It may be quite difficult to tell whether or not you are in ketosis. Here are a few signs that your body may be in ketosis.
1. Short termed fatigue. One of the first things that can happen is fatigue and weakness called keto flu. This is a natural part of what happens when you greatly reduce your carb intake. You’re not in ketosis but are on your way. Once your body has reduced your glycogen stores with your muscles, your body will begin ketone production. For a great comparison think of how you feel during and after having vomiting and diarrhea. You feel this way because you’ve expelled a large amount of fluids and nutrients with an inability to replace them. You’ve lost a lot of water, glucose and salt. But once you can return to eating and drinking you begin to recover. There are electrolyte replacements which can greatly help while you are in this stage. Some people take them as supplements the entire time while doing keto.
2. Bad breath. As the ketones ( specifically acetone ) begin to increase, your breath will have a smelly or fruity odor. This is normal for ketosis. Just brush several times daily with sugar free toothpaste.
3. Weight loss. As you lose water weight and your ketones increase with your glucose decreasing, your body is in early ketosis and the pounds and inches will start dropping. Don’t pay a lot of attention to weight at first. Losing inches will be more noticeable until you reach full ketosis, usually anywhere from four days to several weeks. So don’t be upset because you only lost 1-2 lbs. In fact, don’t even bother to weigh.
4. Lower appetite. Ketosis will significantly lower your appetite and cravings. Some contend they don’t even think about food! A state of Ketosis balances blood sugar and provides the brain with stable energy.
5. More energy and increased ability to focus. Too many carbohydrates causes more insulin to be released in your body, leaving you with low energy and hunger too soon. Your appetite increases causing you to overeat and gain weight. Your energy source of carbs is burned up causing brain fog and sluggishness. On the keto diet, your fuel source is excessive fat which is burned for energy. You don’t feel hungry too often because you don’t need to replace the stored body fat. This allows for readily available energy throughout the day.
6. Constipation and diarrhea These are temporary side effects of ketosis and will subside. It will help to eat a lot of fresh low carb vegetables which contain a lot of fiber. And drinking plenty of water, up to a gallon of water per day.
7. Insomnia. This is common in the early stages of ketosis and will subside within a few weeks. Many state they sleep better once their body adjusts to a constant state of ketosis.
8. Increased ketones in your breath, blood and urine. Measuring ketones in your urine may be done by using indicator strips for urine.. These are not as accurate as using a breathalyzer for blood ketones.
If you remain consistent with following the keto diet, are consistently losing weight and feel much better….don’t worry a lot about ketone levels. If you are struggling with weight loss and can’t tell if you are in ketosis, then buying a ketone breathalyzer should help you to maintain ketosis.