Keto Flu?
dfriar1971
Posts: 6 Member
Hi
I am relatively new to MFP, having trying it on and off for several years, but this one I have tried to stick to for about 2 weeks now.
So basically pre-diet, would have been high-ish carbs, fat, sugar. But because I haven't baselined my eating habits prior to the diet, it is difficult to compare.
Most diets I have been on before now have focused on WW Points rather than Nutrients, but now I am trying to strip out certain items like bread and doughnuts, crisps and eat more pasta, fruit etc.
So now:
Water intake: now 2L min (before it was < 1L)
Carbs are around 150g
Cals are around 1500
Steps: now 13000 - 15000 / day (before it was 6K tops)
I do 7 mins of HIIT every morning and occasionally go to do weights for 10-15 mins.
First time I did this I ended up with a nasty cold. (about 2 weeks), Now I feel like I can hardly walk, light headed and distant like in a semi-dream state.
My Carbs aren't too low (i.e. above 90g) So why am I struggling and how long should it last, and also I am not loosing that much weight. (Still 18st 8 ish)
I am relatively new to MFP, having trying it on and off for several years, but this one I have tried to stick to for about 2 weeks now.
So basically pre-diet, would have been high-ish carbs, fat, sugar. But because I haven't baselined my eating habits prior to the diet, it is difficult to compare.
Most diets I have been on before now have focused on WW Points rather than Nutrients, but now I am trying to strip out certain items like bread and doughnuts, crisps and eat more pasta, fruit etc.
So now:
Water intake: now 2L min (before it was < 1L)
Carbs are around 150g
Cals are around 1500
Steps: now 13000 - 15000 / day (before it was 6K tops)
I do 7 mins of HIIT every morning and occasionally go to do weights for 10-15 mins.
First time I did this I ended up with a nasty cold. (about 2 weeks), Now I feel like I can hardly walk, light headed and distant like in a semi-dream state.
My Carbs aren't too low (i.e. above 90g) So why am I struggling and how long should it last, and also I am not loosing that much weight. (Still 18st 8 ish)
0
Replies
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If you are going to eat more pasta and fruit I doubt it will be possible to get keto flu. Your carbs will be too high.5
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Are you forcing water? “Keto flu” is caused by the abrupt loss of the electrolytes stored in the water we stop retaining when we go into ketosis, not by ketosis itself. You can get basically the same effect by over-hydrating yourself and then peeing them out (or by consuming immoderate amounts of any liquid for reasons other than thirst, such as alcohol).
So have you more than doubled your water intake because you realized you’ve been thirsty all along and have stopped ignoring it, or are you making yourself drink more because you think you’re “supposed to”?2 -
sounds like you're still recovering from your cold. eat at maintenance for a week, if it doesn't go away i'd take a trip to the doctors.6
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You don't say what your height and current weight are so there is no context. Maybe you are underfueling. Are you eating back exercise calories or some portion? What is your weekly weight loss goal? Are you male or female? You aren't experiencing keto flu at that number of carbs. So, it's something else.
Also true HIIT should only be done 2x per week and is a specific protocol for improving VO2 max. Is that why you are doing it? It can create CNS fatigue and shouldn't be done every day. What type of HIIT routine are you doing?5 -
It sounds like your cold to me.
But it could partially be from low electrolytes.
Keto flu is an electrolyte imbalance. When you drop carbs your insulin falls and insulin is largely responsible for water and sodium retention. You need to replace the sodium you are losing with at least 3000-5000+ mg of sodium a day. 2300 mg sodium = 1 tsp salt. Some like to drink a few cups of salty broth, others use salt tablets or just eat a partial tsp of salt a couple of times a day.
If it is low sodium, adding more should help within a day.
As said already, if you force water, you'll actually make it worse.1 -
It sounds like your cold to me. But it could partially be from low electrolytes.
Keto flu is an electrolyte imbalance. When you drop carbs your insulin falls and insulin is largely responsible for water and sodium retention. You need to replace the sodium you are losing with at least 3000-5000+ mg of sodium a day. 2300 mg sodium = 1 tsp salt. Some like to drink a few cups of salty broth, others use salt tablets or just eat a partial tsp of salt a couple of times a day.
If it is low sodium, adding more should help within a day.
As said already, if you force water, you'll actually make it worse.
Electrolyte imbalance at 150 grams of carbs per day?5 -
You don't say what your height and current weight are so there is no context. Maybe you are underfueling. Are you eating back exercise calories or some portion? What is your weekly weight loss goal? Are you male or female? You aren't experiencing keto flu at that number of carbs. So, it's something else.
Also true HIIT should only be done 2x per week and is a specific protocol for improving VO2 max. Is that why you are doing it? It can create CNS fatigue and shouldn't be done every day. What type of HIIT routine are you doing?
@dfriar1971 I was wondering about height, weight, and underfueling as well. And what percentage of your exercise calories are you eating back?0 -
It sounds like your cold to me. But it could partially be from low electrolytes.
Keto flu is an electrolyte imbalance. When you drop carbs your insulin falls and insulin is largely responsible for water and sodium retention. You need to replace the sodium you are losing with at least 3000-5000+ mg of sodium a day. 2300 mg sodium = 1 tsp salt. Some like to drink a few cups of salty broth, others use salt tablets or just eat a partial tsp of salt a couple of times a day.
If it is low sodium, adding more should help within a day.
As said already, if you force water, you'll actually make it worse.
Electrolyte imbalance at 150 grams of carbs per day?
Yes. Cutting carbs will drop insulin which loses electrolytes. If the OP started at higher carbs, like 300g or so, that's cutting carbs in half. One does not need to be keto to get the electrolyte imbalance... that's part of the reason that I dislike that term so much. It's an electrolyte imbalance and not a "keto flu".
1 -
My weight is 18st 10 height 5ft 8
On a baseline pre diet I take 2.5k Cals 300g carb
50g fat and relatively low water intake (prob 1 Ltr)
On a monitored day diet I stick to my daily limit as advised by mfp and drink 2ltrs as everyone including health advisers say it’s the general norm
The only problem is I then need the loo about 10 times a day 🙂
When I take a non diet baseline I feel ok
But feel rubbish if I stick to the figures advised by mfp0 -
Oh I am male
HIIT is probably just a 10 min leg raise / jog on spot for 20 secs / plank for 20 secs and squat for 20 secs and repeat 3 times
I normally alternate between low carb high protein and swap but I am also testing an anti-gluten theory which is causing carb problems so alternate high carb day is suffering
I.e a protein day is easy with a chicken salad 🙂0 -
150g of carbs and hiit for 7 min and weights for 10-15 min should not put you into ketosis. 150g is low carb not keto per se(unless you are an athlete/extremely active then its posible that you could enter ketosis at 100g or less but dont think 150g net or more would causes ketosis). the electroylyte imbalance from so much water highly possible, as for not losing weight how much is not much? you dont lose any faster on low carb than you do any other diet,what you do lose is water.1
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When I was switching between carb and protein
I went from 16 st to 12st 10 in about 2 months
Now I am lucky to loose 1 lb a week and then it will go back up again I’ve not shifted much for 12 months I.e 3 lbs
Why is 2 Ltrs of water too high0 -
dfriar1971 wrote: »When I was switching between carb and protein
I went from 16 st to 12st 10 in about 2 months
Now I am lucky to loose 1 lb a week and then it will go back up again I’ve not shifted much for 12 months I.e 3 lbs
Why is 2 Ltrs of water too high
if you are active(or sweating a lot) then it probably isnt,but for some it may be too much,and if you are drinking other things or eating fruits high in water then you are taking in even more water,which means flushing out electrolytes which can make you think you have the keto flu while not being in ketosis
as for not shifting weight if you havent lost much in the last year then you are either in a very very small deficit or eating maintenance calories.1 -
interesting. never heard of keto flu, but i def had it last week. lost two days of work bc of it. figured it was regular flu and just bad timing as it was a few days (week?) after starting keto. there are parts of the days i don't remember. wicked muscle spasms whenever i stretched to reach something. also learned that iced tea is a diuretic, as i was trying to stay hydrated with that. apparently, had opposite effect. thanks for the info...2
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knightreader wrote: »interesting. never heard of keto flu, but i def had it last week. lost two days of work bc of it. figured it was regular flu and just bad timing as it was a few days (week?) after starting keto. there are parts of the days i don't remember. wicked muscle spasms whenever i stretched to reach something. also learned that iced tea is a diuretic, as i was trying to stay hydrated with that. apparently, had opposite effect. thanks for the info...
the diuretic properties of tea arent as high as most would think.you lost work? sure it wasnt the flu? there is a virus going around mimicing the flu as well. as for keto flu upping sodium,potassium and magnesium can prevent it0
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