Getting to Ketosis on an hCG diet.


Ketosis is when your body is fueled mainly from fats rather than calories, that is called ketosis. This is a normal state for your body to be in while fasting or low carb / hCG diet. The “keto” in the word ketosis derives from the process of when the liver produces small fuel molecules called ketones. Ketones are an alternative fuel for the body that are used when blood sugar (glucose) is in short supply.  One way they are produced is by eating very few carbs and only moderate amounts of protein. The process of converting from glucose to ketones can take approximately 48 hours, which is why the first few days of the diet can sometimes be challenging.

These are some of the side effects you may experience during this transformation are:

  • Tiredness or fatigue
  • Leg cramps
  • Headache
  • Feeling thirsty all the time
  • Bad breath
  • Metallic taste in the mouth
  • Weakness
  • Dizziness
  • Nausea or stomach ache
  • Sleep problems

Usually, the only types of people who need to worry about ketosis are those people with type 1 diabetes or breastfeeding mothers with type two diabetes. In both circumstances, you should have your physician monitor your ketone levels to make sure they don’t get too high.

Here are a few ways to get into ketosis faster and easier are:

Minimize Your Carb Consumption
The best way to get into ketosis fastest is to minimize your carb intake. When your body is in the normal metabolic state it uses sugars (glucose) as a fuel source. When you deprive your body of carbs it starts to produce ketones which cause the body to start using fat as an energy source instead of sugar (glucose). So the most important step to get into ketosis is to cut out your carbs. This is easily done with an hCG diet since the three major protocols reduce carb intake as well as calories. If you want to know more about the major protocols and the differences between them, please read our book HCG Diet Options, Choosing Your Own Protocol.

Include Coconut Oil In Your Diet

MCT oils (such as coconut oil are not stored for energy are used by the liver. These can be converted into ketones. and are used immediately in your system. For an hCG diet, we recommend consuming coconut oil or MCT oil to help get into ketosis and maintain a ketogenic state. You can use them as cooking oils for foods cooked in low heat, or you can add them to daily foods such as coffee or protein shakes.

Ramp Up Your Physical Activity

To help you get into ketosis faster you can increase your physical activity since this will cause your body to use up your glucose storage faster. If you are not replenishing your energy with carbs your liver will start to increase production of ketones to start using fat as energy instead of glucose.

Increase Your Healthy Fat Intake

This is a tricky one on an hCG diet since you also need to watch your calorie intake to keep it within your daily allowance. If you are careful in the amount of healthy fat you eat, the fat can boost your ketone levels so you can reach ketosis quickly. One other benefit of eating healthy fat is that it can help curb your appetite as you move into ketosis.

Try An Intermittent Fast

Intermittent fasting is another way to cause your body to use up those stored energy reserves (glucose). Your body can go into a minor form of ketosis between dinner and breakfast if you do not eat anything between them.  So basically, you would increase the time frame between these two meals. These types of fasts would last 12-24 hours and you would only drink water or herbal tea. We recommend fasting 16 hours between dinner and your first meal of the day, only eating within an eight hour time window. Some people do well with fasting on a daily basis even when not doing a diet.  Once you are in ketosis you will find you will not need to fast to maintain ketosis however these intermittent fasts can help stalls in your diet as well as keep ketone levels elevated.


An important part of getting into ketosis is knowing the signs of actual being in it. One simple way to monitor whether your body is in ketosis is with Ketostyx, which are available at most drugstores in the US. Some people prefer to monitor their ketosis levels while on the diet, but most of us don’t worry about it as long as we are sticking to the diet plan. Some signs of transitioning into ketosis are:

  • Hunger
  • Dizziness
  • Weakness
  • Headaches
  • Keto flu symptoms

Do not give up if you are are having these symptoms since this is part of the process of your body moving into ketosis.  It can take some people up to 5 days to get into ketosis and they can go through all these symptoms. Ketosis is an important part of a hCG diet however please insure you always check with your doctor to insure that this type of diet is good for you.

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