Introducing eco-keto: 2019's insane new hybrid diet

Question: what happens when two of the biggest lifestyle trends of 2019 – eco-friendly eating and the fat-busting ketogenic diet – combine?

Answer: you get a corker of a new buzzword. 'Eco-keto'.

It certainly sounds catchy, but are eco and keto in any way compatible? At first glance, it would appear not. 

The ketogenic diet – in case you’ve been in hermitage for the past year – is the weight loss diet du jour, the Atkins of our times (in fact, it’s pretty similar to the Atkins diet, but maybe just a tad more extreme). Briefly, then: disciples of keto (fans include Halle Berry and Alicia Vikander) argue that carbs are the enemy, and should only make up five per cent of your daily diet.

Doing so forces the body to burn fat resources for energy instead of carbs – a process that leads to 'ketosis', during which the liver produces acids known as 'ketones' and releases them into the body. Reach ketosis and your body will thank you – or so the theory goes. As intrepid Telegraph reporter Joshua Burt found out when he tried the diet for himself, a build up of ketones can have some nasty side effects, which is why the diet attracts some controversy.

Anyway, the surge in its popularity means curtains for sandwiches. And rice. And pasta. Even bananas are demonised, courtesy of their sugar content.

Instead, 95 per cent of a ketogenic plate comprises of a hefty serving of fats (around 70 per cent) and plenty of protein – a beefy 20-25 per cent. By any estimation, that’s a lot of chicken breast lunches and rib-eye dinners, plus a fair few tins of tuna for a 3pm snack (sorry, rapidly depleting Pacific bluefin population).

Other foods typically consumed might include Brussels sprouts, ham, eggs, fish, nuts, butter, avocado, asparagus, mature cheddar, broccoli and lettuce.

Hopefully you're getting the picture here: the keto diet doesn't lend itself to those concerned by their environmental impact (researchers at the University of Oxford have found that cutting meat and dairy products from your diet could reduce your carbon footprint from food by up to 73 per cent). But that isn't stopping proponents of keto from seeking to recruit plant-based members to the ketosis club.

It may not be a marriage made in heaven, but a new breed of eco-conscious dieters are now adopting the same high-fat, high protein principles of the keto, only on a vegan diet.

US-based functional medicine practitioner Dr. Will Cole has published a (mostly) vegan keto diet book, The Ketotarian, offering a plant-based solution that claims to ‘boost energy, crush cravings and calm inflammation’.

Meanwhile, over at the popular meatfreeketo.com blog, run by nutritionist Liz MacDowell, you can get various eco-keto recipes. From what I can make out, most use hulled hemp and protein powder, and 'psyllium husk' (which, according to its Wiki page, can aid both constipation and diarrhea. Confusing.) The vegan keto gluten-free coconut-free soy-free protein waffles look particularly memorable.

If, like me, you’re still struggling to get your head around what you actually can eat on an eco-keto diet, then you're in luck: the UK now also seen the launch of the first vegan keto meal delivery programme – Nosh Detox – which promises to take the hard work out of keto-eating. 'At last!' I hear you cry. A sample menu features coconut and lime tofu on konjac noodles (konjac, in case you're wondering, is a high-fibre herb containing glucomannan, which causes diarrhea and suppresses the appetite). And all that for a wallet-slimming £799 for a 14-week programme.

I’m all for plant-based eating, but personally? I think I’ll be giving eco-keto a miss.