Initial Side Effects

If you dive right in and give up the carbs and sugars cold turkey (which we recommend you do), you may experience some minor side effects. Lets face it, you are making quite a change to the food your body has been used to for many years.

Don't worry though, these side effects normally only last a few days (up to a week) and the most common ones are...

Headaches
Fatigue/Feeling Lethargic
Diziness/Light Headedness
Heart Palpatations
Irritability

As your body gets used to this new fuel and as your fat burning increases, these side effects usually decrease and go away completely. Drinking lots of water, and increasing your salt intake a little bit can also help minimise the side effects.

Dr Andreas Eenfeldt (The Diet Doctor) explains why its important to keep your fluids up in the early stages of LCHF.... "The reason for this is that carbohydrate-rich foods may increase the water retention in your body. When you stop eating high-carb foods you'll lose excess water through your kidneys. This can result in dehydration and lack of salt during the first week, before the body has adapted."

Just dive right in to
Low Carb, High Fat

Not everyone experiences side effects and we were amongst those who didn't. I don't have a scientific reason for why some people experience them and not others, but from what I have read of other peoples experiences, often it seems those who have a bit of a sweet tooth or quite a high carb/sugar intake can experience more of the side effects (neither of us were ever big sweet eaters).

Some people may choose to ease into reducing their carbs to try and help with minimising the side effects, but the best thing is to just dive right in. If you are going to have side effects, get them out of the way and move on with the rest of your healthy life.

Initial Side Effects on Low Carb High Fat : Edify

Initial Side Effects