A lot of people believe that ketosis is an extremely dangerous method to reduce excess body weight in a person. This is because they are co-relating ketosis with ketoacidosis. Where ketoacidosis is an acute condition that is caused due to unrestrained diabetes, ketosis is pure and completely natural metabolic state. Though it is mostly considered to be safe for people, however, can result in a few side effects in the starting phase.
Understanding Ketosis
Ketosis is a part of metabolism that occurs when carb intake is too low, or when a person has not eaten for prolonged time period. When it happens, your liver gets a surge of fat, that converts a large portion of it into ketones. During the process of ketosis, most of the body parts including brain burn ketones for energy in place of carbs. Muscle Up Meals offers you the best keto meal prep to suit your fitness goals effectively.
Ketosis takes a little time to produce results. It takes your brain and body to adapt to burn ketones and fat in place of carbs. During this phase of adaptation, a person may feel transitory side-effects. These are also called as the “keto flu” or “low-carb flu”.
What is Low-Carb or Keto Flu?
In the starting stage of ketosis, one may experience negative symptoms, commonest one being “low-carb flu”. As the symptoms of this side effect resemble the symptoms of a flu, it is referred as flu. This is not a serious side effect and disappears in a short time span. Some of the symptoms that this side effect may include are as follows:
- Headache
- Brain fog
- Fatigue
- Poor sleep
- Increased hunger
- Decreased physical performance
- Nausea
Due to all the above issues, many people get discouraged from continuing their ketogenic diet. However, this side effect usually disappears within some days.
Bad Breath
Acetone is formed as a by-product of metabolism of fat. A slightly sweet and fruity smell of the breath is due to increased levels of acetone in the body. These elevated levels of acetone vanish within just a few weeks.
Cramp in Leg Muscles
In ketosis, a few people experience cramps in leg. Cramps in leg in ketosis is connected to loss of minerals and dehydration. As ketosis leads to reduction in water weight, Glycogen starts to bind water in the body. By reducing carb intake, this gets eliminated from the body from the 1st week of consuming an intense low carbohydrate diet.
Ways to Reduce the Occurrence of Side Effects
Below are mentioned a few ways to reduce the adverse signs of ketosis.
- Drink a lot of water
- Increase consumption of salt in your diet
- Increase mineral intake
- Avoid rigorous exercise
- Go on a low carbohydrate diet first
- Eat fiber rich foods
Conclusion
As excess of anything is bad for the body, same is the case with ketosis. Excessive ketosis can be quite dangerous for people suffering from type 1 diabetes and other rare situations. So, it is advisable to implement this diet regimen under constant supervision of a competent and knowledgeable doctor.