KETO:
THE STORM THAT KEEPS BUILDING
Keto has taken New Zealand by
storm. The Facebook group, Keto
New Zealand, has 70,000+ members
and with increasing numbers of
supermarkets having Keto sections,
there is significant demand for
Keto-friendly foods. Keto is a way
of eating that puts your body into
ketosis where your body runs on
fats rather than carbohydrates to
improve health conditions, lose
weight and feel more energetic. To
achieve ketosis, people will eat high
fats, moderate protein and under
20 grams of carbohydrates per
day. Many also minimise potentially
inflammatory oils, ingredients such
as added sugars, MSG and artificial
sweeteners other than sugar
alcohols.
There have been lots of successes
as a Keto consumer this year. Keto
foods have started becoming more
mainstream and we are finally seeing
some brands change a small number
of ingredients to make the product
keto friendly. Justine’s Protein
Cookies is a fantastic example of this
– by switching maltitol for erythritol,
their customer base has exploded as
their cookies are now keto friendly,
diabetic friendly and no longer cause
sore stomachs. There is a major
opportunity to make many more keto
products by switching out just one or
two ingredients of low importance to
create another fantastic keto option.
There are two massive pitfalls of
keto products in New Zealand.
Firstly, Maltodextrin and maltitol
are avoided by customers due
to it being used similarly to a
carbohydrate once eaten but are in
lots of products. Secondly, accurate
information on the nutritional label
for the carbohydrates is massively
important – The carbohydrate line
in New Zealand is already “net
carbs” or available carbs. We are
still seeing many products without
the fibre removed from the total
carbohydrates or having it removed
from net carbohydrates (doing it
twice).
The next couple of years is likely
to be an exciting time for Keto
consumers. We expect to see more
brands understand that we want and
need more keto friendly products
and provide the ingredients and
products that are sought after.
I run the Facebook group Keto
New Zealand and have recently
Hannah Noble,
Keto New Zealand
received a Kiwibank Local Hero
award. I’m passionate about
empowering people to have the
ability to change their life to improve
their future. You can learn more at
http://go.ketonewzealand.com/
hannahnoble
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