I am fasting regularly and I quite often feel cold on my back especially on my back. Is this due to a slowing metabolism? And therefore a sign to stop fasting? I am fat adapted and my energy is good, but this freezing is quite uncomfortable. Thanks!
Feeling cold and what to do
Shortstuff
(Allie)
#2
Many of us suffer the same way. I’ve found extra layers and hot drinks to be very helpful.
GentleBen
#3
Same here. Feel cold a lot while fasting. Feet and hands a bit icy but otherwise feel great. A walk heats me up and cold subsides.
Of course, this is winter time and even southern Louisiana gets cold outside.
I’ve lost 61 pounds — could a loss of visceral fat be depriving me of insulation?
one_woman
#4
My feet and hands are cold since the second day I started keto. I used to feel this way all the time when I was younger. It was my normal natural state, without being on any sort of restrictive diet. Then, around 51 years old the feeling of always feeling colder than anyone else in the room began to go away. Looking back, after noticing that the feeling came back immediately when I started the keto diet, I realize that the state of my body all of my life, until recently, has been the same as a person who is on the keto diet. Now I have to do the keto diet to acheive the same state, and that includes my weight. after 51 years old I started gaining a couple lbs slowly, but would always lose it easily in a week or so. Now, I had arrived at a place at 55 where I could hardly lose the weight no matter what, I lost 3 lbs in 6 weeks but couldn’t lose the last 2 lbs. I decided to start the keto diet and I lost the some water weight in the first couple days and by the end of 5 days, with 1000 calories a day and 16 hours of intermittent fasting I lost another pound of fat. I am now back to my original weight of 123 lbs and am continuing the the keto diet, upping the caloric amount, but basically going to keep to the pan.
I realize that most of my life I have never had a big appetite, but on occasion I have slipped into higher glucose numbers and those are the same times my weight inches up a couple pounds. When I was younger I just had to eat less for a week and I would be back to normal. At this stage post menopausal I really need to cut back on the carbs if I want to see results. This really works. And yes, I have often found myself over my lifetime in states of un-hungriness. It cam naturally to me. It is nice to know that I can recreate what was once a natural state for me.
SlowBurnMary
#5
Those cold sensations are a neurological phenom related to complex stuff I don’t know much about, but that is common in the elderly, the post-post menopausal, the extended fasters, and also in certain days of the menstrual cycle, and also in some phases of childbirth! In eastern medicine like ayurveda or Traditional Chinese Medicine, which has long fascinated me - it’s related to a change/imbalance that creates the effect of a cold wind or wind chill (ie, excess Air or deranged Air etc), which is another way to speak about the nervous system. The eastern medicines view the body through its ‘constitutional’ nature - and we’re born with certain tendencies, some people have more of a natural tendency towards nervous/Air issues - and other constitutions like the fiery kind or the watery kind can also have symptoms of coldness/dampness that come in a roundabout way during certain conditions.
Generally, fresh simmered or dry infused teas made from whole foods nutrients like Ginger, Garlic, or other regional faves like Sage tea, Siberian Taiga herbal mixes, Basil/Tulsi - taken with PLENTY of good MCT fat like ghee or coconut oil - are warming/soothing in their effects, and used in regional traditional cultures all over the world to comfort such sensations during established fasting and for the elderly and others.
However, taking certain herbal teas in early fasting hours (and in conjunction with certain medications like statins, which are totally contraindicated) may not be advisable.
Many of them can be both an appetite supressant and a digestive stimulant depending on timing. So I guess it might be preferable to wait until the cold/sluggish sensations start to hit, and respond to what the body’s saying then. In my personal experience and in helping some others, the grounding & circulatory effects of Ginger/Sage/Basil in relation to cold sensations can be quite amazing. As can chili pepper/cayenne! Just a pinch in a mug of bone broth or herbal tea changes everything…