I’m not big on misleading stuff, so I want you to know right out the gate, that this isn’t to bash keto. I am indebted to keto for saving my life and getting me out of the rut I was in.
But there are things that the keto die-hards don’t tell you.
These things can paint keto in a negative light if not explained.
So here I am to be real and accept the negativities (with reason):
1) Keto is still “starvation.”
It doesn’t mean that you are starving, but you are sending starvation signals to the cells and the brain. That’s where the benefits come in.
Ketones by their very nature, are in fact a starvation mechanism. We’re essentially tricking our body a bit into thinking that we’re starving, even with adequate amounts of calories.
I wish I had known this before, because it would allow me to understand how my body was working and WHY it was burning fat. It wasn’t magical… It was just sending signals.
2) Keto Does Negatively Impact Your Gut Biome…. AT FIRST
If you look at the simple data, it looks like keto is bad on the gut. And this scares a lot of people, but when you investigate it, you find that it’s only temporary, and then things improve.
There was a study published in Frontiers in Microbiology that outlined this nicely:
Short answer is, when you stick to it, the gut rebalances and can even improve in many cases. Less variables and more consistency.
3) You Can Get Fatigued (and you probably will at some point)
First of all, you will be fatigued when you adjust to keto, but it’s pretty easy to get fatigued on keto even after years.
The primary reason we see this happen is sodium based. I read something recently that suggested on keto you may want to aim for about 4-5,000mg of sodium. Now, I am no doctor, so test things out yourself, but I know personally I need at least 3-4,0000, especially with how active I am.
Sodium allows for the action potential in a nerve signal to do it’s job. Without sodium, you’re not sending the signal. Doesn’t just mean a cramp, it means fatigue.
So yes, keto can fatigue you, but it’s as easy as grabbing some salt to fix.
I usually sip on the LMNT electrolytes that I am always touting. They taste good, are keto and fasting friendly, and they are packed with 1,000mg sodium, 200mg potassium and a nice hit of magnesium too.
If you want to try them, here is a sample pack of 8 LMNT Electrolyte Packets for free, just pay shipping
It’s worth it just to even try and then see how it helps your keto game.
4) It will be socially isolating at first (and possibly for a long time)
Please hear this from someone that has been through this. Friends that do not want to be around you because you are doing something positive for YOURSELF are not people you want in your life.
I struggled for years trying to keep people in my life that I thought were positive energies. I realized that there was always a subconscious drive to bring me down, but when I realized that my friends did NOT need to be keto, but DID NEED to be supportive of my lifestyle, everything got better.
Only take criticism from people that you would also take advice from. It is windy at the top, and when you start to climb, it gets tougher and the candidate pool of friends gets smaller, BUT, they get truer.
You DO You
5) You CAN do Keto for TOO LONG
You absolutely can. There are some studies that show you can lose some glucose tolerance. This means your body becomes less efficient at using glucose for fuel.
May not sound like a bad thing since you don’t plan on going back off keto, right?
Wrong…
You probably will at some point, whether it’s one meal, two meals, a month, a year, whatever.
Essentially your cells are getting conditioned to using fats SO WELL that they lose the ability to deal with glucose super well.
Remember how hard you worked to get fat adapted?
Well, not you have to occasionally work to get glucose adapted again.
The good news is, per the research: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
Keto induced glucose intolerance is quickly reversible. After just a couple weeks off of keto and doing some exercise and eating some healthy carbs, things restore and you can maintain your glucose tolerance.
So when people say that keto isn’t good long term, they’re not wrong, but they’re not right either.
It is always good to ensure your body is efficient at using both fuels.
You do not want to be a one-trick-pony in any direction. Problem is, most of the U.S. is a one trick pony burning carbs…. But we don’t want to be a one trick pony burning fats…
I want BOTH!
Periodic carb cycling is effective.
6) Keto will probably give you bad breath, make your pee yellow, and possibly make your pee stink
It’s not weird, it’s part of the process. So when people say they don’t want to do keto because of that, that’s fine and understandable. Just know that it goes away.
All it is is excess ketone bodies (mainly acetone in the breath) that signify that your body is adjusting to using new fuels.
Good news, it gets better, and those that ride it out, usually never deal with it again as they develop adaptation.
Example… If I go off keto for 2 months as I frequently do, I don’t get the return of keto breath when I go back on.
This wasn’t to Scare you!
I just wish that I knew the answers to these things when I started keto 11 Years ago. Would’ve given me responses to naysayers, but also would have allowed me to know what I was dealing with.
Every diet and lifestyle has flaws.
Flaw of being a marathon runner is that you burn up muscle and get stiff.
Flaw of Vegan is you can be protein deficient.
Everything has flaws, let’s be real and address them so we stop sugar coating everything.
Do What Works!
Big thanks to LMNT once again for offering up the free trial pack to my viewers and readers. Again, that link is: and you just pay shipping!
See you tomorrow!
