The Transition to Ketosis Can Be Tricky
The transition into ketosis can be a little bit of a tricky one if you don’t know what you’re really looking at and if you don’t know where your ketones are at. I’m Thomas DeLauer with Keto-Mojo, and today I want to help you understand the transition from consuming carbs over into the ketosis lifestyle, because there’s some things that you should know, and quite honestly, first and foremost, accurate testing is going to be the golden rule when it comes down to truly understanding how your body is optimizing fats and truly utilizing ketones as a source of fuel.
Initial Effects When Transitioning to Keto
So when you’re transitioning from a carbohydrate fueled diet over to the ketogenic lifestyle, you might notice a couple of things. For instance, you might notice a little bit of fatigue, or you might even notice a little bit of thirst, you might notice that you’re urinating a little bit more. There’s a few things that just feel a little bit off as you’re adjusting. But the interesting thing is once you start implementing proper blood testing, especially utilizing Keto-Mojo, you can see where you are. The fact is, some people take a little bit longer to get into full blown ketosis than others. Some people can get in very, very fast, some people take two, three, four, five, sometimes even six days. But the hard part is not knowing where you stand. So if you’re leveraging the power of being able to test your blood, you can see exactly what your ketone levels are, and if you are in fact in ketosis or not.
Are Urine Strips Effective?
You see, a lot of people utilize the urine strips, and I’m not trying to throw anyone under the bus, but the fact is the urine strips measure excess amounts of acetoacetate, they don’t truly measure the amount beta-hydroxybutyrate that is in your blood. What that means is they don’t measure how much of the actual ketone bodies that make you truly in ketosis are in your blood, so they’re not truly an accurate way to measure whether you’re in ketosis or not. They’re just a way to measure if you have excess ketones. So you have two phases. You have a phase where your body has ketones that are being created, and you have a phase where you body is actually using those ketones as a source of fuel. So sometimes when you’re transitioning from carbohydrates into ketones, you’re really not even fully utilizing ketones yet, you’re still using carbohydrates but your body is starting to create some excess ketone bodies. That’s, again, why blood testing is the gold standard.
What is the Keto Flu?
Now when you’re transitioning into ketosis, you’ll hear people talk about the keto flu. In reality, the keto flu isn’t a flu, it’s more so the symptoms of dehydration, or the symptoms of electrolyte imbalances. You see, what we have to remember is whenever we’re on a low-carb diet, we are dramatically reducing the amount of insulin that is being produced by the body. Insulin has an interesting effect on the kidneys, causing the kidneys to hold on to more sodium, therefore holding on to more water. So when insulin is less available in the body, it means that the kidneys don’t hold on to as much sodium, which means they don’t hold on to as much water, which means you urinate more, which therefore means it’s easier to get a little bit dehydrated in the beginning, and therefore lose your minerals. So if you don’t have the right balance of sodium and potassium and some of your important minerals, you can feel a little bit off, and feel a little bit sluggish. That’s why people mistake it for the flu, but again, once you start getting into ketosis and your body’s utilizing those ketones better, you start feeling quite a bit better.
Why Do You Feel Sluggish?
Also because your body starts to understand the new homeostasis with lower mineral values. You can also add different minerals in to replenish some of that. I recommend adding a little bit of extra pink Himalayan salt whenever possible to offset this. But again, once you’re testing, you’ll know where you stand. Some of the other things that people face whenever they’re transitioning into the ketogenic lifestyle is a little bit of sluggishness. That’s normal, because what’s happening is your body is transitioning from utilizing carbs, where you have these stored carbs in your muscles, and it’s burning through them. And once you get to this point right before you enter ketosis, your body’s in kind of a gray area. It’s in between using carbs and fats, but it’s not either or.
Why You Should Test With the Keto-Mojo Meter
So at this point, your body hasn’t quite figured out exactly what it likes, so it’s a little bit normal to feel a little tired, and to feel a little bit lethargic. But again, that’s where blood testing comes in handy again. It’s going to put your mind at ease to make sure you know this isn’t what ketosis feels like, this is what the transition feels like. So, once you start testing and you see you’re in ketosis, everything will start to change, and you can associate the good feelings with positive ketone readings. So I sure hope that this video helps you understand that transition into ketosis, and that it makes it a little bit less ominous when so many people are talking about the dreaded keto flu, and feeling lethargic. As always, make sure you’re keeping it locked in here with Keto-Mojo, and I will see you in the next video.
