If you have just started the Keto Diet or thinking about starting it, there is a high probability you will notice a number of unpleasant symptoms termed "Keto Flu" (a term coined by Keto diet followers).
Let’s understand, what is Keto Flu, what is the root cause of Keto Flu and how you can leverage the 7 ways to avoid Keto Flu completely. Stay tuned.
What is Keto Flu?
Keto Flu is a side effect of the Keto Diet. "Keto-Flu" doesn't mean sneezing and a runny nose! We will reveal why Keto Flu occurs and the simple and effective steps you can take to mitigate the negative effects.
In Simple terms, Keto Flu is set symptoms experienced by a person when they are in a Keto diet.
Keto Flu mainly occurs at the end of the 3rd or 4th day on Keto diet, When your body is in Ketosis State or increase in ketone levels . (Ketosis is a natural body state that occurs when it starts burning fat instead of carbohydrates (glucose) for energy).
What do you expect ?, Our body’s main fuel source is changed to fat now from glucose so it behaves little strange as keto flu that's it.
Please Note - It’s normal for keto newcomers to encounter the keto flu when they first reduce their carb intake or carb withdrawal state.
See how people react to Ket flu on reddit.
Let me share some common symptoms of the keto flu.
Keto Flu Symptoms.
As I have discussed earlier, Keto Flu mainly occurs at the end of 3rd or 4th day on Keto diet, When your body is in Ketosis State.
Some people don’t experience any Keto flu symptoms at all but for some people, it is very common.
Bellow is a list of 9 common symptoms of the Keto flu and a few more severe symptoms.
Symptoms 1 - Keto Flu headache or a common headache.
The little headache starts around 2nd-3rd day or early with continuous pain on keto flu.
Symptoms 2 - Fatigue.
You feel fatigued all the time and your tendency to do activities decreases.
Symptoms 3 - Sugar Cravings.
You start to have a desire to eat carbs, avoid it any cost else, your body will go back to glucose as main source of fuel(you will lose the progress).
Source - Flicker.com
Symptoms 4 - Lack of concentration.
This happened with me also initially, Your mind can’t focus on a single thing for initially due to metabolism changes.
Symptoms 5 - Feeling sleepy all the time or No sleep.
Either the case, some people feel very lazy and sleepy where some people face no sleep condition initially in Keto flu.
Symptoms 6 - Keto flu diarrhea or Keto Diarrhea(we call it).
You have diarrhea if you have loose stools three or more times in one day.
Symptoms 7 - Constipation.
Sometimes, On Keto flu, people feel constipation where the stool is often hard and dry. It is kind of Keto flu symptoms. See what The Best Foods To Eat For Constipation are to help relieve symtoms.
Symptoms 8 - Sore throat due to Keto flu.
Few people noticed that they feel their throat sore and heavy.
Symptoms 9 - Joint Pain & Runny Nose.
Some common flu-like keto flu joint pain & keto flu runny nose is noticed.
There are some Severe symptoms of Keto Flue noticed.
Symptoms 10 - Dizziness or Unsteadiness :
When your body is in kestosis, You develop a symptoms like feeling faint, woozy, weak or unsteady these are called as Dizziness.
This happens due to the lack of sodium in the body.
And sometimes it is due to low blood sugar too. Drink plenty of water to avoid it.
Symptoms 11 - High (or low) blood pressure
In most of cases, high or low blood pressure may be a symptom of keto flu.
Symptoms 12 - Keto Flu fever
Some people noticed that when they started doing the Keto diet, they encountered keto flu fever, which is the same as common fever.
Don’t worry all these can avoid in the below section where we discuss keto flu remedies.
What causes Keto Flu?
Your body is in Ketosis or Keto-Adapted State.
As we know that we start Keto diet, Our body comes in Ketosis, Ketosis usually kicks in after 3-4 days of going through periods of intermittent fasting or restricting your carbohydrate intake.
You can experience certain physical signs and symptoms of keto flu.
Key TakeAway- Accommodating to ketosis is the main cause of the Keto Flu.
Dehydration & Body in low Electrolytes.
Since we are on High Fat and low carbs diet, Our body starts losing both fluids and important electrolytes from carbs, we are taking low carbs means low water stored and this clearly causes dehydration and electrolyte imbalances.
Key Takeaway - Drinks lots of water around 2.7 liters of water per day
Lack of Micro-nutrients.
During Keto diet, we mainly eat food and miss the common nutrient which we are important for our body.
This causes nutrient deficiencies. Eating enough keto friendly veggies like broccoli, cucumber, cabbage, olives, spinach, swiss chard, eggplant can reduce the keto flu effect.
Key Takeaway - Take care of Micro-nutrients.
Punishment by body when you switched to Low carbs diet.
Carbs contain glycogen which stores water, since we are having low carbs hence our body now have less water stored and this leads to dehydration and certain issues related to Keto flu.
Key Takeaway - Low carbs intake lead to Keto flu.
How Long Does Keto Flu Last?
Keto Flu mainly occurs at the end of the 3rd or 4th day on Keto diet.
Keto Flu can last over a couple of weeks, If it is more than 3 week.
I would suggest you do consult with a doctor, probably you are missing some essential nutrients extra that causing Keto flu to this long.
9 Steps on how to Get Rid of the Keto Flu.
No. 1 - Stay hydrated.
No. 2 - Increase in fat intake
No. 3 - Take broth.
No. 4 - Increase Salt Intake.
No. 5 - Main Micro-nutrients.
No. 6 - Do Yoga.
No. 7 - Calculate carbs intake.
No. 8 - Stay fit with little exercise.
No. 9 - Follow Strict Keto diet Plan.
How to Overcome the Keto Flu?
Dr. Eric Berg DC, beautifully explained how to prevent or overcome above mentioned Keto Flu symptoms. You can watch 2 minutes short video below.
7 Top keto flu Remedies.
1. Keto Lemonade for Ending Keto & Keto Aloe Lemonade.
Try this refreshing lemonade which can be made in a few minutes and helps you to get better from Keto flu.
2. Take Rest & Sleep.
Take enough sleep and you will never get Keto Flu, Trust me.
3. Eat More Fat or Take MCT Oils.
In Keto diet, if you want to eat high-fat, MCT oils are like best you can get.
But if you are looking for cheaper alternate on a budget diet try coconut Oil they have the pretty much same effect
4. Take enough Electrolytes.
These are like essential electrolytes blended for optimal hydration to stay away and get better from Keto Flu.
5. Stay Fit with Yoga & Meditation.
Yoga involves a certain type of diet, meditation routine, breathing techniques (pranayamas) and body postures and practices to make your body and mind healthy.
My friend has excellently explained the benefits of Yoga with Keto here
6. Take enough Electrolytes.
These are like essential electrolytes blended for optimal hydration to stay away and get better from Keto Flu.
7. Avoid artificial sweeteners try alternate Keto Collagen.
Avoid the artificial sweeteners and Try Keto Collagen as an alternate.
Conclusion.
During the Keto diet, Keto flu can be a speed bump on your road to weight loss, but you easily avoid it completely if you follow all the above methods and remedies exactly.
Remember, Keto flu should not stop you to become a better version of yourself.