Bluish brain and heavy head. like brain is partialy functional

(Omar) #1

Eight weeks after starting the keto, I found that my carbs intake was on the high side. At least 4 glasses of youghort and 4 glasses of milk.

Then I went zero on youghort and milk. Almost 2 days later I felt my head is heavy (sleepy and my brain is lazy )

as soon as I drink one glass of youghort this feeling went away for few hours after which it came back.

I could be wrong but it looks like my brain wants some glucose.

my intake is purly butter,cream and chease most of the days. with one meal of meat dailyq in 2 days to 3 days of the week. so almost 0 carbs.

I read conflicting information about how much glucose the brain needs.

I think the conflict is caused by the fact that not all people created equal.

I do not know but I hate the additional lactose that seem to fix my brain because it may defeat the keto.

Any thoughts will be appreciated.

(icky) #2

Well, as I understand it, trying to get off a sugar addiction is kind of like getting off a drug addiction, so you would expect:

  1. withdrawal symptoms
  2. cravings for sugar/ drug
  3. feelings of “relief” when you consume sugar/ drug

So the point is that like beating a bad drug addiction, you need to push through this withdrawal stage.

I guess you can make the process a bit easier at first by “substituting” a little bit. The same way that people with heroin addiction take methadone to ease the withdrawal symptoms, you could take a SIP of milk (not a glass!) when you start feeling heavy/ sleepy/ lazy.

After 2-3 weeks, you should have beaten your body’s addiction to sugar.

If you don’t feel comfortable with that, you can keep eating a carb based diet of course.

Which is what you’ve been doing the last 8 weeks, if your carb intake was that high. 4 glasses of joghurt and 4 glasses of milk per day is NOT a keto diet.

(Jay AM) #3

Your brain does want glucose because you aren’t fat adapted yet. However, your body can create all the glucose your brain needs through gluconeogenisis. And no, you haven’t been keto yet so you are just starting. I’m not sure how many calories you’re actually getting from what you’re eating but, make sure you are getting enough and also enough protein. I’ve put the basic recommendations below for you.

We have a few sayings here, “keep calm, keto on” and “trust the process.” Keto isn’t a quick weight loss diet. It’s a health gaining way of eating with fat loss as a side effect. If the scale is an unhealthy obsession, put it away for a couple of months or give it to a neighbor you don’t like.

There are two phases to ketosis and a ketogenic lifestyle.

Nutritional ketosis is phase one. Your body begins to produce and uptake some ketones while dumping the rest. It will still search for glucose to use as fuel. In this phase it’s not an efficient process. It has to work actively to get rid of stored glycogen, clean up excess blood sugar, and turn on the ability to use ketones.

Fat adaptation is phase two. Your body is efficiently producing ketones from intake and stored body fat and is also using them efficiently for energy. It takes around 6-8 weeks of strict keto to achieve for many but not all.

The basic “rules” I go by and many others can agree with especially for beginners are:

*20g net carbs max (you might tolerate more but, starting out, 20g net carbs or less will get you into ketosis.)

*Moderate protein (1g-1.5g per kg of lean bodyweight is a good goal based on the 2 Dudes recommendations.)

*Fat to satiety (add fat to every meal and, if you are hungry, eat more fat. Don’t be afraid of fat. It is energy.)

*Do not restrict calories

*Do not exercise excessively in an effort to lose weight

*Drink plenty of water

*Get plenty of sodium and other electrolytes

(Omar) #4

jay, icky

your replies have been very supportive and informative for me. I felt more secured

thanks

(icky) #5

Good luck in pushing through this! :blush:

Ask as many questions as you need to.

Everyone here on the forum remembers how difficult it was to get carbs down in the first few weeks and what the withdrawal symptoms felt like and how to beat them.

Get all the advice and support you need!

(icky) #6

Also, what you need to do is to replace “glucose as your brain’s fuel” with “fat as your brain’s fuel”. Then, over time, you won’t be getting the need for glucose anymore.

Can you try eating (smaller amounts) of 10% fat joghurt? Where I live, this kind of joghurt is called “mediterranean joghurt/ greek joghurt/ turkish joghurt”.

Can you try sipping cream instead of milk?

Can you make sure you get lots of butter? At the moment, whenever I feel hungry/ craving glucose and I am in a rush, what I do is this: put 1 tub of cream cheese plus approx 80 g of butter plus salt in a small bowl and microwave. Stir and enjoy. (Optional extra: add one egg)

Your body can quickly access the fats in butter as a fuel, so the more butter and cream you give your body, the less it will want/ need sugar/ glucose/ lactose.

(Karen) #7

Or my favorite… 3 days to get into ketosis.

Day one-day an 8 oz block of cream cheese. 1 ounce per hour. 10-am 5pm
Day two-day an 8 ounce block of cream cheese
Day 3 - eat an 8 ounce block of cream cheese.

Ketosis!
Done

K

(Omar) #8

Actually Karen this is what I was doing prior to this issue of lazy brain (I do not know what else to call it other than lazy brain)

which prove your point as cream, cheese and butter are the fastest road to ketosis.

It is amazing to observe that my body has energy. I can work extended hours. but the issue is with my brain which seems to lack fuel.

this is a good experiment for me to understand that the body and the brain can fuel themselves differently.

But reading the replies here tells me that the people who passed this road have the same experience and they think that my brain will eventually adopt ketons instead of glucose as fuel.

eventhough there are conflicting opinions on the net as some people say that part of the brain will still need glucose.

others say that there are people on keto for many years and their brains functioning properly.

May be I am about to find that out myself with my own body as a witness.

thanks for the useful reply

(icky) #9

Hey Omar,

I see where the confusion is! : )

YES the brain ALWAYS needs glucose. The brain is an organ that cannot use fat but needs glucose.

BUT your body can use fat and ketones to MAKE glucose for the brain.

The brain does need glucose but it does not need it FROM sugar/ carbs/ lactose etc.

So both things are absolutely true.

The brain NEEDS glucose but the change that happens is that it gets it VIA fats/ ketones and not “directly” via sugar/ carbs/ insulin.

Does that clarify it?

Keep asking if you are still confusded!! :blush:

It’s tricky stuff to get your head around :blush:

(Omar) #10

yes it does clarify

I am realy thankfull to your constructive attitude.