Hi peeps…
This has been an emotional rollercoaster for me… but every since I started keto there’s something that has remained stable…and that is my chapped lips! Ever since I started I noticed the corner of my mouth was really dry.I have NEVER experienced this before…now it’s my lips too. It’s been like 3.5 months already. I live in Dubai so it’s Definitely not the cold weather, I drink 3-4 liters of water a day, I don’t take any supplements but according to my bloodwork everything seems to be ok and the doctor told me “Oh yeah, it’s normal on Keto…you’re eating like a diabetic, what do you expect” which for me it’s not a valid answer but anywho… what do you guys recommend? Could it be fungal? Should I just apply canesten or some other cream on it? I’ve tried different chapsticks (shea butter, lemon oil) and nothing has worked…NOTHING!So any recommendations will be extremely helpful. Thanks
Chapped lips anyone?
My first guess would be hydration - I’m guessing in Dubai you’re either in aircon all the time or outside in a furnace, both of which would dehydrate you more than the average bear. For me it’s a good sign I haven’t hydrated for a while.
Do any of these other causes ring true? It may have nothing to do with keto.
I don’t have any specific answers. I did want to say that I experienced the chapped lips issue after about 2 months of keto. I have never really used chapstick in my life until I hit that point in my keto journey. For me, it was using chapstick to deal with the dryness. The issue went away after a couple of weeks.
I was drinking plenty of water so I don’t think it was dehydration. Hopefully, this is something that will pass for you as well.
I had awful chapped lips for months after starting keto, after trying all sorts of balms and salves and supplements I finally fixed the problem by adding extra salt to my diet. Salt helps your body retain water and on keto you need more of it than you think.
I get bad chapped lips, which cause cold sore flares for me, and the biggest help I’ve found is an olive oil and beeswax mix. It’s creamier than chapstick and is easy to make at home. (In a pinch, while waiting on a beeswax re-supply, I’ve also just used olive oil, and it works well, just needs to be reapplied more often.)
Sounds like a possible B-vitamin deficiency to me. Google the symptoms. Especially that you are describing dry-cracked corners of your mouth.
If water is not your issue… Check this:
https://www.drberg.com/blog/the-nutritional-cause-of-chapped-lips