FATS ARE FAB!

CAULIFLOWER rice. Zucchini noodles. Eggplant fries. Music to the ears of the health conscious. Or like nails on a blackboard for purists. If you fall into the former camp, these are real edible items that you might want to add to your food vocabulary while sprinkling your conversation with the words “keto diet”, an eating plan that has recently been catching international attention. Not surprisingly, certain celebrities in the USA helped to place it under the limelight following stories of their positive experience under the plan, especially weight loss results.

Relatively new on our shores, Malaysians do have a reason to be excited. Not many diets encourage eating more fat — but this is one of them, turning upside down our long-held beliefs and assumptions about fatty foods. For example, under the keto diet, butter and cream are not evil while fried chicken and sirloin steak can be your new best friends!

In exchange for consuming higher amounts of fats (healthy ones of course), strict keto dieters have to drastically reduce carbohydrates, down to about five per cent of their daily calorie intake. The remaining calories should consist of about 75 per cent fat and about 20 per cent protein.

The ketogenic diet involves forcing one’s metabolism to enter a state of ketosis whereby the body will burn fat for energy, instead of carbohydrates. The low-carb component of the diet would be a tough order for Malaysian palates. Imagine going for lunch and ordering, “Chicken rice but no rice, extra chicken” or “cheeseburger but no bun, no fries”. You’ll either attract a lot of sympathy or weird looks.

With inspiring stories abound on the Internet of how this diet has helped people shed stubborn kilos, anyone lumbering around uncomfortably in a portly post-festive state might be persuaded to ditch ketupat for ketofriendly foods.

But weight loss isn’t the only benefit and the diet is no new fad despite the name trending on Google last year in terms of health-related searches. The ketogenic diet actually has its origins in the 1920s when it was first attempted as a treatment for epilepsy with successful results that led to the popularity of this therapy, until the development of new anti-seizure medications. The eating plan returned to the public eye in the 1990s and has been claimed to help people with other medical conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.

“I was a chronic diabetic in 2013,” shares KL-born Alex Lim as he relates his own experience. “My doctor told me it was a progressive thing but I refused to accept that so I started looking at various options other than western medication. I chanced upon an international diabetes support group on social media so I joined.” The rest, as they say, is history.

He started eliminating starch and sugar from his lifestyle. “As a diabetic, the more carbs I take, the higher my glucose level so I went against the norm.” Over the course of three years, he was able to give up his dependence on medication, and as a big bonus, he gradually dropped from weighing close to 97kg to over 70kg. Today, the affable 53-year old keto adviser is a very trim 62kg who continues to eat the keto way and shares his experiences via a Facebook group or with anyone interested to know more.

One of the things that Lim likes to share with fellow keto dieters is where to find ketofriendly dishes when eating out, a huge challenge considering most food out there is either unashamedly laden with carbs, sugar or unhealthy fats. Even an innocent-looking salad may not be suitable if lathered with one of those instant dressings. Alex Lim Facebook. He’s trying out a brand new ketofriendly menu introduced recently by neighbourhood cafe, Thirty Seconds, located within a tranquil part of Bandar Sri Damansara. So far, there are only about a handful of eateries in the Klang Valley that cater to this eating plan with a special menu.

Run by the Phua family, Thirty Seconds had received requests from customers to offer keto-friendly dishes and this in turn sparked the initiative. Matriarch-cumcook, Sharon Khor, divulges that there was also a personal reason. “I’m diabetic so I’m pre-keto which means I didn’t really start fully on keto but when a lot of customers started asking for keto food, I decided to go on the diet properly and create a menu so that I can sell the dishes and eat them too!”

Currently, patrons will find eight items on the ketogenic food menu comprising egg-based breakfast options, chicken and fish dishes such as Chicken Alfredo and Pesto Fish. Khor has kept the menu simple for now to ease the workload, hence the homely taste and experience.

The flavourful baked eggs dish is a winner thanks to a combo of chicken chunks, bell pepper, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese