Clean Keto vs Lazy Keto vs Dirty Keto: Which Is Best?

As we know, the keto or ketogenic diet consists of foods having high fat, low carbohydrates, and moderate protein contents. The keto diet forces the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates, that’s why it helps people lose weight. In this article, we will compare clean keto vs lazy keto vs dirty keto. You will get to know which of these keto diets works best for you.

What is Clean Keto Or Strict Keto?

Clean keto is also known as strict keto or traditional keto diet. It comprises no more than 50 grams of carbs per day, a moderate protein intake of 15–20% of daily calories, and a high fat intake of at least 75% of daily calories. Clean keto focuses on nutrient-dense foods and puts more emphasis on food quality.

The major advantage of clean keto or strict keto is that the food you’re eating contains lots of essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients like fiber, which can improve your overall health.

Pros And Cons of Clean Keto

Pros:

• Weight Loss.
• Nutrient-dense whole foods can boost your overall health.
• You can attain the benefits of ketosis (weight loss, improved mental clarity, more energy).
• Eating “clean” food sources will provide you with more energy.
• Lots of fiber in whole foods can keep you full and satisfied longer after meals and supports gut health.

Cons:

• Clean keto is very restrictive, which may be challenging for some people.
• Can be expensive (Quality protein and fat sources and fresh vegetables are some of the most expensive ingredients at the grocery store).
• Eating lots of the same foods can get boring after a while. Although there are a lot of delicious keto recipes out there.
• You require more discipline and willpower to stay on track.

What is Lazy Keto?

Lazy keto is a spin-off of the traditional keto diet. The lazy keto diet philosophy doesn’t worry about counting calories. And dieters aren’t too worried about the number of nutrients they get. Instead, they just focus on 1 simple metric: Eating less than 50 grams of carbs per day.

In lazy keto, you can still try to eat clean foods, but you don’t have to eat clean foods all the time. Foods like cheese, pork rinds, and keto-friendly ice creams are more commonly consumed on a lazy keto diet.

Pros And Cons of Lazy Keto

Pros:

• No need to count calories.
• Weight loss (if you stick to less than 50g of carbs a day).
• Fewer food restrictions than clean keto.
• More convenient for people having a busy lifestyle.
• Less expensive than clean keto as foods in lazy keto are budget-friendly.
• A less restrictive approach to losing weight if you don’t enjoy cooking.

Cons:

• Less fiber in your diet can make you feel hungry in between meals, and cause you to overeat or fall off the keto wagon.
• Less nutrient-dense foods can have a negative effect on your overall health.
• Eating an absurd number of calories, will not lead you to weight loss (whether in ketosis or not).

What is Dirty Keto?

Dirty keto is still low in carbs and high in fat but the food sources it uses are often not as nutritious. In dirty keto, you can send your body into ketosis and can get some of the keto diet’s benefits, but you may miss out on several key nutrients and increase your risk of disease.

Dirty keto allows low carb highly processed and packaged foods. It’s popular among individuals who want to achieve ketosis without spending lots of time and effort on clean keto meals

Here are some of the most common low carb items you can eat on a dirty keto diet:

• Cheese crisps
• Chocolate
• Potato chips
• Processed cheese
• Sugar-free sodas and other drinks
• Bunless fast-food burgers
• Pre-packaged meats
• Pork rinds
• Bacon made with conventional meat
• Margarine
• Mayonnaise made with vegetable oils
• Low-carb cookies
• Processed vegetable oils

Pros And Cons of Dirty Keto

Pros:

• Weight loss (if you stick to less than 50g of carbs a day).
• Budget-friendly as compared to clean keto.
• More Convenient than clean keto.
• No need to count calories.
• It doesn’t “feel” like a diet (If you’ve had trouble sticking to diets in the past, this might be a good approach for you to start).

Cons:

• Dirty keto may not develop the mental discipline that comes with sticking to a diet.
• Less fiber in your diet can make you feel hungry in between meals, and cause you to overeat or fall off the keto wagon.
• Eating an absurd number of calories, will not lead you to weight loss (whether in ketosis or not).
• Occasionally is fine, but eating lots of processed meats (which is common on dirty keto) has been linked to an increased risk of certain cancers and cardiovascular disease [6].

Clean Keto vs Lazy Keto vs Dirty Keto

As we have studied all three types of keto diets. Now here is a quick comparison chart of clean/strict vs lazy vs dirty keto diets.

What’s the Best Type of Keto?

The best type of diet from dirty keto, lazy keto, or clean keto is whatever works best for you and your lifestyle. Chose the keto diet which helps you make the keto lifestyle sustainable for you. Whatever type of keto diet you follow, make sure to check in with your mental health, your physical health, and your body composition.

It is possible that sometimes, you might be able to stick to clean keto. But if you need to lean on a lazy keto or dirty keto diet approach for a few days because you’re busy, that’s okay, too.

Because, in the end, all that matters is your health, and the keto diet will help you reach that goal.