5 Unexpected Impacts of Keto

Before starting on a new diet (especially more intensive diets like keto), it's always important to do your research on the potential side effects and other impacts that may not be directly related to weight loss.

Since keto cuts out a fair amount of food options from your diet since it requires so few carbs, it understandably has a pretty significant impact on your body.

For better or for worse, here are a few impacts of the keto diet that you may not have expected or heard about!

Effects on Acne

Since certain foods can promote more oily skin than others, it makes a lot of sense that keto has an impact on acne.

In particular, meals that are higher in protein while lower in carbohydrates can often have positive effects on skin and diminish conditions like acne. And, of course, this is the exact kind of diet that keto promotes.

Since keto can help regulate insulin levels (another critical player when it comes to fixing acne) while also getting rid of the overproduction of skin oil and toxins, it can actually be very beneficial in terms of long-term skin health.

That said, there is some anecdotal evidence to suggest that the initial effects of keto may cause a brief flare-up of acne. While this isn't backed up by any studies or concrete evidence, here are some ways you can avoid this for the beginning of the diet:

* Drink more water: low-carb diets can reduce moisture in skin. Since hydration is one of the biggest parts of healthy skin, this is important to make up.

* Be conscious with skincare: switching up your cleanser, staying on top of exfoliation and generally being more conscious with how you care for your skin will keep it on track.

* Avoid excess dairy: since dairy is acceptable for keto, many dieters rely on it. That said, dairy can also increase the effects of acne in any individual, so it's best to be careful.

Overall, keto presents a great amount of potential to improve your acne situation if you are proactive about it.

Blurred Vision

This is a fairly rare side effect (unless you are diabetic) but is still a possibility while on keto for a couple of reasons.

The first potential cause for blurry vision on keto is hypoglycemia which is when the glucose levels in your body fall too low for normal functions to continue. On keto, this can happen if you are guilty of sneaking a few carbs on the side here and there.

"Cheat days" on keto make it very easy to go a little overboard and spike their blood sugar levels. As a result, a few hours later, the blood levels then crash, causing reactive hypoglycemia (which can cause blurred vision).

The second possible reason is a thiamine deficiency. This deficiency can lead to "optic neuropathy" which can cause loss in central and peripheral vision.

While this may sound scary, the use of thiamine and vitamin B supplements can clear up the problems almost immediately.

Before this makes you a little anxious, know that keto can actually help vision in the long-term. Keto eliminates dangerous carbs that contribute to issues like macular degeneration while also stabilizing glucose to prevent glaucoma!

Impact on Sex Drive

The way that keto impacts your sex drive is a little more complicated as it can vary throughout the different stages of the diet.

It can also be different between men and women. Women's sex drive is often driven by a balance of progesterone and estrogen while men's is driven more by testosterone.

Once your body reaches the state of ketosis that you are aiming for, these sex hormones will experience a spike as a result of the increased fat intake.

Plus, weight loss and exercise can also boost sex hormones, making additional cases that the later stages of keto will promote a noticeable increase.

That said, the earlier stages that produce the "keto-flu" symptoms may lead to fatigue, mood swings and generally unpleasant side-effects that will put bedroom activity towards the bottom of your list of concerns.

Ultimately, it just takes some patience. If you are looking for some keto-friendly foods that may help bring your sex drive back up faster, things like eggs, berries, pumpkin seeds, salmon and broccoli can help.

Help with Anxiety

If you suffer from issues with anxiety, you are probably used to "solutions" that are either short-term (alcohol, drugs, etc.) or simply not as effective as you had hoped.

Some good news for this is that many people actually actively use the keto diet as a way to help with anxiety, so if you are looking for a weight loss solution, this may be a way to kill two birds with one stone.

How does it help? The answer is related to how keto impacts your blood sugar levels and how that is connected to the chemicals that play a part in mental health.

Since keto eliminates foods that are often guilty of causing blood-sugar spikes, you will no longer have levels that are constantly going up and down and causing shifts in mood that play a huge part in making you feel so unnaturally anxious.

Anxiety has a range of potential causes, so this absolutely not a cure-all. But fixing one thing that may be exacerbating the situation can absolutely be helpful and can play a role in making you feel more stable overall.

Need for Supplements

Lastly, something you may have already guessed is that an intensive diet will cause some deficiencies in nutrients that your body is accustomed to receiving.

While this is intentional in the case of things like carbohydrates, you also may experience a sudden lack in things like:

* Vitamin B

* Vitamin D

* Vitamin K

* Potassium

* Sodium

* Magnesium

The good news is that there are plenty of supplements available both for the vitamin deficiencies and for the mineral deficiencies alike. By paying attention to the keto-friendly meals you tend to prefer to see which nutrients you need help with, you can stock up on some supplements to help make up for what you're missing.

In Summary

Starting new, intense diets can be scary, especially when most of the things you'll find on the internet can be fairly polarizing and repetitive.

Knowing some of the more unexpected effects, such as impacts on acne, eyesight, sex drive, anxiety and possible deficiencies.

For more great health-related content, be sure to browse through our other posts and keep up with our regular updates!