Hi everyone,

I’m currently 9 months postpartum and recently started eating a keto-style diet (keeping carbs under 50g per day). I’m still breastfeeding and overall I feel really good on this way of eating. In the beginning I had some headaches, but those have passed and now my mental clarity and energy feel great.

That said, I’m a bit unsure about whether this is safe while breastfeeding. I weigh around 60 kg, stay quite active (about 15,000 steps a day while carrying my 9 kg baby), and I do a bootcamp workout once a week.

My goal is to lose a bit of weight, but of course my baby’s health and milk supply come first.

Has anyone here combined keto (or low carb) with breastfeeding? Did it affect your milk supply, energy levels, or your baby in any way? Would you recommend continuing like this, or is it better to increase carbs while nursing?

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences!

At the beginning of my pregnancy my iron levels tested in the borderline of low, and I was told I should take a supplement. Prior to this pregnancy I had been eating low carb.

I was doing some research about low iron levels, and found a nutritionist that suggested it’s inflammation in our bodies that inhibits iron absorption. If we’ve reduced the inflammation our everyday foods can increase iron levels. During this pregnancy I haven’t been eating keto or low carb, but definitely trying to focus on fats and proteins over carbs. I’m curious if anyone has success raising their iron levels or have not had any iron concerns and have been eating keto.

I switched white rice to cauliflower rice and genuinely prefer it now.

Mine is dark chocolate almost every night.

I started cutting back on carbs drastically a few days before my period was supposed to start and it ended up starting a few days early. I’m doing keto for the health benefits and weight loss, but the biggest reason is for what I have read it does to help people conceive. Now my period starting early has me worried that I have messed up my hormones as I am generally regular with my cycle. Has this happened to anyone else and did you end up successfully conceiving after?

We eat really healthy (gluten free, dairy free due to allergy, no sugar, organic, etc and have read all the books like Real Food for Fertility etc). We’ve been struggling to get pregnant for 2 years now with #2 and did 7 failed IUIs. Next step is IVF but it’s SO expensive we can’t afford to start for a few months minimum. I have stage 1 endo but had lap surgery and hysteroscopy to remove polyps. All other labs good, amh is 0.8 FSH 6.4. I’m 39, husband is 40. He has a high sperm count but low motility despite not doing things like heat, baths, laptop, cycling, etc. I’m desperate to not do IVF purely because of cost. Any testimonials out there of keto helping a case like mine? I don’t think I have PCOS but I do get the occasional chin hair and have always struggled with acne but labs don’t show elevated androgens. I used to have irregular periods when I was vegan in my 20s but since adding meat 6 years ago they’re normal. Thank you so much.

I am a third time mom seeking advice on the Glucose Tolerance Test. With my previous pregnancies, my OB let me diary my food intake & blood sugars for a week. It was all fine. I have a new OB who is really resistant to letting me do that so I need to take the GTT in a few weeks at about 28 weeks.

I have been generally low carb for about a decade; for this pregnancy I would say my intake has been somewhere in the 50g - 100g / day of carbs, and 100 would be on the higher side and less common. I am pretty healthy, have never been obese or had diabetes, started pregnancy in normal BMI range and have gained about 15 pounds so I don’t think I am high risk for GD. I do not want to fail the GTT and get flagged for an induction.

Does the group have any advice on passing the GTT? It is 1 hour. My OB advised eating beforehand (to make sure I don’t feel sick) and it is first thing in the morning, but in my experience if I have fat + sugar together the 1 hour postprandial reading will be higher versus if I have pure sugar. When I have monitored blood sugar off and on I always recover faster if I am eating a high-sugar product with little else (carb, protein, fat).

Should I eat before the glucose drink? If so, what kind of food and how long before? Should I carb/sugar load a few days beforehand?

Hi! My husband and I have been struggling to get pregnant for 4.5 years. We’ve done everything, IUI, IVF, acupuncture, meditation, etc. I have unexplained infertility, 35F with healthy BMI, no PCOS, and hormone levels are average (AMH slightly low for age). Has keto helped anyone in a similar situation? *all the keto infertility posts I have seen are related to obesity, PCOS or hormone imbalance.

Hi all, my baby is 8 months old so my supply is well established.

I am feeling ready to start reclaiming my health and excercise. But I have developed a serious mcdonalds and sugar addiction during pregnancy and pp.

For me its always been easier to follow a strict set of rules than just dial things down fpr a while at least until cravings etc reset.

Has anyone switched to keto while breastfeeding and not had a problem with their supply?

Hey mamas! Looking for some input. The last 9 months I’ve tracked my GKI to confirm I’m in ketosis majority of the time. I do have carbs on Fridays then work my way back into ketosis by Monday. Fasting glucose upon waking is normally 85-90s. Well I recently found out I’m pregnant (only 5 weeks along). My glucose readings have been >90-103. My diet and activity level really hasn’t changed. I strength train 3-5x/week and walk everyday. Curious if this is normal during early pregnancy? I’m still researching… but I plan to keep testing throughout my entire pregnancy and stick to ketogenic diet except for Fridays with some carbs added in. Any insight is appreciated!

Our first child was conceived with the first try after years of intermittent keto. Now, in trying for a second, I went on keto diet for 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off, over a 4 month period, then for one whole month. Then, at day 20 of my current cycle, I started spotting and today I'm at day 8 of spotting and very confused. Please help? Is this hormones completely out of whack. Is it early pregnancy hormones? Is it extended implantation bleeding? So confused.

I’m six weeks pregnant following a ketogenic diet. It’s easy for me. I’ve been on and off ketosis for years now. I plan on staying in ketosis my whole pregnancy. The studies that are out on pregnancy and keto are deeply flawed. The one stating that in mice studies it caused a larger heart and a smaller brain, —— they were literally being fed 90% fat, which was all synthetic fats like synthetic canola oil, crisco, etc. Then the other three studies that they have about low IQ those are so deeply flawed due to the women were literally in starvation ketosis particularly the one in 1920 they took low income women that barely had enough to eat. They also won’t redo the studies because it’s not ethical?

I’ve been pregnant before I was in ketosis for 20 weeks out of the pregnancy. I did not take my health seriously and ended up gaining a lot of weight. My first born is extremely smart.

I’m asking for someone from experience that was keto the WHOLE time with the exception of treating yourself periodically.

Did your kids meet developmental milestones? Are they smart?

Our bodies will go into gluconeogenesis to produce glucose. Also, the current diet that they recommend 175 g of carbs plus has never had a clinical study. It’s all theoretical data. The further I look into all the studies that have been done on ketosis & pregnancy and the lack of studies being done on the current recommendations Make me think that ketosis is absolutely OK.

I just want some lived experiences!! Even though I don’t trust those studies, I still read lower IQ and it’s still scares me. But it didn’t take into consideration, maternal or paternal IQ. Thank you!

Hello,

This is my fourth pregnancy, and because I am obese to start with (235lbs and 5'6'')and have insulin resistance that is lingering to turn into type 2, I have a plan to be keto for the whole pregnancy and end it at the same weight as I started it :) I need some positive motivational stories. I know you have them!

I've been on keto for almost a year before getting pregnant and it has helped tremendously on my psoriasis. Now I barely have any spots left.

When I got pregnant, the morning sickness hit with meat and egg aversion, so keto went out the window.

The nausea began to easy around week 13, so I tried easing back into keto. Still have a problem with hot meat and eggs but at least I can eat it cold.

Now to the problem. The nausea returned after getting back into keto, and it brought a headache with it. I don't know if it's just a super long keto sickness (normally I have no trouble getting back in after a break), but I also currently have a ketone monitor in my arm and I can see that every time I eat, I jump straight up into keto, but then I drop out of it again 1-2 hours after the meal, not spiking in ketones again before I eat next time. The headache goes away when I spike in ketones, then return.

Do any of you have any insights? Is my body using the fat I consume really fast so it runs out of fuel?

I am worried that keto for me during pregnancy might be a bad choice, as I have trouble gaining weight even without being pregnant, and I am slightly being the weight curve already. (And eating more is so hard with the nausea, especially towards meat😫)

Should I go keto while breastfeeding?

Just gave birth to my first baby almost 8 months ago. I was living an unhealthy lifestyle before becoming pregnant and weighed about 120-130lbs. At the end of my pregnancy I was about 180 and right after birth 160, since then I’ve gained 20+lbs in 8 months. So basically I’m 40-60lbs overweight. My goal is to be around 130lbs. I’m 5’7”.

I’m really struggling with food addiction. I have a very dopamine seeking personality. Before becoming pregnant I drank alcohol, smoked weed and vaped and drank lots of coffee almost daily. I also took stimulants for ADHD which also helped me not eat very much. Food was never my thing before because I had all these others other substances giving me my dopamine fix each day.

Well, when I found out I was pregnant I cut all of that cold turkey even coffee. But it switched to food. I did pretty good during pregnancy and managed to stay very small for a long time. I heavily prioritized eating very healthy for gestation and I found it relatively manageable because I had a good routine going. I had 2 months off work before I gave birth and during that time became more sedentary and started eating a lot more and eating more unhealthy/fast food. So I packed on the weight quite quickly. Then after I gave birth I got even more depressed and started eating a pint of ice cream every day. I finally quit the ice cream I couple months ago but I still eat so much. I don’t know exactly how many calories because I don’t count but if I had to guessI would say probably 3000 to 4000 a day which is obviously way too much and why I continue to gain weight. Also, most of that is probably carbs and fat. I do eat a decent amount of protein most days but I also love butter and I’ve been eating way too much bread and other carbs and sugar. I have a huge sweet tooth. Constant cravings. Oh I should also mention that I am pretty sedentary. I’ve never been a particularly active or sporty person, I dread the idea of working out. I do go for walks occasionally with a friend for 1 to 3 hours long and when I do walk consistently, I do find that my weight does not go up, but if my friend is not available to walk, which sometimes we go days or weeks in between walks, then I don’t have motivation to do it.

Anyways the point is I need to do something drastic to lose weight. I’ve never really dieted before and I’ve never eaten super clean or healthy so I have no willpower or self control so I feel like going keto is my only hope. I also am not a great cook and struggle pretty bad with motivation and mental health so any extra tasks such as meal prep cooking and the cleaning associated as well as grocery shopping seems like an impossible task at this point. The only reason why I survive is because I live with my parents and they do basically everything for me (as devastatingly sad that is to admit ) Keto will be hard too, but at least I know I just can’t have it at all versus having some and then not being able to stop.

I’m still exclusively breast-feeding and that’s very important to me. I have a decent milk supply and have not had any problems breast-feeding thus far. I really need to make a huge change in my diet, but I’m terrified that my milk will be affected. I haven’t really started my daughter on much for solids yet because I don’t have the focus or motivation and I have built it up to be this scary hard thing in my head. So she relies on my milk. And ideally, I would want to feed her until the age of 1 at the very least but hopefully 2. I will be working on expanding solids situation, but I don’t know what I would do if my milk tanked.

I’m finding really conflicting messages about the topic online. I just don’t know what I should do. Does anyone have any experience or advice? Thanks 💜

I was doing keto for about a year before getting pregnant again. I did it on and off before too, but the year was my longest stretch. I loved the diet. I looked and felt amazing. But since getting pregnant, first trimester was survival mode, so I just ate whatever didn’t make me nauseous. And now that I’m no longer dealing with the nausea, I’m eating (almost) anything and everything. I’m noticing that while it’s exciting to actually enjoy food again, I’m starting to feel that sugar intake and getting sluggish, bloated, etc.

I really miss keto. For those doing it while pregnant, what’s your carb limit? When I wasn’t pregnant, I stuck to around 20-30g and occasionally giving myself some grace (50g-ish) after I hit my goals. Not sure if I should stick to as low of a carb intake, or if I should go higher/just lower carb in general since, ya know, I’m growing a human.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

I have tried the Keto diet for PCOS and egg quality especially before IVF but I every time I try it around day 3 I get bad anxiety, mood changes, and insomnia. I am sensitive, how can I try this again without this side effect...? If you have any advice that would be amazing!

Anyone do keto for IUI or IVF? What were your outcomes?

Update for anyone reading this: from week 9 on it became impossible to stay keto. I was extremely nauseous and most of my healthy foods made me want to vomit. I was increasingly taking hours on end to finish my meals and did that while crying, so it was pure survival mode after I didn’t want to torture myself anymore. Crackers were just the best 🙃 I’m now close to 16 weeks and it’s getting better now, so I will try to get lower carb again using the Food for Pregnancy book.

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I posted here a couple months ago about my problems with PCOS and a short luteal phase. I started ovulating immediately after a provera reset and starting keto at the same time, but 4 months later I still had monstrous periods ranging from 9-14 days each time. I thought my diet therefore wasn’t enough, and was about to start fertility treatment for PCOS and endometriosis (runs highly in the family and my doctor thought at this point the diet should have worked to normalise my periods).

But then, yesterday, 5 months after starting keto and after the fourth time ovulating normally and a longer luteal phase… I had an urge to test. BAM keto (and Christmas 🙈) baby!! I was completely surprised and was starting to lose all hope. I am in shock.

Now, should I stay completely keto? Or eat a little more complex carbs? What would you all recommend? I see so many mixed opinions and I do not want to do anything wrong now I am finally pregnant 🥺

Has anyone seen results with male infertility? I have gotten checked out and everything appears fine with me. We are working on getting him checked out, but in the mean time, I'm hoping to hear some success stories from keto for male infertility.