Key Takeaway: It’s going to be okay!
A few things can happen when starting a ketogenic program that may seem foreign to you . Don’t worry. There’s no cause for alarm; most are quite common and go away once your body adjusts to being in ketosis. By following Keyto principles, you may limit or prevent many of these common conditions. Here are some tips to help:
1. Urinating Frequently- When you start keto, depleting your glycogen stores results in marked duress (loss of water weight). It’s recommended to drink more water during this period to prevent dehydration. That combined with your body releasing excess sodium results in frequent urination. It should balance out after the first few days.
2. Bad Breath- As your body enters ketosis, it releases ketones in different ways. One of them, acetone, is excreted through the lungs. So you’ll be breathing it out, which is exactly what Keyto uses to measure your ketosis level. Acetone has a distinctive smell and can be perceived as unpleasant to some. However, this may go away after the first week or two once your body adjusts. Some things that can help in the meantime:
- Drink More Water- some of the bad breath can be dry mouth.
- Increase carbs slightly- this reduces the level of ketosis a little but also helps with the breath.
- Breath fresheners- keep some sugar-free breath mints and gum handy during that first week.
- Oral hygiene- take extra care in brushing your teeth and using mouthwash, maybe an extra time or two per day.
3. Stomach Issues- The digestive system is going to need some time to adapt. It’s as simple as that, and it can go one of two ways. One way could be constipation, which results from dehydration as you lose more fluids than normal. Drink a lot of water, eat fibrous vegetables, and take a magnesium supplement to help minimize this common problem. The other way it could go is…diarrhea. This can just be your body adjusting or because you’re eating too much protein and not enough fat. Take Metamucil or husk powder to help deal with this transient issue.
4. Flu-like Symptoms- The Keto Flu is a challenge for some, with symptoms including headaches, low energy, and irritability. The good news is it’s totally avoidable or treatable. The two most important things with this are hydration and salt intake. Drink a lot of water, sprinkle sea salt on everything, or drink bone broth which is full of salt and minerals.
5. Sugar Cravings- Going off carbs can cause sugar cravings to intensify, luckily this is mostly mindset. Work through it, trust the process, and after a few days it will gradually diminish. If you have to, use monk fruit or stevia as a sweetener to get that fix.