How much weight will I lose on keto?

It varies. Much of the first week's loss is water. Over months, keto loses weight at about the same rate as other diets — in Keto-Med, 8% against 7% on the Mediterranean diet — so the plan that works is the one you can keep to.

Can I eat daal on keto?

Only a little. A katori of daal has about 20 g of carbohydrate, close to half the day's allowance.

Is keto safe for the kidneys?

The ADA doesn't recommend very-low-carbohydrate eating for people with kidney disease. If you have diabetes, have a kidney test — creatinine with eGFR, and urine albumin — before you start.

Can I stay on keto for good?

The evidence for benefit is strongest in the first six months. If you want to carry on, do it with regular reviews; many people switch to the Mediterranean plan once they've lost weight.

Meal plan · Very low carbohydrate

Keto plan, with Pakistani food

Under 50 g of carbohydrate a day: no roti or rice, plenty of eggs, chicken, fish, sabzi and nuts. It can bring glucose down fast — which is why some people must not start it on their own.

Stop here first if any of these apply

You take an SGLT2 inhibitor: empagliflozin, dapagliflozin, ertugliflozin or canagliflozin, including combination tablets. Together with keto, these can cause ketoacidosis even while glucose looks normal.
You take insulin or a sulphonylurea: gliclazide, glimepiride or glibenclamide. Doses usually need cutting before the first day, or glucose can fall dangerously low.
You have type 1 diabetes. Insulin needs change from the first day on keto.
You're pregnant or breastfeeding, have kidney disease, or have had an eating disorder. The ADA doesn't recommend very-low-carbohydrate eating in any of these.
It's for someone under 18.

Some people in these groups can still follow keto — but only after their doctor has adjusted their medicines. Book a consultation and bring this page.

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Go to hospital if…

…you feel sick, vomit, have stomach pain or fast, deep breathing while on keto and an SGLT2 inhibitor. Go even if your glucose reading is normal: this kind of ketoacidosis can happen at normal or near-normal glucose.

Your calorie level

Most men who want to lose weight, or taller, more active women

The dishes are the same at every level; only the portions change, so one family pot feeds everyone.

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Breakfast

about 230 kcal · 5 g carbs

2-egg omelette
1 cup chai, no sugar

Lunch

about 460 kcal · 21 g carbs

1 katori chicken salan
1 katori palak
1 plate salad (cucumber, tomato, onion)
2 tsp olive or canola oil, on the salad or sabzi
½ katori dahi

Evening chai

about 380 kcal · 8 g carbs

1 cup chai, no sugar
3 small handfuls nuts (almonds, walnuts or unsalted peanuts, 15 g each)
1 boiled egg

Dinner

about 420 kcal · 9 g carbs

1½ pieces fish (100 g each), tawa or oven
1 katori cauliflower 'rice' (grated gobhi, lightly fried)
1 plate salad (cucumber, tomato, onion)

Whole day

about 1,500 kcal · 43 g carbs

Swap within a group and the totals stay close: any fruit portion for another, fish for chicken, one sabzi for another.

Before you cook

A roti is a 6-inch chapati made from about 30 g of atta, without ghee. A plate of rice is a dinner plate holding about 240 g of cooked rice; a katori is a small bowl of about 150 ml.
Each katori of salan, daal or sabzi assumes one teaspoon of oil — about 2 tablespoons for a family pot that serves six. Measure it: the calories only hold if you do.
Chai has a little milk and no sugar. Extra cucumber and salad are always allowed.

How to follow it

No roti, rice, bread, potatoes, sugar, mithai, juice or cold drinks. Daal, chana and most fruit have too much carbohydrate for keto too.
Eat eggs, chicken, fish, mutton, a little dahi, sabzi that grows above ground — palak, saag, gobhi, bhindi, lauki, karela, band gobhi — salad, nuts and oil.
Make olive or canola oil and nuts your main fats. LDL cholesterol can rise on keto, so don't turn it into a desi ghee and butter diet.
Drink plenty of water. Keto makes you pass more urine at first, and the ADA warns about dehydration.
If you take any diabetes medicine, check your glucose more often in the first weeks.
Book a review at three months: weight, HbA1c, cholesterol and kidney function.

Who it's for

Adults with type 2 diabetes or excess weight who want faster results, whose medicines have been checked, and who can manage without roti and rice for a few months.

It isn't the plan for fatty liver on its own — the European guideline found too little evidence for keto there — and it isn't a plan to stay on for years without review.

What the evidence shows

The ADA's 2019 consensus report defines a very-low-carbohydrate, or keto, diet as 20–50 g of carbohydrate a day — enough to put the body into nutritional ketosis. These diets lower HbA1c and reduce the need for diabetes medicines.

The ADA's 2026 Standards of Care find them effective at lowering HbA1c in the short term, under six months. In the 12-week Keto-Med trial, though, HbA1c ended up the same on keto as on a Mediterranean-style diet, LDL cholesterol rose 10% on keto while it fell on the Mediterranean diet, and people found the Mediterranean diet easier to keep up.

So this plan is written for about three months, with a check-up — cholesterol included — before you carry on. Most people do best moving to the Mediterranean plan afterwards.

Easy swaps

Roti with salan → the salan with a plate of salad or a katori of cauliflower 'rice'.
Chai with rusk or biscuits → chai with a handful of nuts.
Fruit → a handful of strawberries in season, or cucumber.
Cold drink → water, soda water or chai without sugar.

Common questions

How much weight will I lose on keto?: It varies. Much of the first week's loss is water. Over months, keto loses weight at about the same rate as other diets — in Keto-Med, 8% against 7% on the Mediterranean diet — so the plan that works is the one you can keep to.
Can I eat daal on keto?: Only a little. A katori of daal has about 20 g of carbohydrate, close to half the day's allowance.
Is keto safe for the kidneys?: The ADA doesn't recommend very-low-carbohydrate eating for people with kidney disease. If you have diabetes, have a kidney test — creatinine with eGFR, and urine albumin — before you start.
Can I stay on keto for good?: The evidence for benefit is strongest in the first six months. If you want to carry on, do it with regular reviews; many people switch to the Mediterranean plan once they've lost weight.

Sources

American Diabetes Association Professional Practice Committee. 5. Facilitating positive health behaviors and well-being to improve health outcomes: Standards of Care in Diabetes—2026. Diabetes Care 2026;49(Suppl 1):S89–S131. doi.org/10.2337/dc26-S005
Evert AB, et al. Nutrition therapy for adults with diabetes or prediabetes: a consensus report. Diabetes Care 2019;42:731–754. doi.org/10.2337/dci19-0014
Gardner CD, et al. Effect of a ketogenic diet versus Mediterranean diet on glycated hemoglobin in individuals with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus: the interventional Keto-Med randomized crossover trial. Am J Clin Nutr 2022;116:640–652. doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqac154
Mistry S, Eschler DC. Euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis caused by SGLT2 inhibitors and a ketogenic diet: a case series and review of literature. AACE Clin Case Rep 2021;7:17–19. doi.org/10.1016/j.aace.2020.11.009
EASL–EASD–EASO clinical practice guidelines on the management of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). J Hepatol 2024;81:492–542. doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2024.04.031
American Diabetes Association Professional Practice Committee. 6. Glycemic goals, hypoglycemia, and hyperglycemic crises: Standards of Care in Diabetes—2026. Diabetes Care 2026;49(Suppl 1):S132–S149. doi.org/10.2337/dc26-S006
Jensen MD, et al. 2013 AHA/ACC/TOS guideline for the management of overweight and obesity in adults. Circulation 2014;129(25 Suppl 2):S102–S138. doi.org/10.1161/01.cir.0000437739.71477.ee
US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, SR Legacy. fdc.nal.usda.gov/