17 Keto Diet Side Effects That you Should Know(1st is Worst)

1. Keto Bad Breath.

When you start the keto diet, your body begins to adjust to the shortage of glucose for fuel.

At that point, it then begins to burn the stored carbs previously stored as glycogen in your liver.
This process creates ketones that your brain and body then use as fuel.

During the breakdown of ketones, acetone is one of its by-products. Acetone is the substance used in producing paint thinners and nail polish remover. 

The acetone gets expelled through your breath, and thus causes makes your breath have a bad, fruity-smelling, and nail polish remover smell. It is one of the most common side effects experienced by those on a keto diet experience. Aside from this, the acetone does not have any harmful effects on the body. 

Although the acetone breath is not suitable for your social life, it is a great sign that your diet is producing results. To reduce the effect of the acetone breath, some dieters brush more frequently, use sugar-free drinks, gum, and other alternatives.

It is, however, advisable that you check the labels of the product to ensure they are carb-free or low on carbs. It will help in reducing the chances of increasing your sugar or ketone level.
Learn > How to get rid of Bad Breath?

2. Keto Flu

During the early days of starting the ketogenic diet, your body system begins to adjust to carbohydrate withdrawal.

The withdrawal process causes brain fog, body aches, temporary loss of energy, and the feeling of being sick.

This symptom is known as keto flu.

3. Reduction in Blood Sugar Levels

Due to the high intake of carbohydrates and sugar, there is an increase in blood sugar levels.

A ketogenic diet helps you limit the rate of increase in your blood sugar. 

Therefore, your body will not need to produce much insulin, thus helping your body to break down fats effectively.

4. Appetite Suppression

Appetite suppression is yet another effect that comes with starting a keto diet. It significantly suppresses your appetite for food and hunger.

Once you begin to feel full or reduce the frequency ad quantity of food you normally eat, then you might just be in ketosis.

The two hunger hormones are ghrelin and cholecystokinin. While green is the appetite hormone, cholecystokinin is responsible for making you feel satisfied.

Also, it helps to reduce your cravings for sugary and processed foods.

5. Digestive Issues

The keto diet is a key drift in people’s normal diet. As a result, it is likely to cause some changes in bowel movements, bloating, and increased gas in the stomach.

That said, these symptoms can lead to digestive issues such as diarrhea and constipation when you start the diet. However, these issues begin to lessen after the transition stage.

All through the transitional stage, it is advisable to take digestive enzymes as they help in faster fat digestion hence taking care of diarrhea.

6. Muscle Cramps

When there is a reduction in your body’s carbohydrate intake, the insulin your it produces reduces. Insulin is the substance responsible for processing the carbs to produce glucose.

The reduction in the amount of insulin produced causes your kidney to discharge more sodium. As a result, your essential electrolytes move out of balance, which leads to temporary muscle cramps. 

When you start a ketogenic diet, you might experience leg or back cramps. It is due to the lack of potassium and sodium in the body. The keto diet also causes a loss of fluid stored in the organs and muscles.

Just like in the case of fatigue, you can remedy this effect by adding to your water a pinch of Himalayan salt.

It will help in balancing your body’s electrolytes and provide some form of relief.

7. Insomnia

Once you start a keto diet, you are likely to experience difficulty in sleeping. Research shows that you may experience dream sleep or shorter periods of REM as part of the signs that come attaining ketosis.

The difficulty in sleeping and insomnia experienced at the early stage of a keto diet is due to an imbalance in the body's electrolyte. The condition improves after a few weeks on the ketogenic diet.

To improve your sleep, you will need to eat foods rich in minerals and stay hydrated always. Additionally, once you adapt to the ketogenic diet and your body adjusts to the burning of stored fat, your sleep will become longer, deeper, and relaxing.

8. You May Observe Changes in Your Urine

When you start a ketogenic diet, you are likely to observe several changes in your urine. Some of the changes include frequent urinating, smell, changes in your urine’s color, among others.

The changes in urine are as a result of excretion of ketones, less water retention by your body, to mention a few. Since carbs and glycogen help in water retention in your muscles and liver, you should stay hydrated often.

9. Diminished Cravings

Keto diet helps to control your blood sugar level. As a result, it reduces your cravings. When you cut down on sugary and high carbohydrate foods, you can make healthier food choices.

That said, you are also able to go extended periods without feeling hungry. Also, you may experience intermittent fasting while on a keto diet.

10. Fatigue

You will continue to experience fatigue until your body gets fully into ketosis. Like other side effects, fatigue will reduce as your body adjusts to the diet.

However, to reduce weakness and fatigue, you can take electrolyte supplements as a quick reduction in the water content of your body cause the loss of electrolytes.

11. Body Rash

Keto rash is yet another effect you may experience when you start a keto diet. Although it is not popular, it can still happen. Keto rash often occurs due to a deficiency in vitamin at the beginning of the diet.

If you get infected with keto rash, it will appear as raised red, light pink, or brown skin lesions. It might be uncomfortable and itchy but not dangerous.

You can lessen the effect of the keto rash by taking multivitamins and broadening your food variety.

12. Reduction in Inflammation

Inflammation often increases the risk of having a couple of negative health conditions such as bowel diseases, cancer, and heart disease. A keto diet helps in lowering inflammation in your entire body hence improves your overall health condition.

When you start a keto diet, you will notice a gradual reduction in inflammation in your body.

13. Keto Constipitation.

If Keto diet is not planned correctly, it may cause constipation.

This is common to the keto dieters and thus should not worry you. Some factors need to be addressed on the nutritional plan to deal with constipation.

14. Rapid Loss of Weight

Rapid weight loss is yet another thing that occurs when you drastically cut down on carbohydrates or start a keto diet. You are likely to experience both short term and long-term weight loss at the beginning of a keto diet before it eventually becomes stable.

The rapid loss of weight is due to the diuretic effect of ketosis on your body, which leads to a rapid loss of water weight. While a lot of persons believe the rapid weight loss is due to the loss of fat, it is not true. Rather, it is as a result of the usage of water and stored carbs in the body.

But as the body gradually becomes used to keto, it begins to convert fat to ketones, which it uses for fuel. At this point, you begin to consistently lose body fat provided you continue with the ketogenic diet and remain calorie deficit.

Ensure you feed your body with as many calories as needed to keep your muscles while you are on the keto diet.

15. Increased Energy

When you start the keto diet, your body begins to make adjustments from using glucose for energy to using fat. This switching process is called ketosis and often makes your body feel exhausted. But as you begin to reach ketosis, you will realize that you begin to get increased energy and better endurance.

16. Some people Face - Lazyness

While on Ketosis, I have seen some of the people start feeling laziness. As they are taking very less number of carbs they feel they have no energy,hence lazyness.

17. Sweating and chills

This is one if the things even I have seen while doing the Ketosis, I felt sweating and chills while eating only Fat.

There may be a case where this is not happening to you as of now, I believe it depends on the body type.