Many people are unable to hold their low carb diets for longer, either because they crave carbs too much or because they experienced multiple side effects of going on a low carb diet.
When you suddenly deprive your body of their main energy source, the body will react. While the body adjusts, you may experience some discomfort. However, if you substitute the lack of carbs with the right food, you can minimize or avoid these complications.
Side-Effects And Natural Solutions
- You will probably experience headache, nausea, and confusion during the starting days of the diet. You will feel physically tired and lethargic and might even associate the symptoms with flu. However, these are common body responses to deprivation of carbs.
Eating healthy fats to make up for the carbohydrate and drinking lots of water can help you avoid these side effects.
- Due to decreased intake of magnesium, you could experience frequent leg cramps after going on a low carb diet. If the cramps are very painful, then you might have to increase your intake of magnesium or carbs.
- You may have to deal with constipation while your body adjusts to this new diet of yours. To ensure healthy bowel movement, start eating fresh vegetables and fruits as they contain fiber. Fibre will improve your digestion and make up for the lost nutrients and minerals.
- Being on a low carb diet can also dampen your mood by mentally exhausting you. You are likely to feel grumpy and cranky for no explicable reason at all. Except, there is a reason. Once your consumption of carbs decreases, so will the production of serotonin or the happy hormone.
- Keeping hydrated and increasing the intake of sodium or salt in your diet can help you avoid or minimize most of the side effects of the diet. If you are having heart palpitations i.e. increased heart rate, then fluid and sodium intake will solve the issue.
To minimize the side effects you could gradually start your low carb diet instead of jumping head-on. This will provide your body with more time to get accustomed to the new diet.