Switching diets can be hard task, not to mention when you have to reduce your carbohydrate intake. But what are the key factors women should know when changing to a keto diet? Recent studies have shown that women lose less weight on a keto diet when compared to men. This means that women need to take more precaution when implementing a keto diet and should look to alter the normal keto diet and exercise routines in order to maximize the success of a keto diet.

Its well known that’s women’s bodies respond differently to environmental changes especially those relating to diet changes. This is because a woman’s body is more sensitive due to a variety of reasons such as reproduction, hormones, and stress. Due to the sensitivity of a woman’s body to change your diet means that you need to allow more time to implement, maintain and notice change.

All of this will impact a keto diet and therefore there are some things you need to consider as a woman wanting to start a keto diet.

Firstly, the female body doesn’t adapt as quickly when changing to a keto diet. This means that the female body doesn’t respond as well to being calorie deficient as males due to the fact that women’s levels of ghrelin, the hunger hormone, come back quicker after meals. Therefore, when it comes to keto, women shouldn’t start out too strict and should still include some carbohydrates in their diet. The amount of carbohydrates should be gradually decreased so that the body has time to adapt to the new diet. However, its important to listen to your body while your decreasing carbs so that if you start to feel fatigued or lacking in energy you may need to add more carbohydrates.

Secondly, a keto diet can have huge impacts on a woman’s hormones. Studies have shown that high fat diets may increase estrogen production. Furthermore, it’s also been found that cutting out carbohydrates may cause an increase cortisol, the stress hormone, which causes the female body to compensate by producing more estrogen. Therefore, following a strict keto diet may impact hormone production, so you should consult with a medical practitioner prior to commencing a keto based diet.

However, this doesn’t mean a keto diet wouldn’t work for you it just means you may need to personalize the keto diet to suit your body’s needs and your overall lifestyle.

Thirdly, try keeping a health journal. A health journal lets you keep track of what you eat, drink, your sleep, your cycle, how you feel and any other health concerns. By keeping a health journal you will be able to see how your body is responding to the diet change and will make it easy to identify any concerns.

Finally, it’s important to stay hydrated and maintain your electrolytes. A keto diet can cause electrolyte deficiency, which can trigger headaches, nausea, fatigue, muscle cramping and difficulty concentrating. Therefore, make sure you are getting enough sodium, potassium and magnesium. A great way of making sure you are getting enough electrolytes is by using supplements. A great keto supplement for women is Boss Lady by Nutriscience, which can help keep you in ketosis and also give you the extra energy you might be lacking.