If you’ve decided to start, recommit to, or continue following the popular ketogenic diet this year, you likely have a couple of goals in mind: weight loss and potentially better health. While research is still teasing out whether the ketogenic diet holds any benefits and is safe to follow long term, many people are curious enough to give it a try.
The controversial diet is notoriously low in carbohydrates, which can be a big adjustment. While there is no official definition of the ketogenic diet or rules about the specific proportion of macronutrients involved in it, popular keto resources recommend getting between 70 and 80 percent of your total daily calories from fat and between 10 and 20 percent from protein, with only between 5 and 10 percent coming from carbs, reports Harvard Health. For a 2,000-calorie diet, that means about 165 grams of fat, 40 grams of carbohydrates, and 75 grams of protein.
It might be hard to imagine that a diet where up to 80 percent of the calories come from fat is even remotely healthy, but it’s not all butter and bacon.
Getting and staying in ketosis (a state where your body burns fat for fuel rather than carbohydrates) doesn’t happen on a typical Western diet, so there is a learning curve involved in eating in a way that puts your body in ketosis. You can read some great books on keto that show you how to eat this way, and follow clever keto bloggers for recipe inspiration (keto bread is a thing), but nothing compares to the deep dive that these keto podcasts can provide.
During your journey as a keto enthusiast, you’ll want practical information, such as exactly what to eat, how to get back on track, and the best products in specific categories (e.g., oils and proteins). But food is only part of your health, and the best podcasters go beyond that, tackling topics such as inflammation and its role in disease, good sleep, stress reduction, and learning about yourself and what holds you back from your health goals. They also attract some of the top keto celebrities. More than that, these hosts are engaging, knowledgeable, and make it feel like you are chatting with a friend.
Still, keep in mind that not all keto influencers are medical professionals who are familiar with the possible health risks of dramatic diet changes (such as those required on keto). That’s why you’ll want to be sure this eating plan — or any major dietary change, for that matter — is best for your health goals and won’t cause issues with any preexisting medical conditions you have or medications you are taking. For those reasons, it’s important to discuss these issues with your healthcare team (including, ideally, a registered dietitian nutritionist) before making any changes to your diet, as well as to consult them with any concerns as they arise.
The following six keto podcasts offer handy advice as you dive headfirst into keto.
The Keto Diet Podcast
The Keto Diet Podcast has more than 400 episodes you’ll love to pore over — whether you’re a newbie or established keto-er. Insanely popular, with 20 million downloads, the podcast, hosted by Leanne Vogel, teaches listeners how stress gets in the way of the body’s ability to burn fat (and what to do about it), how to use continuous glucose monitoring to understand the body’s reaction to food, and how to use intermittent fasting to lose weight. It also provides a list of the best foods to eat on keto. You’ll appreciate Vogel’s cast of keto superstars and how she has a knack for delving into topics and breaking everything down into understandable pieces of info that you can incorporate into your daily life.
Fast Keto With Ketogenic Girl
Fast Keto With Ketogenic Girl can be listened to online or watched on YouTube. If you’ve ever tried keto and didn’t get results, this podcast is a must-listen. When the host, Vanessa Spina, first started a keto diet, she was surprised that she actually gained 20 pounds. That doesn’t have to happen to you. Through her podcast, she shares her tips about how to become keto adapted, avoid mistakes, and, like her, achieve your ideal weight. Episodes cover the role of inflammation in weight gain and hormonal imbalance, dealing with underlying emotions (rather than turning toward food), optimizing sodium intake, and the best supplements to take when on keto.
The Keto Kamp Podcast
Ben Azadi hosts The Keto Kamp Podcast, which dives into all the keto know-how you need, like how much protein to eat, the right oils to use, what happens during fat adaptation, the best ways to add fat to your coffee, and how to use sleep to get to your goals — all accomplished in more than 200 episodes. If you’re a long-term keto dieter, you’ll love the advanced strategy episodes, like using “keto flexing,” little-known keto hacks, and various forms of fasting. Reviews are overwhelmingly positive about how engaging and informative Azadi is in each episode.
The Natural State With Dr. Anthony Gustin
Anthony Gustin’s popular podcast, The Natural State, has earned a 4.8-star rating on Apple Podcasts because, after listening, people feel supported and more knowledgeable in their keto journey. You’ll learn about not only keto but also broader fitness and medical and nutrition topics, such as the problems with the modern-day food system and what drives chronic disease, as well as about more specific issues, including hormone-disrupting chemicals, blue light–blocking glasses, and ethical hunting. Guests include health journalist Gary Taubes, physician and author Mark Hyman, MD, and functional medicine practitioner Will Cole.
Dirty, Lazy, Keto
Podcaster Stephanie Laska is also the author of Dirty, Lazy, Keto and Extra Easy Keto. With more than 80 episodes available, her podcast provides a wealth of approachable and usable information that boosts the enjoyment factor of a keto journey. Learn to make a delectable microwaveable chocolate mug cake or a low-carb pizza, take her recommendations for the best keto products (so you don’t have to spend your own time and money trying them), and figure out how a flexible keto approach can lead to more long-term weight loss.
Keto Made Simple
Dr. Eric Westman hosts Keto Made Simple, which focuses on teaching people how to “dramatically improve their health through the science-based benefits of a low-carb and ketogenic diet.” Dive into health-based topics such as what really raises your cholesterol, whether you should really be worried about erythritol, the best keto-friendly pasta substitutes, and what you really need to know about almond flour. One of the great things about this podcast is that many of the episodes are super short (just 10 minutes!), meaning you can get quick, digestible hits of keto information at any time.
Kayli Anderson, RDN
Medical Reviewer
Kayli Anderson has over a decade of experience in nutrition, culinary education, and lifestyle medicine. She believes that eating well should be simple, pleasurable, and sustainable. Anderson has worked with clients from all walks of life, but she currently specializes in nutrition therapy and lifestyle medicine for women. She’s the founder of PlantBasedMavens.com, a hub for women to get evidence-based, practical, and woman-centered guidance on nutrition and cooking, hormone health, fertility, pregnancy, movement, mental well-being, nontoxic living, and more.
Anderson is board-certified in lifestyle medicine and serves as lead faculty of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s (ACLM) "Food as Medicine" course. She is past chair of the ACLM's registered dietitian member interest group, secretary of the women's health member interest group, and nutrition faculty for many of ACLM's other course offerings. She is the coauthor of the Plant-Based Nutrition Quick Start Guide and works with many of the leading organizations in nutrition and lifestyle medicine to develop nutrition content, recipes, and educational programs.
Anderson frequently speaks on the topics of women’s health and plant-based nutrition and has coauthored two lifestyle medicine textbooks, including the first one on women’s health, Improving Women's Health Across the Lifespan.
She received a master's degree in nutrition and physical performance and is certified as an exercise physiologist and intuitive eating counselor. She's a student of herbal medicine and women's integrative and functional medicine. She lives with her husband in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, where you’ll find her out on a trail or in her garden.
Jessica Migala
Author
Jessica Migala is a freelance writer with over 15 years of experience, specializing in health, nutrition, fitness, and beauty. She has written extensively about vision care, diabetes, dermatology, gastrointestinal health, cardiovascular health, cancer, pregnancy, and gynecology. She was previously an assistant editor at Prevention where she wrote monthly science-based beauty news items and feature stories.
She has contributed to more than 40 print and digital publications, including Cosmopolitan, O:The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, Woman’s Day, Women’s Health, Fitness, Family Circle, Health, Prevention, Self, VICE, and more. Migala lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband, two young boys, rescue beagle, and 15 fish. When not reporting, she likes running, bike rides, and a glass of wine (in moderation, of course).