Any tips on going from a high sugar lifestyle to a low carb diet without getting blood sugar crashes

[Job3315]

To me it matches the low blood sugar symptoms, although I suppose it could be withdrawal. However, I have not withdrawn completely from sugar so that would be surprising, but I did cut out a substantial amount. I have been doing this new healthier eating regime about 2 weeks now, started the Monday before last, so it is not brand new. I did not have these symptoms last week. I would think this would happen last week instead of this week whichever it ended up being, but leave it to my body to not follow the regime and not make sense.

I have had blood sugar spikes before, although it's been a few years and isn't often, it's a side effect of being too unhealthy with sugar as well, which is one reason I'm trying to get healthier now. I get yearly physicals and my last was only about 3 months ago, and my blood sugar level is perfectly healthy. I do need to consume less sugar and lose weight though, before those health problems start piling on within a few years.

With the low blood sugar symptoms, I got light-headed and dizzy and felt off balance, like I was leaning to the left for over an hour. I did not feel better until I snuck a soda to try and help out, and it cleared it up.

Nothing new. My tongue has always been gross looking and whitish to me.

It still sounds like detox to me. Keep an eye on your levels though because like I mentioned, in a person without an actual health problem the sugar levels just don't drop or get high, they stay completely normal no matter what they eat or don't.

You can also be detoxing of other things than just sugar. Soda has caffeine in it too and caffeine withdrawal are very similar to the sugar one.

Acne and a white tongue are a symptom of detox. I suggest drinking a glass of warm water (not too hot, not cold) with juice of a lemon and a pinch of Himalayan salt 15 to 45 minutes before breakfast. It helps you detox faster, it cleans your intestines and your blood. It also gives energy. You can do it for 21 days and then rest 3 and repeat cycle.

Also, check for candida symptoms. Its a yeast that lives of sugar. When people start detoxing candida goes crazy in the body because its dying and it gives symptoms similar to the one you mentioned. It can also give brain fog and make you feel like you are in a cloud. When the body gets sugar again the candida gets fed and the symptoms lessen.

 

[JCFantasy23]

it seems you're not eating enough for breakfast

"breakfast" is breaking the fast from previous day so it's better to eat a good healthy breakfast with dinner being less calories than breakfast

Since I ate a small meal last night, and not much this morning, perhaps having too much sugar with the fruit this morning on an empty stomach contributed to this and caused the sick feeling?

 

[mama2one]

tried someone's "diet" & by mid morn felt ill/light headed
so stopped the diet that same day as didn't want to feel like that everyday

 

[Phil W]

It's confusing because I've cut out a lot of sugar intake and having been eating healthier. I used to drink a fountain soda in the morning along with coffee, and didn't have this happen, and I know I was consuming a lot more sugar in the morning then by doing that. I do think you are right with the sugar balance being off causing this, though. One of the reasons I want to work on getting healthier is of course to help avoid diabetes later, because that could around the corner if I didn't start taking care of myself. My sugar level is normal and fine according to doctors, however, so I do not test my sugar/blood. This sugar crash feeling I had this morning is not common for me thankfully.

I didn't consume any carbs last night at all for dinner - had a dinner of three eggs and that's it. I'm wondering if the issue is from a build up of the night before (since it's morning) or all from stuff I'm doing this morning. Should I keep chocolates or something for if I start feeling sick again? I'm trying to avoid that but that's why I'm looking for tips. Obviously I can't sit there for hours feeling that sick either while trying to work and getting pale and miserable.

I'm afraid your pancreas is "firing its last shot".
I went down a similar path, high carb living till my pancreas just quit.
Hostess apple pies and chocolate milk for breakfast, fast food lunch and beer for supper. Plus Cokes all day long.
It caught up to me with a similar "last shot" or better said "last response for the need for insulin".
See a doctor before you end up crashing your car !!!!

 

[musicalpilgrim]

Hi, I have been watching Dr Eric Berg videos on You tube. They will sort out all your problems. You must eat lots of salad and veg, no processed food, 4oz of meat, fish, eggs at every meal. Don't forget the fat. It is a great way to eat when you get it right.
Keto.
Have fun!

 

[-Sasha-]

You can have reactive hypoglycemia if you suddenly and drastically reduce the amount of sugar/carbs in your diet. The only advice I could really give is to make the change gradually, for instance if you usually ate 500 grams of carbs per day, aim for 400 one week, 300 the next, 200 the next, etc. Eat smaller meals more often, and try to gradually replace the carbs with protein and healthy fats so you will stay full.

One thing also to look out for is your electrolyte levels when you get really low carb (around 50 grams per day). Look out for things like fatigue, headaches, weakness, muscle aches. When your body starts producing less insulin due to lower carb intake it can also cause electrolyte imbalances, so you may want to start drinking a low or no sugar sports drink, or find alternate sources for sodium/magnesium/potassium. If you go low carb enough that your body goes into ketosis, you'll want to make sure to keep your electrolytes up as well as drinking plenty of extra water or you might be at a higher risk for developing kidney stones.

 

[JCFantasy23]

Thank you for the advice everyone, it is appreciated. Here's wishing me to better health. Hopefully this does not reoccur but I will try some of these suggestions and try to eat a fuller breakfast to perhaps offset not having as much sugar that I'm used. It's possible the sugar before was making me feel fuller but now without it, and still eating smaller amounts, this may cause issues. And Sasha, not a bad idea about the sports drinks - I don't generally like them but can endure them if it helps.

 

[-Sasha-]

Thank you for the advice everyone, it is appreciated. Here's wishing me to better health. Hopefully this does not reoccur but I will try some of these suggestions and try to eat a fuller breakfast to perhaps offset not having as much sugar that I'm used. It's possible the sugar before was making me feel fuller but now without it, and still eating smaller amounts, this may cause issues. And Sasha, not a bad idea about the sports drinks - I don't generally like them but can endure them if it helps.

I didn't care for them much either, but started buying Pedialyte and diluting it with water (about 1/4 pedialyte and the rest water). You could also just add extra salt to your food, and take some supplements for the potassium/magnesium, or eat foods high in them. For example, avocados are a really good source of potassium and magnesium plus low carb and healthy fats!

 

[JCFantasy23]

I like the idea with Pedialyte, and I liked Job's suggestion with the salt drink. I will look into getting some of this at the store this weekend. I love avocados, although my favorite way to eat them as Avocado sandwiches won't work the same now since I'm trying to cut out most of the carbs lol.

 

[tall73]

Part of the transition to low carbs is becoming fat adapted, learning to run on ketones for energy, rather than glucose.. You have to switch the body to learn to take from fat stores, and utilize those to produce usable energy on demand. As long as you keep taking in sugars that can easily be used insulin stays high, and it will not draw from the fat reserves.

When you eat sugar (or a lot of protein) the insulin will kick in to process it, and this promotes fat storage. The glucose is used by the body for energy. Then it stores anything left as fat.

An analogy I heard used is a refrigerator and a deep freeze. The refrigerator provides for your immediate energy needs. You don't necessarily go to fetch large stores of food from the deep freeze for every meal. The deep freeze in this case is your stored fat. Now even healthy people have stored subcutaneous fat. And your body is programmed to fall back on this when the incoming food--in this case the refrigerator in the analogy--falls short.

When you are eating high protein or sugar the body uses insulin to store the fat. At this point you won't tap into your fat storage, because the refrigerator is full.

It is when you run out of food in the fridge that you have to go to the deep freeze.

So I would say that cutting out the fruit, at least for now, and even starchy vegetables might be good. This way the insulin goes down, and the body needs to start figuring out other energy needs.

Now at times you may experience this as low blood sugar. The body is accustomed to getting a constant flow, then it is not there. You hit a wall, kind of like a runner who runs out of stored carbs. But then the body, once the insulin is down, and the carbs are down, starts to look for something to keep you going. And that is when fat adaptation starts.

Giving your body lots of usable fats can speed this up. So for instance, they sell MCT oil, mid-chain Triglycerides. They are easily used by the body to process into ketones, the alternative energy source. You might try adding a bit of that when you cut back on the carbs.

Also, if you are healthy enough for it, fasting can put you into ketosis a lot quicker. But you may want to consult on that. Fasting knocks down the glucose, insulin, etc. all the things keeping you from tapping into fat, and becoming adapted to the new energy source.

Once I adapted blood sugar fluctuations were no longer a thing. And I just don't get hungry as often as before.

There will be some difficulty in transitioning in any case. And as others mentioned, there can be detox. But it may be delaying your bodies transitioning to fat usage if you keep taking in fruit, or starchy vegetables, or grains. Eating eggs, meat, healthy green vegetables, etc. are all fine.

 

[-Sasha-]

I like the idea with Pedialyte, and I liked Job's suggestion with the salt drink. I will look into getting some of this at the store this weekend. I love avocados, although my favorite way to eat them as Avocado sandwiches won't work the same now since I'm trying to cut out most of the carbs lol.

Who says bread can't be low carb? This recipe is really good: Keto Bread – Delicious Low Carb Bread – Fat For Weight Loss
toasted and topped with avacado

 

[JCFantasy23]

Who says bread can't be low carb? This recipe is really good: Keto Bread – Delicious Low Carb Bread – Fat For Weight Loss
toasted and topped with avacado

I was planning to try to find something that would work like this, so thank you! Will look into it. Bread in general agrees with my system well, especially if it's upset feeling (too acidic or other issues), so finding a healthy bread recipe would help me out a lot with staying food and having another avenue with vegetables. Appreciate it, will see if I can find the stuff at the store this weekend.

 

[JCFantasy23]

Giving your body lots of usable fats can speed this up. So for instance, they sell MCT oil, mid-chain Triglycerides. They are easily used by the body to process into ketones, the alternative energy source. You might try adding a bit of that when you cut back on the carbs.

I haven't heard of this, is it generally sold in the grocery store? Thanks for your suggestions, what you're saying also makes sense. I'm not up to a full fast at this time, but can incorporate the other suggestions.

 

[tall73]

You don't necessarily have to go full keto (usually thought to be less than 25 grams of carbs per day), to get a benefit. But carbs add up fast, and if you are getting over 100 you will not really benefit much.

Because you are keeping your carbs low the idea is to get maximum benefit from each carb. Green vegetables are about your best use of the few carbs you can get. They give your micro nutrients, and lets face it, not too many people are tempted to eat over 100 grams of carbs in the form of broccoli.

 

[-Sasha-]

I was planning to try to find something that would work like this, so thank you! Will look into it. Bread in general agrees with my system well, especially if it's upset feeling (too acidic or other issues), so finding a healthy bread recipe would help me out a lot with staying food and having another avenue with vegetables. Appreciate it, will see if I can find the stuff at the store this weekend.

Alternatively, if you look in the freezer section at the grocery store they usually do have low-carb breads. They're a bit more expensive than regular bread, but ingredients like almond flour aren't cheap either! I tried some low carb English muffins from the frozen section that were pretty good.

 

[tall73]

Who says bread can't be low carb? This recipe is really good: Keto Bread – Delicious Low Carb Bread – Fat For Weight Loss
toasted and topped with avacado

Nut and seed breads can work well. Just don't over do them, they still have carbs and protein. Just better than regular bread.

 

[tall73]

I haven't heard of this, is it generally sold in the grocery store? Thanks for your suggestions, what you're saying also makes sense. I'm not up to a full fast at this time, but can incorporate the other suggestions.

Well they sell it at my Walmart for instance in the grocery aisle, next to cooking oils. I haven't checked for it at the grocery store. My son uses it more than I do.

I usually use avocado oil for cooking and it works fine.

 

[-Sasha-]

Nut and seed breads can work well. Just don't over do them, they still have carbs and protein. Just better than regular bread.

For sure! This one in particular has about 1.5 grams of net carbs per slice

 

[-Sasha-]

Well they sell it at my Walmart for instance in the grocery aisle, next to cooking oils. I haven't checked for it at the grocery store. My son uses it more than I do.

I usually use avocado oil for cooking and it works fine.

I've also seen it at some stores next to the supplements, or in the organic foods section.

 

[tall73]

I haven't heard of this, is it generally sold in the grocery store? Thanks for your suggestions, what you're saying also makes sense. I'm not up to a full fast at this time, but can incorporate the other suggestions.

I should clarify, it is helpful in transition, but the other place it can be helpful is if you are in the middle of a fasting cycle (some do longer fasts, some do intermittent, etc.) and you are really struggling, you can use MCT to give you an energy boost without losing the positive benefits of lower protein (for autophagy) and of lower insulin.