I don’t know if everyone experiences it, but if you do you can have symptoms like (Nausea, constipation, headaches, fatigue, sugar cravings, diarrhea, irritability, muscle cramps, dizziness, poor concentration, etc.), but for those who do experience Keto Flu (like I did), it pretty much feels like a lesser version of the actual Flu.
Symptoms can range from mild to severe. These can last anywhere from one or more weeks. I experienced headaches, fatigue, trouble concentrating, muscle cramps in my calves, sugar cravings, and dizziness).
Keto Flu symptoms listed above, are caused by drastically reducing your carbohydrate intake suddenly when starting a low-carbohydrate diet, like the (Ketogenic diet). You lose water, and this causes your electrolytes (potassium and magnesium), to decrease significantly and can cause you to feel like you are getting sick.
There are several things you can do to help alleviate the symptoms. You will need to increase your water consumption significantly. This is in part due to the water loss from the reduction of carbohydrates while you are on a low carb diet or Keto diet. You could also take potassium and magnesium supplements and make or buy bone broth. The bone broth has sodium this helps to replace the electrolytes lost in the process of weight loss;
If you are interested, I have a straightforward bone broth recipe that we used, and it helped. The other one that my husband used was “Greens on the Go” by IT WORKS. He used them when he had a headache and fatigue. They have the electrolytes you need. He said that these helped him and fast.
If you are on Keto for a while and decide to do a carb cycle where you eat whatever you want for a few days. You will become a sugar (glucose) burner again for a short time.
Doing this may cause you to experience some Keto Flu symptoms.
Like headache, runny nose, and body aches while your body is trying to convert back from a glucose burner to fat burner, also known as “Ketosis.” When this happens to us, we do the same thing we will drink bone broth, or drink IT works “greens on the go,”
Make sure to get plenty of water— the electrolytes in the bone broth or the “greens on the go” help. We are usually able to get back into Ketosis within a few days, by fasting for breakfast then having a keto lunch and dinner.
You may feel tired or exhausted for a few days after starting Keto.
If you stick with it most likely, you will have an increase in energy and feel better than you have in years.
I have seen several posts where someone claimed to have tried the Keto diet. They said they would never do it again because of having experienced symptoms like the Keto Flu.
If they had given it more time and replaced their electrolytes, they might have experienced increased energy, mental clarity, weight loss, and more. That is what happened to me. It did take some time for me to feel better, but once I got into Ketosis, it was like a new life.
Anyone starting a new diet should always consult a physician before starting it, especially if you have any pre-existing medical conditions. Not all foods are right for every person, and type 1 diabetics are generally not good candidates because they are usually insulin-dependent.
