More sensitive to carbs?

(Cillian) #1

I’ve been doing intermittent fasting for about a week now and low carb for a few days. I broke my fast this morning with some spelt cakes and eggs and about an hour after i felt my sinuses flare up and i felt irritable too. Could this be something to do with the intermittent fasting? I ate potatoes yesterday too and i felt a slight flare up in my sinuses then as well.

(matt ) #2

Why are you eating the carbs? Esp grains and potatoes?

I don’t see how the fasting would be the issues.

(Ethan) #3

a few days of low carb is not much to go on… Spelt cakes and potatoes don’t sound low carb to me. I am not understanding this.

(Cillian) #4

Because i’m trying to find the best way to get my health back to normal and i was watching a video on youtube and it said the best way to break your fast is with high glycemic carbs. I’m kind of bordering on the edge of doing a keto diet or not. I’m sort of afraid to try it in case things get worse for me.

(Cillian) #5

Well it’s low carb compared to what i was eating before which was lots of pasta, potatoes and oatmeal.

(matt ) #6

That’s news to me. What is the case that the video makes? I don’t see any place for high glycemic carbs in keto ever.

Do keto or don’t. Switching back and forth between keto and carbs is going to make you miserable.

(matt ) #7

BTW lots of folks use eggs to break a fast. You have to see what works for you and doesn’t upset your guts. But I don’t see high glycemic carbs helping at all.

(Ethan) #8

Youtube has a lot of great advice, but also a lot of bad advice. Breaking an intermittent fast with a high-glycemic carb load seems strange to me, and I can’t think of a reason this is desired except if you somehow think that you are in dire need of carbs because you are not keto adapted and need to get glucose in the body fast. Breaking an extended fast with a high-glycemic carb load is dangerous and could lead to refeeding syndrome.

If you are struggling with whether keto is for you, perhaps paleo is the right route. I don’t believe that living ketogenic is a requirement for every person. It can be great in the treatment of chronic inflammatory, metabolic, autoimmune, or brain conditions, such as IBD, T2 diabetes, hashimoto’s, or epilepsy, or (some) cancer. It can be great for endurance athletes or anybody who wants some of the keto benefits. For people not seeking any of those benefits, who are ambivalent about being in ketosis, and are treating a specific condition, it is probably sufficient to just eat real foods, avoiding processed and refined food.

(Brandy Fischbach) #9

It may be a gluten sensitivity to the spelt.

(Cillian) #10

My hormones or something in my body is REALLY out of whack right now especially. I’ve been eating lower carbs compared to usual for the past 5 days or so and eating a good amount of fat and protein. I started feeling really deficient today like i was lacking minerals or something so i decided to eat quite a good amount of oatmeal and greek yhogurt and now i feel like actual hell. I feel really irritable and inflamed. I don’t know what is wrong with me i’ve been like this on and off for 8 years and it’s caused so many problems mentally and physically. The last time i went to the doctor i got a full blood test and it came back normal and the doctor said i look really healthy. She must be talking about my body since i’m not overweight or anything but my face looks so depleted and inflamed like it’s a reflection of what my insides are like. I need answers but i don’t know where to start.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #11

The best source of micronutrients is organ meat (liver, kidneys, etc.). If you want to become fat-adapted, re-feeding with carbs, especially high-glycemic carbs, is self-defeating.

(matt ) #12

Oatmeal is not anything you want to be eating. Greek yogurt needs to be watched as well.

They are not going to make you feel better. Quite the opposite.

(Cillian) #13

i dont know what to eat then, everywhere i look theres always someone saying something negative about every food

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #14

Whatever you decide to eat, try to go with whole foods, less refined foods, and fresh foods. The point of a well-formulated ketogenic diet is to avoid carbohydrate, because it stimulates insulin production. Protein stimulates insulin, too, but not as much as carbohydrate, plus you have to have protein to live (the minimum daily requirement for carbohydrate is 0 grams). The remainder of your calories should come from healthy fats (fat has very little effect on insulin production), which you should eat to satiety. (It’s easier not to have to count calories, and your body will tell you when you’ve given it enough energy.)

Stimulating insulin production by eating carbohydrate causes your body to store fat, rather than metabolizing it, and high insulin levels are implicated in all kinds of diseases, not just obesity. That is why, on these forums, we tend to demonize sugars, refined carbohydrates, starches, and processed foods and praise fresh whole foods, especially meats, eggs, and the like.

(Cillian) #15

I felt so depleted when i was doing lower carbs then usual though. for the last few days i was eating lower carbs then i’d usually eat and doing intermittent fasting and i felt like i was depleted in minerals thats why i ate the bowl of porridge to see if it would help and boy was i wrong. Like 20 minutes after eating it i felt like crap and still do. I felt dehydrated and irritable and inflamed. I don’t know what to do, i felt depleted on low carbs and feel really inflamed when i eat carbs._

(Melissa Marie) #16

Have you looked into the possibility histamine intolerance? Gluten intolerance? Auto immune protocol?

If you are feeling depleted and just started keto it’s probably the keto flu. Most supplement with magnesium, potassium and salt and the issues resolve. Theres tons of info here about should and shouldn’t but a lot of info is consistent here especially about getting started and how to proceed until you become fat adapted.

If you are unsure about keto don’t do it. You need to be comitted to see results. You may be having other issues that take time to understand/resolve by going through a process of elimination to understand what the problem really is.

I’d look into that first before doing anything else if you aren’t feeling well from foods you are eating. Yogurt for one, can cause a histamine response in some people as can many other foods.

(Cillian) #17

I have seasonal allergies and also i’ve been suspecting that i have a histamine intolerance too.

(Jay AM) #18

So, you did intermittent fasting and lower carb than you’d usually eat. I’m doubting you added quite enough fat either. And now you’re feeling crap and carbs didn’t help.

Some here are possibly right that you could be experiencing an intolerance to something you’re eating like eggs, dairy, nightshades (potatoes are in this category). But, you may actually be putting yourself into ketosis and losing electrolytes in the process. Porridge isn’t going to fix a mineral deficiency. Salt, potassium, and magnesium will.

Honestly, what you describe about how you’ve felt for the last 8 years makes you the perfect candidate to be on keto and you’re almost there to do it. So, what stops you from just doing it? You’re afraid things will get worse? How does eating a bunch of low nutrition carbs make it better right now? You like YouTube so, I’ll leave a link for you to look at from a doctor talking about ketosis. And, I’ll leave some guidelines in case you want to try it. In the meantime, I really don’t recommend fasting to you until you figure out the rest of the problem with your food, including how high carb it actually all is.

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

*Drink plenty of water

*Get plenty of sodium and other electrolytes

(Cillian) #19

Thanks for the information. When i was trying to do lower carb my diet consisted of scrambled eggs, skinless chicken breasts, greek yhogurt, nuts, dates, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, lots of coconut oil, kale smoothie, broccoli, butter. Do you know why i reacted so badly when i ate the bowl of oatmeal and greek yhogurt? It’s strange because before i done this lower carb i would eat oatmeal everyday for breakfast.