Keto Weakness: What's Behind The Lack Of Energy?

Feeling weak and tired is a common side effect of starting a keto diet. This is often referred to as keto flu, and it occurs as the body switches from burning carbohydrates for energy to burning fat. This transition can cause dehydration and a loss of electrolytes, which can leave you feeling weak and tired. In addition, the keto diet can suppress your appetite, making it easy to undereat and causing a reduction in energy hormones. To combat keto fatigue, it is recommended to eat more calories, drink plenty of water, and increase your salt and electrolyte intake.

Dehydration

As your body adjusts to burning fat for energy, it can prompt water loss that always causes a loss of electrolytes and leaves you feeling drained and weak.

To combat dehydration, it's important to get enough salt in your diet. Consider adding small amounts of salt or electrolyte supplements to your diet, while also ensuring you're consuming at least eight cups of water each day. Sea salt is best, as it contains trace amounts of the minerals potassium, magnesium and calcium in addition to sodium.

Drinking enough water is important no matter what kind of lifestyle you're living, but it's especially vital when following a keto diet because you have to replace all of the water that's lost. As a general rule, aim to drink about half your body weight (in pounds) in ounces of water. So if you weigh 200 pounds, you'll need about 100 ounces of water every day.

Lack of salt

When you start a ketogenic diet, your body enters a state of ketosis, which means it's burning fat for energy instead of carbohydrates. This major metabolic change can lead to an imbalance of electrolytes in your body, including sodium (salt).

The keto diet is a low-carbohydrate diet, and carbohydrates play an important role in retaining water and sodium in the body. When you cut down on carbs, your body also eliminates important electrolytes like sodium, potassium, and magnesium. As a result, more sodium is flushed out of your body, making it harder to retain water.

This can lead to dehydration, which is a common cause of fatigue on the keto diet. Dehydration can cause symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, muscle cramps, and heart palpitations.

To combat dehydration, it's crucial to increase your salt intake. Aim to generously salt your food according to your preferred taste. If you're still feeling tired, try adding one teaspoon of salt to a glass of water in the morning or opt for bone broth, which is high in salt. You can also try adding electrolyte supplements to your diet, while ensuring you're drinking at least eight cups of water each day.

By increasing your salt intake, you can alleviate many of the side effects associated with the keto diet, including fatigue.

It's important to note that everyone's tolerance for carbohydrates is different, and some people may need to restrict their net carb intake to less than 20 grams per day to enter ketosis. Additionally, the keto diet can suppress your appetite, leading to unintentional undereating. Tracking your calorie intake and ensuring you're consuming enough calories can help address fatigue.

If you're experiencing long-lasting exhaustion on the keto diet, it's important to speak with a medical professional to rule out any underlying issues or problems with your diet management.

Low-calorie intake

If you're feeling weak and tired after starting keto, it's possible that you're simply not eating enough calories. Ketosis suppresses appetite, making it easier to maintain a calorie deficit throughout the day. While this is great for weight loss, it's easy to unintentionally undereat on keto. Not eating enough can leave you feeling exhausted, and this is a relatively common problem for people new to keto.

Undereating reduces your body's production of thyroid hormones and other energy hormones. Over time, this can even cause your metabolism to crash. To avoid this, make sure you're eating enough calories to maintain your energy levels. For most people, this means not cutting your daily calories by more than 500 below your basal metabolic rate (BMR).

To calculate your BMR, you can use a formula like the Harris-Benedict equation, which will give you a rough approximation of how many calories your body burns in a day. If you're trying to lose weight, it's generally recommended to eat 500 calories less than your BMR, which should result in about one pound of weight loss per week.

If you're not trying to lose weight, try to keep your calorie intake close to your BMR. This is especially important if you're quite lean, as you won't have a lot of extra body fat to use as fuel.

If you're practising intermittent fasting, you'll need to be mindful of your total calorie consumption over the course of a week. On fasting days, you'll be well below your BMR, so make sure to compensate by eating more than your BMR on non-fasting days.

Keep in mind that keto is not a low-calorie diet. It's important to make sure you're getting enough calories, especially in the beginning when your body is adjusting to this new way of eating.

Lack of exercise

To combat fatigue caused by lack of exercise, it is important to incorporate physical activity into your routine. Even brisk daily walks can help improve your energy levels. However, it is essential to start slowly and avoid vigorous workouts, especially if you are new to keto. Low-intensity, steady-state exercises like jogging, cycling, or yoga are often better tolerated on a keto diet than high-intensity workouts.

Additionally, ensuring proper nutrition is crucial. The keto diet should not be an excuse to eat unhealthy foods. Prioritize fresh vegetables, high-quality proteins like fish or steak, and healthy fats. Make sure you are consuming enough calories and staying properly hydrated. Dehydration can also contribute to feelings of weakness, so drink plenty of water and consider adding electrolytes to your diet.

Finally, be mindful of potential underlying health issues. If fatigue persists or worsens, consult a medical professional to rule out any other contributing factors.

Lack of healthy fats

The keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that is meant to force your body into ketosis, a state in which your body burns stored fat for energy instead of carbohydrates. This can lead to weight loss, but it can also cause fatigue, especially when you are just starting out.

If you are feeling weak after starting the keto diet, it may be because you are not consuming enough healthy fats. On the keto diet, about 60-80% of your daily calories should come from fats. If you are not getting enough fat from your diet and you are limiting your carb intake, then you are not getting enough calories. Even if you are trying to lose weight, your body needs enough calories and energy to function properly. Not consuming enough fat can slow down your metabolism because your body does not have the necessary energy to maintain it.

Some of the best sources of healthy fats to include in your keto diet are:

• Avocado and avocado oil
• Nuts and seeds (and nut and seed butters)
• Olives and olive oil
• Coconuts and unrefined coconut oil
• Oily fish (e.g. tuna, salmon, sardines)
• Full-fat Greek yogurt
• Cheese
• Butter
• Whole eggs

In addition to including these healthy fats in your diet, it is important to avoid artificial trans fats, processed meats, and fried foods. These types of fats can lead to negative health consequences and should be limited on the keto diet.

By ensuring you are consuming enough healthy fats, you can help reduce feelings of weakness and fatigue while on the keto diet.

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