Actually, my background is in health and nutrition, having graduated as a nurse. I’ve always been interested in personal health, as what you eat is so important to your overall well being. I also have a passion for cooking and have a library of cookbooks. Over many years I have experimented with food from around the world and it was through this interest that I discovered low-carb recipes. For me, exploring keto was a combination of nutritional knowledge and a love of good food.

When studying for my degree, we were taught how the body reacts to a lot of carbohydrates and how too many carbs are bad for you. So, even before adopting a keto approach, I was aware of the need to reduce carb intake. Keto allows people to eat normal sized portions of food, but ensuring they are low in carbohydrates. Restrictive diets that keep you constantly hungry are never going to be sustainable, so a keto diet that finds substitutes or alternatives for your favourite foods is easier for many people to follow. The reason that I adopted the keto lifestyle was to lose weight, but I noticed other health benefits such as increased energy levels, mainly because of avoiding refined sugars and carbohydrates that result in insulin spikes and crashes.

The whole business started from creating keto recipes for my friends and family. The first creation was our keto almond bread, which is also gluten free. From there we expanded into other products, like chocolate chip cookies and chocolate macaroons, and it has been an amazing journey ever since. We have grown from being just me baking in my kitchen making a few items, to having our own dedicated cloud kitchen that serves thousands of customers across the UAE with a range of over 50 products.

Our process of coming up with a recipe is simple. We start by thinking about foods that people already love, and then try to make it guilt-free and low carb. These healthier versions must exceed expectations in terms of flavour, otherwise it doesn’t go on our menu. To get the Keto Goodies guarantee it has to tick three boxes – Does it taste good? Is it low carb? And, importantly, is it affordable? We have tried to keep that philosophy that we are helping our community of friends and keeping it wallet-friendly is key.