About Ketosis

No, not intentionally.  Let us explain.. Meal Replacement Diet Products and Ketogenic Weight Loss products are different in their design.  Meal Replacement Products are created to provide a balanced nutritional weight loss product with a good ratio of protein and carbohydrates, whilst a Ketogenic weight loss plan generally provides lower carbohydrates and high fats. You can follow a Ketogenic Weight Loss Plan with conventional foods.

However, when following one of our Meal Replacement Plans it is quite common for clients to experience mild ketosis.  This due to a drop in the carbohydrates normally consumed and helps with feeling satisfied and provides an extra boost to the weight loss experienced.   

Mild Ketosis is often experienced when carbohydrates are less than 70g per day, it can be higher for some individuals or lower for others.  With Ketosis there is not an actual gram figure that works for everyone.   

If wishing to experience a mild ketogenic state, consider mixing some or all of our products with water, ensuring your daily calories are higher than 600.

It is very important that we constantly replace body fluids. Sufficient liquid intake is necessary to maintain proper kidney function. On all KeeDiet Plans we recommend the minimum water consumed is 2.25 litres (approximately 4 pints). This does not include water used to mix your products, tea or coffee. Water can be tap/bottled/sparkling/hot or cold.

Water should be sipped often and in regular intervals to avoid dehydration and the most common side effect of Ketosis. You should never drink liquids in large quantities as this can cause hypontremia, and can cause nausea, vomiting and headache. In serious cases, the brain can swell, causing confusion, seizures, coma and in rare cases, death.

Click here for more information of the Why so much Water?

Some common side effects may be experienced whilst following a low carb / ketogenic weight loss plan, but they are generally manageable. Dry mouth and bad breath, frequent urination, fatigue and dizziness, hypoglycemia, shakiness or weakness, sugar cravings, muscle cramps, diarrhea and constipation.

Most, if not all of the symptoms can be prevented and keep you from struggling and possibly quitting your weight loss plan. Side effects are generally a transitioning effect and will subside as you become "keto-adapted" and able to burn fat instead of glucose for fuel.

Dehydration is one of the main causes for Ketogenic / Low Carb common side effects. Make sure you drink plenty of water, sip throughout the day rather than consuming large glasses. Adding a daily vitamin & mineral supplement may also help with mineral loss along with using the permitted vegetables & salad.

See Common Side Effects Tab in FAQ for more information

Glycogen is the way our body processes and stores glucose for energy, chiefly in the liver and the muscles. Broken down it releases glucose into the bloodstream to be used as fuel for cells. The glycogen stored in the liver is what keeps specific systems running all day, including the brain, kidney cells, and red blood cells. Most of the carbohydrate we eat ends up as fuel/glucose.

Stored energy (glycogen) stores water alongside, this can account for approximately 4-5lb on your weighing scales, therefore during the first 3-4 days you generally experience a dramatic weight loss. Although this is not yet a loss of stored body fat, it should help to motivate you and will immediately make you feel lighter and less bloated.

Following guidance from NICE and NHS Guidance you should not follow a VLCD (Very Low Calorie Diet) for more than 12 continuous weeks without a break and should cease this type of plan once you have reached a BMI 25 as a minimum. Some clients prefer to follow a VLCD in shorter bursts and this is acceptable. Follow for 4 weeks and on your 5th week follow our (Total Food Replacement) 'TFR Break Week' Plan and general health advice.

Completed 12 Weeks - Reached your Target Weight or BMI 25

Time to start gently increasing your calories and food choices on route to weight management. We strongly recommend you follow our Weight Stabilisation Plan to lock in your results. You can then follow our New You Plan to drop a little extra weight or 5:2 IF Plan to start Weight Management. After Weight Stabilisation you can even just decide to eat healthy foods and design your own eating plan see our Weight Management Page for advice.

Completed 12 weeks - BMI is 25+

If your BMI is above 25 and you wish to continue your VLCD weight loss journey following another full or shorter cycle, or maybe you want to select a different keeDiet VLCD Plan then follow our 'TFR Break Week' for one week and begin your new VLCD Cycle/Plan. If want to drop a little more weight  increase your calories, foods choices and exercise, then follow our Weight Stabilisation Plan for 7-10 days and begin your new plan. Consider our New You Plan with 1000 daily calories. You can choose any keeDiet Plan with your Doctors approval and continue to drop weight.

Following any weight loss plans or a further VLCD cycle, visit your Doctor for their approval and support. We advise that your BMI should not drop lower than a BMI 18, however a BMI 20 is considered optimum for good health.

Perfect! This is quite normal and welcomed by most dieters, it is just one of the benefits of following a VLCD Weight Loss Plan. Just enjoy... you may find after a few weeks a euphoric feeling is not so noticeable!

The decision is split on this one, it is your individual choice if to include a little. In practice the amount of citric acid intake has never proven to significantly affect someones weight loss whilst following a ketogenic plan. However some research and some clients do report that including citric acid can take them out of Ketosis for a short time.

We have created water flavours with Malic Acid to help a mild ketogenic weight loss.

Hopefully with the decrease in daily carbohydrates you will experience a mild ketogenic state, as your body switches from being a carbohydrate-burning organism into a fat-burning one, it is a good idea to take it easy in the first week or two of starting your KeeDiet VLCD Weight Loss Plan and allow yourself to settle into your plan.

You may find the first few days a little difficult, you will naturally feel hungry, tired and crave energy foods. You may also experience headaches and muscle weakness, symptoms which are very similar to a detoxification process. However, as your first week continues and you begin your second week you should start to gradually feel better.

Once you have enetered ‘mild ketosis’ your body has been forced to switch to using stored body fat instead of food/carbohydrate for its fuel/energy. At this point you are classified as being in a mild ketogenic condition, the body is breaking down your stored fats and by doing so creates tiny molecules called ‘ketones’. If the body cannot find a use for them, they are excreted in your urine or breath.

The easiest way to determine Ketosis is by noticing how you feel and your weight loss results. When the body is in Ketosis you tend to feel less hungry, and will probably naturally eat less. The body switches from being a carbohydrate-burning organism into a fat-burning one. The fat stores become a primary energy source, and you lose weight. A dry mouth, metalic taste or strong smell to your breath is another indication, and constantly sipping water should help with these symptoms.

Another way to identify Ketosis is to use urine sticks. These can be extremely helpful and motivating to some, but do not always show a pink colour if plenty of water is drunk as the ketones are diluted. If using Ketone sticks to monitor your fat burning or to confirm Ketosis. You will place a measuring stick in the stream of urine to determine if Ketones are detected.

Colours light pink to rose pink are a good gauge of Ketosis, dark pink to maroon are considered a gauge of dehydration and drinking more water is required.

If showing extremely dark in the morning (first passing of urine) keep to your regular quantity of water and test again in the early afternoon, if still dark increase your water consumption.

Users should be aware of normal fluctuations, although a good indicator Ketur Reagent Sticks are not a guaranteed result. EG: Illness, Stress, lack of water, plenty of water, Menstral Cycle which may affect the results.

It is advised to re-introduce food groups slowly, specifically carbohydrates. Using our Weight Stabilisation Plan and then other plans as calorie controlled increase steps is highly recommended and the ideal solution. This will help you returning back to conventional healthy eating which is then made easy and will encourage a new healthy eating regime for you to adopt for successful weight management.

You should expect when you start to consume more carbohydrates, your body will convert them to glycogen and they will be stored back into the muscle, liver and blood stream along with the water, this is competely normal. We mentioned that in the first few days of starting a VLCD plan you can deplete your energy (glycogen) stores which equated to approximately 4-5lbs loss on your weighing scales. It is therefore quite normal and expected for the same to happen when you come off a VLCD plan that has involved mild ketosis and you should expect a small regain of weight. But........

Remember as none of the initial weight lost in the first few days was considered a fat loss - none of the weight gained is a fat gain either and you shouldn’t allow yourself to become overly concerned. It can take two weeks to slip back into healthy eating and you may even notice a slightly bigger increase than expected, sometimes an extra 2lb in addition to the 4-5lb glycogen is gained. This additional 2lb is extra loading and is lost naturally the next week when following the re feeding plan.

It is worth mentioning at this stage that 'Fat' gain will only occur if you overeat and consume more energy foods / carbohydrates than your body requires, working out your BMR figure can help here. In fact the glycogen and water gain you will experience is actually quite positive, it effects your metabolism as it occupies your muscle cell areas and increases the amount of calories your body burns each day. Isn't it great to know that some weight gains are actually a positive and something to look forward to!