What Is the Dirty Keto Diet? Everything You Need to Know
Following the keto diet without indulging in the occasional cheat meal can be challenging. It means bidding farewell to your favorite junk food and focusing completely on whole foods.
Therefore, some keto dieters prefer to follow the dirty keto diet, also referred to as the lazy keto diet, which allows some low-carb processed foods that don’t cause a spike in blood sugar levels, allowing you to achieve and maintain ketosis.
The dirty keto approach is a compromise to make it easier for those who love their burgers, sausages, and sweet and sour pork to follow the keto diet and enjoy weight loss without feeling deprived.
We explored the differences between clean keto and dirty keto so that you can make an informed choice about how you want to eat on the keto diet. We’ve also included 10 dirty keto diet recipes.
What Is Dirty Keto?
The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high-fat style of eating that results in your body burning fat for energy instead of carbs so that you can lose weight quickly. The best results are achieved by eating nutritious whole foods, such as grass-fed steak and salad with a high-fat dressing.
However, some people who choose to follow low-carb diets find it challenging to keep up with the meal prep required on such an eating plan and include some processed foods in their meals. This is referred to as the lazy keto diet or the dirty keto diet.
In this dirty version of the eating style, food quality is less of a priority, which makes the dirty keto diet plan less healthy. Due to the intake of ultra-processed foods, it is usually higher in unhealthy fats and salt and may be low in non-starchy vegetables and micronutrients, resulting in diet-related health problems, such as hypertension, weight gain, and type 2 diabetes.
Dirty keto foods may make it possible for you to stick to your keto macros and daily calories so that you can achieve ketosis. However, many people who choose the lazy keto diet eat too much protein, shifting the nutritional balance of the diet.
What Is Clean Keto?
Clean keto is a more traditional keto diet and is free from processed foods. The diet emphasizes nutrient-dense foods that not only help you lose weight but also offer numerous health benefits that include preventing heart disease and insulin resistance.
Food quality is a priority in clean keto meals. Therefore, clean keto foods are usually low-carb, high-fat whole foods with high nutritional value. They help control your blood sugar and promote fat-burning so that you can achieve and maintain ketosis.
People following the clean keto diet avoid all junk food and processed oils and eat plenty of low-carb vegetables and natural oils, such as coconut oil, making it simple to naturally stick to their keto macros, restrict their calorie intake and avoid food cravings.
Clean Keto vs. Dirty Keto
When you examine the differences between dirty keto vs. clean keto, it becomes obvious that the clean approach is better than the dirty approach to the low-carb, high-fat diet. Both make it possible to achieve ketosis. However, dirty keto doesn’t offer the same health benefits as clean keto.
The greatest difference between the two approaches is food quality. Clean keto foods are nutrient-dense whole foods that offer both weight loss and health benefits. On the other hand, the dirty keto food list includes many processed foods, which may make it more difficult to lose weight and stay healthy.
Processed oils and refined vegetable oils are allowed on the lazy keto diet, whereas only the best-quality pure oils are included on the more traditional ketogenic diet. Healthy fats from high-fat foods, such as salmon, nuts, seeds, avocados, and olive oil, are vital for health but are frequently missing from the dirty keto meal plan.
The dirty keto diet places less emphasis on eating plenty of non-starchy vegetables than you would eat on the clean keto meal plan. When you eat more junk food, there is less space on your plate for health-sustaining food, and it can be more challenging to control your blood sugar levels.
Eating more fast food usually means eating more salt, which is another difference between the dirty and clean keto diets. Avoiding processed foods naturally reduces your sodium intake and makes it easier to stick to your keto macros.
Dirty Keto Diet Food List
What can you eat on the dirty keto diet that you can’t include when you choose the clean version of the diet? The biggest difference is the inclusion of processed foods. The dirty keto food list below shows you which foods you can include in your lazy keto diet plan.
- Pork rinds
- Beef jerky
- Sugar-free soda/diet soda
- Artificial sweeteners
- Lunch meat
- Processed meats such as sausages
- Vegetable oils
- Processed cheese
- Bunless burgers
- Low-carb cookies and baked goods
- Keto pasta
Dirty Keto Recipes
If lazy keto is your preferred diet, we suggest becoming familiar with typical keto diet foods before looking at the dirty keto foods list. Below are 10 dirty keto diet recipes to show you how to start the dirty keto diet. They are great for anyone looking for a selection of low-carb cheat meals for days when only comfort food will do.
1. Cheese, Ham, and Egg Breakfast Bake
A breakfast bake is easy to make, especially if you are cooking brunch for a group of people. Layers of salty ham, rich eggs, and oozing melted cheese come together to make a lazy keto breakfast dish that everyone will love.
2. Lazy Keto Banana Bread
Sometimes you miss baked treats like banana bread when you’re watching your carb intake. When the craving hits, make this lazy keto version of a classic favorite and enjoy it warm with butter.
3. Cheesy Chorizo and Spinach Omelet
Chorizo isn’t on the list of approved foods for the traditional keto diet, but using it to make an omelet with cheese and spinach will make your mouth water. The meal has only 4.7 grams of net carbs and is high in fat and protein.
4. Lazy Keto Cheeseburger Casserole
Turning your back on cheeseburgers can make limiting your carb intake a challenge. If you’re on the dirty keto diet, you can order your burger without the bun or make a cheeseburger casserole with all the classic burger flavors.
5. Keto Double-Cheese Grilled Sandwich
A grilled cheese sandwich is a quick lunchtime snack that must be avoided when following the standard keto diet. However, lazy keto allows you to enjoy your favorite melted cheese treat with keto bread.
6. Keto Cheese and Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms
Sausages add a lot of salty flavor to a dish. Chop them up and use them to stuff a large portobello mushroom with cheese. These cheesy stuffed mushrooms are perfect for a light meal on their own or as part of a main meal served with a cucumber, spinach, and baby tomato salad.
7. Keto Chicken Schnitzel With Tomato Sauce and Cheese
Chicken parmesan is a classic dish that you won’t find on the clean keto menu. To make it keto-friendly, the crust is made using almond flour and ground pork rinds so that you can enjoy the flavors of fried chicken, tomato sauce, and parmesan cheese without jeopardizing your ketosis.
8. Keto Thai Red Curry With Tuna and Coconut Cauliflower Rice
Packed with fresh vegetables and tuna, keto Thai red curry is a satisfying way to end the day. Serve it with coconut cauliflower rice for a quick and easy, tasty dirty keto meal.
9. Lazy Keto Smoked Sausage and Green Beans
Rich smoky sausage cooked in a skillet with onions, red peppers, and green beans is the ultimate lazy keto weekend dinner. High in fat and low in carbs, it is a comforting meal that can be enjoyed by those on the dirty keto diet.
10. Dirty Keto Sweet and Sour Pork
Make your own fast food with this dirty keto version of sweet and sour pork. With only 2 grams of net carbs per serving, this fried dish will satisfy your junk food cravings without raising your blood sugar.
Weight Loss on Dirty Keto
Ideally, the ketogenic diet meal plan is based on nutrient-dense foods. Natural foods such as grass-fed beef, low-carb vegetables, and healthy fats are combined to create an eating style that is low in carbohydrates, high in fat, and provides all the micronutrients your body needs.
When you eat a clean keto diet, it is easy to limit your daily calories and stay within the recommended keto macronutrients. You lose weight quickly because the nature of the foods you eat allows you to achieve and maintain ketosis.
Dirty keto foods can make weight loss more challenging. Many packaged foods, for example, are very high in saturated and processed fats, which promote chronic inflammation in the body. Although your body still burns fat for energy, inflammation has been linked to weight gain and difficulty losing weight.
When you indulge in processed foods, such as sausages, on your lazy keto diet, along with protein, you are also consuming starchy fillers, additives, and preservatives, which make the food taste great. That means it can be tempting to eat too much of it, and too many calories will have a negative impact on your weight loss goals.
Drawbacks of Dirty Keto
You will probably lose weight if you choose to follow the dirty keto diet. However, including junk food in your meal plan will ensure that your weight loss is short-lived, and you won’t enjoy the health benefits of the traditional keto diet.
Processed foods can make it more challenging to control your blood sugar and maintain ketosis. Therefore, intense food cravings are common for people who use the dirty keto approach to weight loss.
The lack of whole foods, particularly low-carb vegetables, disrupts your gut microbiome, resulting in gas, bloating, constipation, and diarrhea. Additionally, your electrolyte balance is affected, which can make you feel tired and lethargic.
Conclusion
In this article, we have answered the most frequently asked question: What is the dirty keto diet? Comparing lazy keto to clean keto, it is clear that the clean keto diet is a better way to lose weight and get healthy.
Therefore, instead of asking how to follow the dirty keto diet, consider using the dirty keto recipes we have shared for those meals when you are looking for a little foodie comfort. The occasional low-carb cheat meal won’t interrupt your weight loss or affect your health, but it can make it easier to stick to your keto diet.
If you’re still considering different variations of ketogenic diet, you might want to look into mediterranean keto or pescatarian ketogenic diet. Some individuals are willing to explore more extreme options when it comes to dietary choices, such as adopting a full carnivore keto diet.
