Entering Ketosis
You’ve decided to start following a ketogenic diet to reap the many benefits of ketosis – weight loss, improved mental focus and clarity, more energy, and better health. Ketosis occurs when your body starts burning fat for fuel instead of carbs. Getting into a state of ketosis is key for seeing results on the keto diet, but how do you know you’ve reached that magical fat-burning state?
Look out for these 10 signs and symptoms to determine if you’re in ketosis:
1. Bad Breath
Some people report bad or “metallic” breath when they reach ketosis. Acetone, a ketone your body produces in ketosis, is released through breathing and can lead to unpleasant or fruity breath. Not everyone experiences “keto breath,” but if you do, it’s a definitive sign you’ve reached ketosis.
2. Weight Loss
As your body adapts to running on fat and ketones instead of glucose, one of the first signs of ketosis is rapid weight loss. Insulin – the fat storage hormone – drops dramatically in ketosis. This allows fat to exit your cells and be burned as energy. Most people notice significant weight loss in the first 1-2 weeks of ketosis.
3. Increased Ketones
The most reliable way to know if you’re in ketosis is by testing your blood or urine for the presence of ketones. At-home urine test strips as well as blood meters like Keto Mojo can track ketone levels. Optimal ketosis = blood ketones from 0.5 – 3.0 mmol/L.
4. Reduced Appetite and Cravings
One of the first effects of entering ketosis is diminished hunger and cravings. With stable energy and lower insulin levels, feelings of ravenous hunger subside. Your body adjusts to efficiently using fat for fuel, easing those intense food cravings.
5. Short-term Fatigue
You might feel more tired than usual when entering ketosis. The transition from using glucose to using ketones as energy can result in feelings of fatigue, irritability, dizziness or nausea. This “keto flu” lasts 1-7 days as your body adapts to ketosis. Staying on top of electrolytes helps counter fatigue.
6. Digestive Issues
Switching up your diet can cause short-term digestive issues like constipation, diarrhea or indigestion. This lasts a few days or weeks as your gut biome adapts to a dramatic drop in carbs. Make sure to consume plenty of low-carb veggies and fluids.
7. Disturbed Sleep Patterns
Some people report odd sleep patterns like intense dreams or waking up in the middle of the night when starting keto. The shift in hormones and fat metabolism may impact your circadian rhythms, regulated by these pathways. As your body adapts, your sleep should normalize.
8. Increase in Focus and Energy
After the initial hump of fatigue and flu-like symptoms, one of the first positive signs of reaching long-term ketosis is a noticeable rise in steady energy levels and mental clarity. With ketones fueling your brain and no crashes from glucose spikes, focus improves.
9. Decreased Performance in High Intensity Exercise
If you feel like your athletic performance suffers initially when restricting carbs, you’re not alone! It takes time for your body to adapt to using fat effectively instead of carbs. Light exercise is fine, but high intensity intervals may suffer at first. Stay patient and performance will rebound.
10. Improved biomarkers
Signs of improved health like better cholesterol ratios and blood sugar control indicate your body is responding well to ketosis. Have these markers checked a few months into keto – lowered triglycerides and glucose plus raised HDL are key health wins!
Tracking these symptoms when you reduce carbs will let you know if you’ve successfully reached ketosis. Pay attention to how you feel and use testing tools to track ketones. Achieving long-term ketosis leads to incredible benefits – keep an eye out for both positive and negative symptoms!
What Exactly is Ketosis?
Before diving deeper into the signs and symptoms of ketosis, it’s helpful to understand what ketosis is and how your body enters this fat burning state.
Ketosis occurs when your body begins using ketones rather than glucose as its main source of energy.
Glucose is the body’s preferred source of fuel. Most people following a standard American diet get the majority of their calories from carbs – breads, pastas, sugars. When you eat a high carb meal, those carbohydrates get broken down into glucose during digestion which enters your bloodstream. Insulin triggers cells to absorb this glucose out of your blood for use as muscular fuel.
Any excess glucose gets stored in your liver as a substance called glycogen. When glycogen stores reach capacity, any additional glucose gets converted into fatty acids (triglycerides) which accumulate as body fat.
This is why consistently eating more carbs than your body can use right away leads to fat storage over time. Your cells develop a dependency on running on glucose.
Ketosis flips metabolic processes upside down.
Instead of needing to constantly eat carbs for energy, ketosis allows your body to run on its alternative fuel – fats and ketones.
When you dramatically slash carb intake to under 50 grams of net carbs per day, your body eventually switches into ketosis as a survival mechanism. With limited incoming glucose from carbs, insulin levels drop and the body starts tapping into stored body fat for energy usage instead.
In ketosis, the liver begins producing compounds called ketone bodies, or simply ketones, from fatty acids. There are three main ketone bodies your body makes:
- Acetoacetate
- Beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB)
- Acetone
Ketones can provide energy to all organs and muscles. Your brain also begins using ketones as its main fuel source in deep ketosis.
Ketosis signs and symptoms result from this dramatic shift away from getting energy from carbohydrates towards producing ketones and fat metabolism.
Stages of Ketosis
Reaching optimal ketosis to see the benefits offered from long-term keto adaptation involves transitioning through various stages as your body learns to make and efficiently use ketones. Here is an overview of those phases:
1. Induction Phase
When you initially slash carbs to below 50 grams daily to induce ketosis, you switch from using glycogen and glucose as fuel to making ketones from fats. Hormones and enzymes take some time to adjust to this metabolic change.
Transition periods last days or even weeks as your body adapts. This adjustment time varies based on several individual factors:
- Metabolic flexibility – The ability to switch between burning carbs or fats for fuel based on availability. Those with good metabolic flexibility adapt faster.
- Insulin resistance – Chronically high insulin makes it tougher for cells to release stored fat for ketones. Those with insulin resistance or diabetes may progress slower.
- Carb intake history – Someone transitioning from an ultra high carb Standard American Diet (SAD) may take longer adjusting compared to those already eating lower carb.
During this initial adaptation phase, people commonly feel tired, irritable or foggy-headed as your brain and muscles shift to ketones from glucose. Digestive issues like constipation also crop up during the transition.
Testing ketones with urine strips or a blood ketone meter indicates your body has started producing them. But it takes time to utilize them efficiently with minimal symptoms.
2. Early Ketosis Phase
After the initial hump of transition symptoms, you enter the early phase of ketosis when your body has started churning out ketones and using them for energy without relying as heavily on glucose.
In this phase, cravings diminish, energy levels rise and mental clarity improves. People see encouraging results motivating them to stick with the diet – rapid weight loss and appetite control kick in. However, ketone production and usage remains a bit clunky.
3. Long-term Keto-Adaptation
After several weeks to months sticking with keto eating patterns, your body becomes “keto-adapted.” This means your muscles and organs have developed the necessary enzymes and pathways to efficiently produce ketones from fat and use ketones for fuel without needing dietary carbs.
Long-term keto adaptation results in even more benefits like steady energy, improved athletic performance, better biomarkers and possibly a prolonged lifespan from lowering disease risk long-term.
Let’s explore other signs and symptoms along the spectrum of entering ketosis, adapting and thriving in a keto adapted state.
Flu-Like Symptoms
Carb withdrawal can essentially imitate flu symptoms. So why do some people struggle with keto flu when transitioning into ketosis?
Your kidneys excrete more sodium as insulin levels fall. Having chronically high baseline insulin keeps excessive sodium stored up. As this flushes out when lowering carbs, sodium depletion occurs.
Falling electrolyte levels coupled with transitioning to ketones leads to that “keto flu” feeling. Symptoms may include:
- Fatigue
- Muscle cramping
- Irritability
- Trouble concentrating
- Insomnia
- GI distress
These miserable flu-like experiences result directly from becoming keto adapted. They signify your body is making the switch from sugar burning to fat burning.
While uncomfortable, accept them as part of the process. Stay hydrated and increase sodium intake to restore electrolyte balance.
Within 1-7 days the worst of symptoms subside as ketone production and usage becomes more efficient. Feelings of clear energy, mental clarity and lower appetite take their place.
Changes in Hunger and Appetite
One of the fastest and most profound effects of entering ketosis includes rapid changes in hunger cues and appetite.
Components of keto known for appetite suppression effects include:
- Lower insulin – This fat storage hormone drops dramatically when carbs are restricted, allowing rapid weight loss. Low insulin helps regulate the hunger hormone grehlin.
- Increased peptide YY – Released from the gut, PYY suppresses appetite. Ketosis diets increase PYY which improves satiety.
- Ketones depress hunger – Some evidence indicates ketones like BHB directly communicate signals of fullness to the brain via the nucleus tractus solitarius.
For most people, sticking to keto for a few weeks results in effortless appetite control and reduction of food intake to levels supporting fat loss or maintenance. Cravings fade as well.
No longer ravenously hungry between meals or craving sweets is an excellent sign ketosis has shifted appetite regulating hormones in your favor so you can more easily eat less without feeling starved or deprived!
Weight Loss
The pound shedding seen within the first 1-2 weeks of ketosis results from a combination of factors:
- Glycogen loss – Each gram of stored glycogen binds to 3-4 grams of water. As you exhaust glycogen stores, water flushes out leading to rapid loss of pounds on the scale.
- Appetite regulation – By reducing hunger and cravings, most adopt an effortless calorie deficit simply eating less but feeling satiated.
- Increased calorie burn – Some evidence indicates higher fatty acid oxidation and calories burned while at rest occur in ketosis.
Importantly, the initial rapid drop in weight stabilizes after the first couple weeks. Ongoing keto weight loss or maintenance then trends 1-2 pounds per week.
If the scale keeps rapidly plunging with huge calorie intake, seek medical advice to rule out an underlying disorder.
Otherwise, consistent weight loss while in ketosis indicates your body has successfully transitioned to burning fat stores and stored body fat for the majority of daily energy requirements!
Digestive Changes
Transitioning to any drastically different way of eating can trigger digestive issues before homeostasis in gut flora and enzyme function restores.
Common keto start up digestion difficulties include:
- Constipation
- Diarrhea
- Indigestion
- Heartburn
- Abdominal pain
- Bloating
Lower fiber intake from whole grains subtraction as well as gut flora changes lead to constipation. Drink plenty of sugar-free fluids. Add more magnesium and MCT oil as osmotic laxatives. Increase fibrous green veggies or add a keto friendly fiber supplement likeFUNC Foods prebiotic fiber powder temporarily.
Diarrhea and stomach upset stem from changes in gut flora combined with higher fats. Are you reacting to any of the dairy or high fat added? Try removing and watch for improvements.
These digestive hassles typically resolve within 7-30 days as bowel flora diversifies and fat digestion enzymes adapt.
Short Term Strength Loss
Once past the keto flu transition stage, energy, endurance and mental stamina all get a boost being keto adapted. But can the same be said for short term power and strength?
Unfortunately, studies show strength and muscle power output may decrease at first when adapting to keto. Reasons include:
- Initial lower muscle glycogen
- Impaired calcium handling
- Poor intramuscular ATP regeneration
However, this drop in performance fixes itself. Within 2-4 weeks, strength and power return to normal as muscles optimize using fat-based fuels.
One study found no deficits existed after athletes adapted to keto for 9-12 weeks. Give your body ample time to fully keto adapt before worrying about muscle strength decreases.
Long Term Energy Rise
After adapting to use fatty acids and ketones efficiently with sufficient minerals like sodium, potassium and magnesium, sustainable energy abounds.
No longer needing quick carbs every few hours to stay functioning pays huge dividends for steady energy levels and performance.
Reasons for boosted energy include:
- Stable access to abundant fat stores for ketones means no bonking when active.
- Lower inflammation may contribute to increased vitality.
- Less oxidative damage from using ketones instead of glucose increases metabolic efficiency long-term.
Using fat adaption strategies like intermittent fasting and long term keto eating amplifies benefits promoting higher physical and mental energy levels daily.
Better Biomarkers
Key biomarkers like blood glucose levels, cholesterol ratios and triglycerides majorly impact disease risk and longevity. How does adhering to nutritional ketosis long term influence these markers?
Positive effects include:
Blood Glucose
- Lower fasting blood sugar
- Decreased HbA1c (3 month blood sugar average)
- Improved insulin sensitivity
Heart health markers
- Lower triglycerides
- Increased HDL cholesterol
- Pattern shifts LDL to large buoyant “type A” form
These biomarker improvements lower risk for diabetes, obesity, heart disease and stroke! For optimal biomarkers, make sure to choose healthy keto options avoiding trans fats or excessive saturated fats long term.
How Long Does it Take to Enter Ketosis?
A common question when reducing carbs is how quickly ketosis kicks in. Unfortunately there’s no set universal timeline. Variables like your personal metabolism, history of insulin resistance, carb intake levels and activity levels all impact adaptation rate.
What experts suggest:
- Moderate to high ketones may start within 2-4 days of restricting carbs under 20 grams daily.
- Light ketosis by 7-14 days is typical for most people.
- Full keto adaptation where your body efficiently produces and utilizes ketones for months on end can take 4-6 weeks.
Stick with it! Even without full blown ketosis, lowering carbs comes with benefits like blood sugar stabilization. Any steps towards fat adaption pay off.
Troubleshooting Ketosis Difficulties
While many readily adapt and thrive using ketones for fuel, some struggle making the switch. Why might you have a rocky transition? Several factors influence keto adaptation.
Genetic Differences
Genes impact nearly all aspects of human physiology and biochemistry. About 20% of the population carries genetics making getting into or sustaining ketosis more challenging. Reasons include:
1. Insulin resistance – Chronic high insulin from obesity, metabolic syndrome or genetic tendencies hampers releasing fatty acids from fat cells to supply the liver for ketone production.
2. Impaired fat digestion – Problems with bile production or enzyme function slows down breakdown of fats into usable fuel.
3. Slow ketone clearance – Genes regulating clearance of ketones from circulation may contribute to unwanted symptoms like fatigue or gut issues.
For those facing genetic hurdles, keto can require more work. Testing blood ketones while tweaking carbs guides your optimal range for benefits without unpleasant side effects. Consider adding intermittent fasting for metabolic flexibility.
Medications
Certain prescription drugs influence ketosis induction or symptoms by altering insulin, glucose metabolism or electrolyte balance. Types interfering with keto include:
- Insulin
- Sulfonylureas
- Thiazolidinedione
- Cortisol
- Beta-blockers
- Diuretics
- NSAIDs
- Antidepressants
Always consult your doctor about medication interactions before starting a radically new diet like strict keto. Modifications or close medical supervision may be necessary.
Autoimmune Conditions
For individuals dealing with autoimmune disorders, extensive nutrient deficiencies frequently exist. Malabsorption is also common. Both aspects can negatively impact achieving efficient ketosis.
Gut inflammation also impairs fat digestion and ketone usage. Those with autoimmune conditions may need to start with a gentler low carb diet instead of full blown keto and make modifications to account for individual needs.
Testing ketones along the way while slowly reducing carbs guides the process. Often blood ketone levels >0.5 mmol/L come with benefits before hitting deeper nutritional ketosis ranges.
Patience and diligence overcome obstacles on the road to keto adaptation for those managing chronic illnesses.
Toxins and Metabolic Byproducts
Some hypothesized reasons for keto flu extending long term come from either:
- Environmental toxins stored in fat cells getting released en masse as weight drops.
- Metabolic waste products from the profound metabolic shifts occurring with prolonged ketosis.
However the mechanisms apply, symptoms seem more prevalent in those losing large amounts of weight rapidly who didn’t follow any other diets prior.
Patience usually resolves the worst symptoms within 6-8 weeks. Supporting detox pathways in the liver also help clear toxins or byproducts contributing to ongoing fatigue, brain fog or nausea while otherwise sticking to keto.
Steps to Minimize Symptoms When Transitioning to Ketosis
Starting keto? Expect an adjustment period before your body adapts. How can you minimize unpleasant symptoms?
Follow these tips to smooth the transition:
- Electrolytes – Get sufficient sodium, magnesium and potassium to relieve keto flu exhaustion, cramps or headaches.
- Water – Hydrate regularly with non-caloric fluids to stay energized and keep digestion smooth.
- Gut support – Try ginger, digestive enzymes or bone broth to ease GI issues.
- Light activity – Gentle movement provides energy. Too much HIIT can backfire.
- Patience – Remind yourself symptoms are temporary adaptations that will pass!
Signs You’re NOT in Ketosis
Just as important as recognizing signs you’re keto adapted are clues indicating it isn’t happening despite restricting carbs.
Be on the lookout for these symptoms:
- No change in appetite or cravings
- Increased focus on food
- Feelings of fatigue or “brain fog”
- Weight loss plateaus
- Persistent digestive issues
- No ketones registering on testing
Trouble entering or sustaining ketosis may come from inadvertent carb creep hidden in foods thought to be low carb. Things like deli meat with added sugar may sabotage your efforts.
Be vigilant tracking macros and getting sufficient calories from healthy fats like olive oil, fatty fish and nuts instead of too much protein or carbs. Consider food sensitivity testing to pinpoint any potential inflammation or gut permeability barriers, too.
Experiment to find your “sweet spot” below 20 net grams of total carbs daily to trigger deep nutritional ketosis benefits!
Take Home Messages on Ketosis Signs and Symptoms
- Look for both positive and negative symptoms to confirm entering ketosis during the initial adaptation phase.
- Testing ketones in urine or blood provides validation you’ve achieved ketosis based on presence of elevated acetone, acetoacetate or beta-hydroxybutyrate.
- Pay attention to how you look, feel and perform.indirect and direct symptoms provide insight into your level of keto adaptation and fat burning efficiency long term.
- Troubleshooting obstacles through tracking, supplements and lifestyle tweaks helps smooth out the transition period.
- Reaching long term keto adaptation with effortless appetite control, ample energy stores and optimal biomarkers makes sticking to keto eating sustainable and rewarding!
Hopefully this overview gives you a sense of what to expect when entering ketosis. Embrace both temporary transition challenges and profound positives like reduced hunger, rapid weight loss and mental clarity knowing they signify your metabolism has successfully switched from sugar burner to fat burner!