meat contains high quality protein. This means that it is much more bioavailable to the human body and is readily absorbed compared to plant sourced proteins. One serving of bacon contains 4 grams of protein and 4 grams of fat at approximately 1:1 protein to fat ratio. This will of course vary from what you buy.

Bacon is a great source of Vitamins B1, B2, B5, B6, B12, sodium, potassium, selenium and phosphorus. It also contains a decent amount of various minerals as well such as iron, zinc and magnesium.

The great thing about bacon is that it is delicious but the downside is that it is easy to overeat. It’s protein to fat ratio is around 1:1 which is good to support weight loss at a steady pace if you are at a higher body fat percentage. Don’t feel bad about eating too much bacon but if your weight loss is going through a stall then it is a good idea to lower your intake until you break your plateau. You can also try to buy leaner cuts of bacon or try turkey bacon which has approximately 3 grams of fat at the same 12 gram serving size.

On a Keto diet, bacon is a delicious way to add plenty of fat to your diet to provide you with extra energy. If your body fat percentage is in the low teens or high single digits, then you may need to eat more dietary fat as your body may not be able to provide the amount you need, especially if you are active.

The sodium, potassium and magnesium content of bacon will help you replenish some of lost electrolytes during exercise. A good way to determine how much electrolytes you need is just by using taste. Salt your foods to taste, that is an indicator that this is the level you body needs. Another indicator of lack of electrolytes is if you are getting cramps during your workouts or sleep.

Bacon is a great source of protein and fats on the ketogenic diet. After cooking the bacon, strain and save the bacon grease which is a good fat for cooking and adds a lot of flavor, especially to vegetables. Bacon is good to eat on weight loss, but cut back when you experience a stail. It is also an excellent source of electrolytes from food to power your workouts.