As we all know the ketogenic diet is low carb, high fat and moderate protein diet. This diet regime has been gaining a lot of popularity among people as there have been effective results achieved by people following this kind of diet regime.
Keto diet has also been very well associated with the reduced body weight and insulin resistance. Also, there have been multiple health benefits of the ketogenic diet such as imporoved cardiovascular health, brain function. However there are have been multiple side effects of following the keto diet, mostly some of them are only seen in the beginning and some of them will go away once you are fat adapted.
Note: All of these mentioned side effects depend from person to person not everyone will face the same side effects. In fact, a lot of people have followed the keto diet and have not experience among of these till now.
7 Most Common Side effects:
Keto Flu
One of the most common side effects of the keto diet us the “low-carb flu”. Also known as the keto induction flu. Symptoms of this usually include the headache, weakness and brain fog, increased hunger and fatigue.
This happens when the body is utilizing the glucose for energy, which is derived from carbohydrates. By reducing the carbohydrate intake in a ketogenic diet, The body uses the fat stored at a metabolic state known as ketosis. During this state the body needs a few more days to adjust to the metabolic state, during this the body the body expresses flu like symptoms.
These flu symptoms usually kast around 2-3 days or even upto 2-3 weeks for some weeks, It gives enough time for the body to adapt in the ketosis state.
The keto bad Breath
The most common side effect of all is the bad breath. One of the most common keto bodies which are formed during ketosis is acetone and the its smell resembles to the nail polish remover
When the body is having the fat metabolism, the level of acetone secretion increases and it disposes very bad breath or smell from the urine as well.
Though this is temporary and after 1 or 2 weeks, the bad smell goes away.
Digestive Problems
Digestive problems are also a side effect of following the ketogenic diet such as constipation and diarrhea.
This is mainly because of the lack of fiber in the ketogenic diet that causes the constipation, especially in the beginning of the diet regime.Some people face the problem of diarrhea that is basically due to the reduced fat consumption together along with the carbohydrate restriction. The body takes time in order to get used this type of macronutrient intake. It only requires patience for the result to show.
Leg Muscle cramps
While on a keto diet, It is very among people to experience the muscle cramps, especially in the area of legs.
The main reason behind these cramps is the lack of water intake and loss of minerals in the body. Dehydration is a logical adverse effect.
Make sure that you drink plenty of water and In case there are still cramps in the body, then you can also go for the magnesium supplements.
Decreased Physical Performance
A relatively common but short term effect of the keto diet is the decreased physical performance.
However once the body adapts to the process of ketosis then, It comes back to the previous body performance.
So, the initial weakness or reduction in athletic performance is to be faced only in case of the beginning of the ketogenic diet.
Low Blood Sugar
One of the side effects is low blood sugar or hypoglycemia.
Hypoglycemia refers to low blood glucose levels. It is a short term experience and simple solutions for this can be drinking plenty of water, increasing the meals frequency and oral magnesium supplements.
Heart Palpitations(Increased Heart rate)
This is side effect where there is an increase in the heart rate of the person where the heart is beating too fast or too hard.
This is not a symptom to worry as this occurs frequently in the first days of the keto diet. Always, make sure that you stay hydrated and adding more salt in your diet is very important.
I Hope this content was of some help!!!
Thanks that’s all !!!
Khalid Irfan is a Fitness expert who enjoys spending time in gym. He also enjoys being in the outdoors and exploring new opportunities whenever they arise as well as researching new topics to expand his horizons.
