Culinology - June 2019 - 46

PETITS fours

Innovators capitalizing on
consumer interest in keto
Many of today's trending nutrition plans put
limits on carbohydrate and sugar intake. That
is what you get with the ketogenic diet, one of
the trendiest topics in today's food and beverage space.
The keto diet features approximately 70%
fat, 20% protein and 5% each of simple
carbohydrates and non-starchy vegetables.
It is a weight-loss regime rather than a longterm lifestyle eating approach, as it does not
provide the body with adequate, balanced
nutrition.
By consuming fat and few carbohydrates,
the body is forced into a metabolic state
known as ketosis. This is when the body
burns fat instead of carbohydrates for energy.
The liver converts fat into fatty acids and
ketone bodies, with the latter traveling to the
brain and fueling the body, the traditional
role of glucose obtained from carbohydrates.
Burning ketones in place of glucose is
associated with weight loss, reduced
inflammation, sustained energy and other
benefits.
The keto diet was identified as the most
popular consumer diet for 2019, according
to more than 1,300 dietitians surveyed in
the 7th annual "What's trending in nutrition"
survey from Pollock Communications, New
York and Today's Dietitian. Keto ousted

clean eating from last year's top spot, with
intermittent fasting making its debut as No. 2.
"It's not that clean eating has declined
in popularity," said Jenna Bell, senior vicepresident at Pollock Communications.
"But what's different here is that millennial
consumers are going beyond eliminating a
food group, like cutting gluten, to making
more drastic changes that require real lifestyle
adjustments."
Dietitians who responded to the survey
believe consumers are looking for diets that
primarily drive weight loss. They agreed
that the keto craze will continue in 2019,
with consumers significantly reducing
carbohydrates, grains and sugar in favor of
vegetables, animal fat and meat. What will
be next? The dietitians believe the next big
diet will be intermittent fasting, with clean
eating coming in as the third most popular,
according to the survey.
While it's trending, however, several
marketers are introducing new products with
keto branding. Others are being careful to
not be exclusive so when the wave subsides,
a product does not die on shelf. Many such
products are being marketed for their high
fat content, or their avoidance of all added
sugars. Marketing materials may describe
them as keto friendly or they are identified
on keto diet social media as permissible
products.
Many keto foods and beverages include
medium chain triglyceride (MCT) fats. These
are inherently concentrated in milkfat and
coconut oil and are recognized for assisting
the body with breaking down fat. Whole milk
and high-fat dairy products, while also a
source of inherent natural carbohydrates in
the form of lactose, are benefiting from the
popularity of the keto diet. Sales of grass-fed
butter and ghee are also rising and their use
as an ingredient in other products is trending,
too.
Many foods with a high content of MCT
fats, including ghee, are benefiting from the
popularity of keto.

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Culinology | JUNE 2019

Culinology - June 2019

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