Fruit sugar (fructose) and insulin resistance
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EccentricDad
Posts: 875 Member
Long story and I'm sorry there isn't a tl;dr option...
I lost my job in March of 2010. At that time, I was dieting due to a recent diagnosis of Arthritis and I was at a wonderful 130 lbs (for a male at 5'8" this was awesome and felt awesome); but after losing my job I fell HARD into depression. I ate doughnuts. I ate cakes. I ate cookies. I ate ice cream. I "lived the life" (of an emotionally eating slob). 90 lbs later I became an obese mess. I was having symptoms of fibromyalgia. My ADHD symptoms (always there) were also getting worse and I couldn't sustain any attention for any amount of time. I was starting to have anxiety issues beyond my common social anxiety issues relative to low confidence. And to top it all off, my already bad digestive system took a turn for the worse and I was taking tums every day 4 times a day.
In April of this year I took charge and started my diet. But this diet was going to be much more extreme because I was starting to see (before the Wheat Belly book) the connection of wheat/gluten to the way I was feeling. After about 3 weeks of being gluten free my stomach was miserable still; so I did some research and I convinced myself I was overloaded with yeast (candida overgrowth). I eliminated all sugar and starches from my diet (unknowingly following Wheat Belly, Atkins, and Paleo diet methods). I lost 30 lbs almost instantly in the first month. Of course it wasn't until recently I made the connection... Anyways, but after about a month or two, I got sick of eating veggies and meat; so I decided to add fruit back into the mix. That's where the weight loss slowed...
I am now at 153'ish lbs and I have 23 more pounds to go to hit my goal weight (which is probably "low" but I reached there before). I seem to have a gluten, oat, and dairy inflammation problem (intolerance?) and whenever I eat those things my fibromyalgia, adhd, arthritis, brain fog, digestive issues, and anxiety comes back; but without them I am perfectly fine and have a GREAT quality of life. I have considered going primal/paleo but the cost of meat alone would put my family in bankruptcy without me returning to work. I am at a 1450 calorie diet which puts me at a 750 calorie deficiency; eating more would have to be through nuts/seeds and I can do that, but I still have the fruit for energy (part of the problem I'm realizing). I am also terrified of fats because of the whole "fats make you fat" mentality that I was raised with. I refuse to eat more than 10g of saturated fats (though I let unsaturated fats run wild). I am also concerned with cholesterol levels because I don't want to die of a heart attack, so I eat only 1 egg a day. I am hitting my protein goals, but many people say my protein goals are too low for being a "man".... I dunno, seems arbitrary and a matter of personal opinion to me; I did the math for a sedentary person and I should be getting 56g a day... Anyways...
My carb intake used to be 75% veg and 25% fruit, but the longer I'm on this new lifestyle of healthy eating, the more I am noticing that the carb intake is going towards 75% fruit and 25% veg. And as my fruit intake increases, my scale results decrease (today being a weekly weigh in all time low - only a 0.4 lbs loss). I am starting to understand, that even though I am in the healthy BMI weight range for my height, the reason I still have an apple shape is because I still have an issue with insulin resistance... But fruit is supposed to be good for your right?!?!?! Maybe so, but maybe 100g of apple should be swapped for 50g of apple and 50g of broccoli...
Anyways, I wanted to bring this up because I need someone to help me read what I typed here and rationalize what's happening and why. The sooner I can understand the problem, the sooner I can adopt a change in my lifestyle. Clearly, I have considered up to this point that fructose was a much better carb than sucrose (table sugar); but I thought this with no restraint on how much fructose I put in my body...
Right now I have nectarines, bananas, grapes, apples, and watermelon in my possession; in my freezer I have some veggies, but not enough to fill up on in a day's meals (veggies aren't cheap at the supermarket when you're feeding 4 mouths!). Of my fruits, the really bad ones are bananas (my favorite) and watermelon; but I rationalize that they have vital vitamins so I eat them anyways.
What should I do?
I lost my job in March of 2010. At that time, I was dieting due to a recent diagnosis of Arthritis and I was at a wonderful 130 lbs (for a male at 5'8" this was awesome and felt awesome); but after losing my job I fell HARD into depression. I ate doughnuts. I ate cakes. I ate cookies. I ate ice cream. I "lived the life" (of an emotionally eating slob). 90 lbs later I became an obese mess. I was having symptoms of fibromyalgia. My ADHD symptoms (always there) were also getting worse and I couldn't sustain any attention for any amount of time. I was starting to have anxiety issues beyond my common social anxiety issues relative to low confidence. And to top it all off, my already bad digestive system took a turn for the worse and I was taking tums every day 4 times a day.
In April of this year I took charge and started my diet. But this diet was going to be much more extreme because I was starting to see (before the Wheat Belly book) the connection of wheat/gluten to the way I was feeling. After about 3 weeks of being gluten free my stomach was miserable still; so I did some research and I convinced myself I was overloaded with yeast (candida overgrowth). I eliminated all sugar and starches from my diet (unknowingly following Wheat Belly, Atkins, and Paleo diet methods). I lost 30 lbs almost instantly in the first month. Of course it wasn't until recently I made the connection... Anyways, but after about a month or two, I got sick of eating veggies and meat; so I decided to add fruit back into the mix. That's where the weight loss slowed...
I am now at 153'ish lbs and I have 23 more pounds to go to hit my goal weight (which is probably "low" but I reached there before). I seem to have a gluten, oat, and dairy inflammation problem (intolerance?) and whenever I eat those things my fibromyalgia, adhd, arthritis, brain fog, digestive issues, and anxiety comes back; but without them I am perfectly fine and have a GREAT quality of life. I have considered going primal/paleo but the cost of meat alone would put my family in bankruptcy without me returning to work. I am at a 1450 calorie diet which puts me at a 750 calorie deficiency; eating more would have to be through nuts/seeds and I can do that, but I still have the fruit for energy (part of the problem I'm realizing). I am also terrified of fats because of the whole "fats make you fat" mentality that I was raised with. I refuse to eat more than 10g of saturated fats (though I let unsaturated fats run wild). I am also concerned with cholesterol levels because I don't want to die of a heart attack, so I eat only 1 egg a day. I am hitting my protein goals, but many people say my protein goals are too low for being a "man".... I dunno, seems arbitrary and a matter of personal opinion to me; I did the math for a sedentary person and I should be getting 56g a day... Anyways...
My carb intake used to be 75% veg and 25% fruit, but the longer I'm on this new lifestyle of healthy eating, the more I am noticing that the carb intake is going towards 75% fruit and 25% veg. And as my fruit intake increases, my scale results decrease (today being a weekly weigh in all time low - only a 0.4 lbs loss). I am starting to understand, that even though I am in the healthy BMI weight range for my height, the reason I still have an apple shape is because I still have an issue with insulin resistance... But fruit is supposed to be good for your right?!?!?! Maybe so, but maybe 100g of apple should be swapped for 50g of apple and 50g of broccoli...
Anyways, I wanted to bring this up because I need someone to help me read what I typed here and rationalize what's happening and why. The sooner I can understand the problem, the sooner I can adopt a change in my lifestyle. Clearly, I have considered up to this point that fructose was a much better carb than sucrose (table sugar); but I thought this with no restraint on how much fructose I put in my body...
Right now I have nectarines, bananas, grapes, apples, and watermelon in my possession; in my freezer I have some veggies, but not enough to fill up on in a day's meals (veggies aren't cheap at the supermarket when you're feeding 4 mouths!). Of my fruits, the really bad ones are bananas (my favorite) and watermelon; but I rationalize that they have vital vitamins so I eat them anyways.
What should I do?
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Replies
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Bump. Need serious opinions here. I'm posting in "weight loss help" because I need help.
Also, I haven't been diagnosed with insulin resistance but having an apple shape is indicative of the problem I've read.0 -
With potential diabetis issues your doctor should recommend you see a dietician. You can go on the internet and google glycemic indexes and you will have a great list of foods that you can eat.0
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Thing is, when I deprive my body of sugar (no starch or fruit) I didn't have the typical diabetic response (hypoglycemia). So I don't think I'm diabetic, but I think because of my many years of overdoing sugar, I may have built up an insulin resistance. Let's forget about the deceiving title. Look at my diet and tell me how to improve it to allow me to hit my goal.0
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i was diabetic and on 170 unit of insulin n super morbidly obese. i cut my sugar and limited my carbs...hence my weight loss. personally i stay away from juice... an orange is less cal than juice n gives u fiber. yes fruit is high in sugar...but choose the lower cal ones. tis what i do. i eat more fruit than veggies...but...in glancing at your diary... id up your protein a wee bit. yes 60g minimum is good... 80 is even better...it is for me.0
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i was diabetic and on 170 unit of insulin n super morbidly obese. i cut my sugar and limited my carbs...hence my weight loss. personally i stay away from juice... an orange is less cal than juice n gives u fiber. yes fruit is high in sugar...but choose the lower cal ones. tis what i do. i eat more fruit than veggies...but...in glancing at your diary... id up your protein a wee bit. yes 60g minimum is good... 80 is even better...it is for me.
I only have the juice because I can't tolerate milk or soy milk. I was drinking almond milk, but I saw the vitamin D was D2 and not D3; we can absorb D3 but not D2 so it's a waste. So to get my calcium and D3, I've added the OJ from Trader Joe's. I too don't like it because it's too high in carb, but without taking ANOTHER pill, I don't know how I'm going to get these vital minerals.
I can't afford to up my protein. I am sharing my protein with 3 other mouths and meat/fish isn't cheap. The only protein powder that would work for me is egg whites, and that isn't cheap...
Thanks for your reply but I guess I'll post a new question and let all the egomaniacs take a stab at my diary and make me feel like less of a person and see how that goes... Not that you weren't helpful, but I'm just not getting enough answers (probably because of the length of my question).0 -
quinoa and beans which are cheap are a good source of protein. myself..i could eat a jar a peanut butter and be happy as a lark lol0
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