What Vitamins and Supplements are Helpful for a Ketogenic Diet?
The Ketogenic – or Keto – diet is a low-carb diet similar to the Atkins diet. The main idea is to receive most of your calories from protein and fat and less from carbohydrates. When starting the keto diet, some people can fall victim of the “keto flu,” a nickname for the collection of symptoms that are associated with the body adapting to a ketogenic diet. The “keto flu” can consist of nausea, constipation, headaches, and fatigue just to name a few symptoms you can experience when adapting to the diet. It is important to look at what a new diet is restricting from your body not just calorically, but also nutritionally. Supplements can work to fill that gap and help maintain healthy nutritional levels as you begin the transition towards the new diet.
Because of the “keto flu” and the diet itself you could be losing some valuable nutrients, thankfully, Bio-Tech Pharmacal, Inc. specializes in all-natural, hypoallergenic, additive-free vitamins and supplements that can keep your body and system in good shape replenishing the nutrients you could be missing.
Sodium, Potassium, and Calcium are all important minerals that can get shuffled and lost during the keto diet. Under normal diets, you’re usually told to limit or omit sodium, but on a low carb diet, the extra sodium can actually help stave off “keto flu” and work to balance fluids while also maintaining healthy blood pressure. * These three salts can be flushed out of your system while transitioning onto a ketogenic diet so it’s important to make sure your body is still receiving the daily recommended levels for each.
Vitamin D is one of the most important vitamins you can take so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that you should also take the vitamin if you’re on the keto diet. Vitamin D works to help facilitate your body’s calcium absorption, a nutrient that can often be lacking on a ketogenic diet. ‡ Most people are deficient in vitamin D in general, so it is a good rule of thumb to supplement your daily diet even if you are not participating in a ketogenic diet.
The essential fatty acid Omega-3 is important during a keto diet as they work to reduce inflammation, lower heart disease risk, and may prevent mental decline. One study showed that people following a ketogenic diet who supplemented with omega-3 fatty acids experienced greater decreases in triglycerides, insulin and inflammatory markers than those who did not. †
Many people follow the high-fat, low-carb keto diet in hopes of weight loss, bolstering athletic performance, and many other reasons. Supplements can help improve the nutritional value of the diet and make the transition onto the diet easier possibly even helping to reduce the symptoms of the “keto flu.” Remember to consult your physician before beginning a new diet regimen and be sure to discuss supplementation with them.
By: Keith Helm III
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Sources
*https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5608861/