Keto tips for being sick
October is prime time to get your flu shot. Why? Because cold and flu season is upon us! For those of us on a keto diet, illness can present some interesting conundrums if you don’t want to break your keto streak and I seek to give a bit of guidance on treatment and recovery here in this post.
First, on a keto diet you shouldn’t be as sick as the next guy eating the Standard American Diet. This is because our insulin levels run much lower, our gut microbes are happier and overall our bodies are in a low inflammatory state. That being said, you will get sick from time to time. What to do about recovery eating following gastroenteritis? After all, the BRAT diet is all carbs!! What to do about cough drops? They’re all carb too!!
I’ve had the unfortunate experience of gastroenteritis twice now on keto. The most recent was mild food poisoning and I’m sure the other was exposure to my sick kids. The good news about gastroenteritis is that you’re for sure in ketosis while there’s no consumption of food. That’s how everyone on Earth survives gastroenteritis provided you have enough fluids coming in to keep up with the losses!
Preparation is really key in a keto household. Things I keep in stock include the following:
Bullion cubes
Bone broth frozen and boxed
Unsweetened carbonated beverages like Bubbly
Himalayan sea salt
These staples will keep you hydrated and even ease an upset tummy in the case of Bubbly. There are sugar free electrolyte drinks out there but use them with caution or dilute them with your own unsweet carbonated beverage or water and sea salt mix to keep the sucralose content down. Remember, artificial sweeteners that aren’t stevia, FOS or erythritol will all raise insulin levels some even worse than sugar and can exacerbate intestinal upset or diarrhea.
For re-feeding, I’d give yourself a break and do BRAT to bridge the gap back to high fat eating. A gut ravaged by virus and bacteria temporarily can’t absorb well and going straight back to high fat might exacerbate diarrhea. The purpose of BRAT is to bypass the intestine in regard to most of the work of digestion. All BRAT foods dissolve easily in stomach acid and that glucose is directly absorbed into the bloodstream. You get quick calories this way and give the lower intestine a temporary break from working on fats and harder to digest protein.
Once you feel like eating normal food, try to avoid dairy and lots of gluten, which will flare up your gut microbes that are trying to make a comeback. Help the little guys out by taking a pro-biotic to increase the number of good guys that have been ravaged by pathogens. Gelatin, which is what makes bone broth gel, is great at this time to help your body re-build the mucus layer in the gut. You can mix plain gelatin into hot water and season it however you like. Jell-o is the old mainstay you’ll remember from childhood. Again, use sugar free with caution here since aspartame can cause GI upset in some.
Now, on to colds…
I hate this for keto folks because one of my best home remedies for cough is blackstrap molasses and it packs 14 grams of straight carbohydrate per tablespoon! The other favorites of mine are elderberry syrup (or tablets) and Airborne for the prevention of colds, but all are full of carbs. So, what to do?
For cough, I’d stick to sugar free cough drops (when needed) and then use Delsym, Robitussin DM or get an rx from your doctor for Tessalon Perles. The best remedy for most coughs is to treat the source which 80% of the time is from post-nasal drainage. (See my next post about treating the crud for more information.)
For prevention of colds with supplements, I’d go for tinctures or capsules of elderberry or echinacea and just plain old tablets of vitamin C or zinc instead of lozenges, beverages or effervescent tabs.
Make your own chicken bone broth as a substitute for chicken noodle soup and drink herbal teas.
Do you have your own keto hacks for being sick? Please feel free to post them in the comments below.
Ciao!
Dr. Lydia