The ketogenic diet is a popular way to naturally lose weight and improve health. Although this high-fat, low-carb, and moderate-protein diet is considered safe for most people, it is also associated with some side effects.
The term keto flu describes the symptoms people experience when starting off with the diet.
In this article, you will learn more about keto flu, why it occurs, and how to get rid of its symptoms.
What Is the Keto Flu?
The symptoms experienced by some people when they started off with the keto diet is referred to as the keto flu. These symptoms are a result from the body adapting to a new diet that involves less or no carbohydrates.
When you reduce your intake of carbohydrates, your body is forced to burn ketones—a byproduct of fat breakdown—to be used for energy instead of glucose.
When following a keto diet, ketones then become the main source of fuel.
Fat is normally reserved as a secondary source of fuel in the absence of glucose. The use of fat for energy instead of glucose is called ketosis, which occurs during fasting and starvation. Ketosis also occurs when you adopt a very low-carb diet.
During a keto diet, your carb intake is typically reduced to not more than 50 grams per day, which can cause shock to your body and withdrawal-like symptoms.
Keto Flu Symptoms
As you switch to a very low-carb diet, your body may need some time to adapt to that new way of eating. This major change can be difficult for some people.
You may experience some keto flu symptoms, which can range from mild to severe, within the first few days of your very low-carb diet. People who have just begun the keto diet reported the following symptoms: muscle cramps, stomach pain, dizziness, poor concentration, muscle soreness, difficulty sleeping, sugar cravings, vomiting, constipation, nausea, diarrhea, headache, irritability, and weakness.
Keto flu symptoms can vary from person to person. Some people may experience one or more of the symptoms, while others can transition to a keto diet without any side effects.
Some people may experience these symptoms for just about a week and some may experience them for a longer period of time.
But the good thing is that there are ways to avoid the keto flu symptoms.
How to Avoid Keto Flu
It’s not unlikely for you to feel miserable when you’re experiencing the keto flu. The good thing is that there are ways to avoid the flu-like symptoms this diet brings. Yes, you can transition to the keto diet without having to experience some of its adverse side effects.
Stay hydrated
Aside from the fact that drinking adequate amounts of water is essential for optimal health, it also helps reduce keto flu symptoms.
When you’re on a keto diet, your body is more likely to shed water stores rapidly, which can increase the risk of dehydration.
This happens because the stored form of carbohydrates called glycogen binds to the water in the body. Low carb intake decreases glycogen levels and water is excreted from the body.
So drinking lots of water can help avoid symptoms like muscle cramping and fatigue. It is also particularly important when you are experiencing keto-flu-associated diarrhea, as it can lead to additional fluid loss. Replacing those fluids lost is highly essential.
Avoid vigorous exercise or activities
Although exercise is essential to keep your body weight in check and stay healthy, vigorous exercise should be avoided when you are experiencing keto-flu symptoms.
You might experience stomach discomfort, muscle cramps, and fatigue. Giving your body a rest is highly necessary.
You may have to put your vigorous workouts, like weight lifting, biking, and running, on the back burner while your system is adjusting to the new fuel sources.
Leisurely light activities, like walking or yoga, may help improve the symptoms.
Replace electrolytes
Another way to reduce keto-flu symptoms is replacing dietary electrolytes.
The keto diet decreases levels of insulin, which is an essential hormone that promotes absorption of glucose from the bloodstream into the skeletal muscle cells, liver, and fat. Lower insulin levels cause your kidneys to release excess sodium from the body.
In addition, the keto diet doesn’t allow potassium-rich foods, such as starchy vegetables, beans, and fruits, which is necessary for your body to power through the adaption period of the keto diet.
To ensure that you are maintaining a healthy electrolyte balance, salting food to taste and including foods that are rich in potassium and keto-friendly like avocados and leafy greens is a great idea. These are also magnesium-rich foods, which may help improve sleep issues, headaches, and muscle cramps.
Get adequate sleep
When you are new to following a ketogenic diet, it’s not uncommon for you to experience fatigue and irritability.
Not having enough sleep causes the cortisol levels to rise in the body, which can only worsen the flu-like symptoms and negatively impact your mood.
If you are having trouble sleeping, try any of these simple sleeping tips.
1. Follow a sleep schedule. Healthy adults are recommended to have at least 7-hour sleep every night. Consistently following a sleep schedule reinforces the sleep-wake cycle of your body. As much as possible, limit the difference in your sleeping time on weekends and weeknights to a maximum of 1 hour.
If you can’t sleep within about 20 minutes, leave your bedroom and do something that can make you feel relaxed like reading or listening to soothing music. When you feel tired, you can go back to bed.
2. Pay attention to what you consume. Try to avoid going to bed stuffed or hungry, as it can only keep you up at night. Avoid alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine too; they can wreak havoc on quality sleep.
3. Create a restful and peaceful sleeping environment. Making your room conducive for sleep may mean creating a dark, cool, and quiet room. Being exposed to light can make it more challenging for you to get a restful night. If you still find yourself having a difficulty falling asleep, you can try doing calming activities like using relaxation techniques or taking a bath; they can help promote better sleep at night.
4. Limit daytime naps. Limiting your daytime naps to up to 30 minutes is a good idea. Having long daytime naps can interfere with your sleep at night.
Also, avoid taking a nap late in the day. However, you might need this when you work night shift. Napping late in the day before work can help make up your sleep debt.
5. Engage with some light physical activities in your daily routine. Having regular light physical activities during a keto diet and spending time outside every day can help promote quality sleep at night. But avoid being active when you’re about to go to bed.
6. Manage worries. As much as possible, try to resolve your concerns and worries before you go to sleep. You can write down your thoughts and set it aside for the next day. Stress management is a great idea. You can start with the basics like setting priorities and getting organized. Meditation also helps with your anxiety.
7. Get up early. Do not oversleep and try to wake up the same time every day to help improve sleep quality over time and normalize your sleep patterns.
Make sure you are consuming enough healthy fat and carbs
As you transition to a very low-carb diet, you are also more likely to crave foods that are not allowed on the keto diet, including pasta, bread, cookies, and bagels.
But consuming enough fat, which is the primary source of fuel on the keto diet, can help you feel satisfied and reduce cravings.
A research has shown low-carb diets to help reduce cravings for high-carb foods and sweets.
If you are having a difficult time adapting to this very low-carb diet, you can slowly eliminate carbs rather than going all in right away.
Increasing your protein and fat intake while slowly cutting back on carbs can help make the transition smoother. It also decreases the chance of keto-flu symptoms to occur.
Why do some people experience the keto flu symptoms?
Our main source of energy is carbohydrates; the recommended carb intake is 200–300 grams per day. When you are following a keto diet, you have to reduce your carb intake to < 50 grams per day.
If your body does not get enough carbs to use for energy, the liver starts to release glucose, using its stores, for energy. This process is known as glucogenesis.
However, the liver is not capable of producing sufficient glucose to keep up with your body’s energy demands. This causes your body to break down fatty acids, which then produce ketone bodies. This process is known as ketogenesis. This is the time when the body enters a state of ketosis, where body tissues use ketone bodies as fuel.
Nutritional ketosis, according to the medical community, is safe for most people, but others may experience some adverse side effects.
There are people who naturally consume lots of carbs like sugary cereal, pasta, and soda. They are usually the ones who will have a more difficult time when starting off with the keto diet.
Although it is still yet unknown why some people adapt to ketogenic diets easier than others, carbohydrate withdrawal, genetics, dehydration, and electrolyte loss are believed to be the key factors behind the keto flu.
How long does keto flu last?
The uncomfortable symptoms caused by the keto flu can only last about a week for some people, but may last several weeks for others. Others may have a more difficult time transitioning to this very low-carb, fat-rich diet.
But you need not worry. These symptoms will get better as you slowly adapt to the diet and your body gets used to converting ketones into energy.
It is important to note that the above mentioned flu-like symptoms are commonly reported by those individuals transitioning to a very low-carb, high-fat diet. If you feel unwell and are experiencing symptoms like vomiting, fever, or prolonged diarrhea, it’s best to visit your doctor to rule out other possible causes.
Who should not follow ketogenic diets?
Although it has some known health benefits, ketogenic diets are not suitable for everyone.
Children and teens, people with underlying health conditions like pancreatic conditions, kidney disease, and liver disease, as well as pregnant or breastfeeding women, should not follow a keto diet without medical supervision.
Moreover, people with diabetes should consult their doctor first to determine whether or not this diet is safe and suitable for their specific needs.
Lastly, those who are hypersensitive to dietary cholesterol should also avoid following the keto diets.
Conclusion
Ketogenic diets are known to have potential health benefits.
However, some people may experience some adverse side effects, such as sugar craving, irritability, fatigue, nausea, headaches, and constipation, as they start with the transitioning. These symptoms are called keto flu.
Drinking tons of water, avoiding vigorous exercise or activities, replacing electrolytes, getting adequate sleep, and making sure you are consuming enough healthy fat and carbs can help reduce keto-flu symptoms.
