10 Symptoms of Ketosis You Didn’t Know!

Symptoms  of Ketosis You Didn’t Know  But It’s Important to Know Them. because the ketogenic diet is a popular and effective way to lose weight and improve your health. When followed correctly, this low-carb, high-fat diet will increase blood ketone levels.

These provide a new source of fuel for your cells and cause most of the health benefits unique to this diet. On a ketogenic diet , your body undergoes many biological adaptations, including a reduction in insulin levels and increased fat breakdown.

When this happens, the liver starts producing a high number of ketones to supply the brain with energy. However, it can often be difficult to know if you are in ketosis or not.

Symptoms of Ketosis You Didn’t Know:

1. Short-term decrease in performance:

As discussed above, removing carbs can lead to general tiredness at first. This includes in the symptoms of ketosis an initial decrease in exercise performance. It is primarily caused by a reduction in muscle glycogen stores, which provide the main and most efficient source of fuel for all forms of high-intensity exercise.

After several weeks, many ketogenic dieters report that their performance returns to normal. In certain types of ultra-endurance sports and events, a ketogenic diet can even be beneficial.

What’s more, there are other benefits – most notably an increased ability to burn more fat during exercise. A famous study found that athletes who had switched to a ketogenic diet burned up to 230% more fat when they exercised, compared to athletes who did not.

While a ketogenic diet is unlikely to maximize the performance of elite athletes, once you’re adapting to fat, it should be sufficient for general exercise and recreational sports.

2. Increased blood ketones:

One of  the ketosis symptoms of a ketogenic diet is lowered blood sugar levels and increased ketones. As you progress on a ketogenic diet , you will start burning fat and ketones as your main fuel sources.

The most reliable and accurate method of measuring ketosis is to measure your blood ketone levels using a specialized meter. Measure your ketone levels by calculating the amount of beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) in your blood. This is one of the primary ketones present in the bloodstream.

According to some experts on the ketogenic diet , nutritional ketosis is defined as blood ketones ranging from 0.5 to 3.0 mmol/L. Measuring blood ketones is the most accurate way to test and is used in most of research studies. However, the main disadvantage is that it requires a small prick to draw blood from the finger.

Also, a test kit costs between 115.00 and 150.00 plus an additional 20.00 per test. For this reason, most people only take one test a week or every other week.

3. Reduces appetite:

Another of the  symptoms of ketosis is decreased hunger while following a ketogenic diet . The reasons why this happens are still being investigated. However, it has been suggested that this reduction in hunger may be due to an increased intake of protein and vegetables, along with changes in your body’s hunger hormones. Ketones can also affect your brain to reduce your appetite.

4. Short-term fatigue:

One of  the initial ketosis symptoms for a ketogenic diet can be one of the biggest problems for new dieters. Its well-known side effects can include weakness and fatigue . This often causes people to drop the diet before entering full ketosis and reaping many long-term benefits.

These side effects are natural. After several decades of running on a carbohydrate-heavy fuel system, your body is forced to adapt to a different system. As you might expect, this option doesn’t happen overnight. It usually requires 7-30 days before you are in full ketosis. To reduce fatigue  during this time, you may choose to take electrolyte supplements.

Electrolytes are often lost due to the rapid reduction of your body’s water content and the elimination of processed foods that may contain extra salt. When adding these supplements, aim to get between 2,000 and 4,000 mg of sodium, 1,000 mg of potassium , and 300 mg of magnesium per day.

5. Insomnia:

One of the  symptoms of ketosis is sleepiness, especially when they change their diet for the first time. Many people report insomnia or waking up at night when they first drastically reduce carbs. However, this usually improves in a matter of weeks. Many long-term ketogenic dieters claim that they sleep better than before after adapting to the diet.

6. Bad breath:

People often report that one of the symptoms of ketosis they didn’t know about is bad breath when they reach full ketosis. In fact, it is a common side effect. Many people on ketogenic diets and similar diets such as the Atkins diet report that their breath takes on a fruity smell.

This is caused by high ketone levels. The specific culprit is acetone, a ketone that leaves the body through urine and breath. While this breathing may be less than ideal for your social life, it can be a positive sign for your diet. Many ketogenic dieters brush their teeth several times a day or use sugar-free lozenges to solve the problem.

So if you’re using gum or other alternatives like sugar-free drinks, check the carb label. Because these can increase blood sugar levels and reduce ketone levels.

7. Greater focus and energy:

People often report brain fog, tiredness, and feeling sick when starting a very low-carb diet. This is called the “low carb-flu” or “keto-flu.” However, long-term ketogenic diets often report increased focus and energy.

Because when you start a low carb diet , your body must adapt to burning more fat for fuel instead of carbs. When you enter ketosis, a large part of the brain starts burning ketones instead of glucose. However, it may take a few days or weeks for this to start working properly.

Ketones are certainly an extremely potent fuel source for the brain. They’ve even been tested in a medical setting to treat brain diseases and conditions like concussion and memory loss.

So it’s no surprise that long-term ketogenic diets often report greater clarity and better brain function. Eliminating carbs can also help control and stabilize blood sugar levels. This can further increase focus and improve brain function.

8. Digestive problems:

A ketogenic diet usually involves a big change in the types of foods you eat. Digestive problems, such as constipation and diarrhea , are common side effects early on.

Some of these issues should subside after the transition period, but it can be important to be aware of different foods that may be causing digestive issues. Also, make sure you eat lots of healthy low-carb vegetables, which are low in carbs but still contain lots of fiber.

Most importantly, don’t make the mistake of eating a diet that lacks diversity. This can increase your risk of digestive problems and nutritional deficiencies. To help plan your diet, you should look for the foods to eat on a ketogenic diet .

9. Increased ketones in breath or urine:

Another way to measure blood ketone levels is a breath analyzer. Monitors acetone, one of the three main ketones present in the blood during ketosis.

After all, this gives you an idea of ​​your body’s ketone levels, as more acetone leaves the body when you’re in nutritional ketosis. Furthermore, use of acetone air analyzers has been shown to be quite accurate, although less accurate than the blood monitoring method.

But of course, another good technique is to measure the presence of ketones in your urine daily with special indicator strips. These also measure the excretion of ketones through your urine and can be a quick and inexpensive method to assess your ketone levels each day. However, they are not considered very reliable.

10. Weight Loss:

Undeniably, ketogenic diets, along with regular low- carb diets , are highly effective for weight loss. As dozens of weight loss studies have shown, you are likely to experience both short-term and long-term weight loss when switching to a ketogenic diet .

Rapid weight loss may occur during the first week. While some people believe this is fat loss, it’s mostly stored carbs and water being used. Anyway, after the initial rapid drop in water weight, you should continue to consistently lose body fat as long as you stick to the diet and stay in a calorie deficit.