"Clean eating" and low blood sugar?

MissBabyJane
MissBabyJane Posts: 538 Member
edited December 2024 in Food and Nutrition
Hello, guys
Long story short - for the last 3 years I've been back and forth with clean eating /eleminating sugar from my meals/ and eating chocolate/cookies and candies like a crazy person :D. I know calorie is a calorie, but I'm trying to get back at clean eating because I don't want to be a skinny fat person anymore, I also feel a lot better, I started weight lifting and etc. But I've been having hell of side effects of eliminating sugar like... dizziness, shaky hands, headache and others... I know this will probably pass, but how other people deal with that? Any advices? I'm also restricting my calorie intake and eating back the calories I have burnt at the gym

Sorry for my bad English, btw

Replies

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited August 2016
    Did you cut anything else, like caffeine, sodium? Those are things that might be reduced a lot when you change your diet that could lead to those symptoms. Cut way down on carbs?

    Just eliminating added sugar shouldn't have any significant effects if you keep eating other carbs (like fruit, starches). The body ends up treating it the same.

    Re: skinny fat -- I know you didn't ask for advice on diet, but what makes more of a difference here is getting enough protein and exercising (especially progressive strength work/weight bearing exercise of some sort). You can eat "clean" and eliminate added sugar without fixing these issues if they were lacking, and similarly you can include added sugar in your diet (not saying you should -- I cut it out for a while when it was helpful for me to do so) and still eat plenty of protein and an overall healthful diet and preserve muscle/add it, depending on goals.
  • MissBabyJane
    MissBabyJane Posts: 538 Member
    edited August 2016
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Did you cut anything else, like caffeine, sodium? Those are things that might be reduced a lot when you change your diet that could lead to those symptoms. Cut way down on carbs?

    Just eliminating added sugar shouldn't have any significant effects if you keep eating other carbs (like fruit, starches). The body ends up treating it the same.

    No, I didn't cut caffeine, soduim and I eat pretty high carb (I was actually kind of worried about that?) I just stopped eating sugar (cold turkey, maybe that's the problem?). I ate fruits (small peach, apple and banana for snacks during the day)... but this happened after that? Same thing was yesterday...
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    It shouldn't matter -- your body treats sugar as sugar (and easily converts starch to sugar), so if overall non fiber carbs are about the same that wouldn't be it. Did you make other changes like adding in foods you don't normally eat? Are there specific times when you are feeling off?

    It could be a coincidence and you are just sick. Depending on how bad it is I'd probably give it time and then check with a doctor if it doesn't go away.
  • MissBabyJane
    MissBabyJane Posts: 538 Member
    Here is what I actually ate today:

    Breakfast: Oat flapjack: 400 calories
    Snack1: one small peach 50 kcals
    Lunch: 2 Whole grain slices of bread, ham, low fat cheese, tomatoe 200kcals
    Snac2k: Apple
    Snac3k: Banana x 2 (I panicked so much from this shakiness)
    I am planing on having those later,
    Dinner: Lean chicken and potatoes 300kcal
    Post workout snack4: Low fat yogurt and granola?
  • cathipa
    cathipa Posts: 2,991 Member
    Your calories are fairly low. Think it could be related to that?
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    edited August 2016
    I had similar issues with going low carb. I spiraled for a long time, and doctors couldn't figure out what was happening.

    Eventually, I found I do best on moderate carb, but eat almost no carbs during most of the day and most of the carbs I do eat at night.

    With that said, when you say low carb, I'm lost. Looking at what you've eaten today, it's almost all carbs. Try adding some protein and fats to your breakfast and snacks.


    ETA: sorry, I had thought you said low carb, but you said eating clean. Try balancing your macros and adding in more protein and fats in general.

    And just ignore my inability to read...
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    Not eating clean will not make you skinny fat. Not eating enough calories/protein and not activating your muscles might contribute to that. With that said, many clean foods can help with blood sugar. Dates, bananas, honey...etc are all great. Is your hypoglycemia reactive (happens as a response to a high carb meal) or consistent (happens when you don't eat enough carbs)? If it's the former, either lower your carbs or introduce slower digesting carbs, if it's the latter introducing fast carbs (sugary fruits and honey) before/after working out then carb-heavy slow digesting foods during meals. Some whole grains, legumes and root vegetables come to mind as carb heavy and slow digesting.
  • MissBabyJane
    MissBabyJane Posts: 538 Member
    I'm not sure? I planned them around 1400kcals-1500? I'm aiming for some weight loss as well
    I'm not a very tall person also - 158cm.
  • MissBabyJane
    MissBabyJane Posts: 538 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Did you cut anything else, like caffeine, sodium? Those are things that might be reduced a lot when you change your diet that could lead to those symptoms. Cut way down on carbs?

    Just eliminating added sugar shouldn't have any significant effects if you keep eating other carbs (like fruit, starches). The body ends up treating it the same.

    Re: skinny fat -- I know you didn't ask for advice on diet, but what makes more of a difference here is getting enough protein and exercising (especially progressive strength work/weight bearing exercise of some sort). You can eat "clean" and eliminate added sugar without fixing these issues if they were lacking, and similarly you can include added sugar in your diet (not saying you should -- I cut it out for a while when it was helpful for me to do so) and still eat plenty of protein and an overall healthful diet and preserve muscle/add it, depending on goals.


    I saw that part, just now. It makes sense. Do you know how many protein I should consume? I'm 57kg, female, 158cm tall and (I want to lose weight)
  • kimirayray
    kimirayray Posts: 29 Member
    I started reducing my carbs and fat pretty dramatically and got lightheaded/dizzy. When I started to put carbs a little higher it went away. But also wanted to post this because you are eating about as many calories as I did when this happened. Maybe it's too little calories.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    cathipa wrote: »
    Your calories are fairly low. Think it could be related to that?

    Yeah, this is something I also should have mentioned -- worth considering, especially if you've been working out.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    MissBabyJane wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Did you cut anything else, like caffeine, sodium? Those are things that might be reduced a lot when you change your diet that could lead to those symptoms. Cut way down on carbs?

    Just eliminating added sugar shouldn't have any significant effects if you keep eating other carbs (like fruit, starches). The body ends up treating it the same.

    Re: skinny fat -- I know you didn't ask for advice on diet, but what makes more of a difference here is getting enough protein and exercising (especially progressive strength work/weight bearing exercise of some sort). You can eat "clean" and eliminate added sugar without fixing these issues if they were lacking, and similarly you can include added sugar in your diet (not saying you should -- I cut it out for a while when it was helpful for me to do so) and still eat plenty of protein and an overall healthful diet and preserve muscle/add it, depending on goals.


    I saw that part, just now. It makes sense. Do you know how many protein I should consume? I'm 57kg, female, 158cm tall and (I want to lose weight)

    At a deficit and when exercising, it's good to aim for around .8 g/lb of goal weight (or healthy weight if you are at one, which you are). I'm also 125 (57 kg) and I use that to aim for at least 100 g.
  • MissBabyJane
    MissBabyJane Posts: 538 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    cathipa wrote: »
    Your calories are fairly low. Think it could be related to that?

    Yeah, this is something I also should have mentioned -- worth considering, especially if you've been working out.

    Yeah, but I'm aiming for weight loss and I eat my calories back from the workout with some granola and yogurt
  • JustMissTracy
    JustMissTracy Posts: 6,338 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Did you cut anything else, like caffeine, sodium? Those are things that might be reduced a lot when you change your diet that could lead to those symptoms. Cut way down on carbs?

    Just eliminating added sugar shouldn't have any significant effects if you keep eating other carbs (like fruit, starches). The body ends up treating it the same.

    Re: skinny fat -- I know you didn't ask for advice on diet, but what makes more of a difference here is getting enough protein and exercising (especially progressive strength work/weight bearing exercise of some sort). You can eat "clean" and eliminate added sugar without fixing these issues if they were lacking, and similarly you can include added sugar in your diet (not saying you should -- I cut it out for a while when it was helpful for me to do so) and still eat plenty of protein and an overall healthful diet and preserve muscle/add it, depending on goals.[/quote]

    This +1
  • cathipa
    cathipa Posts: 2,991 Member
    MissBabyJane wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    cathipa wrote: »
    Your calories are fairly low. Think it could be related to that?

    Yeah, this is something I also should have mentioned -- worth considering, especially if you've been working out.

    Yeah, but I'm aiming for weight loss and I eat my calories back from the workout with some granola and yogurt

    You still aren't eating enough for your activity. You should be eating a minimum of 1250 calories a day and depending on how long/often/intense your activity is this number could go up even for weight loss. Otherwise you will lose any muscle mass you are trying to attain. And at your weight chances are you will not gain much muscle (newbie gains) because you need to be in a surplus to gain muscle mass.
  • ElJefeChief
    ElJefeChief Posts: 650 Member
    Flapjacks, peaches, apples and bread have plenty of carbs. I would bet the OP is just eating too little and overexercising. I think the idea of "sugar withdrawal" is a bit overwrought.
  • amyinthetardis1231
    amyinthetardis1231 Posts: 571 Member
    Even "good carbs" (fruit) have sugar and will affect your blood sugar. Try replacing some of your fruit snacks with more protein, or at least pairing them (apple and peanut butter, for example) to even out the blood sugar spikes and keep your hunger at bay. You do seem to be very high carb right now, and high carb always made me hungry and shaky even when the carbs were healthier ones. You could also try increasing fat as you lower carbs.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories