Those issues can be part of what's known as the “keto flu,” Warren says. Other side effects of the keto diet, all of which are tied to carb withdrawal, can include lightheadedness, nausea, mental fog, cramps, and headaches, in addition to tiredness. Luckily, the keto flu doesn't usually last more than a week—which is coincidentally about when people start to see the number on the scale go down, says Warren.

This can look different for everybody, but some popular forms of this are the 16:8 diet, where you fast for 16 hours (usually from dinnertime until a late breakfast) and eat all your food within an eight-hour span. Another is the 5:2 diet, where you eat less than 500 calories for two non-consecutive days a week and then eat normally for the rest of the week.

When your body burns its stores of fat, it can be hard on your kidneys. And starting a ketogenic diet -- or going back to a normal diet afterward -- can be tricky if you’re obese because of other health issues you’re likely to have, like diabetes, a heart condition, or high blood pressure. If you have any of these conditions, make diet changes slowly and only with the guidance of your doctor.

Advocates for the diet recommend that it be seriously considered after two medications have failed, as the chance of other drugs succeeding is only 10%.[9][31][32] The diet can be considered earlier for some epilepsy and genetic syndromes where it has shown particular usefulness. These include Dravet syndrome, infantile spasms, myoclonic-astatic epilepsy, and tuberous sclerosis complex.[9][33]
A review of multiple studies in the journal Nutrients found that ketogenic diets are connected to significant reductions in total cholesterol, increases in “good” HDL cholesterol levels, dips in triglycerides levels and decreases in “bad” LDL cholesterol; there are questions as to whether diets high in saturated fat negate these benefits. The same paper reports that a ketogenic may slightly reduce blood pressure, but science is still very scant on this point.
Although you'll be cutting way back on carbohydrates and sugar, some fruits are still okay to eat on the keto diet (though you'll still want to be mindful about quantity in order to remain in ketosis). The fruits that make the cut contain far fewer carbs than their off-limits cousins such as apples, pears, bananas, pineapples, papayas, grapes, and fruit juices in general.
Keto for Cancer: Cancer is now being discussed as primarily a metabolic disease in which glucose can fuel its progression. Due to recent light shed on this subject, intensive investigations are underway and have begun to reveal that restricting carbohydrate intake can slow oncogenesis and that a full ketogenic-state may elicit even greater therapeutic benefits. Furthermore, research also suggests that fasting and the state of ketosis may increase the sensitivity of cancer cells to radiation and chemotherapy.
Cravings: As one begins to eliminate carbohydrates from the diet, it is common to experience carbohydrate cravings. Several suggestions for conquering these cravings are outlined below. However, it should be noted that as the body keto-adapts, hunger and appetite should become suppressed. One interesting study found that when you increase the occupied volume inside of the stomachs of subjects, this led to feelings of perceived fullness.[17] This means by doing things like drinking more water and eating more high volume foods we can improve our feeling of fullness.
Because some cancer cells are inefficient in processing ketone bodies for energy, the ketogenic diet has also been suggested as a treatment for cancer.[59][60] A 2018 review looked at the evidence from preclinical and clinical studies of ketogenic diets in cancer therapy. The clinical studies in humans are typically very small, with some providing weak evidence for anti-tumour effect, particularly for glioblastoma, but in other cancers and studies, no anti-tumour effect was seen. Taken together, results from preclinical studies, albeit sometimes contradictory, tend to support an anti-tumor effect rather than a pro-tumor effect of the KD for most solid cancers.[61]
Restricting your calories may be important for some individuals depending on their goals. Additionally, it may aid in the initiation of ketosis; however, not everyone will require calorie tracking to maintain a deficit. It is not uncommon for caloric-restriction to occur inadvertently as a ketogenic diet tends to be satiating, leaving individuals satisfied with fewer calories.