“The first week of keto is the WORST” is what a couple people messaged me after I announced on Instagram that I was starting the ketogenic diet. I had no idea what they meant at first and thought they were just referring to how it’d be hard for me to stop eating so many carbs haha. But only later did I realize they were talking about the “keto flu”.
The “keto flu” is something that you cannot completely avoid – just from the way our body works! However, there are a couple remedies that I personally found to help significantly.
First off – what is the “keto flu”?
In two words: Carbs Withdrawal. By eating very minimal carbohydrates, your body starts using your fat to burn energy, instead of glucose (carbs). When you drastically stop eating carbs and only eat fat, your body goes into a semi-shock mode and you literally experience a carb withdrawal.
This withdrawal feeling ranges from person to person, depending on the amount of carbs you typically intake on a daily basis. Well, I friggen love carbs (and unconsciously used to think I was in a carb loading competition haha) so I was in for a reeeal treat. It is also hard to predict how long the “keto flu” will last for and how severe it will be until you’re really in it.
Some of your symptoms can include:
- Headaches / Dizziness
- Muscle cramps
- Nausea
- Being annoyed AF about anything and everything
- Difficulty sleeping
- Poor concentration
There are a tonne more, but these are the ones that I personally experienced severely. I had so, so much trouble sleeping and was probably the most easily irritable person on the planet (ask my boyfriend haha). The first day the keto flu hit me, it literally HIT me. I woke up at 4am and wasn’t able to sleep because my head felt like a train just ran over it. It was basically like a really bad hangover, but I didn’t even get to drink!!! It was a miserable time and I am so happy I wasn’t extremely busy at work when I started this diet because I was slow AF lol.
After accepting the fact that I was sick with the keto flu, listed below are the remedies that I found to help me through it.
This sounds stupid, but DRINK A LOT OF WATER.
- It is very important to stay hydrated in general, but even more so when you're on a keto diet.
- Simply put, carbs store water in your body. When your body burns your carbs in your body and you aren't replenishing the carbs anymore, the water levels in your body also decrease too.
- This causes dehydration and it contributes to the symptoms of being tired or having muscle cramps.
The next thing I immediately started doing was REPLENISH MY ELECTROLYTES THROUGH SUPPLEMENTS.
- The three main electrolyte deficiencies that cause the symptoms listed above are sodium, magnesium, and potassium. Your body loses sodium faster in the keto diet, and in turn, that messes up the magnesium and potassium levels too.
- An easy way to up your sodium levels is by just putting more salt on things, or if you are brave enough, drink a glass of salt water. I tried doing this, but honestly couldn't handle it LOL. So I opted for the first option. Also, the below supplement has sodium in it too so double win.
- For some reason, I had a bottle of Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc supplements at home (life saver). I had two the morning after my horrible 4am headache wake-up call & by noon, I was already feeling a little better. I took another oe that evening before going to bed and didn't have a problem sleeping. I continued taking 1 pill when I woke up and 1 before going to bed, and did not have a headache again. NO joke.
- As for potassium, you must be thinking, "oh just eat a banana." Well, did you know that an average-sized banana has around 25g of carbs? LOL I didn't. So that was a no go. The easiest way I found to get potassium without cutting into my carb intake was honestly just through a powdered supplement. I stirred Vega Sport's Electrolye Hydrator into water and chugged it. I'm only recommending this because it actually tasted good and it has 0g of carbs.
Lastly, FEED YOUR BRAIN.
- One of the biggest things that people warned me about the lack of mental clarity during this keto flu (thanks Krystle haha).
- However, I'm really happy to say that I only had about 1 day where my head was completely in the clouds and wasn't really able to function.
- I'd like to attribute that to the Lion's Mane & Cordyceps (I like to refer to them as "brain mushrooms") that I've been taking with my coffee every morning the past couple weeks. Thanks Four Sigmatic for blessing me with your products!
- I also added MCT oil to my morning coffees, which is a very powerful fatty acid that supports cognitive function and energy levels - and of course, vvv keto friendly.
And I am serious when I say the above worked for me. Literally, once I incorporated these remedies, I was out of my keto flu within 2 days! I felt great (inside and out) and my brain felt like it was on another level. It was honestly very weird. I almost felt like I had a clearer sense of life. Is this what it means to be in ketosis? Maybe I’ll touch on that subject after a few more weeks of trying the ketogenic diet. ;)
Until then, I really hope that these remedies help you if you’re infected by the keto flu!
Happy Keto-ing!
- - -
Happy Keto-ing!
- - -
