Macronutrient Ratios

A ketogenic effect occurs for most people at approximately 75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% carbohydrates by calories. The sample meal plan achieves a 78% fat, 18% protein, 4% carbohydrate ratio at 2,085 calories, exceeding the baseline ketogenic target. Fat delivers 9 calories per gram versus 4 for protein and carbs, so a large volume of fat is not needed to make it the dominant energy source. Net carbs — total carbohydrates minus fiber — are the relevant metric for ketogenic eating because fiber does not trigger an insulin response. Low-calorie non-starchy vegetables fit within a ketogenic diet because their absolute net carb grams are trivially small even if their carbohydrate percentage appears high in isolation.