Achilles Heel Thread

[Geila]

Another thing with fruit is that the current fruit we eat has been modified to be MUCH sweeter than it used to be. Sometimes apples taste sweeter than candy to me. And yes, everything is super sized. A third issue is that fruit, and the sugar it contains, is now available year-round in unlimited quantities. And we don't have to expend any energy whatsoever to acquire it. I was born in a small village surrounded by fruit orchards, but everything had it's season, you shared the available fruit with the rest of the village, and you had to do some serious physical work to procure the fruit. Same with honey. You had to actually figure out how to get it!

And the lack of physical activity means that the sugar has nowhere to go. When I've done low-carb before, I've been able to reintroduce fruits once my physical activity warrants it. And then it's fine in moderation. My system is very sensitive in general, I react strongly to coffee, alcohol, carbs, meds, stress, etc.... Dh can have plenty of carbs and sugar without any ill effects but I suspect he will have a day of reckoning.

[Geila]

Today will be my first day of no caffeine, no fruit. I had a big glass of water instead of making coffee and slowly the desire for coffee subsided. I'll have breakfast soon.

I've decided to make this a rest week for a few reasons: cutting back this much on carbs might make me feel tired, I'm still working on acclimating the new cat to the family, I'm enjoying the last week of having the house to myself and being able to walk around in my underwear, the TOM is coming up with it's own set of issues (for me it's usually lower back pain and tiredness), and I'm still resting my knee (it's feeling better today). I will focus on adjusting to my new way of eating and the rest will be low key, just doing the easy everyday chores.

The weather is cooperating with my plan - it's been very cool and overcast. Perfect weather for sleeping in and afternoon naps.

[SteveinMN]

If you start with a normal pancreas, I still don't think eating apples and bananas alone are going to throw you into insulin resistance.

Agreed. But it sure seems like many people do not have normal pancreases. Diets that supply large spikes in glucose (particularly from foods that don't need it, like salad dressing) don't help.

[TooSweetForMe]

As a Type 2 diabetic, I can sneak a few berries without seeing the results of that on my meter. But I can't add as little as an apricot or half a small apple or peach without seeing a much higher blood-glucose reading on my meter. I'm guessing that a cup of berries would show up for sure. Not sure I want to experiment with that right now, though.

Steve, I am also a T2 diabetic, and I have also found that berries spike me less than oranges or apples or grapes. Surprisingly, watermelon doesn't spike me, maybe because it has so much water in it?

[JaneV2.0]

I've learned that people who give up processed food often need to supplement electrolytes--especially salt (which is not--for most people--the bugaboo we've been told it is.) Not doing so can result in muscle cramps and fatigue. From Ketovangelist:

Salt (Sodium, Na) performs many important functions in the body.

It helps keep our cells hydrated through assisting the elasticity of the cell wall.
It assists in maintaining the delicate fluid balance in and surrounding all the cells in our body.
It assists in the uptake of potassium into our cells- if we don’t have enough salt in our system, when we eat potassium rich foods, the potassium is wasted, because it doesn’t transfer through the cell walls effectively.
It plays a crucial role in digestion- along the entire digestive tract, from the acidic environment of the stomach, to the absorption of fluid in the bowel.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Yes, it is trending, but I'm more likely to blame processed foods over fruit for getting T2D to begin with. If you start with a normal pancreas, I still don't think eating apples and bananas alone are going to throw you into insulin resistance.

it's probably mostly linked to obesity, although there are some thin T2D (maybe the thin T2B just do have genetic tendencies and do have to be extra careful). And fruit consumption overall seems to be more linked to being a healthy weight than obesity but one can certainly get any nutrients and fiber in fruit elsewhere also.

[SteveinMN]

berries spike me less than oranges or apples or grapes. Surprisingly, watermelon doesn't spike me, maybe because it has so much water in it?

I haven't documented it on myself to my satisfaction with my meter, but I do seem to tolerate watermelon fairly well also. The water content definitely could play a part. But I suspect it's one of those "some T2s can and some can't" things, like bread.

[Geila]

Yesterday was tough. The toughest day so far. Lots of temptations and a feeling of lethargy akin to a flu or cold. I've heard that some people get flu-like symptoms although I've never had them before. But I haven't given up caffeine at the same time before either. And I've never done it this close to the TOM.

I had a few mild and brief headaches last night, not sure if it was the carb withdrawal or the caffeine. I was able to nap a good amount and that helped a lot. Today I slept in and had breakfast and I feel really good. I still glanced lovingly at the bagels, but that was it. I've been having some caffeine-free tea and that has helped with the absence of coffee.

When I'm feeling temped I remind myself how much better I will feel in a few days. Having the memory of that actually happening is helping.

But this morning when I woke up I was having a dream about pizza and candy!

I've officially hit the 48 hour mark and if I remember, this is when the body makes the change to fuel itself by consuming available body fat (of which there is plenty!) In the past, I've started feeling really good around day 3. Not sure how that will work out this time since around day 3 is when my tiredness from my hormones will really kick in. One big positive is that my knee pain is gone and so is my lower pack pain. And all the withdrawal symptoms have been mild enough to tolerate without any use of Advil or anything else.

I'm hoping today will be better energy-wise. I'd really like to spend some time in the garden and I have a few things to catch up on.

I'll post my meals in case it proves helpful later:

Monday - (from vague recollections)
breakfast - eggs, sausage, sauteed cabbage
lunch - linguica with broccoli
dinner - green salad with ham and ranch dressing

Tuesday -
breakfast - eggs and sausage, herbal tea
lunch and dinner - big chef's salad
snacks - romaine with Asian sesame dressing, a few slices of salami and cheddar, herbal tea w/ Splenda

[Yppej]

I am now eating within a 12 hour time frame each day and it was not a hard adjustment like I expected.

[JaneV2.0]

"Low carb flu" is mostly caused by a lack of electrolytes. See post above.