Low-carb and keto

At first glance, low-carb diets such as paleo and keto appear downright incompatible with the traditional staples of the long-term pantry. But those of you who benefit from these diets needn't starve.

The authors of this course, along with their families, have been implementing various low-carb diets for years, and experienced many tangible health benefits as a result. In fact, these days, when you look past all the marketing of dry, starchy foods in buckets and cans, you'll find you can't sling a dead cat in the prepper community without hitting a half-dozen paleo or keto eaters. So what to store, and what you'll eat after a crisis, are problems that have been sliced and diced before.

With a little forethought and planning, and learning from those who've trod this path before, you'll find a surprising variety of shelf-stable foods that will fit into a low-carb or keto diet.

I still recommend storing some of the traditional carb-heavy bulk foods, however, since they store so easily and can be used not only for trade but also to help friends and neighbors in times of emergency.

Heavens forbid it should ever come to this, but in a bad enough situation, given the choice between starvation and starch, you might choose the latter, since the side-effects of starvation may actually be worse than the side-effects of sugar and starch.

Also, in a stress-laden crisis situation, when you may barely have time to stop and eat, let alone cook, there is something to be said for the convenience and the fast-acting available calories offered by carbohydrate-heavy foods.

That said, here's my list of go-to low-carb and keto-friendly storage foods:

• Coconut milk and coconut butter (in cans and jars)

• Dried meat: Jerky, biltong, etc. From beef, turkey, pork, wild game – you name it

• Dried fish

• Canned bacon

• Canned butter

• Olive oil

• Coconut oil

• Lard (commercially produced lard is the most shelf-stable)

• Canned and pouch tuna

• Canned salmon

• Sardines

• Canned beef chili

• Nuts (vacuum packed)

• Freeze-dried meats: beef, chicken, pork crumbles

• Freeze-dried cheese

• Mayonnaise

• Egg powder

• Condiments of all sorts: mustard, pickles, etc.

• Olives (canned)

If you know of other shelf-stable, low-carb, high-fat foods that have served you well, please tell me about them in the comments below.

I also suggest storing meat of all kinds - beef, pork wild game, organ meats, etc. - in a freezer, and I STRONGLY suggest having a backup plan to keep your freezer going in the event of a power outage.

A small generator like a Honda EU2000 or Yamaha 2000 (my choice) are perfect. Either can be converted to run on propane. A buried 500 gallon propane tank will keep a quiet generator like this running without putting you on the map with looters, and keep your freezer cold for a very, very long time.

If you're serious about long-term refrigeration of meat and other perishables, consider building a walk-in cooler controlled with a Coolbot that can be switched over to generator power.

Solar has come a long way. Look up user engineer775 on Youtube and watch his many videos showing how solar power can run refrigerators, AC units, well pumps, etc. Learn and build your systems now, while you can.

In summary, as a low-carb, paleo, or keto prepper, you'll want to develop your list of storable low-carb foods that work for you, learn the best ways to prepare those, and develop a plan for refrigeration with backup power to keep you in meat through a short-term emergency.