Keto Flue & Cure. You’ve excitedly begun a ketogenic diet and are anticipating all of its advantages.
You struggle to focus because you’re exhausted, have a headache, are easily irritated, and are fatigued.
You have the keto flu, which is something to be happy about. It’s not truly the flu, it’s not hazardous, but it can be very uncomfortable nonetheless.
In the first one to two weeks of a ketogenic diet, particularly days 3-5, the majority of people experience one or more of these symptoms. Happily, it’s only temporary, and soon you’ll feel normal again. You might even feel more energized than you did before you started the regimen.
Even better, there is a quick treatment that frequently eliminates all or the majority of these symptoms in within 15 minutes.
ketone flu
Keto flu symptoms include:
- Fatigue
- Headache
- Irritability
- Focusing challenges (“brain fog”)
- a lack of drive
- Dizziness
- yearning for sugar
- Nausea
- muscle pain
The reason
The keto flu happens as your body switches over to using fat for the majority of its energy requirements.
You’re in a ketosis state when your body is primarily using fat and ketones for energy.
But it takes some time for your brain and other organs to get used to using this new fuel. Your body responds by excreting more salt and water in the urine when your insulin levels fall. As a result, during the first week or so of a ketogenic diet, you probably will urinate much more frequently.
Some of the quick weight loss that occurs in the beginning of a keto diet—which is typically very welcome—is caused by this alteration.
It is well knowledge that everyone responds to the keto shift differently. For the first few days after beginning the keto diet, some people may feel OK or a little weary. On the other hand, some people experience symptoms that severely impair their capacity to operate for a number of days.
However, if the right efforts are taken to treat it, the keto flu doesn’t have to be intolerable for anyone.
The keto flu treatment
As the body adjusts, symptoms of the keto flu typically go away on their own within a few days to weeks.
But instead of suffering needlessly throughout this time, why not address the root of the problem and feel better right away? The very first step is by far the most crucial and is frequently all that is required.
1. Increase your consumption of salt and water.
Water and salt
Increasing your intake of both can help you greatly lessen and frequently completely eradicate your symptoms because most keto flu problems are caused by a loss of salt and water.
For the first few weeks of your keto diet, take a glass of water with half a teaspoon of salt stirred into it whenever you get a headache, lethargy, nausea, dizziness, or other symptoms.
Your symptoms of the keto flu may disappear within 15 to 30 minutes if you take this easy step. You may repeat this process twice daily or more.
If you’d like, whisk in a teaspoon of salted butter. If you’re using low-sodium bone broth or stock, you can also add a little salt.
Additionally, make sure you’re getting enough water to drink. If you are larger than average, you will likely lose more water during the initial phases of the keto diet and need to replace it. During your first week of going keto, a decent rule of thumb is to consume at least 2.5 litres of fluid every day.
Although it’s crucial to drink plenty of water, coffee and tea can also help you stay hydrated. However, try to limit your intake of caffeine to no more than 3 cups per day, as higher quantities may increase salt and water loss.
Constipation is another problem that people frequently face at the beginning of a keto diet, and it can also be helped by getting enough water, sodium, and other electrolytes like magnesium and potassium.
1.Fattening up reduces symptoms
Most keto flu adverse effects are typically resolved by increasing salt and fluid intake. Try consuming additional fat if, despite following those suggestions, your symptoms persist.
People who are new to low-carb eating frequently have fat phobia as a result of decades of false information about fat being detrimental. But if you drastically reduce your carb intake without increasing your fat intake, your body will believe that you are famished. You’ll be hungry, exhausted, and miserable.
A well-balanced keto diet includes enough fat to guarantee that you won’t feel peckish after a meal, can go without food for a number of hours, and have plenty of energy.
Until your body adjusts to using fat and ketones for the majority of its energy demands, make sure to boost your intake of fat at the beginning of your keto adventure. Once you’ve become fat acclimated, follow your hunger and reduce your intake of fat until you reach the point where you feel full.
Simply put: If in doubt, add butter or another type of fat to your food. Check out our top 10 suggestions for increasing fat consumption as well. You can also adhere to our ketogenic recipes, which contain an appropriate ratio of fat to protein and carbs.
2.Gradual transition
Has increasing water, salt, and fat been of much help? Do you still feel fatigued, achy, and off?
We advise you to continue eating keto for a few more days till the symptoms subside. A extremely low-carb diet may be beneficial for weight loss and metabolic conditions including type 2 diabetes, according to research. Keto flu symptoms are only transient; once you start burning fat, they’ll be long gone.
By taking a few more carbs, such as by adopting a more moderate low-carb diet that offers 20 to 50 grammes of carbs per day, you can, however, delay the switch to a ketogenic diet.
Eating a little bit extra carbs could potentially slow down weight loss and lead to less pronounced and quick benefits in health.
Even so, it can still result in improved health, particularly if you avoid processed meals and sugar. And you won’t experience keto flu anymore.
Feel free to experiment with eating less than 20 grammes of carbohydrates once you’ve gotten used to low-carb diet to determine whether your body likes this or a slightly greater carb intake.
4. Moderate your physical activity.
Although many people discover that a ketogenic diet improves their energy and endurance, pushing yourself too hard in the beginning can exacerbate keto flu symptoms. Dr. Steve Phinney, a renowned expert on the ketogenic diet, has studied obese adults and endurance athletes to show that physical performance declines during the first week of a very-low-carb diet.
Fortunately, his research also demonstrates that, generally speaking, performance returns — and frequently increases — after 4 to 6 weeks.
It should be fine and might even make you feel better to go for a walk, stretch, do moderate yoga, or engage in other mind-body activities. However, avoid undertaking any form of hard exercise when your body is already under stress from attempting to adapt to a new fuel system. Take it easy for the first few weeks, then gradually up the intensity of your workouts.
5. Avoid actively limiting your food intake.
Due to nausea or a headache that suppresses their appetite, some people discover that during the first week of the keto diet, they aren’t particularly hungry.
Others can feel rather hungry and fear that they’re consuming too many calories in order to lose weight as quickly as they’ve heard.
The Atkins diet starts with induction, the tightest phase that promotes rapid entry into ketosis and maximum fat burning. You can consume as much of the permitted foods as you need to feel satisfied while following this diet, provided that your daily carb intake is kept to 20 grammes or less.
When attempting to adjust to a ketogenic diet, it’s not a good idea to concentrate on calories. Allowing yourself to become overly hungry or worrying about how much food you’re consuming may actually make keto flu symptoms worse.
Your hunger will probably decrease once you’re consistently in ketosis, which will result in you eating less food by default.
