Keto Chow Changelog

We ran into some availability issues with the Magnesium Malate that we’ve been using, even though it’s manufactured fewer than 100 miles from us, they’re having problems supplying it to us and that caused us to run out of several flavors of Keto Chow for a few months. To deal with this issue we decided to switch magnesium to a powdered form of the Keto Chow Magnesium Drops, you’ll see it on the ingredients as “Magnesium Chloride.” Technically this also means that the trace minerals that accompany the magnesium drops are also now in the main Keto Chow product but I don’t want to make a label claim that would need to be documented and fall under FDA scrutiny – it’s the same reason the Keto Chow packaging doesn’t say “excellent source of vitamin C!” – it’s is, but I really don’t care about claims like that, we’re not trying to trick people like the general food industry.

Speaking of labeling, 2.7.0 also has a change to the number of decimal places shown on the nutrition panel. I was reminded that the FDA panel requirements do not allow for decimal points, which is stupid. Going forward that means you’ll see things like <0g instead of 0.7g. I am putting the actual numbers for carbs OUTSIDE of the official nutrition panel because that area isn’t as strictly regulated and we can provide richer details.

Some of the packaging for 2.6.1 was already printed when we made the change to what magnesium we are using (see 2.7.0 notes). This necessitated printing a “coverup” label to go on the ingredient panel. If you have a 2.6.1 that has this sticker and shows Magnesium Chloride instead of Malate, that means you have 2.7.0 – which only differs in the magnesium.

No changes to the formulation, just the packaging. There were a few typos that were fixed. Due to labeling requirements from the FDA, Acacia Gum fiber is not able to be declared as “Dietary Fiber” so I had to move it outside the nutrition panel along with the Net Carbs. Added an explanation on what’s going on with fiber. Completely changed around the underlying structure of the artwork files so that (ostensibly) at some point it’ll make sense to another designer and I can blame someone else for all the dumb typos I keep putting on packaging. To keep things sane I bumped up the version number by 0.0.1

Reduced the amount of magnesium to be closer to 33% of the RDA for each serving. This should help people with digestive issues and the few that were getting too much magnesium when using Keto Chow for 3 meals a day. The color in Raspberry Cheesecake was switched to a new formulation that will prevent it from fading to a grayish-purple.

Switched from regular table salt to Real Salt. Real Salt tastes better than the regular salt we have been using in the past but costs a little more for us to use, we’re not charging any extra, you’re welcome! Real Salt is a tiny bit gritty, if you’ve used it in cooking you’ll notice that the added minerals mean you will occasionally get some stuff that doesn’t fully dissolve. This is normal. We have also changed the form of Vitamin B6 from Pyridoxine to Pyridoxal 5 phosphate.

Very minor changes, mostly just updated and corrected stupid typos on the packaging

New logo, new packaging! Introduction of new Beef protein flavors with no dairy and no sweeteners. Switching the Milk Protein Isolate used in the sweet flavors back to one instantized with sunflower lecithin.

Additional Vitamin A to allow complete nutrition while using Avocado Oil instead of Heavy Cream. Nickel and Boron were also removed from the vitamin/mineral formulation, both might be necessary for good health but there are no clear results that can be looked at for absolute certainty. There are, however, people that are allergic to Nickel and Boron presents problems as well so the ultimate decision was to remove both. Because of the potential for allergies, Nickel was left on the Keto Chow ingredients page until ALL of the product we have on-hand has switched to 2.1.2+ we feel it’s better that people who are intellectually sensitive to the presence of Nickel avoid Keto Chow when it doesn’t actually have it, rather than risking someone that is actually sensitive to Nickel being exposed.

Change from Milk Protein Isolate that uses Sunflower Lecithin to a MPI that does not use any Lecithin.

The most obvious changes you’ll notice with 2.1.0 are that it mixes up a bit thicker, there are new flavors, and you can drink it after mixing more quickly. Changes in detail:

• We are switching from fast absorbing whey protein isolate to slower absorbing milk protein isolate. Milk protein is 20% whey and 80% casein. This comes with several added benefits:
  • Because it’s slower to digest, the casein should reduce the insulin response and should help you feel full longer compared to whey.
  • Milk protein isolate has a sufficient amount of calcium and phosphorus that we dumped calcium phosphate entirely from the ingredients.
  • Milk protein has a natural thickening quality, we’ve nearly eliminated xanthan gum and it STILL mixes up thicker compared to earlier versions – you can easily make it thinner by adding more water, though.
  • Milk protein is a primary product instead of a byproduct of cheese manufacturing. Makes for a more stable supply.
• Replacing magnesium citrate with magnesium malate with the total amount of magnesium increased. Citrate can cause digestive issues and a laxidative effect in doses higher than you’d consume with Keto Chow but we replaced it anyway to help people that have experienced “tummy issues” in the past with Keto Chow.
• 10 new flavors. Technically one is an old flavor, but the “Natural Strawberry” is sweetened with monk fruit instead of sucralose, like the other 16 sweet flavors.
• Less Sucralose – New users tend to complain it’s too salty and keto veterans complain it’s too sweet =) Anyhow we’re changing from 0.1g of pure sucralose per serving to 0.08g (that’s 100mg to 80mg).
• Other changes to the vitamins and minerals. Replacing the form of selenium, specifically, makes Keto Chow more palatable immediately after mixing. It still tastes better after a night in the fridge, but it’s less “vitaminy” right after mixing.

Please go here for more information about 2.1.0.

Relatively minor change: we are now using Protein Powder that contains Sunflower Lecithin instead of Soy Lecithin. Soy Lecithin doesn’t have any soy protein (it’s generally even safe for people with soybean allergies) but that doesn’t stop people from (frankly) freaking out that something has soy anything in it. Well, that’s no longer an issue =) No more soy on the ingredients, no more soy on the “contains” part of the label!

Change in the amount of iron – previous versions provided 18mg a day if you did 3 meals of Keto Chow. This is the recommended amount for pre-menopausal women but for post menopausal women or men, that amount is borderline high. 40mg a day is the short-term upper tolerable limit but I didn’t want to be causing a slow build-up of iron (especially in myself =) if Keto Chow was used for all meals over months. The downside to this change is that many women will need to supplement their iron using something like this, this, or this in order to prevent anemia if they use Keto Chow exclusively for all their meals. An occasional meal with red meat will also work.

Over a year in development, eschews off-the-shelf protein powder for custom flavors and fewer carbohydrates. Most flavors are only 0.56g net carbs before adding any heavy cream. Much like 1.9 – the recipe for 2.0.0 isn’t something that could be replicated without industrial scale equipment and ingredients, because of this I’m going to leave 1.5 alone and fork the recipe over to a new location (right here!). Feel free to continue making your own 1.5. You can get more details on KC 2.0 over here.

Final iteration before Keto Chow 2.0 (which will use custom protein and flavoring). 1.9 uses a new custom manufactured vitamin/mineral pre-mix that consolidates a number of the ingredients. I’m also making MCT optional (it’s still awesome for Keto though so I recommend it if your bowels tolerate it). Because creating a custom vitamin pre-mix and ordering several hundred kilograms is outside a normal DIY recipe, I’m going to leave 1.5 here and fork the 1.9 recipe over to a new location.

Yay new version! I’ve switched from Psyllium Husk powder to Acacia Gum fiber (aka “gum arabic”). This has a number of great benefits including being better for your gut bacteria (most people will now be able to trust a fart when starting Keto Chow). Because psyllium husk was also acting as a thickener I’ve increased the xanthan gum. The end result is a nice viscosity with no perceptible texture at all. If you thought Keto Chow 1.0.4 was smooth you should be pleasantly surprised. Since it already had the flavor and now has the texture to match, the “melted icecream” is finally complete! Longer explanation of changes here: https://old.ketochow.xyz/2016/05/keto-chow-1-5/

The “LIQUID” part of the coconut oil was causing confusion. I’m removing it in favor of just MCT. MK-4 pills have been replaced with MK-7, you still open up one for each day (7 for a week) and add it when mixing together the powder. I’m now grinding the vitamin pills with a blender. 1.53g is how much 1 pill weighs. You can grind yours up and add it to the mixture like I do or you can just take one pill per day.

Reverted 1.0.1 change back to original calcium phosphate, that other one imparted a sandy texture.

I added in the entry for “Carrington Farms Liquid Coconut Oil” that you can use instead of the MCT. To use it you would change the 0ml to 39ml and then zero out the MCT.

Minor recipe changes. I changed the Calcium Phosophate to Dicalcium Phosphate with more accurate mineral content that comes in tiny and massive packages. I also changed the Psyllium Husk to one that comes in little bottles as well as 12lb bulk packs.

No changes since 0.7.1 other than deciding it’s awesome and time to come out of beta. I’m going to consider this version good for now (might make some minor modifications in the future, we’ll see).

Removed coconut flour, tweaked protein and upped the xanthan gum just a little. To compensate for the removal of the coconut flour, Psyllium Husk has been increased to 16g