CRASH after small amount of sugar..... how come?

#1

Yes, I searched and read some other similar posts but still wondering… do our bodies become LESS tolerant of crappy sugar once we’re fat adapted and accustomed to the keto way of eating? I used to be able to get away with the occasional treat of a few chocolates and not pay too severe of a price, but yesterday and today I treated myself to a few dark chocolates and I went into a sleepy coma shortly thereafter. I’m still in ketosis and I’m still losing, but wow - my body is apparently telling me to stop the sugar, I guess? And yes, I draw blood and there’s really no change in the results… it’s just the crashing fatigue and brain fog! Sheesh - not sure, scientifically, why I’m reacting so strongly to a bit of dark chocolate.
Sue

#2

This is an absolute yes, for me at least. It’s very noticeable.

#3

Of course we do, no different than when an insane psychopath stops drinking coffee. You’ll resensitize to the caffeine. Think of a toddler with one or two pieces of candy! As far as checking your blood sugar, spike to drop can happen very quickly, it can be pretty difficult to test at the right point. If your testing to see whats going on when you feel the coma coming, your already back down to normal at that point, that’s WHY you feel like crap. You typically don’t feel the spike. If you think of how a diabetic uses insulin it works VERY quickly once it’s in the bloodstream and for those of us that were/are insulin resistant many of our bodies release way to much insulin vs what’s actually needed to correct a rise which is why we slam back down to normal the way we do and go food coma when we eat the wrong thing.

#4

Thanks, really good and easy-to-understand explanation. Yes, I do believe i was insulin resistant - I used to spike up and crash down very fast after eating carbs, but I got away with sugar carbs for some reason. Not so much anymore.

Our bodies really do talk to us - the hard part is listening and doing what it’s telling us.
Sue

(Karen) #5

I have had the same response to one square of 90% chocolate. Very sleepy. A sandwich used to do that to me, now it’s one square of super dark chocolate. Such a cheap date!

K

(Felix) #6

Sadly yes. Turns out we can lose tolerance. I got horrible migraines from 2-3 squares of chocolate, one of the worst ever from some low-sugar cheesecake. I was sugar free for most of a year, got under my goal weight and thought I’d reintroduce some favourites in small doses. (If it fits my macros style)

Those migraines were 2 weeks ago. As it finally came clear that sugar, even only a few grams, was causing them, I cut any and all trace amounts of sugar from my diet (except naturally occurring in veg etc). Now I’ve made it a whole 10 days without a migraine. Back on track.

I got kind of mopey about it, as I’ve always held it as a possibility that I could eat sugar if I wanted to. As in: Yes, you can have some chocolate/cookie/whatever, if you really want. Your choice, sugar or keeping on with the weight loss. That worked to defuse whatever craving I was having. Permission, then a healthy decision.

But now I can’t have the sweet or I’ll be horribly ill? ARgh!
Rethinking… now my choice is between satisfying the craving or not getting a migraine. I’ll pick pain-free any day. Same as anyone allergic to peanuts or strychnine. Just don’t consume something that will make me ill.

The cravings subside, of course. Working next to a bakery that floods my work space with the scent of chocolate chip cookies notwithstanding.

#7

FWIW, I’ve become fond of a product called ChocZero which uses monk fruit as the sweetener.

(Karen) #8

Oh my. They also have a really good maple pecan syrup, I hear!!

K

#9

Wow, sorry to hear that but glad I’m not alone. I was really shocked by how severe it was - only starting to perk up a little now.

So very sorry to hear that, I feel your pain. I, too, was so thrilled that I was going to be able to re-introduce some of my old favorite treats as it wasn’t knocking me out of ketosis and I was still losing weight, but if it’s going to render me unable to function, that’s quite a price to pay. I guess maybe any dark chocolate treats will have to be late at night - maybe it’ll help me sleep. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!)

It also makes me wonder if perhaps we shouldn’t TOTALLY give up sugar because try as we might, it’s inevitable that it will sneak into our diets from time to time and becoming seriously ill through no fault of your own is horrible.

Hmmmmmm, guess what I’m off to look for. Thanks. :slight_smile:
Sue

(Cassandra Higdon) #10

I ate some mushrooms at the Chinese place I work - shortly after I got dizzy and nauseated.
I found out they put sugar in them.
I am definitely more sensitive to sugar.

(Bunny) #11

Wish we could do more glucose tolerance testing and compare the results!

I tolerate (no sense of sensitivity difference) sugar really well compared to before keto (before I even knew what Ketosis was) and after being fully keto adapted (not just fat adapted)!

#12

Wow, what a horrible reaction, and that’s what I was referring to when I said perhaps we shouldn’t give up all sugar from our diet. I don’t ever want to be that sensitized to it that an accidental sugar ingestion makes me dizzy and sick to my stomach. It’s bound to happen, especially while we’re out in public, the time when we LEAST want to be filling ill. :frowning:

(Felix) #13

That was my problem! I had the chocolate in the evening. I think my sugar crashed in the night in my sleep, and I woke with a migraine. Every morning for almost 2 weeks.

I think it might be ok to eat a square as dessert after my main meal during the day. Gives me time to work off the glucose if it’s a problem. Except for those 3pm sleepies… sigh.

(annette) #14

I was listening to a podcast this morning with Prof. Tim Noakes and he actually said that after a while of not eating junk carbs, your gut flora changes. It adapts to process what you are currently eating. If you feed it sugar/starch it basically pisses off your gut because it’s not set up to process sugar.

On a positive note, it makes ya wanna stay on track! :wink: