Last Updated on April 12, 2024 by Fasting Planet
Why are you feeling great and euphoric when you’re in ketosis? You’ve decided to do something good for your health recently and try a low-carb diet. At first, you have to admit, you were pretty miserable, but then something shifted in you. Lately, you’re downright euphoric. Could this really be because of your keto diet or is something else at play?
Ketogenic diets can leave some people feeling euphoric. This happens because when in keto, your liver takes the acetone you lose and produces beta-hydroxybutyrate instead. The BHB can induce feelings of euphoria that are even akin to gamma-hydroxybutyrate or GHB, a synthetic type of recreational drug.
In today’s post, we’ll discuss the changes your body undergoes on a low-carb diet, what being in ketosis is like, and why it leaves you feeling euphoric. We’ll also provide some tips for kickstarting ketosis. You’re not going to want to miss it!
What Is Ketosis?
If you’re new to this blog, then we thought we’d start by explaining how ketogenic diets work.
Millions of people decide to try the ketogenic diet all the time. This diet requires you to cut carbs while consuming moderate quantities of proteins and high quantities of fats. Sticking to this low-carb diet allows your body to enter a state known as ketosis. In ketosis, your system begins making ketone bodies.
Ketone bodies are compounds that are comprised of beta-hydroxybutyric acid, acetoacetic acid, and acetone that occur as your body begins metabolizing fat. Both ketogenic amino acids and fatty acids are sourced to make ketone bodies.
You know by now from reading this blog that when fasting, your body needs an energy source when you no longer supply it with food. You usually rely on a sugar known as glucose for energy that comes from the foods and beverages you consume, especially those that are high in carbs. As you continue your fasting regimen, your body switches to fat as its energy source instead since it has no glucose left.
A similar premise occurs on low-carb diets such as keto, as your system will begin burning ketone bodies instead of glucose. This activates fat burning so you can lose weight, just as you do when fasting.
The benefits are that you may lose weight on a low-carb diet such as keto. You an also improve your cholesterol, reduce your blood pressure, and even lessen your rate of epilepsy (in some people). There’s also another nice benefit of the low-carb diet, and that’s feeling euphoric.
Does Ketosis Make You Feel High?
Whether you want to call it being super happy, feeling high, or experiencing euphoria, many people who have tried low-carb diets such as keto have reported a similar phenomenon. They all eventually feel really great.
Now, admittedly, you probably won’t start out this way. At the beginning of your low-carb diet, like when fasting, your body will still use glucose as its main energy source. As your system switches from glucose to ketones, you may feel especially lethargic and even physically and mentally foggy.
This is all normal, so it’s important you stick with it. As we’ll talk about later, this tiredness can be a good thing!
So how do you go from feeling tired and miserable at the beginning of keto to euphoric? Let’s rewind and explain the process of ketosis in a little more detail.
As the fatty acids that comprise ketones enter your bloodstream, they will eventually arrive at the liver. When there, your liver will take the fatty acids and change them into acetoacetate. This organic compound also acts as a source of metabolic fuel and is responsible for allowing you to enter ketosis.
The acetoacetate in your system does not stay there forever. As it begins breaking down, the acetoacetate will produce two substances: acetone and carbon dioxide. You know carbon dioxide as a gas without smell or color. Acetone, also referred to as propanone, is a type of organic compound. If you have nail polish remover in your bathroom, check the ingredients list. Acetone is at the top.
Your body can make acetone too, and this compound is actually what gives you that fruity-smelling breath that many people report having when they enter ketosis.
The quantities of acetone will deplete in your lungs as you continue your low-carb diet. The liver holds onto its supply of acetone or what’s left of it by taking its acetoacetate and making it into beta-hydroxybutyrate or BHB.
As you may recall from the last section, beta-hydroxybutyric acid is part of what constitutes ketone bodies, but what exactly is BHB? According to a 2019 publication of the Annual Review of Nutrition, BHB acts as “an essential carrier of energy from the liver to peripheral tissues when the supply of glucose is too low for the body’s energetic needs, such as during periods of prolonged exercise, starvation, or absence of dietary carbohydrates.”
The research goes on to discuss how BHB can engage in some form of cellular signaling, which could link BHB to epigenetic gene regulation and perhaps even as a means of combatting the effects of aging.
Of course, for the sake of this article, we’ll talk about how BHB affects you when on a low-carb diet such as keto and especially how it induces that euphoric feeling.
A 2007 report in the journal Medical Hypotheses found that BHB shares a lot of similarities with a type of transmitter known as gamma-hydroxybutyrate or GHB. If you haven’t heard of GHB, it’s mostly used as a sedative medication. GHB is also abused as a party drug.
According to Drugs.com, GHB acts as a depressant for the central nervous system. Some of the unpleasant side effects of abusing GHB are hallucinations, nausea, unconsciousness, and sweating. More serious side effects can include coma and amnesia.
Of course, there’s a reason why people use GHB, and that’s because this party drug can create feelings of tranquility and euphoria. It may also increase a person’s sex drive.
On this blog, we would never, ever advocate for the use of illegal drugs, but what many people have found is they don’t even need to use GHB to enjoy the euphoria. That’s because GHB and BHB share an identical formula with 15 atoms apiece. There do exist slight differences in the two chemical formulas, such as oxygen and hydrogen atom placement, but otherwise, GHB and BHB are more alike than you might have thought.
So what does this mean for you, the low-carb dieter trying to burn fat and lose weight on ketosis? Well, as you continue your keto diet, your brain receives BHB, typically in high quantities. In the brain, BHB can behave a lot like GHB, attaching to receptors that lessen your anxiety so you feel soothed and happy, much like when abusing GHB as a party drug.
Unlike GHB though, you don’t have to worry about an upset stomach, sweating, hallucinations, or the more serious side effects such as amnesia and coma. BHB is all the good stuff from GHB but naturally produced within the body, not in the form of an illegal drug.
Does ketosis cause euphoria?
Anecdotal evidence links the initial phase of fasting or a low-carbohydrate diet with feelings of well-being and mild euphoria. These feelings have often been attributed to ketosis, the production of ketone bodies that can replace glucose as an energy source for the brain. Low-carb diets, fasting and euphoria.
What Does It Feel Like Being in Ketosis?
Ketosis is a bodily state you will eventually enter when following a low-carb diet. The question is, how will you feel when you get there? What other signs can you look for that tell you that you’ve achieved ketosis? In the next two sections, that’s exactly what we’re going to talk about.
First, let’s begin with what low-carb diets like ketosis feel like. Like we mentioned earlier in this article, the beginning of a low-carb diet can be rough. You’re going to feel hungry primarily, and you may also notice you’re quite tired on keto as well.
This can make you wonder if a low-carb diet is worthwhile, but don’t stop now! When you’re feeling this fatigued, it’s actually a good thing, as we said. The tiredness indicates that your body has stopped using glucose as the main energy source and has switched to fat instead, much like what happens during fasting.
This 2017 Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition study found that even athletes will get tired when first beginning keto, so it has nothing to do with your fitness levels. This part of keto affects most people.
Accompanying that exhaustion may be feelings of weakness. You might want to cut back on the physical activity if you’re feeling this way. Both the weakness and fatigue should vanish the longer you stick with a low-carb diet like keto. For some people, it takes weeks for these feelings to subside, and for others, it’s less time.
These aren’t the greatest sensations to experience at first, but it’s all transitionary. What many people on keto will find is that by toughing it out during the hard bits, they’re rewarded with some perks. The first is improved concentration. This is a proven benefit for epilepsy patients who follow a low-carb diet according to a 2018 report in Epilepsy & Behavior.
When you can concentrate, that makes it easier to check off the tasks on your to-do list at work and at home. Also nice is how you can double down on your focus. By combining improved focus and concentration, all that mental fuzziness you experienced at the beginning of your low-carb keto experience will seem like a distant memory.
We also want to reiterate that you’ll likely experience amazing feelings of euphoria on keto. As for how long this euphoria will last, that depends. Some people, such as these Quora posters, mention that for them, the euphoria doesn’t go away. Others say it’s not so much a strong feeling of happiness as it is a greater sense of one’s awareness.
How Do You Know You’re In Ketosis?
Besides the above feelings, how else do you know you’re in ketosis? Here are some signals to look out for.
Odorous Breath
As you’ll likely recall, earlier, we mentioned that as your body produces acetone when you enter ketosis, your breath will take on a fruity-smelling odor. Some people on a low-carb diet like keto report their breath isn’t so much fruity as it is sweet. Brushing your teeth an extra time or two won’t help as the breath changes are internal. You might want to pop a breath mint or chew some gum if you’re feeling especially self-conscious.
Worsening Sleep
If you haven’t been able to get a good night’s rest since you started keto, that’s not necessarily a coincidence. Low-carb diets such as this can impact your sleep. For the first few weeks of eating low-carb, you might notice that you toss and turn a lot at night. When you do finally fall asleep, you might wake up several times throughout the night.
Staying patient is the best course of action here. Your low-carb diet will eventually allow you to sleep more soundly.
Headaches
Another unpleasant side effect of ketosis is that you may be more likely to get headaches. We’ve discussed on this blog about fasting headaches before, and yes, keto headaches are a thing as well. The duration of your headaches may be as little as 24 hours to a whole week. The reason your head hurts so much is that your body is attempting to adjust to the severe reduction in sugar and carbs from your diet.
Stomachaches
Some people on keto report they have digestive issues. Others say they get stomachaches. Of course, some keto dieters have no stomach changes at all. Make sure you’re staying hydrated during your low-carb diet and you may notice your rate of stomach issues decreases.
Muscle Cramps
Maintaining your water intake will also make you less likely to have muscle spasms and cramps, which can happen when your body switches from burning glucose to fat on keto. Your muscles feel terrible because your electrolytes are depleted and/or you’re dehydrated.
You will need to add a pinch of salt to your water to add electrolytes. Coconut water, bone broth, and Pedialyte can also restore electrolytes without packing on the carbs and calories that could disrupt your diet.
What Puts You in Ketosis Faster?
You’ve been following the low-carb diet for a while now, but you’d love to speed things along so you can begin burning fat faster. Is there any way to do that or do you just have to wait?
Not at all! You can engage in a slew of activities and dietary changes to boost ketogenic activity and begin seeing more results. Here’s what we recommend.
Ingest More Oils
You’re supposed to up your intake of fat when following a diet like keto, and coconut oil is an especially good source of fat to reach for. The medium-chain triglycerides in coconut oil are easily absorbed so they can be fast-tracked to your liver. There, the triglycerides get converted into ketones.
Besides coconut oil, you also can’t go wrong with flaxseed oil, olive oil, or avocado oil.
Increase Your Protein
Although protein isn’t as big a part of your low-carb diet as fat is, you still want to ensure you get enough protein to maintain and even accelerate keto. A 2018 report in the Indian Journal of Medical Research notes that your daily protein quantity should be at least 20 percent of your calories consumed.
Fast While on Keto
Since you’re already cutting carbs on keto, fasting on top of that shouldn’t prove to be too challenging. Stick to fasts that are 24 to 48 hours long to see the best results. These can include such intermittent fasting types as the alternate-day fast, water fast, or dry fast.
Get Plenty of Exercise
The last tip we recommend for entering ketosis more quickly is to exercise. At the beginning of your keto experience, you might not feel like doing much, and we don’t recommend pushing yourself too hard, as we said. Once you shake off the doldrums that are headaches, weakness, and fatigue though, exercise is a great way to see more results.
You’re torching through whatever calories you do ingest while in keto when you hit the gym, go for a run, or do a long yoga session. You’re also making your body increase the speed in which it uses glucose so you can begin burning fat faster and longer, potentially losing more weight.
As a reminder, drink plenty of water when you exercise and make sure you renew your electrolytes post-workout.
Conclusion
The ketogenic diet involves you eating mostly fat and some protein, removing carbs to activate an internal process known as ketosis. Not only can you burn fat and lose weight when in ketosis, but you also may notice you feel more euphoric as well. Although it takes some time for those happy feelings to emerge, once they do, they could stick around for a while!
If that’s not a great reason to try keto, then we’re not sure what is. Best of luck on your keto diet!