The KetoDick Guide: Table of Contents
The KetoDick Guide explains the ketogenic diet in plain language. Each chapter starts from the science, says where the evidence is strong and where it is thin, and points to the studies behind its claims. Nothing here is sponsored, and nothing here is for sale.
The guide is education, not treatment. Where a reader's situation calls for a doctor (diabetes or blood-pressure medication, kidney disease, pregnancy, an eating-disorder history), the chapter says so at the point it matters.
The chapters are in reading order. Someone new to keto can read straight through; someone with a specific problem can jump to the chapter that covers it. Each chapter links its drill-down pages, which go deeper on one question.
Last verified: 2026-10-31.
Start here
- The KetoDick Guide to Keto: Start Here: the short version of the whole guide, plus a router for readers who are new, stalled, maintaining or worried about safety.
Part 1: How keto works
Chapter 1: What a Ketogenic Diet Is and How Ketosis Works
Keto defined by its outcome, ketones in the nutritional range, rather than by a list of allowed foods.
- What Ketosis Is: Ketone Bodies, BHB and Your Liver
- Ketosis vs Ketoacidosis: Why They Are Not the Same Thing
- Fat Adaptation: The Weeks Between Ketosis and Feeling Good
- What Can I Eat on Keto? A Dose-Not-Ban Food List
- Strict, Lazy, Dirty and Medical Keto: The Versions Explained
Chapter 2: How Fat Loss Actually Works: Energy, Insulin and Hunger
A deficit is needed, forced restriction is not: what the head-to-head trials say keto's real advantage is.
- Energy Balance on Keto: Calorie Deficit vs Calorie Restriction
- Insulin and Fat Storage: What Insulin Does and Does Not Do
- Hunger and Appetite on Keto: Why Eating Less Gets Easier
- Keto vs Low Fat: What the Head-to-Head Trials Found
Part 2: Getting started
Chapter 3: Starting Keto: Month One, Water Weight and What to Expect
Month one as a learning and adaptation month, and a realistic timeline for the scale after it.
- Your First Month on Keto, Week by Week
- Easing Into Keto: The Tapering Method
- Water Weight on Keto: Glycogen, Salt and the First-Week Drop
- Tracking on Keto: What to Log and When to Stop
- The Keto Weight-Loss Timeline: Realistic Expectations
Part 3: What to eat
Chapter 4: Carbs on Keto: How Many, Net vs Total, and Fiber
Where the common carb limits come from, why total carbs are the simpler count, and why fiber is the most overlooked part of keto.
- How Many Carbs a Day on Keto? 20 g, 25 g or 50 g
- Net Carbs vs Total Carbs: Which Should You Count?
- Fiber on Keto: Why It Matters and How to Get Enough
- Sugar Alcohols and Sweeteners: How to Count Them
- Hidden Carbs: Sauces, Nuts, Maltodextrin and Drinks
Chapter 5: Protein on Keto: How Much, and Why It Is Not the Enemy
Protein as the fixed target, with a plain number by body weight, and the evidence on fullness, muscle, age and kidneys.
- How Much Protein on Keto? A Plain Number by Body Weight
- Too Much Protein on Keto? Gluconeogenesis Explained
- Protein and Fullness: Why Protein Keeps Hunger Down
- Protein After 50: Keeping Muscle as You Age
- Does High Protein Hurt Your Kidneys?
Chapter 6: Fat on Keto: A Lever, Not a Goal
The goal is low carb, not high fat: how much fat to eat in each phase, and how empty-calorie fat stalls weight loss.
- How Much Fat Should You Eat on Keto?
- Eating Too Much Fat on Keto: Why It Stalls Weight Loss
- Bulletproof Coffee: What It Is and When It Hurts Weight Loss
- Cooking Fats and Oils on Keto: What Matters and What Doesn't
Chapter 7: Electrolytes, Hydration, Vitamins and Keto Flu
Why keto flushes more salt, what "keto flu" mostly is, how to judge hydration, and when supplements need a doctor first.
- Sodium on Keto: How Much Salt and Why
- Potassium and Magnesium on Keto: Food First, Pills via Your Doctor
- Keto Flu: What It Is, What Causes It, What Helps
- How Much Water on Keto? Use Your Urine, Not a Glass Count
- Do You Need a Multivitamin on Keto?
Part 4: Measuring progress
Chapter 8: Testing for Ketosis: Urine, Blood and Breath
The three testing methods compared on cost and accuracy, and why a ketone reading is not a fat-loss score.
- Urine Ketone Strips: How They Work and What the Colours Mean
- Blood Ketone Meters: BHB Readings and Ranges
- Breath Ketone Testing: Acetone and Accuracy
- Do You Need to Test Ketones at All?
Chapter 9: Plateaus and Stalls: Why the Scale Stops and What to Do
Telling a stall from a normal fluctuation, finding the hidden calories, and breaking a stall without crash dieting.
- Is It a Stall or Just a Fluctuation?
- Hidden Calories That Stall Keto
- How to Break a Keto Stall Without Crash Dieting
- Non-Scale Victories: Measuring Progress Without the Scale
Part 5: The long run
Chapter 10: Exercise, Maintenance and Body Recomposition
Weight loss happens in the kitchen; exercise is for health and strength, and maintenance is a set of habits rather than a diet.
- Do You Need to Exercise on Keto?
- Carbs for Hard Workouts: Targeted Keto Explained
- Body Recomposition on Keto: Losing Fat, Keeping or Building Muscle
- Moving From Weight Loss to Maintenance
- Habits That Keep the Weight Off
Chapter 11: Risks, Side Effects and Who Should Talk to a Doctor First
Keto as an intervention with risks like any other: who should involve a doctor before starting, which labs to get, and the side effects people report.
- Who Should Talk to a Doctor Before Starting Keto
- Keto With Diabetes or Blood-Pressure Medication: Why Doses Change
- Cholesterol on Keto: LDL Changes and What to Ask Your Doctor
- Common Keto Side Effects: Constipation, Cramps, Sleep, Breath
- Keto and Eating-Disorder History: Proceed With Your Care Team
Chapter 12: Reading Nutrition News and Studies Without Getting Fooled
The skill the rest of the guide is built on: study types, what headlines leave out, and the red flags in diet advice.