Any carbs block my satiety signalling

zerocarb
satiety
(Allan L) #1

Hi,

Quick background. Been Keto for close to 9 months now, lost over 34kg (75lbs) fairly quickly eating the standard keto net carbs of 20g. Hunger disappeared, OMAD and I naturally lost lots of weight. I’m now within 5-10 kg of my goal (10-20lbs)

Over the past 2 months I noticed a significant return in my hunger levels, I’d eat up to my macro limit and then find myself eating more, not hungry, just craving food. Uncontrollable at times, and of course, weight loss has stopped. I could double / triple the qty of food my macros allowed. Some days 4,500 cal. (I don’t monitor cal but the online tool I use to track macro’s provides this info).

Food had control over me again and I didn’t like it.

But when I adjust my diet and eat as close to carnivore / zero carb as possible (meat, eggs, dairy etc) this craving for food goes away. Eating a zero carb meal will leave me satiated like never before and for 20+ hours. I’m back to my happy place where I can eat enough to feed my body and my mind is happy with that.

But, and here is the big but, when I cut out all keto veggies and eat zero carb I get quite bad digestive issues. Either really bad constipation followed by days of acute diarrhoea or just a week of diarrhoea. The only way to return to a normal healthy process is to add in the keto carbs, but then the food cravings return.

So now, I’m cycling zero carb 1 week and keto carbs week 2 etc. Lets see if I can find a balance between uncontrollable food cravings and a stable digestive system.

Anyone else find they battle with satiety signal issues even on 20g net carbs?

(Chris) #2

When eating a zero carb diet, you don’t want to drink water for an hour before or after a meal. It causes digestion issues. 90% of ZC digestion problems are caused by this. If you flipflop back and forth the way you describe, your gut bacteria will never adapt.

(Allan L) #3

@Dread1840, Hmmm, good point on the gut bacteria info, didn’t think of that. Let me try abstaining from water as suggested rather than flipping between LC and ZC.

(Erin Macfarland ) #4

@allan I wrote a post about this a couple months ago, about why we can still be so hungry after eating a big keto meal. I find this is especially true for those who are close to their “goal” weight or their “set point.” I think a lot of it has to do with changes in hunger hormones after losing weight (grehlin and leptin) and I too switched to ZC and found those hunger signals for more food after a meal disappeared. However, after about 6 weeks on ZC I started really wanting those veggies again, I missed variety (and yes dark chocolate!) I know that the people that are really hardcore ZC say adaptation takes a while, but my energy levels and mood were kind of tanking and it was really affecting me. So I added back in some small amounts of vegetables and a bit of chocolate, some nuts occasionally but kept up my higher intake of fatty meat. I think part of the reason why I was feeling so hungry still before I transitioned to ZC was because I was keeping my protein too low. I personally have no metabolic damage or a lot of extra weight, and I am very active with a high proportion of lean body mass so I can tolerate higher levels of protein. Previously I had tried to satisfy the post meal hunger I was feeling with fat, but would still not feel satiated even eating something like a big bag of macadamia nuts. That would just leave me feeling kind of sick to my stomach. So I upped my meat intake and added back in those smaller amounts of “pleasure” foods like vegetables and nuts and some chocolate and so far it seems to work pretty well. I don’t have that frantic hunger I would feel after a more typical keto meal of “moderate” protein. Ted Naiman discusses this on a podcast, about how our bodies will keep sending out hunger signals until we meet its threshold for protein. He’s an advocate for higher protein levels, you might want to look up some of his videos or podcasts . So while I think there is something to ZC and it works for lots of people, for others it can feel too restrictive mentally. I think there is a balance you can find there to mitigate the digestive issues and the cravings. You might have to move the lever around in regards to fat and protein. And of course things will continue to change even if that works for a while. Just being aware that you can accommodate your own physiology and mental health is a great start.

(Erin Macfarland ) #5

@Dread1840 on ZC I find myself incredibly thirsty during and after eating a meal of fatty meat. I’m not sure i could wait to drink until an hour after!

(Lonnie Hedley) #6

I only go :poop: maybe once a week since going ZC. No diarrhea since cutting out the poisons (veggies). No issues with water, but I’m also not drinking a ton because I’m not thirsty.

(Chris) #7

The hour is just a baseline, I usually do about 20 minutes now after experimentation. I have a video from a guy more knowledgeable, I’ll go dig it up.

(Chris) #8

@Emacfarland @allan check this one out, think this is it. I’m in a meeting and can’t watch atm…

(Blyss (Old @Charmaine)) #9

My experience going ZC was that the first 2-3 weeks were … there are so many words that flood my mind right now LOL. I’ll say there was plenty of time spent in bathrooms. It’s part of the adaptation and digestive realignment process. Essentially, you’re stopping it rather than just getting through it and getting to th point of ‘smooth sailing’. I did reach that point, but it took time.

I’ve also learned to adjust my fat intake accordingly. Too much and it’s Poop City. Too little and it’s a slight traffic jam.

(Blyss (Old @Charmaine)) #10

I honestly don’t wait to drink water at all. I drink the water, and for me, I don’t have any issue with it. Like @Emacfarland I’m thirstier, even though I drink less water overall than I did when I was keto.

#11

I know this is old…but for me, hell going over about 8 total carbs from a plant source carb meant I was going into crazy land.
I wish I got 20 LOL

one reason I went all in zero carb and am thriving. Jumping back and forth gives no adaption into zero carb. You have to ‘get thru the adaption’ times any way ya can and with help from other zc’ers you can. Bathroom issues change longer on plan. Some have troubles, some have little, some have almost none. Very individual but changing up water intake like mentioned in another post, changing fat intake and where it comes actually makes a difference…like eat a ribeye, do not cook that thing in extra butter can make changes to some and it is a small change but who knew it would mean a big difference to some.
Fat adaption still has to happen between keto and zc. Most think that isn’t the case but it is.

I tried ‘cycle this and that’ and failed at all of it.
Only place for me was full on zero carb and go for it and I thrive on this plan now. Years into it and never will go back but thing is, time to heal/adapt/detox is required. Time. That is what it boils down to and with help from others doing this plan you can get thru it for sure. Come out on the other side with all the great benefits this plan offers us :sunny:

(Elizabeth ) #14

Welcome, please recognize this is a zero carb Carnivore thread, no veg or fiber at all. :woman_shrugging: Personally I was keto 2 years, healthier on carnivore now 2.5 years :wink:

(Ken) #15

For me, I’ve found ZC to be problematic for fat loss. It’s fine for Maintenance, but the necessary hunger for loss is hard to take.

My solution is to eat a few forkfulls of Kimchi when hunger is strong, that usually holds me until I have my OMAD.