A ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that works for a lot of people because it targets key causes of weight gain such as hormonal imbalances, especially insulin resistance but how does it work?
To understand the ketogenic diet, you need to understand ketosis which is a metabolic state by which your body is “starved” of glucose for fuel and must look for fat sources instead. The body’s energy comes from ketone bodies in the blood rather than from glucose obtained from eating foods with carbohydrates.
During this process, the following things can happen to your body:
1. You can get the Keto flu
Keto flu symptoms can include feeling tired, having difficulty sleeping, digestive issues like constipation, weakness during workouts, being moody, losing libido and having bad breath.
To overcome these symptoms, try to adopt alkaline diet principles, add bone broth to your diet and reduce exercise load temporarily.
2. Your insulin levels can drop
On a normal diet, after eating glucose-containing foods, your insulin levels will be higher. But when you’re in ketosis, your insulin levels will drop and you can experience nausea (Steve Hertzler, PhD, RD, and chief scientific officer at EAS Sports Nutrition).
3. You can experience headaches
Our brains love glucose so it is normal that you experience headaches at the beginning. Make sure that you stay hydrated and you can even add half a teaspoon of salt to a large glass of water to help restore electrolytes that are lost during ketosis
Overall, symptoms go away as your body adjusts to being in ketosis which can take about two weeks. The good news is that these symptoms don't affect everyone, so if you're interested in keto, give it a try and see how you feel or talk to one of our Holistic Nutritionists for more information.
References:
· Dr. Axe, Keto Diet Food Lists
· Men’s Health, 6 Things That Happen to Your Body When You Go On a Ketogenic Diet by Isadora Baum
Photo Credit: Dr. Axe
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