Five common side effects of keto diet

18^th January 2018

The editorial unit

The editorial unit

18 January 2018

Embracing a keto diet is an idea that would help you improve your health, but this also comes with a few challenges that you should know about. One of the challenges likely to manifest in the first few days after switching to a keto diet is side effects. Most of the side effects are not permanent and are as a result of the transition, which is a normal way in which your body responds to the change in diet. To help you understand more about this, here are some of the most common side effects of a keto diet.

Dizziness and drowsiness

If you are hypoglycemic and new to the keto diet, you are likely to experience energy deficiency within your body. In this period, you will get dizzy and drowsy because of the general lack of energy. In most cases, you will feel dizzy when you stand after sitting for a long period of time, which is because of blood pressure dysregulation. As your body gets used to the keto diet, this feeling fades off, but if it persists it is advisable you seek the opinion of a nutritionist or medical doctor.

Constipation

Constipation occurs when you embrace a keto diet because you are not maintaining the right mineral/electrolyte balance during adaptation. Low water content and change in microbe are the biggest suspects in this case, and this is because most keto ingredients don’t give you the high hydration you need.

Eating a lot of nuts, cheese, and eggs could be the reason you are undergoing constipation, so make sure to reduce intake of such foods until you are fully enrolled in a keto diet. In the stages of keto adaptation, you should choose foods that are easy on your digestive system and make sure to change gradually.

Muscle cramps

You might also have discovered that after switching to a keto diet you got muscle cramps. This is mainly caused by mineral imbalance. Minerals are essential and help in nerve impulse conductivity, so when you have an imbalance it means you could get misconducted impulses, which lead to the cramps. While on a keto diet take lots of water and consume foods rich in minerals to ensure you don’t suffer deficiency. Also use magnesium supplement to help prevent diarrhoea, which is also a common side effect of keto diet.

Diarrhoea

In the initial phases of a keto diet, you might also experience diarrhoea. This is common due to changes in microbiome and occurs as you change your diet. The best solution to this is taking activated charcoal or citrus pectin until diarrhoea subsides.

Bad breath

Bad breath is also a side effect you will get after switching to a keto diet and it happens because of the release of ketones in your breath or urine and sweat. The likely cause for this is acetone, which is a type of ketone that gets released on the breath thereby causing you to have a metallic taste in your mouth. This side effect is normally temporary and disappears in few weeks and you don’t need to drop your keto diet. After switching to a keto diet, consider using sugar-free breath fresheners, and also make sure to observe rigorous oral hygiene. Of course, the ones above are just a few of the many side effects of switching to a keto diet, so if you would like to see more of the most common side-effects of being on keto this source could be useful.

If you are considering switching to a keto diet, besides pursuing its benefits, you also need to understand some of the side effects you are likely to suffer. But if any of the signs discussed above shows, don’t panic as this is the body’s response to change in diet, and it is often temporary.

The editorial unit