Ahhhh the mystery of Keto flu.
It has been said that electrolytes can prevent the Keto flu. I wonder if more is at play than just electrolytes. I wonder if part of Keto flu is ketones themselves.
Anyone have any personal opinions on this idea ?
Does Phinney’s book cover this ?
If anyone has a ketone meter and is entering ketosis… see of symptoms are proportional to ketone levels.
Nothing to do with ketones. It’s a mix of electrolyte imbalance due to the metabolism changes + carbohydrate withdrawal (sugar estimulates the reward mecanismo of the brain like other drugs).
If some of Keto flu is the ketones themselves… exogenous ketones should make the symptoms worse.
That should be easy to prove.
Two grams of extra salt/day. Reduced carbs give kidney’s permission to release fluid instead of retaining it. (You are losing more than normal salt with increased urine output.) Problem solved. Have been following nutritional ketosis for 3+ years. Never a “flu”. Kind Regards, Bob O’Connell, RN
I’m sure they’ve done IV administration studies with ketones and no one got the Keto flu. It should be easy to prove / disprove this.
It’s not the ketones themselves. If I fall out of ketosis for a period of time, I take exogenous ketones and up my salts and fall right back in without symptoms.
I don’t dispute it. I’m just looking for a bit more “proof” from any source. First hand accounts, published information, etc.
I’d be curious to know what is prompting the question. And wouldn’t a search on Medline be more likely to yield the answer you’re looking for? (Can’t afford a subscription, so I don’t know for sure, but isn’t it supposed to provide access to almost all the studies on record?)
I had Keto flu, had no ketones in my urine according to the strips (same ones that are now showing that I have a heavy amount), and I had keto flu last half of my first day on my keto diet and second day on my keto diet, seemed to curb it by upping my salt and water. I WAS highly addicted to carbs and sugar.
And why do some individuals get it and others not? I was in the not group.
Maybe depends on how dependent you were on carbs? The weekend before I started was my birthday, and for the first time in over 30 years someone made my my favorite cake and I ate alot of cake plus we went out for fried clams and french fries on Sunday with a couple of Goose Island IPA’s, and I ate french fries two other times that weekend, among having a couple of Margaritas, my body went into shock from the lack of carbs and the overload of them for 3 days prior. Did I mention that I LOVE french fries and have not even had the desire to taste one. And I also have lost 12.5 pounds in my first week. So my carb addiction was quite strong.
Just to learn more !
Keto flu seems like a bit of a mystery to me.
Why do some people get it ? like @Darlene_Horsley says.
Would it show up in blood testing ?
It is easy to test for sodium … are blood levels of sodium depleted (aka hyponatremia) ?
Do we know for sure that sodium can help prevent keto flu ? Should all people supplement with sodium preventatively ?
Would exogenous ketones make keto flu better or worse ?
High ketones are seen in alcoholic ketoacidosis … and the symptoms can be similar to a severe keto flu.
https://www.ketogenicforums.com/t/alcoholic-ketoacidosis-aka/23854
I am hoping to find some personal stories where people have successfully prevented keto flu with sodium supplementation. ie. they’ve entered ketosis with and without supplementation and it make a big difference.
Keto flu prevention must be more complex than “Just add Sodium”. What else can be done to prevent it ? What percentage of people get keto flu ? and how bad ? How much is known about keto flu anyway ?
Anyone know if Phinney’s Art and Science book covers keto flu ? and how in depth ?
If Keto Rash is ketones.
Then why can’t Keto Flu be ketones ?
@Richard is probably the best person around here to answer this question. Try a PM to him?
I did a quick scan of my Pinney book on the science, but did not come up with anything.
I didn’t get it because I had tapered my carbs down over a week or so prior to beginning; the change was gradual enough for me that it seemed not to trigger keto flu. I really appreciated not feeling badly!
Adding my 2 cents…
I do not have any data. Given most people get it when starting and don’t ask until they have it scientific data might hard to find. It’s neither life threatening nor terribly harmful. It’s clear that going from SAD to keto causes a significant drop in inflammation quickly. It’s not unreasonable that it could affect your electrolytes. It’s also reasonable that people feel like crap because they’re body is screaming for carbs and must instead turn to stored and dietary fat for fuel. By the time people start consuming salt their body is beginning to burn fat also… I’ll choose to believe the community that it’s electrolytes until shown otherwise.
Regarding keto rash, that’s an entirely different subject and your link and my experience are different… I had it horribly for a few months. It started on my back, walked around to my abdomin then up my belly toward my sides. Then only time it cleared up nearly completely was when I had arthroscopic knee surgery. I think it was the IV antibiotics but couldn’t prove it. I still have the rash very mild. It gets worse when I fast and better when I eat for a day or two.
I didn’t get it either but I didn’t taper anything down the week before. In fact my carb consumption was horrible the entire month before. At any rate, yay us!
I ate the whole cake myself…and did not normally eat many sweets, and ate two bags of butter fingers on Sunday as well as the seafood, 2 IPA’s, I overloaded myself with sugar/carbs more than I ever did, maybe because I made up my mind to start Keto Monday morning and decided to have a last hurrah? So, I think I half sugared myself to death then took it all away when my body was having a grand old time. 