The "Keto Flu" and How to Beat It

     When you first begin a low or no carb lifestyle, your body (mostly your gut microbiome) will rebel. You will experience extreme fatigue, irritability, headaches, maybe even a low grade fever and extreme cravings for carbs. Does this sound familiar? It is almost exactly what would happen if you were a habitual smoker that suddenly quit smoking cold turkey. The "keto flu", as it is sometimes called, is not at all unique, it is an addiction response your body is having to addictive material, in this case, carbs / sugar. 

    Much like if you decided to quit smoking, you can use "quit aids" to help you along your journey and make the process less painful. There are nicotine patches, lozenges, and gum that help you cut back or eliminate smoking without all the withdrawal symptoms. IF you find it almost impossible to quit sugar and get on this ideal way of eating, these are the tools you can use to make your transition much less painful. 

    1. Electrolytes (especially sodium) - When you first begin, your body will dump water (inflammation) like it is going out of style. Your body needs to get rid of the glycogen and glucose in your body, and it does this by expelling the glucose through urine and feces. While you are dumping all this sugar, your urine will also expel with it sodium, potassium, magnesium, and other trace minerals. This will leave you feeling like absolute garbage if those minerals are not replaced. Salt your food liberally, add electrolytes to your water if necessary (LMNT makes a great electrolyte packet that has no added sweeteners). However, if you feel like death, you can just use a couple beef or chicken broth cubes in water to get a quick, delicious hit of salt. If you have none of these on hand, just add a 1/4 tsp of pink salt to 16 oz of water and chug it down, you should feel a little better in 5-10 minutes. 

    2. The Go Fit Yourself methadone method - Much like if you quit heroin in a controlled environment, the doctors would supply you with methadone, a heroin substitute to help alleviate withdrawal symptoms. Well we will use sugar just like this: on day one you will eat 80-100 grams of sugar in the form of fruit or honey or whatever, just pick something you can control easily. After a day or two, you will drop the carbs by 20 grams (if you started with 100 grams of sugar, you would drop to 80 grams of sugar). After another day or 2, you will drop another 20 grams. You will follow this pattern until you are using 20 grams of sugar per day, you can hold here for another week or just go right into 0 sugar living. This will help your gut adjust to your new way of life and prevent some of these withdrawal symptoms. 

    3. Exogenous ketones - This is my least favorite method, but it might work for you. If you are not in ketosis yet and you are living a low carb life, it can be tough. If you use exogenous ketones (very temporarily, we want your body to make it's own ketones asap), you will feel relief and a slight energy boost almost right away. This is a small taste of what real ketosis feels like. Once again, this method should be used for only a week or 2 and only if symptoms have you feeling like death. 

    ALWAYS remember that the "keto flu" is a temporary situation. Depending on how deep you are in the SAD (Standard American Diet), the transition from being a sugar burner to a fat burner could take anywhere from 3 days all the way up to 30 days. But keep your eyes on the prize: non-stop energy, the least pain you have ever felt in your life, clear thinking as if coming out of a fog you didn't know you were in, alleviation of most depression and anxiety symptoms, steady, almost effortless fat loss, and even the reversal or remission of diabetes and arthritis. So stay strong, even if you have PCOS, even if you have Hashimoto's, the benefits of a no / low carb way of life are within your reach. If you need to hop on the "Go Fit Yourself Swoldiers" FB page and vent, ask questions, and look for support, I am here for you.