Getting hubby started!

(Virginia) #1

Hi everyone! I am new here, I’ve just transitioned to keto over the last month from a primal/paleo/AIP WOE. Things so far for me are going great and I am super excited! Not being hungry and getting hangry if I forgot to pack a snack with me is pretty incredible! I didn’t have any issues with keto flu or anything like that, so I am thankful.

This week my hubby wants to commit to keto as well to improve overall health. He kind of dabbled with it when I started but he never fully committed due to a vacation where he knew he would eat bad things lol. So anyway, he’s back this week and ready to start.

My concern with him is when he did kind of try to do it a few weeks ago and cut carbs a good bit, he got pretty terrible “keto flu.” He was tired, moody, nauseous, with little bouts of feeling good in there occasionally (which then he would work out and exhaust himself and make himself feel terrible again - which I know he needs to not do.)

We do have an electrolyte mix and I’ve been trying to keep him stocked with high fat snacks (of course in addition to our keto meals) but I want to help make this as easy for him as possible so he can start feeling better.

Is there anything I’m missing in terms of what to do to help? I know he has to be committed himself, but I think now he will be.

Also, is it possible that he made the “flu” worse by just dabbling and not fully committing? Is it better for some people to jump right in and cut carbs? I transitioned mine down over a week or two, but didn’t really eat a whole lot to begin with and they were not refined so I don’t know if that makes a difference or not.

Thank you for any and all help and encouragement! :slight_smile:

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #2

Keto flu is entirely preventable. It is merely that we need more sodium on a ketogenic diet. If your husband works at keeping his salt intake up and drinking to thirst, he should be fine. We need quite a bit more salt than the U.S. government believes we should have.

Another cause of nausea can be too much oil. Use solid fats, such as butter, bacon grease, tallow, and lard, to cook with. They are low in the polyunsaturated fats that cause problems.

(Virginia) #3

Thank you @PaulL!! I had wondered about the oil, I will try that! Where does coconut oil fall into that? We were having coffee with coconut oil in it and we had wondered if that was part of the issue.

We will also try to stay on top of the salt!

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #4

Coconut oil is one of the better oils. The oils to avoid are the seed oils (cottonseed, sunflower, safflower, corn, soybean, canola, and the like). They not only contain a high amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids, the processing required to make them palatable and attractive is disconcerting to read about. The three fruit oils people like to use (avocado, coconut, and olive) have much healthier fatty-acid profiles. They also require far less processing.

(Virginia) #5

Ahhh, ok! We already avoid those types. Our main fats are coconut, olive, duck, and bacon grease. We do some butter but he doesn’t do great with dairy :frowning: and I have autoimmune issues so we keep it clean lol.

I had wondered if maybe some digestive enzymes may be helpful …

We just talked earlier about how excited he is to get started, so I am hopeful that he will start seeing positive changes fairly quickly!! :crossed_fingers:t2:

#6

I take it he was not primal/paleo before like you? He was SAD menu?

If he came in from SAD, and even if eating a cleaner type menu, he is going to have to go thru adaption. Keto flu as they call it can be helped but it can’t be fixed. Time off carbs and time to change from a glucose burn to a ketone burn means your body is going to do alot in changes and we all would get symptoms of these changes happening.

Do the basics. Eat well, good fats, be sure to stay hydrated, bone broth helps alot of people with symptoms, do not exercise alot as you said, take it easy til the adaption time happens. Will be different for all but we know of course each day we hold plan, relax, rest well, eat well, chill thru it the faster we just get thru it.

There isn’t much more one can do at this point. Adaption will be what it is for everyone. Just ‘comfort’ thru with smart choices as we change over and I am super happy you got him on board and you guys will be doing this together!

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #7

Keto “flu” is a symptom of low sodium and thus preventable by getting more salt. The fat-adaptation period, however, is unavoidable, as it involves recovering mitochondrial health at the cellular level and reactivating dormant metabolic pathways. Athletes notice the adaptation period as a diminishing of performance, because the muscles, which prefer to metabolise either fatty acids or glucose, are having to make do with ketones instead. But performance eventually returns to its pre-keto levels (sometimes even exceeding them) after about four to six weeks in most people. Endurance performance is the first to recover, as the muscles regain their ability to metabolise fatty acids. Explosive performance takes a while longer, as glycogen stores are slowly rebuilt.

(5b3a0b0ed03cec1e2507) #8

thing is the ‘finite definition of keto flu’ as it covers the big picture.

adaption is not the flu or is it and do both contain the same? as in personal changes the body must make for each of us to heal.

that is where I come from cause no way some darn salt is gonna fix ya right off the bat but it easily can lessen symptoms of ‘flu’ which to me is overall body adaption…but I think in the end where you come at the ‘keto flu’ is your starting point.

I also think as we adapt we heal symptoms over time, if just take some salt fixes everything in a day, then hooray for those, but most experience time lagged changes that ain’t about salt ever. It is about healing/chaning/re-balancing hormones and the big pic but that is how I approach it.

So to me the fat adaption phase and the keto flu phase are one. I don’t think one can truly ‘change any of that’ as an individual personal thing but I do get what you are saying Paul if we put ‘this into this category and hope it isn’t from the other’ and so on.

Best word vs. flu is ADAPTION and we cover it all I think LOL

(Virginia) #9

Hi Fangs! So over the past few years, he’s cleaned up his diet a lot but has never completely gotten all the bad things out. He eats way better than most people we know that eat regular SAD, but he definitely still has a carb dependency (although mostly complex carbs and not refined) and a sweet tooth (mostly dark chocolate and non-dairy ice cream).

What actually kind of turned us towards keto is a recent backpacking trip where we both had to keep eating carbs to keep from crashing, and he crashed anyway. :confused: This, plus some other general/mental health concerns is what made us decide we should try to get fat adapted.

So just from this and general observation of how he reacts to foods, I think that the flu/fat adaptation period is at some level unavoidable. Definitely will keep an eye on salt and electrolytes as @PaulL said, and besides that our plan is to kind of just take it easy for about three weeks or so (more if needed) and focus more on meditation, walking, yoga, and easy hikes until he starts to feel better.

Thank you so much for your response! This has been a great forum and I have learned a lot so far! :blush:

#10

Sounds good, very smart to take it easy and do all the little tips to get thru adaption. Walking on that fence is rough sometimes too, just jumping right in and facing the music, get adapted, and just get thru it is sometimes the easier way, even tho sometimes we don’t like this part LOL Hope he starts to feel better! He will!