The ketogenic diet has many very appealing benefits which has led to its popularity over the years. Many people lose weight very quickly when first starting the keto diet. Unfortunately, beginning the diet can be a shock to the body, which cane make you feel icky when first starting the keto diet. Many people refer to this as keto flu.
For more information about the benefits of the ketogenic diet and how to start it, check out this post. This list of keto friendly foods is helpful to get started quickly. And this list of keto food swaps will help you replace old high carb favorites with new keto-friendly versions!
Starting the keto diet can come with some side effects in the beginning as your body switches gears and remembers how to burn fat for fuel. When you stop eating carbs, the body is forced to find another source of fuel – fat.
It takes time for the body to get good at efficiently using fat for fuel, especially if you’ve been feeding it carbs for decades.
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What Is Keto Flu?
The side effects that you experience while the body is adapting to burning fat for fuel is lovingly referred to as the “keto flu”. The symptoms happen primarily for two reasons: first because the body is working hard to be a good fat burner again, and secondly because your electrolytes become a bit imbalanced during the adaption process.
Many people also go through symptoms of carb and sugar withdrawal, especially those who ate bread at every meal and sugary or carb-filled snacks multiple times per day!
For my husband and I, we had cold sweats and shakes mostly related to cutting out the GMO bread that we were eating 3-4 times per day. It was like going through withdrawal – totally awful! That’s a topic for another day!
Often times, when beginners start feeling the symptoms of keto flu, they believe that something’s wrong and the diet isn’t going to work for them.
For some, keto flu is enough to discourage a beginner and cause them to stop the keto diet before their body had time to adapt and let them feel the benefits.
Symptoms
The drastic and sudden change to your diet causes symptoms to show up for many beginners in the first few days of starting the keto diet:
- headaches
- difficulty concentrating
- brain fog / unable to think clearly and/or quickly
- dizziness
- getting the shakes – feeling shaky or tingly
- fatigue and weakness
- trouble sleeping and drowsiness
- irritability and/or anxiety
- nausea
- constipation or diarrhea
- frequent urination
- muscle soreness
- muscle cramps or twitching
- muscle weakness / reduced physical strength
- carb or sugar cravings
- metallic taste in mouth
- bad breath
I know – that’s a long list of not-so-nice symptoms. Keep in mind that it only lasts for a short time (usually a week or 2), and there are to reduce the severity of the symptoms and get over it quickly!
Why All The Symptoms?
The symptoms you experience are related to physiological changes happening in the body as it switches from burning carbs to burning fats. At first, the body is not efficient at fat burning, so there’s a slump in available energy.
Carb or sugar cravings also occur because the body is trying to get you to eat its old fuel source. Don’t cave! As the body gets better at burning fats, it will stop hounding you to eat carbs and the cravings will go away.
The body also begins flushing out excess water, which changes the levels of sodium, potassium, and magnesium available in the body. This can result in electrolyte imbalance and dehydration.
How to Get Rid of the Keto Flu Fast
Electrolyte imbalance is responsible for most of the keto flu symptoms. The good news is, there’s a simple way to fix it!
Eat When You Feel Hungry
For most people, cutting out the carbs also means cutting out a lot of their daily calories. It’s important to still eat an adequate amount of calories for your body to function.
You also need to be sure that you’re eating enough fat – give your body its new fuel source so that it can give you energy.
It may be helpful to use a food tracking app such as myfitnesspal to help you see how much fat, carbs, and calories you’re eating each day.
Don’t Cheat!
It’s easy to cave in and cheat when you’re not feeling so great, but don’t do it! This only prolongs the time it takes for your body to transition.
Stick to your diet – keep carbs low and eat plenty of fats. This helps your body continue the transition at a steady pace, which will shorten the duration of your keto flu symptoms.
Drink More Water
Because your kidneys are in water-dump mode and you’re peeing more than usual, it’s easier to become dehydrated.
You’re going to need to drink more water to combat this and stay hydrated. This helps prevent headaches and fatigue.
Replenish Missing Electrolytes
As your sodium, potassium, and magnesium become imbalanced, keto flu symptoms begin to show up. The easiest way to combat most of these symptoms is to replace these electrolytes through your diet.
Add these electrolytes into your diet and you’ll notice that your keto flu symptoms subside quite a bit.
Easy Ways to Replace Electrolytes
- Add extra salt (like pink Himalayan salt – not white table salt) to food or sprinkle some crystals on your tongue
- Eat foods with salt: bone broth/bullion/stock, spinach, bacon
- Eat foods high in potassium: dark leafy greens (like spinach or kale), mushrooms, avocados, meat
- Eat foods high in magnesium: nuts, seeds, spinach, artichoke, dark chocolate
- Drink pickle juice
- Take electrolyte supplements: LyteShow, HiLyte drops, or Maximum Keto Electrolyte capsules
Rest and Relax
Avoid intense exercise during the first few days or week if you’re not feeling great. Try to relax more during this time by sitting relaxed watching a movie, reading a book, or any other low-energy leisure activity you like.
By simply resting and relaxing during the transition period, you can reduce muscle fatigue and tummy troubles and help prevent dehydration.
Once you feel up to it, start doing some low intensity exercises like walking or body weight exercises. You can add intense exercise back in once you’ve finished transitioning into ketosis.
Sleep
Try to give yourself more time to sleep if possible. Getting more sleep is a great way to combat irritability and fatigue.
It’s also important to keep in mind that some people have trouble sleeping during the transition phase, so allowing extra time at night to sleep can help.
If you have the luxury, laying down for a nap during the day when you’re feeling tired can be helpful too.
What To Do If You’re Having a Really Tough Time
If your keto flu symptoms are really kicking your butt, try increasing your carbs a little bit at a time until your symptoms are under control.
Then when you’re ready, gradually reduce the carbs and increase fat over a few weeks. This gives your body more time to adapt to using fat for fuel.
Another option is to start over and change your diet gradually. Switch back to eating what you did prior to keto diet for a week or so. Then instead of an instant switch to low carb/high fat, try gradually reducing carbs while increasing fats over several weeks.
This will allow your body to adapt slowly and prevent the sudden shock that instantly switching to keto can have.
Summing It Up
Don’t let the keto flu scare you away from the awesome benefits that the ketogenic diet has to offer! The tips above will help keep your keto flu symptoms under control and easier to tolerate. This will help you stay on track while your body transitions to being a fat burning machine!
After the transition, you’ll be in ketosis and well on your way to full keto adaptation. This is where the magic happens and you really start reaping the rewards that the diet has to offer.
Just remember – the keto flu is only temporary! You can do this!
Other helpful ketogenic diet posts to help you on your keto diet journey:
Keto Diet 101: A Beginner’s Guide
Keto Foods: What to Eat on a Ketogenic Diet
Keto Friendly Substitutes: Easy Keto Diet Food Swaps
Get Into Ketosis Fast: 10 Easy Tips