Low Carb Makes me Dizzy...

Antturi

For those of you interested in the Ketogenic diet, check out this website: http://www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com. Lots of links to research papers etc, as well general info.
The headaches and dizziness that accompany the beginning phases of a Keto diet is your brain craving carbs. Once your body goes into ketosis, your brain will use up to 75% of its energy needs from ketones with the rest coming from glucose. If you don't eat any carbs, the body can manufacture the required glucose from protein or fat. The rest of your body doesn't need glucose to function. It can get by fine using ketones( in the first few weeks) and then free fatty acids.
In a diet with carbs under 100g per day will put the body into Ketosis. The less carbs, the deeper into ketosis. For most people 50g is more than enough to get into proper ketosis. Also a lot of people eat to many proteins and can't get into ketosis. This because up to 58% of the dietary protein that the body doesn't need will be converted to glucose.

tennisdude2004

Your body (especially your brain) needs glucose to function

However you don't have to eat the glucose, or starches, for your body to work just fine. It evolved with mechanisms to be fuelled by fats and protein in the absence of carbohydrates in the diet and they still work today.

Thank you. My head was spinning from all of the derp on this thread. UGH

Yeah, eating less than 20g carbs per day without a medical reason for it is pretty derpy.

I think the phrase you are looking for is 'Pretty Dope'

Your body has not evolved to use glucose as a main fuel source which is why you can store so little of it in your system.

The human body has evolved to run off it's stored body fat, which is why we have it in our body in abundance (even athletes at 10% body fat have it in abundance) - instant energy on tap.

However, because of our SAD or westernised diets most people eat carbs as a quick way to fuel the body through Glucose.

Sometimes it takes a bit of time to re-adjust to weaning ourselves (and out hormonal responses) away from a high carb life style.

However once people do (the ones that choice to take that journey), most find they are able to control what they eat and have a constant stream of energy, as opposed to having to live with the energy ups and downs they get through insulin spikes.

castadiva

My problem is that a low-carb diet results in depression (for me, and I believe there are several recent studies that have confirmed this link). After a week without any grains or starchy vegetables, I start to feel low, and the last time I tried - in a desperate attempt to get the scale to move - two weeks in I was in a very, very bad mental space. The lethargy that comes with it, I could handle, but the permanent weepiness, overwhelmingly negative mindset and self-destructive thoughts are things that need to be curbed, even if that does mean eating bread/couscous/rice/potato/chickpeas etc.