If the priority is to get pregnant and you suddenly become ketogenic, your body may understand that it is not time to get pregnant and you stop menstruating.
This does not mean that ketogenic causes infertility. On the contrary, women with polycystic ovaries even start menstruating and improve fertility with this lifestyle, as insulin resistance improves (4 and 5).
It’s all about individualizing and understanding that your body can respond that way (it’s not a rule). If it happens, I’ll give you some tips to improve and start over differently so that it works for you!
A low calorie diet or excessive weight loss with a marked drop in body fat percentage (<8-9%) can have the same effect. In this case, weight gain alone solves the problem.
This occurs in any low-calorie diet (low carb or not) that results in excessive loss of body fat.
Keto Revolution: Which women are most at risk of having these problems getting into ketosis too quickly?
Dr. Janaína Koenen: Women who are very physically active, who exercise daily and intensely for more than an hour.
- Women who do very intense / heavy workouts in the gym / running (athletes)> 3 to 4 times a week.
- Women trying to gain lean mass.
- Very tired after training: it is a sign that something is wrong.
- In perimenopause or menopause.
- Pregnant or breastfeeding women (breastfeeding): these are not moments to test anything, if you have already done it and are already adapted, that’s fine, but even so, have the accompaniment of a nutritionist and an experienced doctor (the obstetrician must also agree).
- Women who ate very high amounts of carbohydrates and fast food before they started.
- Very thin women, with a low percentage of body fat.
How can women avoid problems on the ketogenic diet?
What Ketogenic Diet tips can the doctor give to these patients? How to avoid weight stagnation at the beginning or even a hormonal problem?
Dr. Janaína Koenen: Start slowly. Let’s say you ate 200 to 250g of net carbs / day (total carbs minus fiber – use the fat secret app).
- In the first week, stick to 100-150g of carbohydrates. End the week with 100g / day.
- In the second week, stay between 50-100g of liquid carbohydrates / day.
- In the third week, start with 50g and end the week with less than 25g of net carbs / day.
This works for those who entered the ketogenic face and gained weight or did not lose weight. Start from scratch and follow this tip.
If you feel too tired and without energy, make the transitions for 2/2 weeks. Remember that tiredness can only be due to lack of salt and water!
Other tips:
- Eat enough calories: the ketogenic diet takes away your appetite, so you’ll want to write down what you eat or follow up on an app (I suggest the fat secret), so you don’t cut calories too much. Consult a doctor for a more complete hormonal assessment and a nutritionist to monitor the calories and make these adjustments during the process.
- Do not fast (at first). Fasting increases cortisol, which at the moment may not be good.
- Don’t exercise too much (at the beginning). Prefer light weight training / pilates and walking.
- Eat more fat: helps with hormonal regularization, satiety, energy levels, improves abstinence from sweets and caffeine, energy to work out. Tips are fatter cuts of meat, more oil in the salad, avocado, chestnuts, olives, fatty cheeses.
- Eat enough protein (talk to your doctor and nutritionist). If you don’t meet your daily protein requirements, you may be very hungry, even if you eat a lot of fat.
- Control emotional stress: walking, yoga, mindfulness (meditation)