Is It The Keto Flu?
and other symptoms you may experience when adapting to a carnivore lifestyle. plus a carnivore breakfast recipe
You are about a week into your new food lifestyle, carnivore/keto and you start to feel ‘flu-ish’, don’t despair, you most likely just have the keto flu.
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It is actually very common for people who adapt to the carnivore/keto lifestyle to start to develop certain flu-like symptoms (ex. body aches, fatigue, stomach unease) around the first week (7 - 10 days) of diet changes. There is a specific reason for this and this is not any reason to stop your new journey as symptoms will subside but you can prepare properly to lessen the chance of this happening.
What Causes the Keto/Carnivore Flu?
The carbohydrates we eat are primarily used in our body as a source of energy. Our body uses carbohydrates first rather than burning fat for energy. When we switch to a keto/carnivore lifestyle, our body now uses and metabolizes fat to produce energy. When we switch to this mode of metabolism, it takes a bit of time for our bodies to adjust. This adjustment period is where we can produce symptoms that are similar to the flu (tired, achy, irritable, gastrointestinal issues).
But don’t despair, the symptoms usually subside after a week or so. But why does this happen?
When we transition to a ketogenic metabolism, we experience a decline in insulin levels, which is a good thing as it improves our insulin sensitivity over the long term.
Insulin has a lot of different roles in our body other than regulating blood glucose balance. It is an important factor to signal our kidneys to conserve sodium. But when insulin drops during the keto/carnivore transition, so does our sodium levels. Although some may say this is a good thing, it actually is not. Sodium is an important mineral for our sodium/potassium internal pump.
When we don’t provide enough sodium at the beginning of the ketosis (ketosis is the metabolic state when our bodies use ketones from fat as your main energy source), it will also deplete our magnesium and potassium which is our basis of electrolytes. This can also provide the symptoms of the keto/carnivore flu which is most likely due to an electrolyte imbalance. So during the change to carnivore, it is important to add a good quality sea salt to your water and food or you can add an electrolyte powder to your water daily.
Other Symptoms You May Experience When Changing to the Carnivore Lifestyle
Fatigue
As you switch up your metabolism from carbohydrates to fats, you body will be inefficient in using this new energy source and you will be experimenting with the right balance between protein and fat to consume.
This was a hard one for me to get accustomed to when it came to eating enough food to maintain energy levels as we have been programmed to a certain way when it comes to portion sizes.
Some people may also suffer from a decreased stomach acid production during this transition with the addition and deletion of foods. This can cause the inability to absorb all the nutrients that we require from our food and can lead to short term fatigue. But this issue does work itself our eventually as our body becomes more efficient with the new fuel. In the short term, you can add digestive enzymes to aid in the transition.
Bowel Movements
Let’s talk about poop! Yes, your bowel movements will change short term - either constipation or the opposite, diarrhea.
Most people who eat a high fiber diet are used to as well as told, that it is normal to have daily bowel movements. No need to worry. People who go carnivore dramatically reduce their fiber intake to almost zero. To compensate for the decrease in fiber, we need to replace that with fat, which can also increase the chances of looser stools in the short term. When we eat meat, the meat is almost completely absorbed within the small intestine, which also reduces the amount of waste we are needing to eliminate. It is for these two main reasons that we have a change in bowel movements. Once our digestive systems shift from a fiber loving gut bacteria to a meat loving gut bacteria, and learn how to use the fat for mobility and not fiber, things will become normal again.
Muscle Cramps
One may also experience muscle cramps due to electrolyte deficiencies that can occur with sodium, magnesium and potassium levels fluctuating. This can be rectified by adding sea salt or electrolytes to your daily regime.
Some may also experience other symptoms such as headaches, insomnia or skin issues. This is a result of our body changing how it metabolizes food and the natural detoxification process our body goes through. These symptoms should all correct themselves within a few weeks. If symptoms do persists for a longer period of time, you may need to look at other root causes or need to adapt the keto/carnivore lifestyle for your unique needs.
Questions: ask me in the comments
Danni
As I have mentioned, I am offering recipes, support and other resource on the carnivore lifestyle for paid subscribers for the month of January. Today’s recipe is for a Carnivore Breakfast Sandwich and I am sharing with all my subscribers.
Carnivore Breakfast Sandwich
First you want to make the ‘bread’. And this comes in the form of a ‘chaffle’ - cheese and egg waffle. This works best if you have a mini waffle maker but you can also use a large waffle maker as well
To make a chaffle, scramble one large egg with some shredded cheese. I just eye ball the amount of cheese depending on how cheesy you want your ‘bread’. Make 2 chaffles
Cook some bacon or ham and then fry an egg. Assemble the sandwich and add some more shredded cheese on top of the egg.
Enjoy!
I've never had a chaffle. Worth a go