The 5 Most Common Mistakes During a Ketogenic Diet

There are many obstacles that people tend to encounter during a ketogenic diet. These can lead to negative effects and especially unsatisfactory results.

Indeed, it is not enough to reduce carbohydrates to end up in a state of ketosis and reap all the metabolic benefits of a diet low in carbohydrates.

If you did not get the results you expect from this diet or any other low-sugar diet, you may have made one of these 5 common mistakes.

Eat too much carbohydrate

There is no precise delineation of what constitutes a "ketogenic diet".

Some would say that 50 grams of carbohydrates (which is already much less than in a standard Western diet) are enough.

But if you want to enter ketosis, with an abundance of ketone bodies that flood your bloodstream (to provide your brain with a source of efficient energy), then that amount may be too high.

Indeed, each person has their own limitations that need to be assessed with urine strips (for example). This personal limit depends on many parameters and it is not uncommon for a person to need to limit their intake to less than 35 grams of carbohydrate per day to enter and stay in ketosis.

In this case, the 50 g of carbohydrates do not allow your body to use fats as a fuel source, nor are they sufficient to meet your energy needs. You may feel very weak, have headaches, and finally give up.

This diet is not available to all, because in addition to needing to know its limits, it requires to have advanced knowledge on the nutritional properties of food (and put them in applications).

Eat too much protein

Proteins are a very important macronutrient, which many people miss.

Compared to other macronutrients, it has the power to improve satiety and increase fat burning 1.

Higher protein intake should normally promote weight loss and improve body composition.

Put this rule that works for most people does not apply to people who follow a ketogenic diet. In reality, consuming too much protein can turn against you!

In fact, when you consume more protein than your body needs, a portion of the amino acids contained in proteins is converted to glucose by a process called gluconeogenesis 2.

This can be problematic as part of a ketogenic diet and prevent your body from entering a real ketosis.

A ketogenic diet must be low in carbohydrates, high in fat and "moderate" in protein.

The right fork to aim is between 1.5 to 2.0 grams per kilogram of body weight. More than useless, it is counterproductive to consume more.

Be afraid to eat fats

Most people derive the majority of their calories from the carbohydrate foods.

When you remove this source of energy from your diet, you must replace it with something or you will be hungry.

Unfortunately, some people think that reducing carbohydrates is a good idea and that a reduction in fats and carbohydrates could be even better. This is a big mistake.

You have to get some energy somewhere and if you do not eat carbohydrates, then you have to bring some fat to make up for it. If not, you will be hungry, you will feel bad and will eventually give up this diet.

There is no scientific reason to fear lipids, as long as you choose healthy fatty acids such as monounsaturated, saturated and omega-3 fats, while eliminating trans fatty acids.

Do not forget that for this diet to work, at least 65% of lipids must be added. Do not skimp on sources of good fats such as olive oil, coconut oil, butter, etc.

Do not consume enough salt

But another thing that insulin does is send a signal to the kidneys to keep sodium

With a ketogenic diet, insulin levels decrease and the body also eliminates excess sodium and water. This is the reason why people often get rid of bloating in the days following a low carbohydrate diet.

That said, sodium is a crucial electrolyte for the body and this can become problematic if the kidneys are draining too much.

This largely explains the side effects of low carb diets, such as dizziness, fatigue, headaches and constipation.

The best way to solve this problem is to add more sodium to your diet. For this, nothing more simple, just put a little more salt in your food.

Do not be patient

The body is designed to burn carbohydrates first, if they are present. In other words, if they are still available, that's what your body will choose to use as fuel.

But if you drastically reduce carbohydrates, the body will have to turn to another source of energy ... fats, which come from your diet or your body fat stores.

It may take a few days for the body to adjust to burning mainly fats rather than carbohydrates, and during that time you may feel a little worse.

This is what the Anglo-Saxons call "low carb flu" that can be translated as "flu caused by a diet low in carbohydrates", and it happens to most people.

It can last from 3 to 4 days, but a complete adaptation, the famous "keto-adaptation", can take several weeks.

Il est donc essentiel de faire preuve de patience et de respecter scrupuleusement les règles alimentaires dès le début afin que cette adaptation métabolique puisse avoir lieu le plus rapidement possible.