Admin When you change your diet, your body naturally takes some time to adjust. Starting a keto diet is no exception. The ketogenic diet offers a wide range of benefits while also allowing you to enjoy foods like cheese and nut butters without guilt. However, you may notice that you feel bloated at the beginning of your keto journey. What causes keto bloating? What are some ways to combat it? Read on to learn more.
What is Keto Bloating?
Keto bloating is a type of abdominal distention that occurs when starting a ketogenic (keto) diet.
This symptom is fairly common in keto beginners and long-term dieters. Fortunately, in most cases, it is not a sign of anything serious.
However, if left untreated, keto bloating can slow down weight loss and make sticking to a keto diet difficult.
To help you understand why you need to treat keto bloating, let me first explain what bloating actually is.
Bloating is a condition in which the abdomen feels full and tight, and may even seem bloated. Bloating can be temporary or chronic.
Main Causes of Keto Bloating
Eating Too Many Carbs
Cheating on a keto diet by eating too many carbohydrates will lead to many negative side effects such as weight loss stagnation, headaches and bloating.
Carbohydrates also make your body retain water, therefore, making you feel heavy and swollen.
In order to get back into ketosis and continue losing weight, all you need to do is reduce the amount of carbohydrates and you should reduce your water weight and experience a reduction in bloating within a few days.
Eating an Improper Amount of Fiber
Dietary fiber is vital to your digestive system. It keeps things moving through your digestive tract.
When you’re on a keto diet, your fiber intake can change dramatically. Whether you reduce fiber or increase it, your body will experience bloating as a result.
Consuming Too Much MCT Oil
One of the mainstays of the keto diet is that it is a low-carb, high-fat diet.
Meaning, after starting this diet, your body will have high levels of medium-chain triglycerides, which will help speed up the rate at which your body enters a state of ketosis.
Unfortunately, the increased accumulation of this type of fat in your body can lead to digestive disorders, so its side effects include diarrhea, keto bloating, vomiting and cramping.
These medium-chain triglycerides are a concentrated source of fat that is difficult to obtain from food; its only sources are coconut oil, MCT oil, palm kernel oil and dairy products.
Consuming Too Many Sugar Alcohols
If you have a sweet tooth in ketosis, you may find yourself in a tough spot. Even healthy sweets, such as fruit, contain too many carbohydrates to be freely enjoyed on a keto diet. As a result, many keto dieters turn to sugar alcohols to satisfy their sweet tooth.
Sugar alcohols are found in keto-friendly snacks, protein bars and candy. You can find sugar alcohols in the nutritional information by the following names:
- Xylitol
- Erythritol
- Sorbitol
- Maltitol
While these sugar alcohols are carbohydrate-free and keto-friendly, they can cause bloating. If you consume them in excess, they have been shown to raise inflammation and cause digestive problems. To see if sugar alcohols are behind your keto bloating, cut them out of your diet and see if things improve.
Dehydration
A keto diet will cause more thirst than any diet you’ve followed before. This is because a keto diet can lead to a lack of water levels. Keto foods can disrupt the water level in your body.
This not only leads to dehydration, but it also disrupts the body’s electrolyte balance. The main cause is dehydration and the imbalance of electrolytes, also called electrolyte imbalance, can cause problems for the digestive system. The effects of the digestive system are the biggest cause of bloating.
A food allergy can cause keto bloating
Many people with food allergies experience keto bloating, so if you experience this frequently, you should talk to your doctor.
When switching to a low-carb diet, you are likely to start eating a lot of foods that are new to you, and you may have a food allergy to one of these types of foods.
This food allergy can manifest itself as an immune response in the form of a rash, shortness of breath, or swelling and chills.
* Some common sources of food allergies include:
- Eggs
- Dairy
- Seafood
- Nuts
- Artificial sweeteners
- Nuts
- Yeast
- Coffee
How to Fix Keto Bloating?
Eat enough protein
Most people can eat 15-25% of their calories from protein and still remain in ketosis. Most people can eat more protein and still get most of the benefits of fat adaptation. The ketosis studies with the lowest incidence of constipation tolerated higher protein intakes much better.
Fiber consumption in moderation
Eating soluble fiber is one of the appropriate solutions to get rid of keto bloating and gas, as one can eat plant foods such as pears and berries, and also oat bread, which gives a feeling of fullness and facilitates stomach digestion because it is an excellent source of fiber.
Drink plenty of water
Drink two liters of water daily to improve digestion.
Avoid dairy products and cheeses
Eating dairy products and cheese, such as milk and butter, can cause digestive problems and lead to bloating and gas, so you can substitute soy, coconut or almonds ( Eat them in moderation).
Avoid spicy foods
Spicy foods that cause gas in the stomach can be replaced with spices and other herbs that relax the digestive system, such as cumin, mint and rosemary.
Avoid fried foods and soft drinks
Fat-saturated fried foods can cause digestive problems because it is difficult to break them down, and soft drinks can cause gas in the stomach.
Eat slowly
Food should be eaten slowly and chewed well to facilitate digestion, as eating fast may cause air to enter the body and cause bloating and gas.
Daily Walk
Daily walking is very important for your health because it helps the stomach and intestines to expel the gas that collects in them, and it also stimulates and tightens the muscles of the lower back.
De-stress
Tension and nervousness are among the psychological conditions that cause bloating in keto patients, so stress must be addressed by doing recreational activities and feeling relaxed.
Summary
Bloating is a side effect of the keto diet. There are several causes that bring this bad condition. You can check out what cause your bloating and take measures accordingly. It’s better to remove it though it’s not a big deal. Remember to consult your doctor if you consider the situation is out of control.
