Having troubles and can't find my answer through research

(Kim) #1

Ive been in on keto for about 3 months and in ketosis. I’ve researched a lot. Im having problems with satiety and digestion trying to eat less times a day to avoid insulin spikes.

My health problems regarding eating are not absorbing vitamins, insulin resistance, and ibs, and adrenal burnout. During this time (3 months) i just ate the 24g carbs or less, 7 cups veggies, and added healthy fats to be at least 1 point above protien, While researching how to fix my digestive issues.

Immidiately, switching to keto relieved my IBS. But i am so hungry, where before keto i would only eat 2x a day no snack. Now I need to eat 3 times a day plus a snack. Now i am hungry upon wakening and eating breakfast which i have never wanted breakfast ever in my life. It used to make me vomit or feel like i had the flu. So i just went with it because its what my body wanted.

But then Ive had to add a protien powder for vitamins and minerals as well as follow my prescribed vit c , iron and folic acid 2x a day. They make me so bloated i cant fit food in there, so i started using the bullet proof coffee instead of food with it first thing in the morning. For 3 weeks ive been following this.

I read where i need to use acv for the gut, and eat less. For 2 days i have had the organic liquid acv. This causes diarrhea and belching, stomach cramping, and symptoms related to IBS. I can go longer with out foods though because my stomach is upset half the day, i poop alot and feel nauseous. But when the nausea settles i still get hunger pangs about 4 hours after a meal. Even with adding fats 2x my recommended macro limit.

So i am wondering, should i keep at the acv for a number of weeks and see if it settles down? Amd keep at eating,less. Or should i just go back to what worked better? Even though i ate more. Am i trying to fix too many things at once maybe?

#2

How many grams of protein are you eating? 1 gram per KG of lean body mass is a guideline that has worked for me.

Also, protein powders or bars can cause insulin spikes in some people due to the whey protein. See below. If you need to supplement protein, I suggest to do it with egg whites.

(Kim) #3

Im eating about 63g protien a day. I am taking the supplement because it offers a lot of vitamins and minerals as well as amino acids, probiotics, fiber, ect. I cant affird to take them all seperate, and i throw up if i take a multivitamin.

(Kim) #4

So maybe i should take out the protien powder and keep the acv.? And see how that affects me then. … I didnt even consider that honestly, because of the vitamins in it. But thats a good point. Maybe after acv, i wont need the powder… Hmmm… I will try that first i guess.

(luca) #5

I use digestEzy to digest better. at each meal a capsule or two if there are more fats. you will see that it will be very good for you as it went well with me. after two months I was fine even without enzymes … I rarely take one… wish you the best…

(Bob M) #6

You’re doing so much at one time, it’s impossible to find what’s causing issues. It’s difficult enough changing one thing at a time (and it’s rare you can do that).

Personally, I might have had IBS, but that subsided, and I don’t use ACV. I do eat it at times, such as on salad, but I do not eat it by itself.

You might try a FODMAPs diet, too (modified for keto, of course):

("Don't call it calories, call it food") #7

I agree, there are so many variables. My suggestion: simplify your diet, cut out the vitamins, supplements, acv and any things that aren’t food. Eat a basic diet, perhaps following the fodmap guidelines. Do this for four weeks and see where you are. If you have continued nausea and have a diagnosed problem with absorbing vitamins (I do), rather than supplementing, take enzymes with one or two meals a day.

I would stick to real food, keep it simple and see where you are in a month

(Kim) #8

Thank you guys for responding. @ctviggen, thank you for this post, it helped me to research backwards to information that says i need to be tested for celiec disease. I will ask my doctor when i go back to have iron levels tested again. Its says that by eliminating the protien powder and eating right (keto in this instance) it can take up to 18 months to correct issues with absorbing b12 through foods. Thus leading to corrected iron absorption ect ect. So … Deff. Taking out the powder, it has stuff in it that would irritate celiac problems.

(Cindy) #9

7 cups of veggies is a lot. Some vegetables can be hard to digest, too.
You might be caught in a bit of a vicious circle. Because you’re eating so often, you’re keeping your insulin levels high, which makes you want to eat more. The protein powder isn’t helping. Most of those either have sugar or artificial sweetner to make them taste good. So again, you’re spiking sugar and insulin.
When you say you’re not absorbing vitamins, have you had testing done to know if you have a vitamin deficiency? If not, you really might not need the supplements.

I do hope you find what works for you. I’m always of the opinion that simpler is better.

(Kim) #10

@luka2003 Thank you. I found i need to increase the intrinsic factor. Looking into this to see if it helps with that

(Robert C) #11

If you are eating only that much protein a day and a significant part of that is a protein powder then that is probably your problem. It seems you have been duped by the supplement industry into thinking there are a bunch of things you cannot do without. They’ve got you panicking but, if you think about it, people looked great in the 1950’s and before - without ANY supplements.

I think real food (eggs and fatty red meat) would really help you out - very satiating compared to a protein shake - much slower to digest - much healthier. Reducing the vegetables and dropping the supplements for a few weeks will probably also help. A couple/few weeks isn’t a high price to pay to see if you get a real change. Cut back or drop alcohol and caffeine if you are in to those things.

You just might find you feel 10X better on just whole real foods.

(Bunny) #12

From an IBS expert:

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http://www.katescarlata.com/lowfodmapdietchecklists/

(Kim) #13

@cw2001 yes i was trying to find why i have such chrinic pain 2 years ago, led to finding i had nerve damage, led to finding i have sleep apnea, which led to finding i have anemia, which led to megaloblastic anemia, which lead to finding i have low vitamin b12 absorption. Its been a huge domino effect of backwards findings, lol.

I do feel hopeful as of now … I will asked to be checked for celiac disease … In the mean time i will go back to what was working and eliminate all this extra supplementing.

Thank you all for your input

(Robert C) #14

I too have megaloblastic anemia.

For that I take vitamin B12 liquid drops (Methylcobalamin <- important, not just pills or a “vitamin B complex”) as a sublingual (under the tongue for a few minutes). My last blood test was proof that it did do its job - much improved. Pill forms that include B12 are mostly destroyed in the gut (so I have been told).

(Omar) #15

ACV is good but not for someone who have IBS

It increase gut permeability.

(Brian) #16

I’m kinda wondering about the vegetables. I know, we’ve had it beat into our heads that we “have to eat lots and lots of vegetables or we’ll suffer the worst possible and die alone, poor and miserable”, yada, yada, yada. Many have found that it just ain’t so.

Seriously, if I were in your situation, I’d have a real good think about going carnivore for a little while and just see how that goes. When you ditch the vegetables, your body doesn’t need all of those vitamins that seem to be so essential when your body has to deal with all of the vegetables and fiber. Beef & water is a pretty intense elimination diet but can give your body a little breather while some healing happens. Then you can add back things as you decide to and see how that goes. It can be used as a sort of “reset” button from what numerous others say.

Just what comes to mind as something I might try. But hey, I might be an idiot! :wink:

Good luck!

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #17

I may not be getting a clear picture of what’s going on, but here are some thoughts, in any case.

Firstly, what fats are you eating? Vegetable (actually, seed) oils are high in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA’s), which in quantity will cause nausea. Try switching to butter, lard, tallow, bacon grease, and fruit oils (avocado, coconut, and olive), and see if that helps.

Second, if you are getting hungry between meals, have a fatty snack, and increase your fat at the next meal. The idea is to eat in a way that keeps insulin levels generally low, so the primary consideration is to keep your carbohydrate intake under 20 g/day. That’s over 90% of this way of eating right there. Keep your protein moderate (you probably won’t need to change that), and fill in the remaining calories you need with fat. Remember that most protein comes with fat attached, and even steak is only about 25% protein by weight, so it’s pretty easy to get enough calories from fat. (And if you calculate percentages of calories, the percentage of fat is even higher.)

We recommend eating fat to satiety, not because it is magic, but because it stimulates the least amount of insulin secretion, so it’s the safest source of energy. But this is not an unlimited-fat diet, it’s a fat-to-satiety diet, which means that you should be eating enough not to get hungry between meals, but you should stop eating when you stop being hungry. Getting enough fat should not only provide your body with enough calories, it should also ease your intestinal troubles. Try to avoid fiber, since on a low-carbohydrate, such as this is, fiber is not actually your friend. In the absence of carbohydrate, your bowel will do better with fat than with fiber.

If you are eating real food (usually found around the periphery of the supermarket and not in the aisles), you probably don’t need supplements or vitamins. Do work to keep your salt intake up, since carbohydrate causes the kidneys to retain sodium, and now you need more sodium than you are used to getting. Getting enough sodium will keep your magnesium, potassium, and calcium in balance, too, since the bodily mechanisms that regulate these minerals are interlocking. Drinking to thirst will also help, but don’t overdo the liquid.

(Mike W.) #18

Who told you had to eat 3 times plus a snack each day? If you could go back to just eating two BIG meals a day, like you were, I think you’ll be happy with the results. The key is keeping insulin low by eating less often.

(Kim) #19

No one told me that. My body is hungry more. I think i was in starvation mode before though. I was getting about 830 - 930 calories when i first started paying attention to foods, ie loggin in information on an app. I was told to eat at least 1200 calories. By doing so after several days, i became hungry and wanted breakfast too.
I average about 1400 cals a day now. Which is more normal i guess. Still losing weight, and all of that, still in ketosis, just a bit backwards from tmad to 3.

I’ll just go back to the basics, wait for my doc apointment .

(Bob M) #20

Maybe your body told you the right thing? Maybe you should eat 3+ meals a day?

I’ve tried to eat one meal a day (OMAD – and yes, I abhor acronyms :face_with_raised_eyebrow:), and I just can’t do it right now. I either get too hungry during the day or I can’t eat enough in one meal. And, I typically eat late, so I’m going to bed right after eating.

I was intermittent fasting 36 hours twice a week and 22 hours once a week, and I did that until I started getting ice cold when fasting even 16 hours. I gave up and started eating two meals a day, and then one day, I freaking ate and ate and ate and ate. I had at least 5 meals, we’re talking thousands of calories. Pounds of meat. I could not eat enough.

After that, I went to two meals per day and have tried to get back to one meal a day for some days, and I can’t. So, I haven’t. When my body finally lets me fast again, then I’ll do that.

And my strength went way up for some reason during this, though my scale weight has not gone down.

Anyway, maybe listen to what your body is telling you?