Tag Archive for: Keto

Your guide to beating the Keto Flu

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When some people begin their journey towards a ketogenic diet, they experience something called the ‘keto flu’. This typically is experienced within the first 7-14 days on the keto diet.

Switching your body from metabolizing glucose to metabolizing fats can be a shock to your system. This is especially true within the few first days of adopting the keto diet. This transitional period and resulting side effects, termed the “keto flu,” because some of the symptoms feel the same as catching a cold or flu. typically begin within 24-48 hours of starting the keto diet plan and last about 3-7 days.

What causes the Keto Flu?

These flu-like symptoms occur due to your body’s natural process of protecting itself during what it recognizes as carbohydrate starvation. As carbohydrate and blood sugar levels decrease, insulin decreases and insulin sensitivity increases.

As blood sugar levels go down, our body signals to our kidneys to release electrolytes (sodium, magnesium, and potassium), carrying with them water. This often causes dehydration.

As our bodies go into carbohydrate starvation mode, they also upregulate cortisol (stress hormone) levels in an attempt to increase energy levels.

What are the symptoms of the Keto Flu?

If you think you are experiencing the keto flu here are a few common symptoms:

  • Headaches
  • Fatigue
  • Mental fogginess
  • Muscle cramps
  • Lower strength and stamina
  • Digestive issues
  • Constipation
  • Insomnia
  • Sugar cravings

How to Beat the Keto Flu

It’s important to know that the keto flu symptoms are a sign that your body is in the process of making the proper metabolic adaptations.

All of these are normal when switching to the keto diet and as your body becomes adapted to using fats and ketones as a main source of fuel, they will subside.

But in the meantime, while you are suffering from the keto flu, here are a few strategies to combat the symptoms.

Drink lots of water

You should increase your fluid intake to replace the water lost in the first few weeks of keto. This means consuming about 10-12 glasses per day. As a rule, drink a glass of water for every hour you are awak during the day.

Replenish electrolytes: sodium, magnesium, potassium

Make sure to increase your sodium levels for the first 14 days. How much? Divide your body weight in pounds by two and that is roughly how many ounces of sodium you will need per day (around 5,000- 7,000 mg/day). Add sodium to your diet by adding more unrefined salts (Himalayan pink salt or sea salt are the best) to water or foods, drinking salted lemon water, or drinking bone broth. You should also get roughly 1,000-3,500 mg of potassium per day.

Potassium is found in foods such as fish, meat, leafy greens, and winter squash. Magnesium is another electrolyte you should increase intake of, taking about 300-500 mg per day. You can find magnesium in foods like spinach, chicken, beef, fish. All of the above electrolytes can be taken in supplemental form if you cannot get proper amounts from your daily diet.

Moderately exercise, practice yoga or meditate

Exercise can help balance out the increase in cortisol levels during the keto flu. Moderate exercise is suggested so as not to put more stress on your body than the metabolic shift it is already dealing with. If moderate exercise is too much, especially with the possibility of other symptoms, consider practicing yoga or other forms of meditation to reduce cortisol levels during the first transitional weeks of adopting the keto diet.

Eat more fats and calories

Yes, that’s right: more fats! Increasing fats can help surpass the keto flu growing pains and increase energy levels. A great way to add fats during these transition periods is with MCT oil because it goes straight to the liver after digestion. Other ways include things like adding coconut oil to your morning coffee, eating grass-fed jerky, or even eggs. You can also increase ketones with exogenous ketone supplementation at smaller doses, spread throughout the day, for the first 3-5 days of keto.

Reduce your carb intake slowly

Instead of dropping straight to the goal mark for daily carbohydrate intake (i.e. below 20g per day), it may be helpful to slowly decrease carbohydrate intake and in a sense prevent the shock of the keto flu.

For example, if you generally eat 140 g of carbohydrate per day, it may be useful to cut back by increments of 20 g a day (or every other day) for the first week (or two) of starting keto (day 1= 140 g, day 2= 120 g… day 6= 40 g, day 7= 20 g). You can read our full guide to your first seven days on keto here.

Remember that it’s short-lived

Maybe most important is to remember that all these symptoms will pass, and you will feel much better soon. Don’t let these temporary keto flu symptoms scare you away from continuing your keto journey and acheiving a healthier lifestyle!

- Dr. Jerry Hizon, MD

Your first seven days on the keto diet

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So you’re considering a keto diet?

The low carb, high fat ketogenic diet is known to help with weight loss, certain metabolic disorders (i.e. Diabetes), increase energy levels, reduce hunger, and is simple to follow. Because of all these reasons, it seems that starting such a diet with all these benefits seems like a no-brainer.

However, for most people, the transition from carbohydrates to fats as a main source of fuel is not as easy as it sounds. This is especially true for the first week of adopting the ketogenic diet.

In this article, we explore some tips for your first seven days on the ketogenic diet.

Set a goal. Create a plan.

The first thing to decide is why are you starting the ketogenic diet?

Define a goal for yourself (i.e. weight loss, better health,). Having a clear picture in your mind of why you’re starting the ketogenic journey and a way to track your progress towards your ultimate goal will help keep you invested, especially within the first week of physical and mental transitional challenges.

Next, determine how you will measure progress towards your goal. In the beginning, rather than a weight loss goal, it can be better to set a goal to stay on the keto diet for 7 days. This might seem simple, but it will help you get through the first few days, which can be challenging.

Research and join a community.

Like anything else in life, know what you are getting yourself into before starting. Look around, read blogs, testimonials, recipes, and research. Hear what doctors have to say about the diet and people, like yourself, have experienced within this first 7 days of their keto journey.

Find a community such as ours on Facebook or a physician to provide you with support, feedback, and information throughout your transition to keto. You can also consider the use of support apps such as The Nudge App, in which your physician can help monitor and guide you through the adoption of a ketogenic lifestyle safely and effectively.

For the first week, it may be useful to also research a 7-day keto meal plan, since counting your calories and keeping macromolecules within range may be harder at the beginning of switching to keto.

Meal plan and prep your pantry.

A day or two before you start full keto, create a food diary of foods that you currently eat and make note of which items are keto-friendly and which are not.

Stock up on the foods you eat daily that are keto-friendly, and find replacements for those that you currently indulge in that are not keto-friendly.

Rid your pantry (if possible) of bread, pasta, grains, starchy vegetables, and sugary foods or drinks to avoid temptation throughout the first week struggles.

Fill your fridges and pantries with lots of healthy fat options, lots of water, and foods rich in sodium, magnesium, and potassium.

Mentally prepare.

Switching your body from metabolizing glucose to metabolizing fats as our primary source of fuel can be a “shock” to our systems, especially within the first days of the switchover.

It is important to realize that there will be side-effects, often called the ‘keto-flu’ when making this original transition. If you experience headaches, fatigue, mental fogginess, muscle cramps, reduce stamina, know that these are very normal to experience within the first 7-14 days on the ketogenic diet.

All that’s left is to get started!

The truth about keto is that it will be hard to begin with, but it will be worth it after several weeks!

Each day, keep focused on your goal. Make sure to track your progress toward your goal. Reach out to your established keto-community or physician throughout the process.

Have patience, and know that very often, the first week is the hardest!

Dr. Jerry Hizon

How To Measure Your Ketone Levels

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When you start a ketogenic diet, one of the most common questions is how to measure your ketone levels. Most people on a keto diet do this because they want to see if there are in ketosis.

To get started measuring your ketone levels, there are three types of ketone bodies to know about:

Acetone
Acetoacetate
Beta-Hydroxybutyrate (BHB)

Unlike protein intake, where the daily amount is determined by your lean mass weight, the number of carbs to enter ketosis can be estimated using three methods.

1) Blood Ketone testing

The level of BHB in your bloodstream will tell you how much you have in your fuel tank but it will not measure the metabolic usage of ketones. Blood ketone testing is the most accurate way to measure ketone bodies.

Blood ketone testing can precisely determine the level of ketones in your blood. But the drawback is that they are more expensive. The testing meter costs $40 and the test strips cost $5 each. If you are testing your ketone levels daily, it could cost you $150 per month.

2) Ketone Breath testing

A non-invasive and cheap alternative is to measure ketones is to use breath acetone concentration. Acetone is one of the ketone bodies that results from a break down of acetoacetate. The level of acetone will reflect the metabolic usage of ketones.

The Ketonix Acetone Breathalyzer is available and offers an easy and inexpensive way to test your breath ketones (acetone). Keep in mind that breath ketones do not always exactly correlate with blood ketones and are affected by several factors (alcohol consumption and water intake).

3) Ketone Urine strips

Ketostix, Uriscan, and other urine detection strips are not as accurate as the blood and breath test. This because they only measure the level of acetoacetate. These are the excess ketone bodies that are not utilized by the body and are excreted via urine.

Urine ketone strips can still be useful during the initial phase of the ketogenic diet when you simply want to test the level of carbohydrates in order to enter ketosis.

Some people use them to test if they are sensitive to certain foods that may be keto-friendly but still have a negative effect on their progress.

The good news is they are easy to use and fairly cheap to buy. You’ll only pay about $10 for 50 strips, which adds up to about $6 a month if you test yourself daily. If urine detection strips don’t work for you, use one of the other two methods.

4) Your own observation

Listening to your body’s signals is another way of finding out whether you are in ketosis. When your body is in ketosis, you may smell of acetone. This could be sensed in your breath, sweat or urine. Some people refer to this as ketogenic “fruity” smelling breath. If you detect any of these signs, you are more than likely in ketosis.

Don’t Focus Just on Ketones

Recently, I’ve noticed a growing obsession when it comes to measuring ketones precisely. Although urine detection strips may not be accurate for keto-adapted people, they work for most of those that have just started the ketogenic diet.

By the time most people become keto-adapted (which takes 3-4 weeks) most of them understand what to eat and what to avoid without any real need to measure the precise level of ketone bodies.

In the end, what really matters is not ketones but the effects of low-carb diets: weight loss and improved health.

Dr. Jerry Hizon

I lost 6 lbs in 2 weeks on the keto diet

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1 week into Keto, is the hype real?

Has it been hard to cut the carbs, skip on desert, and find nothing to order while at dinner? It’s been an interesting 1 1/2 week journey, to say the least. In this time I learned that MyFitness Pal app doesn’t like me intermittent fasting or eating coconut oil. My mom was disappointed that I was doing keto since I wouldn’t be able to eat tamales. Finally, I found out that Keto Urine strips have a limited shelf life once you open them and “testing” to see if they work by dipping them in vinegar does not tell you if they’re functioning!

Why am I still continuing keto? The results.

1 1/2 weeks in and I’m starting to feel different. My energy is consistent throughout the day and my hunger has been well under control. Don’t get me wrong, the first couple of days I was having pretty strong hunger pains regardless of how many macadamias, pork rinds, and slices of cheese I had. But 4 days into switching my diet I finally felt like I had control of my hunger. I was able to eat lunch and dinner and not feel a ravenous hunger 1-2 hours after eating. I’ll give a break down of some of the meals I had eaten during this time. I know that there is no breakfast, since I always skip breakfast. As Jason Fung MD, author of The Obesity Code, states “breakfast is the most important meal to skip.”

Left: Day 1
Right: Day 7

Left: Day 1 Right: Day 7

I would normally never post these progress photos on social media, but I’m posting these because I really believe in this lifestyle because of the crazy amount of health benefits. The results you see is just me adhering to a pretty strict ketogenic diet (<20 grams of carbs/day & 70% of calories coming from fat) with yoga 2-3 times per week. I’ve also integrated 18 hour fasts to help get my body used to using fat as its primary energy source. What this means is that I give myself a 6 hour interval to eat. So I’ll eat my lunch at 1 pm and will eat dinner around 6:30 pm. I’ll talk more about the benefits of intermittent fasting in a later post, so you all can know the science behind it. Check out some of the meals I ate over the last 2 weeks.

Lunch Dinner
Mozzarella with prosciutto, salami, sopressata, and walnuts. Drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Kielbasa sausage stir-fried with organic broccoli in oyster sauce.
Pork rinds and hummus In-n-out double double, lettuce wrapped
Caesar salad with no croutons Wild-caught pacific rock fish cooked in butter, Cauliflower kale “rice”.

-Will Leon aka the Keto Latino

The Official Carbs to Keto Blog

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Welcome to the official Carbs to Keto blog brought to you by the Keto Guys, Mike and Will. We are both excited and honored that you have chosen to incorporate this program into your life. This blog is intended to provide you with our first-hand experiences combined with tips, recipes and motivation to help get you through any phase of your transformation.

Who are the Keto Guys?

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My name is Will Leon and I’m a fourth year medical student (MS4) at UC Riverside. I have a strong background in biochemistry and have several years of experience working in laboratories conducting research ranging from organic chemistry to clinical science. I’ve had the pleasure of growing up in sunny Southern California and can say confidently that I’ve tried >20 different types of cuisine. Obviously Guatemalan cuisine reins supreme, but I’m biased (Mom and Pops are from Guatemala). I’m writing this blog because: 1) I want to document my journey with the ketogenic diet from the perspective of a healthcare professional and 2) I wanted to blend together my love for food and attempt to make popular food ketogenic.

I became curious about the ketogenic diet while presenting a research project at symposium. During my talk, an audience member by the name of Dr. Jerry Hizon, an assistant clinical professor, stated that “caloric restriction doesn’t work”. Curious about his remark, I approached Dr. Hizon after the talk and asked him to elaborate. He let me know about this diet he was implementing on his patients in his private practice with great results, called the Ketogenic Diet or “keto”. He stated that his obese patients were losing weight and his diabetics were needing less and less medications. So like any good scientist would do, I began to investigate keto. As I read more about it, my reluctance with attempting the diet began to slowly fade. Curiously, I decided to experiment on myself and started my first “keto journey” last year. I got great results over a period of 2 months. I dropped about 15 lbs, had “keto clarity”, and had enough energy to keep up with the surgeons while on my surgery rotations. I stopped doing keto after my honeymoon and just used intermittent fasting to keep the weight off. But now, nearly a year later I wanted to restart the diet and prove to many of those around me that the keto lifestyle is feasible, leads to weight loss and is a great solution to combat many of the chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity that are plaguing the U.S. So follow me as I post about doing the keto diet from an (almost) doctor and amateur chef’s perspective.

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My name is Michael Ibrahim. I am 28 years old and currently a fourth-year medical student at UC Riverside. I’m a big guy with a big appetite. I am a person who loves food. You could’ve always found me at Thai or Persian restaurants as well as all you can eat sushi and Korean BBQ. I’m roughly 6’2” and 240 lbs. Had I not chosen the path of medicine and had better knees, I would’ve been a decent fullback. I grew up playing basketball, working on cars and lifting weights however, I have always struggled with my weight. My journey has been an interesting one to say the least. I’ve tried multiple weight loss programs from the traditional low-fat diet to the NutriSystem. I’ve bought pills from GNC and ran hundreds of miles, foolishly trying to outrun my excess weight. Little did I know that the answer was much simpler (and cheaper) than what I was doing.

I was introduced to the ketogenic diet through Dr. Hizon, who pulled me aside on my first day in his clinic and remarked that the physician should always be the healthiest person in the room. That comment hit home for me; he didn’t say it to judge or critique me, it was to help me. How can a physician expect patients to be healthy, make time for exercise and eat a balanced diet without achieving that balance in their own lives? Soon after, I familiarized myself with the ketogenic diet and the concept of low-carbohydrate and high-fat (LCHF) living, which went against conventional medical “wisdom”. I went all in; I started intermittent fasting 20+ hours each day and cut out the carbs. In the first month, I dropped 25 lbs. and was in sheer awe that I did it without feeling hungry. One year later, I have plateaued on my weight loss (mostly from too many cheat days and not being in true ketosis). I want to break through this plateau and I want to share my journey with you.

Mike’s Daily Blog Post: Day 3 & 4

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Days Three and Four: Wednesday, 11/29/2017 and Thursday, 11/30/2017

The past few days were a bit hectic because of interview season and the website we are working on, so I was unable to post. The good thing about being busy is we get caught up in our task and forget about food. It makes intermittent fasting much easier. I’m glad to say that in the same time frame, I have successfully entered ketosis.

That means my body has switched over from burning sugar/glucose for energy to burning fat for energy. Fat can be used by the brain and muscles in the form of ketone bodies. There are 3 types of ketone bodies that may be measured in different ways: acetone (breath), beta-hydroxybutyrate (blood) and acetoacetate (urine). The cheapest way to measure this is by urinating on ketone strips. Yes…I pee on a strip every morning.

The fastest way to get into ketosis is by fasting. From Sunday to Thursday evening, I almost completely abstained from food. My intake was in the form of fat from bulletproof coffee and bone broth (had some nuts here and there). I felt amazing during that time. Physical hunger was virtually non-existent. Social hunger, however, the type where you see others eating or think it’s time to eat because you “should eat something”, were plentiful. I can proudly say that I resisted eating at my residency interview. They were serving bread, pasta and soda (I honestly had no desire for that anyway). Peeing on the strip helps keep me motivated throughout the day; I want that thing to be able to change color every morning. That’s my external motivation.

Mike’s Daily Post Day 2:

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Day Two: Tuesday, 11/28/2017

bulletproof coffeeMorning: Day two is underway. Woke up this morning and chugged 32 ounces of water. Something I learned from intermittent fasting and the ketogenic diet is to always stay hydrated. Because these two techniques deplete the body of glucose (sugar from carbs) and glycogen (storage form of glucose in skeletal muscles and the liver), the body loses one of the mechanisms by which it can hold onto water. So…we urinate it out. We urinate a lot, making it necessary to replace that water throughout the day.

For breakfast, I crafted some bulletproof coffee. This stuff can stop anything. Kidding. It is a combination of coffee (I use Keurig Starbucks Pike Roast) with two tablespoons coconut oil, 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons heavy cream. If you’re counting calories, it equates to approximately 500 Calories. But I don’t count Calories because it is defined as, “the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1L pure water by 1 degree Celsius at sea level.” What does that even mean? More importantly, I am concerned with the fat and carbohydrate content of my food rather than Calories. Bulletproof coffee provides the energy I need in the form of caffeine, adds delicious flavor from the heavy cream and gives me the fat content I need from the butter and coconut oil to feel satiated and full.

Afternoon: Because I am intermittent fasting and want to give my body time to heal and process all the damage I did to it over the Thanksgiving weekend, I need something to make sure I can get through the day and avoid the “Keto Flu”.

That’s where homemade bone broth comes into play. It provides the salt and mineral content needed for my body. By adding apple cider vinegar, I am able to leech out those minerals and extract the bone marrow from within. The marrow contains natural fats. In the crock pot, I added carrots, celery and onion (for flavoring only, I did not eat them). I spiced things up with cayenne pepper, sea salt and black pepper.

As the body is forced to use the glucose (sugars) in the blood and glycogen (in the liver and muscles), we also lose the ability to hold onto water (sugar acts as an osmotic agent, pulling water in with it). Now that the sugar tank is empty, how do we hold onto water? The good old fashioned way…with salt. Salt acts like glucose to create a similar osmotic effect. We know this already, “salt retains water”. We use this property to our advantage.

Drinking homemade bone broth is an excellent way to avoid the Keto Flu, a collection of symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, brain fog, sugar cravings and stomach irritability. Everyone experiences the Keto Flu differently, but the best way around it is to have high fat in your diet, high salt content coupled with lots of water and to stay busy throughout the day. I have continued exercising as usual. The goal is to get “keto-adapted”, the process of training your body to switch from sugar-burning to fat-burning for fuel (more on this in another post).

Evening: Hit a little speed bump today as I experienced some stomach upset. My theory is that the acidity in my coffee combined with the high fat content in the coffee and broth created some indigestion. Unfortunately, I succumbed and reached for some over the counter antacids. They worked really well, but they have sugar (about 6g). But it still allowed me to continue fasting, so I guess it was worth it.

Exercise: Ab workout, 1 hour spin class
Relaxation: Stretching, Steam room

Motivational word for the day: FOCUS

Set a goal, aim for it, go after it. There should not be any excuses in your mind. Don’t doubt yourself, let others do that for you. Then use that to fuel your fire. Stay focused on your goal and stop at nothing to attain it. Focus on all the pain and the hurt in your past and on all the goals you had and never followed through on; now FOCUS and promise yourself that this current attempt at success will not end the same as times before.

Mike’s Daily Blog: Day 1

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Day One: Monday, 11/27/2017

*Disclaimer: I’ve been doing keto for 1 year on and off and consider myself at an advanced level. It is advisable that you consult with your doctor(s) before making major lifestyle changes

Here we are, day one. I’ve said that to myself plenty of times. “Diets ALWAYS have to start on a Monday or they don’t count”, “Get all your cravings out the day before”, been there and done that throughout the years.

If you read my intro, you’ll know I’ve been at this a long time. At my worst in July 2013, I weighed in at a meaty 315 lbs. (photos to come shortly). Over the four subsequent years, I have finagled my way down to 240 lbs. This started off with low-calorie diets, low-fat diets, running over 4 miles per day, cutting sodas and fast food and incorporating some weight training in there. That got me from 315 lbs. down to 265 lbs. At that point, I hit the proverbial great wall. Nothing I did from August 2014 through November 2016 worked for weight loss. While working at Dr. Hizon’s office starting in November 2016, I was introduced to the ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting. I lost 25 lbs. in one month and have been at the new weight of 240 lbs. since then. One year later from the day I discovered the Keto diet, I am embarking on my journey to break through this current wall.

So, here we go. Anyone that knows me knows I don’t like taking off my shirt. Why? Sheer embarrassment. When you’re so big for so long, you get used to certain things like not wanting to take off your shirt in public.

Then why am I posting a collage of myself from all angles? Because I’m all in. This will help hold me accountable. I want to share my ups and downs with everyone. Weight loss is not easy; I know that firsthand. More importantly, I want to show that average individuals, such as myself, can achieve their physical goals.

How I feel: Genuinely excited. There was an internal debate over whether I would post to this blog as I went along or later in time. I knew that if I waited to post, I had a safety net. If it worked, I would post it. If it didn’t, I could always start on another Monday. That said, I’m sharing from the start.

What I expect: Ebbs and flows. Definitely feeling motivated to start. It helps that my family (mother, brother, sister) are all on board. Everyone is as excited as I am. I know that with Christmas coming, I will be tempted by food everywhere. I expect to have cravings when I hang around friends or go into work.

Alright, down to brass tacks, some measurements:
Weight: 241.8 lbs.
Body Fat: 24.1% (correlates to 58 lbs.)
Biceps: 35 cm (13 3/4 inch)
Bust: 114 cm (44 7/8 inch)
Chest: 108.5 cm (42 3/4 inch)
Waist: 98.5 cm (38 3/4 inch)
Hips: 101.5 cm (39 15/16 inch)
Thigh: 66 cm (26 inch)

Meals:
Breakfast: coffee + coconut oil + butter + heavy cream
Lunch: bone broth + coffee
Dinner: fasting

Breakdown: approximately 900 calories (95% fat, 2% protein, 3% carbs)
Water intake: over 128 ounces
Exercise: Ab workout, 1 hour spin class

Relaxation: Stretching, Steam room

Motivational word for the day: ENOUGH
You have to be fed up with your current situation to make real change. I am fed up with mine. Enough is enough. Enough hiding myself behind loose fitting clothing. Enough making excuses for myself. Enough starting diets and never continuing them. Enough not being happy. It’s time for a change…