I think I have this low carb flu thing
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LuckyStar813
Posts: 163 Member
I am on about week 3 of changing my diet to more paleo. i am eating protein, fat and lowered my carbs to 50 - 100 grams a day. I am eating dairy but no grains. Except I've a ton a cheats long the way.
Last weekend I thought I had just not eaten enough lunch and while out running errands I began to feel terrible. Like my blood sugar was low. But after I ate I didn't really feel better. This same thing happened in the evening a few times last week and now this weekend it is getting worse.
It's like I wake up ok but then start crashing with total fatigue and wooziness earlier in the day as I go along. I have no energy for exercise and I feel a bit freaked out and emotional. Last night I slept horrible and felt like I couldn't not control my body temperature. I was all twitchy too.
Is this carb flu? I thought I would need to eat way less carbs to get these symptoms. What do I do?
Last weekend I thought I had just not eaten enough lunch and while out running errands I began to feel terrible. Like my blood sugar was low. But after I ate I didn't really feel better. This same thing happened in the evening a few times last week and now this weekend it is getting worse.
It's like I wake up ok but then start crashing with total fatigue and wooziness earlier in the day as I go along. I have no energy for exercise and I feel a bit freaked out and emotional. Last night I slept horrible and felt like I couldn't not control my body temperature. I was all twitchy too.
Is this carb flu? I thought I would need to eat way less carbs to get these symptoms. What do I do?
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Replies
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Have you tried to increase your sodium intake?
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I ate breakfast 3 egg scramble and I added extra pink salt. I also ate a banana and took a multivitamin.0
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By default, Paleo is lower carb than SAD. Your body will let you know how displeased it is that you are cutting carbs. Keep going but if you find yourself continuing to struggle you might find it gets easier by going lower with the carbs and starve out the cravings. But that's up to you. That's how it works for me.
For me, eating a banana makes everything much worse. In the moderate carb range I'm always at risk of bingeing and I never feel my best.
Also, the ton of cheats may mean that you haven't eaten well enough to fully adjust to this lifestyle. I can't imagine having great results in three weeks with a "ton of cheats". I'd also recommend changing that dialogue. Choose what you will eat, but don't call it "cheating".0 -
Maybe not enough, try to drink some bone broth, many people find it beneficial to restore the electrolite balance.
Anyway please be aware that you can still eat paleo/primal also at a higher level of carbs.
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Yeah, a banana would be problematic for me, even now when I'm fat-adapted. Bananas are such a concentrated carb source, they disrupt my natural energy. I am more likely to get a carb crash (shaky, weak, needing to eat)after eating a banana with protein, than, say, half a grapefruit or fresh berries.
Aki is right, too, about the cheats. You may actually be preventing your body from going into fat - burning mode.
When my body is burning carbs for fuel, I have to eat protein every couple of hours or get sick and shaky. When I am in fat burning mode, I can go 24 hours or more without eating. I stay in fat-burning mode by keeping carbs under 80 grams most days, and having no more than two 100+g days a week.
It works differently for different people. I go into ketosis at about 80g of carbs a day. Other people need to get down a lot lower than that.0 -
LuckyStar813 wrote: »I ate breakfast 3 egg scramble and I added extra pink salt. I also ate a banana and took a multivitamin.
I agree that you probably still need more sodium. Next time you feel blah, try a shooter of 1/2 teaspoon high-quality sea salt in about an ounce of water. This will be terribly salty, honestly see how you feel after this.0
