Help! 3.5 weeks in. Low ketones and severe bloating

(Elyse) #1

Hoping to shed some light.

I’ve been doing Keto for 3.5 weeks but am still experiencing SEVERE bloating (by the end of the day my stomach is so distended, it’s like I’m 5 months pregnant!), however bowel movements are pretty normal and regular. Also, my blood ketone levels are averaging around 0.4 (max 1.1 once, and only 2 other times were above 0.5, have tried measuring at different times of the day with no pattern).

Does anyone have any insight into the bloat and poor ketogenic state?

Heres some additional info:
-drinking lots of water (at least 2.5L a day)
-supplementing salt, magnesium and calcium to reach RDIs (if not exceeding)
-generally hitting 25g fibre a day
-am consistently <20g net carbs
-done some experimenting with fat and protein (initially started at 105g protein but now dropped to 80g per day).
-average daily calories is ~1500
-average macro carb:protein:fat ratio is 5:23:72%
-I am 30 yo, 168cm, current weight 64kg (although this has fluctuated).

Am hoping to lose weight but am struggling to see much on the scales (started at 65.7 kg, went down to 63.7 after a week, then up again to around 64-65, and now back down again to around 64). I feel slightly slimmer in some areas (apart from the bloat, seriously it’s like a balloon!), but not sure if I’m imaging this…

I am definitely experiencing some Keto effects (stabilised blood sugar levels, loss of appetite, increased energy, mood stabilisation, “Keto breath”).

Any help would be really appreciated!

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

Bloat can be caused by lack of salt, believe it or not. And if all you are getting is the U.S. RDA, you are not getting nearly enough. The healthiest people, according to recent studies, are the ones getting between 4 and 6 grams of sodium a day, which translates to 10-15 grams of table salt (NaCl), including salt already present in food. It’s safer to err on the side of too much than too little.

The rate of sodium excretion slows down when we eat a high-carbohydrate diet, so when we switch to low carbohydrate, the kidneys return to the normal, faster rate of excreting it, which means we need to work at keepin our intake up. The good news is that most people, when getting enough sodium, no longer need to worry about potassium, magnesium, and calcium, because the systems that keep them balanced are all inter-linked with the salt balancing mechanism.

So try getting more salt in your diet. It might just help.

(Elyse) #3

Thanks so much for the feedback, really appreciate it! Just had a look at my stats (have been using carb manager to track things) and am averaging 2-4 g sodium a day.

(Alex) #4

i also started feeling bloated around week 4 of keto without changing anything regarding my eating patterns / water & salt intake. i attribute this to the early stages of becoming fat-adapted. i would imagine the same may be happening to you! just keep doing what you’re doing, eat less if you start feeling full with less food, and make sure you’re staying well hydrated and consuming roughly 5mgs of salt daily. best of luck :slightly_smiling_face:

(Alex) #5

ah, just re-read your post and am now realizing that this has been happening to you since you first started following keto. what types of foods are you eating? maybe consider doing an internet search for easily digestible keto foods and try incorporating more of those into your diet and seeing if that helps with the bloating issue. dairy and nuts are known to cause problems for some people, if you’re consuming a lot of either of those. just an idea!

(Little Miss Scare-All) #6

Whats your dairy intake like? How much cheese are you eating? I know if I go banana sandwiches with the cheese, I bloat like Ive eaten 5 orders of General Tsao Chicken. Chinese food makes me blow up like a balloon.

Too much dairy can cause this as well, at least I know it does for me.

(Elyse) #7

Hi Dena (love the banana sandwiches comment haha!). Thought this might be the case so tried cutting back for a few days to no avail :(. Haven’t ever had issues with dairy in the past either. Thanks for the feedback though, very keen to figure this out!

(Elyse) #8

Thanks Alex! Any insight is super helpful :). I will definitely look into some easily digestible foods (have been trying to incorporate as much avocados and green vegetables as possible). I’m wondering if sugar alcohols might be contributing, so might try cutting back on these. Although not sure what the “threshold” is withe these?

(Alex) #9

what are you consuming that you’re getting sugar alcohols from? could definitely be the problem, especially if you’ve been consuming them since you started following keto = potential reason for bloating since starting

(Starfox Rose) #10

Spread your salt intake out throughout the day, and increase the amount you have. Make sure it’s not table salt, but natural salt. Pop a little bit on everything you eat. And consider drinking warm water with a pinch or 2 of salt in it. For some reason people on the keto diet can’t hold salt, so more is needed then the average bear.

If this fails:

Someone suggested this to me on here: give up dairy for 2 weeks. I had swollen feet and bowls,

(Bunny) #11

Besides being pregnant and also if your not pregnant. The difference could be in having the digestive enzymes you need to breakdown the fiber content of certain veggies?

If you eat cooked or fermented veggies they will be easier to digest, then you have raw veggies which are much more difficult to digest if you don’t have the proper gut flora for it?

You could try eating a certain percent of:

  1. raw

  2. fermented

  3. cooked (always drink the broth from the veggies when you boil; that’s what your not getting in nutrients and that may elevate the bloating?)

  4. steamed

…and play with that in ratios to see how that effects your bloating discomforts? Your gut flora and digestive enzymes eventually adapt to how you eat veggies (above) and the frequency that you eat them and thus no gas or bloating?

Just some ideas (what I do and it works for me) that might help?

Related:

[1] 3 “Healthy” Habits That Could Be Hurting Your Thyroid

[2] Got digestive problems? Take it easy on the veggies

(Elyse) #12

Just had a look - mainly just a keto jam and a keto chocolate product, although my consumption is pretty low (i.e. 1Tbs max of the jam and maybe 15 - 30 g of the chocolate a day). Might try eliminating anyway and see what happens.

(Elyse) #13

Thank you for the tips! Have mainly been eating cooked veggies so theoretically should be the easiest to digest. I had quite a vegetable rich/healthy mainly non-processed foods diet before going keto so not sure If it would be the problem. Suspecting it might have something to do with my gut microbiome maybe (i.e. switching between bacterial populations that are more dependent on fat and some of the other carb-happy microbes might have died off a bit). It’s definitely a head scratcher! Will do some experimenting though (particularly your fermented suggestion). Thanks! :slight_smile:

(Bunny) #14

Try soil-based-probiotics they help digest plant matter better and more efficiently than health food store mass produced petri dish probiotics which contain the average strains that are more for digesting fat and meat (protein)? The non-soil based probiotics do not survive in the gut and go right through you (adhere or homestead to the pre-existing gut bug flora)!

(Kimbrie Sauvageau) #15

Probiotics maybe?