Strategies To Combat Keto Flu Symptoms

The keto flu is a collection of symptoms experienced by some people when they start a ketogenic diet. The symptoms, which can feel similar to the flu, are caused by the body adapting to a new diet consisting of very few carbohydrates. The ketogenic diet is an eating pattern that focuses on low amounts of carbohydrates, high amounts of fat, and low to moderate amounts of protein. This usually works out to about 70% to 80% fat, 10% to 20% protein, and 5% to 10% carbohydrates.

The keto flu can cause flu-like symptoms in response to carb withdrawal. The sudden switch from using carbs and glucose as fuel to using fat as fuel can be confusing for the body. The symptoms of keto flu usually appear within the first few days of starting the diet and can last several weeks.

- Drink more water

- Eat more fat

- Transition gradually by slowly cutting back on carbs while increasing fat and protein intake

- Get enough sleep

- Consume caffeine in moderation

Drink more water

Drinking more water is a simple yet effective way to alleviate keto flu symptoms. The keto diet is a significant change for your body, and staying hydrated is crucial during this transition. Here's how drinking more water can help:

Replenish Water Loss

When you start the keto diet, your body enters a state called ketosis, where it burns stored fat for energy instead of carbohydrates. As a result, your body also releases the water that was stored with glycogen, the stored form of carbohydrates. This can lead to dehydration, which is why it's essential to drink plenty of water to replenish these lost fluids.

Combat Dehydration Symptoms

Dehydration can cause various unpleasant symptoms, such as fatigue, muscle cramps, and constipation. By drinking more water, you can combat these specific symptoms associated with keto flu. Staying hydrated will help you feel more energised and reduce muscle cramps and digestive issues.

Aid in Electrolyte Balance

The keto diet can also affect your electrolyte balance. When your body releases glycogen, it often releases electrolytes like sodium and potassium. Drinking more water can help flush out these excess electrolytes and restore balance. Additionally, drinking water alongside eating sodium-rich foods can help your body retain fluids more effectively.

Promote Satiety

Increasing your water intake may also help you feel more full and reduce hunger pangs. This is especially beneficial when starting the keto diet, as you may experience increased cravings, especially for carbohydrates. Drinking water can help you feel more satisfied and reduce the urge to snack between meals.

General Health Benefits

Drinking adequate water has numerous health benefits beyond alleviating keto flu. It improves digestion, supports organ function, and enhances cognitive performance. Water is essential for transporting nutrients, regulating body temperature, and flushing out toxins. By increasing your water intake, you're not only alleviating keto flu symptoms but also contributing to your overall health and well-being.

Transition gradually

Transitioning to a keto diet can be challenging, and the keto flu is a common challenge that people face. Here are some tips to help you transition gradually and alleviate the symptoms:

Slow and Steady Wins the Race:

Start by reducing your carb intake gradually over a more extended period. This will help your body adjust to the new diet and make the transition smoother. Remember, you are in this for the long haul, so taking a slow and steady approach will be more sustainable and comfortable.

Fat is Your Friend:

As you reduce your carb intake, increase the amount of healthy fats in your diet. This will not only help you stay full and satiated but also provide the necessary fuel your body needs on a keto diet. Examples of keto-friendly fats include coconut oil, olive oil, MCT oil, grass-fed butter, ghee, and fattier cuts of meat.

Protein Power:

While fat is essential, make sure you don't overdo it with protein. Eating too much protein can interfere with ketosis. Aim for a balanced approach, ensuring you get adequate protein while focusing primarily on healthy fats.

Hydration is Key:

Drinking plenty of water is always important, but it becomes even more crucial when transitioning to a keto diet. The keto diet can deplete your water stores quickly, putting you at risk for dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. So, make sure you're drinking enough water throughout the day and staying properly hydrated.

Electrolyte Balance:

As your body adjusts to the keto diet, you may experience electrolyte imbalances, which can contribute to symptoms like weakness, cramps, and headaches. Help your body retain electrolytes by increasing your intake of sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Salt your food generously, and consider adding a pinch of unrefined salt to your water. Include potassium-rich foods like avocados and leafy greens in your diet, and consider taking a magnesium supplement before bed.

Listen to Your Body:

Everyone's body is different, and you may need to adjust your approach based on how you feel. If you're experiencing fatigue, insomnia, or other symptoms, prioritize rest and adjust your workout routine accordingly. Remember, this is a transition period, and it's essential to listen to your body and make adjustments as needed.

Remember, the key to a successful transition is gradual change. By taking a slow and steady approach, you'll give your body time to adjust and make the process more comfortable and sustainable.

Adjust your workout routine

Exercise is an important part of staying healthy, but it's important to adjust your workout routine when experiencing keto flu symptoms. Here are some tips to help alleviate your keto flu symptoms through adjustments to your workout routine:

• Avoid strenuous exercise: While you are experiencing keto flu symptoms, it is best to avoid strenuous or intense exercises such as intense biking, running, weightlifting, or other strenuous workouts. These activities can put additional stress on your body, which is already going through a significant transition.
• Focus on light activities: Instead of intense workouts, opt for lighter activities such as walking, yoga, leisurely cycling, or light swimming. These activities will help improve your focus and boost clarity without putting too much strain on your body.
• Listen to your body: It is important to pay attention to how you are feeling during this transition. If you are experiencing fatigue, muscle cramps, or nausea, dial back the intensity of your workouts. You may need to take it easy for a while until your body adjusts to the new diet.
• Consider high-intensity interval training (HIIT): While it may seem counterintuitive, some people find that HIIT workouts can help speed up the adaptation phase. HIIT workouts deplete glycogen stores faster, which can help you get into ketosis more quickly. However, this may not be suitable for everyone, so it's important to listen to your body and adjust the intensity as needed.
• Strength training with lighter weights: If you want to incorporate strength training, try using lighter weights and focus on lower repetition counts. This will help you build strength without putting too much strain on your body.
• Get enough sleep: Lack of sleep can increase cortisol levels, which can make keto flu symptoms worse. Aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep each night and create a bedtime routine to improve your sleep quality. Avoid screens and other sources of blue light for at least 2 hours before bedtime.
• Prioritize rest and recovery: Don't be too hard on yourself if you're feeling low energy or unmotivated to exercise. Give yourself time to rest and recover, especially during the initial phase of the keto diet. You can gradually increase the intensity of your workouts as you start feeling better.

Consume more electrolytes

The keto diet can lead to a loss of electrolytes, which are vital for the proper functioning of your body. This is due to the diet's carb restriction, which leads to lower insulin levels. As a result, you may experience keto flu symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, muscle cramps, and constipation.

To alleviate these symptoms, you should focus on consuming more electrolytes. Here are some ways to do so:

• Increase your sodium intake: Sodium is an important electrolyte that can be lost during ketosis. You can increase your sodium intake by adding more salt to your food or drinking sports drinks that are high in electrolytes. Just be cautious and consult your doctor before increasing your salt intake, especially if you have certain health conditions such as high blood pressure.
• Consume potassium-rich foods: Potassium is another important electrolyte that can be affected by the keto diet. You can get potassium from non-starchy vegetables such as avocados, spinach, and broccoli.
• Boost your magnesium levels: Magnesium is essential for muscle function and can be obtained from various nuts and seeds. You can also take a magnesium supplement before bed to help with keto flu symptoms.
• Drink electrolyte-infused water: In addition to plain water, you can drink water infused with electrolytes to help replenish lost electrolytes and stay hydrated.
• Eat whole foods high in electrolytes: A keto diet that includes nutrient-dense, electrolyte-rich whole foods is ideal. Foods such as coconut water, avocados, beef, chicken, eggs, spinach, clams, salmon, lettuce, tomatoes, yogurt, and almonds are excellent sources of electrolytes.
• Take keto-friendly electrolyte supplements: Electrolyte supplements can be a convenient way to ensure you're getting enough electrolytes, especially if you're struggling to obtain them through diet alone. Look for sugar-free and keto-friendly options, such as electrolyte powders that you can add to water.
• Pay attention to your thirst: Thirst is an early sign of dehydration, which can worsen keto flu symptoms. Drink water or an electrolyte drink as soon as you feel thirsty to address dehydration right away.

Eat more fat

Transitioning to a very low-carb diet can be challenging, and you may experience cravings for foods that are restricted on the ketogenic diet, such as cookies, bread, pasta, and bagels. Eating enough fat, the primary fuel source on the ketogenic diet, will help reduce cravings and keep you feeling satisfied.

Research shows that low-carb diets help reduce cravings for sweets and high-carb foods. Fat is also thought to be satiating, helping to calm keto flu side effects like cravings and hunger.

The simplest way to add more fat to your diet is with fat bombs. However, there is one caveat with eating more fat (and it is not heart disease). Most fats aren’t readily used as fuel, especially during the first few days of carbohydrate restriction. Animal fats from meat and dairy have to go all the way through your lymphatic system to your heart, muscle cells, and fat cells before they reach the liver.

Supplementing with MCT oil can help you tremendously. MCT oil is made of medium-chain triglycerides, which are a type of saturated fat that goes straight to the liver after digestion (just like carbohydrates). In the liver, they can be converted into ketones and sent to the cells in your body that need them.

Simply put, MCT oil can help you become keto-adapted more quickly and efficiently than any other type of fat. Supplementing with MCT oil also has the potential to help you alleviate the keto flu completely, especially if you combine it with the right type of exercise.

The easiest way to determine how many grams of fat you need on a keto diet is to calculate your keto macros using an online calculator or keto-friendly app.

You can also quickly estimate your daily fat needs if you know how many calories you need a day. On a typical keto diet, fat will account for 60 to 70% of your total calories.

Staying in ketosis requires getting about 80 percent of your daily calories from sources of fat. Examples of healthy keto-friendly fats that you should fill up on include coconut oil, real olive oil, MCT oil, grass-fed butter, ghee, and fattier cuts of meat. You should only be getting about 15 percent of your daily calories from protein and only around 5–10 percent from carbohydrates.

If you veer off too much from these guidelines, chances are you won’t actually ever get into or stay in ketosis. And this is when you’d be most likely to experience symptoms like low energy and brain fog. That’s because you won’t be producing ketone bodies that supply the brain and body with energy.

The solution is to make sure you’re eating enough fat, but not too much protein or carbs. You may need to keep a food journal for several days to tally up your macronutrient ratio so you can make some adjustments if needed. Remember that you’re likely going to need to eat substantially more fat than you’re used to—and if you don’t eat enough, you won’t be giving your body enough fuel.

You should consume even more fat if you’re feeling hungry and weak. But if you eat too much protein, some of the amino acids can be converted into glucose, which is why the ketogenic diet is not a high-protein diet like many other low-carb diets.

Finally, make sure you’re not chronically in a calorie deficit from eating too few calories in general. This can also contribute to cravings, moodiness, fatigue, poor concentration, and other side effects.

Frequently asked questions