Low carb, ammonia and prediabetes???

KILW
KILW Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss

hi everyone I just have a question. I was recently told I was pediatric, for genetic reasons. I'm not overweight and I exercise every single day. So my doctor said I should be on a low-carb diet. But what I'm finding is now that I'm a low carb, I smell ammonia anytime I work out. When I research this on the computer, it says that I either need to be hydrated more, which I really am hydrated, or that I need to go on a higher carb diet. But I can't. So my question is what do I do? Does anyone have any suggestions please. Thank you so much in advance.

Answers

  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,373 Member

    How long have you been doing low carb? While you may be drinking lots of water, low carb diets usually result in lots of water loss, especially in the first several months. That will pull out electrolytes. I would suggest trying a carb free electrolyte with your water, especially until your body adapts to your new way of eating.

  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,373 Member

    You may want to join this group. There are many knowledgeable people there who have been doing low carb for a long time. https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum

  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,550 Member
    edited March 7

    Ammonia can be as simple as electrolyte balance, or consuming too many amino acids aka protein and this process can sometimes lead to an ammonia smell in sweat from intense workouts and in the urine, especially if protein intake is high, or it could be complicated like a dysfunctional liver or kidneys. I suspect some is from ketone's which can have that side effect as well. Regardless this is something you need to discuss with your Doctor.

    Anyway, being prediabetic for genetic reasons is some pretty in depth medical investigation that I suspect doesn't happen in a Doctors office. How did your Doctor determine it was your genetics or did they say because diabetes runs in your family that it's genetic, which from my experience is what most Dr's allude to, which has to do mostly with lifestyle factors and not really genetics, imo.

    Prediabetes is for the vast majority of people caused from years of being insulinogenic which is basically chronically elevated insulin that is released over time, years and decades and when that mechanism starts to break down from overuse which can be exasperated from consuming a diet of mostly processed and junk food people tend to creep into a condition called prediabetes, which generally does progress into diabetes.

    A diet that focuses on whole foods with minimal added sugars along with a lifestyle that includes some form of exercise and weight loss if that is a factor will and does support fewer intense insulin responses which can help slow down, stop or reverse prediabetes. The most powerful diet is a ketogenic diet which is the most aggressive for removing carbohydrates, but a person doesn't need to be that low to help reverse prediabetes, sometimes just a simple whole food diet but I will say that most of your protein should be animal based. You could try lowering your carbs to the 100 to 130 range and see what happens and I suspect that ammonia smell will go away and that ammonia smell is generally temporary on a very low carb diet. good luck.

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