The ketogenic diet comes with very many modifications to meet the various nutrition requirements people put up to meet their goals. When on a low-carb diet, you need to maximize proteins and healthy fats as energy sources since you are on carb restrictions.
Most people on a weight loss stall opt to focus on these specific macros to achieve and maintain a deeper state of nutritional ketosis. One way to do this is through egg fast keto.
In today’s article, I will gather all my knowledge on this topic and sum it all up into one guide. We will discuss what an egg fast is, rules to follow on egg fasts, benefits of being on the egg diet, side effects of this fast, a sample menu, and egg keto recipes you can incorporate into your meal plan. Without further ado, let’s get to it!
Egg Fast Keto
What is the best way to break out of a weight loss plateau and fasten the rate at which you burn fat? Prioritize one of the most popular keto foods: eggs. Jimmy Moore of Livin La Vida Low Carb, the father of the egg ketogenic diet, devised this fat-fasting technique after studying the benefits of amino acids, choline, and other nutrients (all in eggs) that were ideal for fat loss.
Back in 2010, Mr. Moore did this egg diet by having a minimum of 6 to 8 eggs per day, 6 to 8 servings of fat per day, 4 ounces of cheese per day, grass-fed butter, and low-carb drinks. He followed specific times on this diet and achieved a 25-pound (11.4 kg) loss in weight in just 30 days.
The egg fast keto diet is a short-term diet plan rather than a healthy diet for a lifetime. This restrictive diet provides your body with lots of healthy fats, moderate proteins, and small amounts of carbohydrates allowing you to stay in ketosis.
The keto egg fast work by breaking down fats to achieve rapid weight loss after a discouraging period of a weight loss stall. But how exactly does this diet work to achieve this? What makes it different from the regular keto diet in terms of achieving your weight loss goals?
How Does It Work?
This fat-fasting technique, like other ketogenic diets, works through nutritional ketosis. You can achieve ketosis on a low-carb, high-fat diet that restricts your carb intake to 20 g to 50 g per day.
Your regular low-carb, high-fat diet promotes fat-burning and weight-loss by increasing satiety and protein intake, and keeping your body in ketosis. You stay in ketosis because you are providing your body with more calories of fat than carbs.
Some research has shown that a low-carb, high-fat diet is as effective as low-fat diets in fat-burning and weight loss.
The amino acids and choline in eggs are another reason for rapid weight loss in this diet. Choline in eggs is the star of the show, with studies showing the role it plays in maintaining the optimal health of the liver and preventing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, NAFLD. You can get amino acids and choline from meat and fatty foods which you consume on keto.
So, why go for an egg-based meal plan over your regular low-carb, high-fat diet? Despite the egg fast being a short-term diet plan, it can cause a rapid weight loss, especially during a fat loss stall, because it is more restrictive than other keto diets. This diet can create twice as much calorie deficit compared to regular keto. For this reason, you will achieve more weight loss on an egg fast over a short period.
It is important to mention that other factors play a role in the amount of weight loss achieved on either of the diets. Your starting weight, for example, will influence how much weight you will lose when fasting on keto. The higher the starting weight the higher the amount of fat one can lose.
The ideal timeline to do an egg fast is 3 to 5 days when most people claim to lose around 5-10 pounds (1.4-2.7 kg).
Egg Fast Rules
To achieve the potential benefits of this fast, you need to ensure you are fasting right. Below are the basic rules people follow on egg fasts:
- Ensure you eat a whole egg (egg white plus egg yolk) within half an hour of waking up.
- You have to eat 6 to 8 eggs per day- eggs are your main source of fat and protein.
- High-quality eggs are preferred- go for pasture-fed eggs that are locally acquired.
- Every 3 to 5 hours, whether you are hungry or not, you must eat an egg-based meal.
- Consume one tablespoon of butter or a tablespoon of fat (healthy oils like MCTs) for every egg eaten.
- You need to eat an ounce of full-fat cheese per egg consumed.
- Your ounce per egg of cheese or tbsp butter should be from 100% grass-fed and pasture-raised high-fat dairy products.
- Eat up to three hours before bedtime. Simply put, three hours before bed, it’s goodbye food!
- You need plenty of water on this diet. Go for 8-10 glasses of water or the standard 64 ounces of water per day.
- Diet drinks and low-carb sweeteners are a no-go zone! Go for low-carb drinks like tea and unsweetened/ black coffee.
These are the rules to follow on an egg fast. The rule of thumb states that this fast is designed for 3 to 5 days, so don’t overdo it. If you decide to do it for longer, ensure it is under the supervision of your healthcare provider. Staying on an egg fast for longer than the recommended time could lead to nutrient deficiencies, constipation, and other health risks.
The egg fast is not recommended for the following individuals:
- Individuals with no gallbladder
- Diabetics
- People with eating disorders
- Cholesterol hyper-responders
- Vegans
- Individuals with egg allergies
- People avoid eggs for religious reasons
This fast makes whole eggs the major protein and fat source, in addition to other fat sources like butter and cheese.
3-Day Egg Fast Menu
Since we mentioned that we must eat meals with eggs after every 3 hours, you will need to get creative so that your taste buds don’t get bored with that eggy flavor! This is a 3-Day Egg Fast Meal Plan to get you started on your first try.
Day One
- Breakfast: Egg and cheese omelet made from 2 eggs, in 2 tbsp butter. Use 2 ounces of cheese in this recipe. Remember the rules demand one ounce of cheese per egg.
- Snack: 1 stick of string cheese
- Lunch: Egg salad containing 2 eggs and 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- Snack: 1 ounce of your preferred cheese
- Dinner: 2 Deviled eggs
Day Two
- Breakfast: Cream Cheese pancakes made from 2 eggs, 2 tbsp cream cheese, and 3 tbsp butter
- Snack: 1 ounce of parmesan cheese
- Lunch: 2 hard-boiled eggs
- Snack: Leftover cream cheese pancakes
- Dinner: 2 egg waffles made using 2 eggs in a waffle maker and 2 tbsp butter
Day Three
- Breakfast: 1 cup black coffee and 2 fried eggs in 2 tbsp butter
- Snack: 1-ounce blue cheese
- Lunch: Egg salad
- Snack: 2 cheese sticks
- Dinner: Cloud eggs made from 2 eggs with 2 tbsp butter
This is a simple plan to follow on the fast three days of your egg fast keto diet. In addition to this, for morale purposes, I’ll share recipes with you to make delicious egg-based foods.
Egg Fast Recipes
What better way to excite you about this fast than getting practical? Let’s get cooking!
Feta Egg Wrap
You’re a pro when it comes to wraps if you’re eating keto. This is the perfect addition to your wrap collection, an upgrade from the usual vegetable wrap. Plus, feta cheese is keto-approved!
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 2 egg whites
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- Sea salt to taste
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese or 2 ounces of cheese
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
Instructions
- Add your eggs, egg white, sesame oil, and salt into a bowl and mix.
- Beat the mixture with a whisk until slightly foamy. This should be done for about a minute to achieve the desired consistency.
- Spray some oil on your pan and heat to medium heat.
- Pour only half of the egg mixture into the pan, cover, and turn your heat to medium-low.
- Once there’s no raw egg left, remove your wrap from the pan and cool on a plate. Pour the remaining half of the mixture and cook following the same instructions.
- Once ready, cool on a plate as well.
- Layer your crumbled feta cheese on the eggs, and drizzle olive oil.
- Wrap and enjoy!
You can prepare this recipe with other cheeses like parmesan cheese. You can also use melted butter in place of olive oil.
Egg Salad Recipes
This is the simplest and most popular recipes on the egg fast keto diet. It is perfect for lunch if you ask me.
Ingredients
- 3 hard-boiled eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- Olive oil
- Sea salt to taste
- 3 ounces cheese
- 1 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk your egg yolk while adding olive oil a drop at a time until it emulsifies into a creamy texture to form mayo.
- In another bowl, chop the hard-boiled eggs.
- Pour your mayo into your eggs and mix.
- Add sea salt, pepper, and shredded cheese into the bowl and stir to mix.
- Serve.
With these egg recipes you have breakfast, lunch, and supper sorted! Eat your leftover wraps for breakfast to avoid waste.
Keto Egg Fast Results
What should you expect out of a keto egg fast? People claim to lose 5-10 pounds in 3-5 days of this diet. These are other emerging benefits for human health of this diet:
- Promotes satiety which reduces food intake. The proteins in eggs promote the feeling of being full by raising the hormones associated with satiety and reducing hunger-inducing hormones.
- Promote Fat Burning: Eggs are high in protein and fat and low in carbohydrates which allows for ketosis. Ketosis burns visceral and abdominal fat leading to weight loss. Belly fat is a risk factor for heart disease, so its reduction promotes heart health.
- Can help with insulin control: Other than the proteins in eggs keeping you full hence controlling food intake and further blood sugar, vitamin K2 in the egg yolk can also assist with blood sugar regulation.
This clinical trial showed that vitamin K2 supplementation could improve insulin sensitivity in healthy men thanks to osteocalcin metabolism. Osteocalcin is the most abundant protein in your bones. Its increased circulation in the blood increases beta cell proliferation and increases insulin sensitivity of adipose tissues and skeletal muscles.
Considering we mentioned the emerging benefits for human health of this diet, it wouldn’t be right not to mention its potential risks and side effects.
Risks of the Keto Egg Diet
Here are the risks that come with following this diet:
- The keto flu: your body will experience fatigue and weakness at the start of the keto diet. Once you are fat-adapted these symptoms subside.
- Constipation: You are not getting enough fiber from your diet. Staying hydrated will save you a dreaded. trip to the bathroom.
- Nutritional deficiencies: the diet restricts other nutrient-dense foods. If you do this fast long-term, consider a multivitamin in your keto lifestyle.
- You can gain weight back after the fast if you do not have any long-term weight loss plans to aid with weight management.
- Egg fasting or any type of fasting poses potential health risks to pregnant and breastfeeding women because they have higher nutritional demands.
- This fast can be risky for individuals with medical conditions like diabetics and cholesterol hyper-responders. Only follow this fast under the strict supervision of your healthcare provider.
How Many Eggs Per Day Should I Eat to Lose Weight?
When trying to lose weight, you can eat 2 to 3 hard-boiled eggs per day. However, if you are doing an egg-fast keto, you are allowed to eat 6 to 8 eggs per day. This is because the eggs you consume are the major source of fat and protein in this diet. For other weight loss diets, you can get healthy fats and high-quality proteins from other foods, so you don’t need to eat as many eggs as on the keto egg fast.
Do You Gain Weight Back After Egg Fast?
Most people who have done the egg fast have gained the weight they lost back. This is because, after the egg diet, most people do not transition properly to the keto diet, or better still do not eat healthy after the diet. Is there a way you cannot gain weight back after an egg fast? Yes! Here’s how:
Transitioning Off the Egg Fast
Don’t rush the low-carb foods. Gradually introduce them into your keto diet. You can skip them at breakfast but add a piece of meat at lunch and low-carb vegetables to dinner. The longer you take to transition to your normal keto diet, the more the weight loss results are likely to hold.
Final Thoughts
With keto, there are a lot of modifications you can make to your diet to meet your weight loss goals. Try the egg fast if you are experiencing a weight loss plateau and nothing seems to be working. Remember, this diet is not for everyone, only take part in it if your doctor allows it.
The egg-fast diet entails eggs and healthy fats like butter, oils, and cheeses, period! Following the ground rules will have you benefiting from this fast. And keep in mind, it is designed to be short-term, extending the fast for more than 5 days can have adverse effects. Don’t be too fast to transition to your normal keto diet to maintain the weight loss results of your fast.
Would you try this fast? If yes, why, and if no, why not? Which of the recipes above is best suited for breakfast? Do you have any other egg recipes you’d love to share to add to our egg diet recipes? Let us know in the comments below!
