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CBD and Keto: Do They Work Well Together?
When you’re busy, eating well is sometimes your last priority. Whether you’re a busy mom, busy professional, or busy student, it’s not easy taking time out of your day to cook a healthy meal that’s going to nourish and energize your body. But what if you just decided to implement a healthy lifestyle and want to see results? What if you committed to adopting a nutritious diet like keto, for example? Do you keto meal prep to make sure you eat well?
If you want to stick to your new regime, you can’t afford to make any excuses that pull you away from a healthy meal. With keto, especially, you won’t see results if you skip nutritious dishes, forget to track your caloric intake, refuse to source the best ingredients, and avoid measuring the exact portions of all your meals. Your new keto diet will require time and effort to implement, but if time’s not on your side, then that means you only have one thing left to do: keto meal prep.
What is meal prepping, and why is it beneficial?
Meal prepping is the concept of preparing multiple dishes in advance. By meal prepping, you get the opportunity to plan your keto dishes ahead of schedule. This strategy ensures you don’t find yourself scrambling for a particular snack, food, or drink that’s not aligned with your new diet. When done correctly and consistently, keto meal prepping offers several benefits. Here are just a few advantages that will lead to a happier, healthier you.
1. You remove temptation
When you’re having a busy day, do you stop to whip up something healthy? If not, do you visit the nearest fast-food restaurant or head to your workplace’s kitchen to grab a bag of chips? For most people, the ladder options are true.
When you’re busy but hungry, all you want to do is eat something that’s quick and satisfying so that you can get on with your day. The bad thing about this habit, however, is that those convenient items are typically unhealthy. If you’re doing keto and you choose to meal prep, you can rest assured that you’ll always have something nutritious and energizing to eat.
2. You exercise more control
A great benefit about keto meal prepping is that you have time to plan and track every little thing that goes into your body. By setting aside time to focus on what to eat, you have total control over your caloric intake. You also have the opportunity to balance your macros. What’s even better is that you have the chance to remove any unwanted ingredients like added sugar and salt.
3. You save time
When you get home after a long day, do you usually feel like cooking? If you don’t, wouldn’t it be nice to have a meal that you’ve already prepared? While meal prepping takes time to complete, the reward is worth it. You save yourself 45 minutes to an hour of cooking a meal you don’t have the energy to do.
4. You save money
Keto meal prepping won’t just save you time — it’ll save you money. How often do you eat out when you don’t feel like cooking? How much money do you spend per week when you head to a coffee shop to grab a breakfast sandwich and a cup of coffee before work?
While spending a few dollars here and there might not seem like a bad idea, the costs can add up. However, you might not know it until it’s the end of the month, and your bank account looks a lot worse than it should. With meal prepping, you can avoid these financial woes altogether. By cooking your meals in advance, you won’t need to spend money on food when you already have a tasty keto meal ready to eat.
How to keto meal prep
Once you believe in the benefits of meal prepping, the next step is simple: start prepping your keto meals in advance. There are a few different ways to approach keto meal prepping, and none of them require you to stand in the kitchen all weekend long. You can enjoy your weekend and meal prep by implementing these four simple steps.
1. Make-ahead meals
This strategy requires you to cook meals that need to be refrigerated and then reheated when you’re ready to eat. This tactic is especially useful for dinnertime dishes. Leftovers from one night can quickly become dinner for the next night.
2. Batch cooking
If you have a keto meal that’s your absolute favorite, then batch cooking might be the strategy for you. This tactic requires you to make large batches of a particular meal and split it into individual proportions that you can freeze and eat over time. Ideally, a warm lunch or dinner recipe would be the best dish for this tip.
3. Individually portioned meals
If you like quick lunches, then individually portioned meals should be your go-to. With this step, all you have to do is prepare fresh meals and split them into individual grab-and-go portions that you can put into your fridge and eat for the next few days.
4. Prepared ingredients
Maybe you don’t like the idea of cooking a meal and refrigerating it for later. If that’s the case, then you can simply prep the ingredients that are required for an upcoming dish. Then, you can cook your keto meal whenever you’re ready instead of spending copious amounts of time in the kitchen.
Regardless of the tactic you choose, keto meal prepping will be one of the best things you do if you want to stick to your diet. However, if you want to maximize the results of your meal prepping, there’s one extra thing you should consider.
Benefits of CBD for keto diets
One of the potential benefits of keto is that it can help reduce inflammation. In a study that analyzed 59 people over a 6-month period, researchers found that a low-carb diet decreased several causes of inflammation more than a low-fat diet.
While more research still needs to be done, many people are using keto to reduce their inflammation, but keto isn’t the only thing that can mitigate this condition. CBD, commonly known as cannabidiol, also has anti-inflammatory properties.
In a 2016 study, researchers examined whether CBD could be an effective treatment for diabetic mice with pancreatic inflammation. This type of inflammation can result in diabetes because of an “invasion of immune cells that destroy insulin-producing cells.” When the mice received CBD treatment for 10-weeks, however, the researchers found that the mice developed diabetes later than the mice that didn’t receive the same treatment. In addition, the treatment that included CBD led to a significant reduction in immune-cell activity.
Additionally, other studies have found that CBD has anti-inflammatory properties. In 2017, researchers examined how male rats with osteoarthritis responded to CBD. After studying the rats for two weeks, researchers found that CBD reduced acute inflammation in the rats’ joints when the scientists applied the treatment to a specific area. CBD also prevented the development of joint pain and nerve damage.
Others claim that CBD and keto can work together to help with weight loss, brain health, heart health, and pain relief—but more research is needed. However, based on current studies on CBD, it’s logical to conclude that you can incorporate CBD into your keto diet.
The additional ingredient can help maximize the benefits of your regimen and reduce your inflammation. But how can you practically include CBD into your meal prepping so that you see the best results?
How to combine CBD and keto when meal prepping
When you’re meal prepping, incorporating CBD isn’t be hard. In fact, there are three simple tips that you can use to make sure your CBD is a key part of your new routine.
- Write CBD on your menu list: When you’re creating your list of things to pack for the week, make sure to include CBD on that list. Then, when you wake up in the morning and reference what you wrote, you’ll remember to pack your CBD oil right alongside your keto meals.
- Set an alarm for reminders: When you’re meal prepping, take a moment to set an alarm to remind you to take your CBD oil. Maybe you want to take a few drops of CBD every weekday at lunchtime. If that’s the case, set an alarm on Sunday that will go off at noon every weekday to remind you.
- Determine the proper dosage: The same way you plan your meal portions is the same way you should plan your CBD dosages. If there are certain days you want to take more or less CBD, make yourself a note so that you remember. If it helps, customize your daily alarms. Not only can they remind you to take your CBD but they can also tell you how much to take as well.
Prepping your keto meals isn’t hard, or something that has to be unexciting. In fact, you might think meal prepping is fun once you experience all of its benefits. And once you include CBD into your routine to decrease your inflammation, you’ll not only enjoy meal prepping for its practical advantages, but you also enjoy it the way it enhances your quality of life.
