Many people who adopt a low-carb diet experience a noticeable dip in their energy levels, particularly in the afternoon. This article examines the reasons behind this phenomenon and offers strategies to combat it. It's important to remember that individual experiences may vary, and consulting with a healthcare professional is always advisable before making significant dietary changes.
Introduction to Low-Carb Diets
The ketogenic diet, a very low-carb, high-fat, and moderate-protein diet, has gained traction as an effective method for weight loss. By drastically reducing carbohydrate intake, the body switches from burning glucose to burning fat for fuel, a process called ketosis. While generally safe, this dietary shift can lead to initial side effects, commonly known as the "keto flu."
What is Afternoon Fatigue?
Afternoon fatigue is a common experience characterized by a decline in energy levels during the midafternoon. This can manifest as tiredness, difficulty concentrating, or a general feeling of lethargy. Many factors can contribute to this afternoon slump, and diet plays a significant role.
Causes of Afternoon Fatigue on a Low-Carb Diet
The "Keto Flu" and Adaptation
When transitioning to a low-carb diet, the body undergoes an adaptation period where it switches from burning carbohydrates to burning fat for energy. During this time, individuals may experience fatigue, headaches, and other flu-like symptoms. This adjustment period, often referred to as "keto adaptation," can significantly impact energy levels.
Electrolyte Imbalance and Dehydration
Low-carb diets can lead to increased water and electrolyte excretion. When carbohydrate intake is reduced, insulin levels remain low and stable. Because insulin does more than just stabilize blood sugar, on a low-carb diet, the body excretes a lot more water and electrolytes. This dehydration can lead to fatigue, brain fog, muscle cramps, and other issues.
Read also: Safety of Low-Carb Diets During Lactation
Insufficient Calorie Intake
Ketosis can suppress appetite, making it easier to maintain a calorie deficit. While this can be beneficial for weight loss, it also poses a risk of undereating. Insufficient calorie intake can lead to fatigue and reduced energy levels. It's important to ensure adequate calorie consumption, even with a suppressed appetite.
Inadequate Fat Consumption
Healthy fats are an essential part of a balanced diet and the primary source of energy on a ketogenic diet. If you’re afraid of eating healthy fats on the ketogenic diet, where fat is your primary source of energy you may feel fatigue. When you don’t consume enough fat on a low-carb diet, you may experience fatigue.
Low Blood Sugar
Low blood sugar can cause feelings of tiredness. The meals you eat - or did not eat - for breakfast and lunch can impact feelings of tiredness in the afternoon. If you are a person with diabetes, the risk of this happening is greater, especially if you take certain diabetes medications without eating. Some types of insulin and sulfonylurea medications such as Glipizide can cause blood sugar to get too low if a person does not eat soon afterward or doesn‘t eat some healthy carbohydrates.
Blood Sugar “Crash”
A blood sugar crash may be what causes afternoon fatigue. This is medically referred to as reactive hypoglycemia, which happens when your blood sugar drops within four hours after eating. This can be a reason you feel weak, tired or irritable in the afternoon. This can especially happen for persons on diabetes medication, though people without diabetes can also experience this. An often overlooked culprit that can cause low blood sugar for people with diabetes is alcohol - especially if you’re taking certain diabetes medicines. Alcohol can cause delayed low blood sugar, so low blood sugar levels in the afternoon can be caused by consuming alcohol the night before. It also is always a good idea not to consume alcohol on an empty stomach. The body processes alcohol first. Drinking on an empty stomach can still cause low blood sugar even if a person does start eating.
Lack of Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are the primary source of fuel for our body, slashing your intake could have a major impact on your energy level. Carbs are converted to energy more efficiently than protein or fat, so you may start feeling a little sluggish throughout the day on a low-carb diet.
Read also: Best keto-friendly chips
Strategies to Combat Afternoon Fatigue on a Low-Carb Diet
Stay Hydrated
Drinking enough water is crucial for overall health and can help alleviate fatigue. A keto diet can cause you to rapidly shed water stores, increasing the risk of dehydration. Staying hydrated can help with symptoms like fatigue and muscle cramping. Replacing fluids is especially important when you are experiencing keto-flu-associated diarrhea, which can cause additional fluid loss.
Replace Electrolytes
Replacing dietary electrolytes may help reduce keto-flu symptoms. When following a ketogenic diet, levels of insulin, an important hormone that helps the body absorb glucose from the bloodstream, decrease. When insulin levels decrease, the kidneys release excess sodium from the body. Getting adequate amounts of these important nutrients is an excellent way to power through the adaptation period of the diet. Salting food to taste and including potassium-rich, keto-friendly foods like green leafy vegetables and avocados is an excellent way to ensure a healthy balance of electrolytes. These foods are also high in magnesium, which may help reduce muscle cramps, sleep issues, and headaches.
Ensure Adequate Calorie Intake
Even with a suppressed appetite, it’s important to eat enough calories to fuel your body. Try eating at least 3 meals a day at first, spread evenly throughout the day. And if you implement keto fasting, make sure to do it in a structured, intentional way.
Prioritize Healthy Fats
Ensure you are eating enough fat, the primary fuel source on the ketogenic diet, will help reduce cravings and keep you feeling satisfied. The good news is that fat doesn’t make you fat.
Develop the habit of eating breakfast
Develop the habit of eating breakfast. Increasing protein intake can especially help prevent afternoon fatigue. Protein helps stabilize blood sugars and energy levels and provides excellent nutrition to fuel your day. Good sources of protein are lean cuts of beef, poultry, fish and seafood, eggs, dairy products - and plant sources such as tofu, legumes, nuts and seeds. As with all food, whole or minimally processed foods are better than those that are highly processed. If you need something quick and have limited options, protein also can be added to your diet in other ways, such as from protein bars, drinks or shakes, and other more-processed sources. Animal sources of protein can provide essential and vital nutrition and do not need to be avoided. However, moderation is always key. Including plant protein sources in your diet is also important for getting good nutrition. Tofu is an excellent plant protein that is very versatile, cost-effective and available in many forms. This can be a great way to try something new and add variety.
Read also: Best Keto Tortillas
Healthy Fats
Healthy fats also are an essential part of a healthy, balanced diet. They can help with stabilizing blood sugar levels and can help keep you feeling full longer.
Mindful Snacking
While snacking can be healthy for some people, it’s important to make sure you eat snacks with balanced nutrition. Sometimes snacks are low in nutrition and full of quick-releasing carbohydrates - think foods with sugar and white flour. These can cause blood sugar to go too high and then come down quickly. This can cause you to feel unwell or tired.
Regular Meal Timing
Eating three meals daily - and snacks as needed - can be very helpful in managing your blood sugar well and feeling your best. Meals ideally include all the food groups - carbohydrates, protein and fat. High fiber sources of carbohydrates such as fruit, vegetables and whole grains help you increase nutrient density in your diet and will fill you up faster and stave off hunger for longer. Fiber also helps to stabilize blood sugar.
Incorporate Fiber-Rich Foods
When going low-carb, it's imperative to ensure the carbohydrates you are eating are high-quality. While oatmeal itself has fiber, you can increase fiber intake by adding fruits on top. Oatmeal also can be prepared the night before or baked in the oven and enjoyed for a few days. Try adding one or more of the following to your diet to increase healthy protein and fats: An egg, nuts or seeds that are raw or in a spread, yogurt, milk or cottage cheese. If you are truly hungry, snacks can be part of a healthy, balanced diet. Sometimes the healthiest snack is a mini meal such as leftovers or half a sandwich.
Avoid Strenuous Exercise
While exercise is important for staying healthy, strenuous exercise should be avoided when experiencing keto-flu symptoms. While these types of exercise should be avoided if you are experiencing the keto flu, light activities like walking, yoga, or leisurely biking may improve symptoms.
Get Adequate Sleep
Fatigue and irritability are common complaints of people who are adapting to a ketogenic diet. Reduce caffeine intake: Caffeine is a stimulant that may negatively impact sleep. If you drink caffeinated beverages, only do so in the morning so your sleep is not affected. Cut out ambient light: Shut off cell phones, computers, and televisions in the bedroom to create a dark environment and promote restful sleep. Take a bath: Adding Epsom salt or lavender essential oil to your bath is a relaxing way to wind down and get ready for sleep. Get up early: Waking at the same time every day and avoiding oversleeping may help normalize your sleep patterns and improve sleep quality over time.
Monitor Ketone Levels
First, you’ll want to test your ketone levels daily to ensure you’re actually in ketosis.
Rule Out Other Causes
Remember that other things can cause low energy on keto, too. While your eating habits can either cause or prevent an afternoon crash, you should be mindful that this may not be the only reason that you feel lethargic in the afternoons.
Additional Tips for Maintaining Energy Levels
Don't Skip Meals
The best way to keep your energy level at peak performance is to start the day with breakfast. Skipping any meal affects your ability to focus. This makes it harder to solve problems. Missed meals also mean you miss out on nutrients. Often, people who skip meals end up overeating later.
Choose Complex Carbohydrates
For a quick burst of fuel, choose foods high in complex carbohydrates. These are healthful sources of energy that digest the quickest. Go for whole-grain breads and cereals, fresh fruits, vegetables and vegetable sticks, pasta, beans, or brown rice.
Include Protein
To hold hunger at bay for longer, choose protein foods that take longer to digest. These include nuts, peanut butter, and cheese.
Treat Snacks as Mini-Meals
Instead of looking at snacks as extras, treat them as mini-meals that add to your overall nutrition for the day. Healthy snacks help provide fuel to keep your body going. Try fruits and vegetables to boost your intake of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Choose plain nonfat yogurt or café lattes made with skim milk to get protein and calcium. When you snack, keep variety, moderation, and balance in mind.
Avoid Sugary Foods
Eating sugar causes your blood sugar to rise rapidly. This can result in an energy boost. But when sugar is introduced into the bloodstream, the body also makes insulin. This lowers blood sugar levels. Sometimes the body over-adjusts itself, causing the blood sugar level to drop quickly. This explains the drop in energy some people have about 30 minutes after eating a sugary snack. Sugar in moderation, especially from fruit or 100% fruit juice, will give you energy without a lag.
Get Enough Sleep
Getting even 1 hour less of sleep can result in slower mental functioning the next day. Your reactions will be slowed and your memory may suffer.
Stay Hydrated
Your body needs a certain amount of water to function. When you don’t have enough water, everything slows down and becomes less efficient.
Use Caffeine Wisely
Caffeine is a stimulant, so it will give you a short-term energy boost. According to the FDA, as long as you keep your caffeine intake to about 400 mg per day-about the equivalent of 4 cups of coffee -caffeine typically isn’t harmful to most healthy adults.
Exercise Regularly
Exercise increases your endurance and makes your cardiovascular system more efficient. This gives you more energy for doing simple daily tasks. Exercise also helps you sleep better, improves your mood, eases stress, helps with weight control, strengthens bones and muscles, and lowers your risk for a host of diseases.
Take Breaks and Stretch
A good way to fight off tiredness during that midafternoon energy lag is to do some stretches. Or take a quick walk around the block. This will get the blood flowing. It also forces your senses to become sharper and more focused.
The Role of Plant-Rich Diets
The impact of plant-rich diets on sleep: a mini-review. People following a keto diet have an extra-long list of potential consequences, one of them being some seriously bad breath. Veggies are an important food source for anyone trying to eat healthily, but they are even more crucial for those following a low-carb diet.
Postprandial Somnolence
The act of eating is not solely responsible for the feelings of drowsiness that sometimes follow a meal. In fact, you may still experience the post-lunch dip even if you skip lunch.