Atkins I feel very sick help

lukesmom

I've been following the Atkins diet for five days and I feel terrible. Headaches, dizziness and just a general feeling of sh!t. Also extremely narky. Feel like giving it up I miss my morning porridge so much

HeidiHeidi

lukesmom wrote: »

I've been following the Atkins diet for five days and I feel terrible. Headaches, dizziness and just a general feeling of sh!t. Also extremely narky. Feel like giving it up I miss my morning porridge so much

That would be carb/sugar withdrawal. It's hell! If you can stick through it, it'll only last a day or two and you'll bounce around the place after it.

Alf Veedersane

If you're carb intake is around 20g a day or less, you'll get what's called keto flu in the early days. Apparently you can mitigate it a bit by making sure you're getting enough electrolytes on board. But either way it'll pass soon enough

lukesmom

Just had a slice of mccambridge brown bread my husband forced into me, so long atkins

Oryx

Theres a lot to be said for common sense

lukesmom

Oryx wrote: »

Theres a lot to be said for common sense

?????

Presuming you mean it's a bad diet and yes I agree, anything that makes you feel that bad cannot be good.

WhyTheFace

All fad diets like Atkins are a waste of time. Why would anyone want to torture themselves like you are?

Eat healthy and exercise regularly and you will lose weight.

Whatever you lose now you'll put back on and some unless you plan to continue like this for good.

WhyTheFace

WhyTheFace wrote: »

All fad diets like Atkins are a waste of time. Why would anyone want to torture themselves like you are?

Eat healthy and diet regularly and you will lose weight.

Whatever you lose now you'll put back on and some unless you plan to continue like this for good.

Yeah, if she "diets regularly"

WhyTheFace

bluewolf wrote: »

Yeah, if she "diets regularly"

Ha. Sorry, I meant EXERCISE. I fixed my post.

Oryx

lukesmom wrote: »

?????

Presuming you mean it's a bad diet and yes I agree, anything that makes you feel that bad cannot be good.

Fads don't work. Why do people consider short term torture to be a good option when it comes to food? Food should be a pleasure, trouble is most of us don't appreciate good food as we are addicted to sugar and processed junk. The one thing I have found is that if you eat clean your body will tell you what it needs. Weird but true (for me anyway).

yawhat!

Exercise and FRESH food in proper portions is all you need! And by exercise I mean an hour walk at least every day.

Eat 1400 calories or so instead of the recommended 2000 for women and exercise and you will lose weight.
Diets are stupid!

Alf Veedersane

lukesmom wrote: »

?????

Presuming you mean it's a bad diet and yes I agree, anything that makes you feel that bad cannot be good.

If memory serves me, you were trying it because anxiety medication makes you crave high carb foods. I'm open to correction but no matter what 'diet' you choose, you'll still have to deal with those cravings. So you're better off just opting for something sustainable.

NipNip

Could you actually be unwell? Headaches and narkiness are one thing, but dizziness is another thing entirely. Would you be dehydrated? Would you drink a pint of water over the next hour and see how you feel then?

COH

Days 5-8 are the worst in my experience, not a huge fan of atkins but have followed an zero carb protocol leading into different nutritional strategies in the past...

Days 1-4 The novelty of doing something new along with stored glycogen keeps you ticking over
Days 5-8 General lethargy, brain fog etc.
Day 9 onwards.... Energy levels stabilise, all becomes well in the world.

I'd usually reintroduce carbs etc between day 9 and 14 and follow something very un-Atkins going forwards. But to each his own.

WhyTheFace

COH wrote: »

Days 5-8 are the worst in my experience, not a huge fan of atkins but have followed an zero carb protocol leading into different nutritional strategies in the past...

Days 1-4 The novelty of doing something new along with stored glycogen keeps you ticking over
Days 5-8 General lethargy, brain fog etc.
Day 9 onwards.... Energy levels stabilise, all becomes well in the world.

I'd usually reintroduce carbs etc between day 9 and 14 and follow something very un-Atkins going forwards. But to each his own.

If you don't mind me asking, how much weight did you lose and continue to keep off as a result of your zero carb diet?

lukesmom

WhyTheFace wrote: »

If you don't mind me asking, how much weight did you lose and continue to keep off as a result of your zero carb diet?

In 5 days I've lost 3lbs but I'm quitting as the side effects are not worth it

WhyTheFace

lukesmom wrote: »

In 5 days I've lost 3lbs but I'm quitting as the side effects are not worth it

2lbs of that is water.

And besides, it's easy to lose weight rapidly by these crazy diets. It's keeping it off that is the hard part and where 95% people fail.

yawhat!

I seen in another thread you had a big fry up for breakfast. No wonder your sick just eating that garbage!

A diet with vegetables, normal fresh healthy chicken/salmon grilled and around 1200 calories with healthy carbs like potatoes or rice is the way to go with exercise!

WhyTheFace

yawhat! wrote: »

I seen in another thread you had a big fry up for breakfast. No wonder your sick just eating that garbage!

But it's Atkins, you can eat frys because they are healthy!

COH

WhyTheFace wrote: »

If you don't mind me asking, how much weight did you lose and continue to keep off as a result of your zero carb diet?

I don't have the statistics off hand but I can tell you that it was not as much as I have lost with a balanced diet and progressive training schedule while not actually 'dieting' For example I've lost about 9kg since Christmas eating clean food that I love and getting stronger.

For the record in the past few years I also...

Carb back loaded
Did the ketogenic diet
Did intermittent fasting
Did intermittent fasting following a keto window
Carb cycled
Tried carbnite
Various versions of whatever 'Paleo' entailed at the time.
I cant remember what else at the moment.

For he record I do all this to empathise with my clients, I train people for a living. These diets coincide with periods away from powerlifting for me as I usually prefer to 'diet' hard when I can't train hard. Any one of these protocols may have it place in the grand scheme of lean but neither are necessarily the only or best way to proceed.

Aaaaaanyway the point is that if its not sustainable and if it leaves you miserable and unsociable then there's pretty much no way that its the vehicle to get you to where you want to go. You could eat cod and broccoli 6 times a day and you'll loose weight, but you'd also lose the will live and end up cheating.

Zero carb just isn't sustainable for the most people, there are also lots of tasty carbs in veg that people forget about. I like it to help regulate insulin sensitivity and help negate intolerences for short periods of time (mainly a two week period leading into something else) but carbs aren't the enemy.

Eat clean most of the time, be progressively more active then you were last week, earn your carbs through training, live a little and get sweaty in some way that you find fun/challenging... stick to that for 3 months and see what happens. You'll learn a lot about yourself along the way as long as you acknowledge that

- it might not be easy
- it involves preparing food
- it takes patience and consistency
- you'll be the last person to notice a difference in how you look but the first to notice a difference in how you feel

I might have gone a little off topic there.. blame the coffee :-)

Alf Veedersane

yawhat! wrote: »

I seen in another thread you had a big fry up for breakfast. No wonder your sick just eating that garbage!

With a horse that high you'd win the Grand National. Wouldn't even need to jump Beecher's.

Unless it was fry up every day, then there's no basis for saying a fry will make you feel ill.

NipNip

What addition are you to a woman? What have you got to offer?

Also, are you early 20's or 30's?

lukesmom

NipNip wrote: »

What addition are you to a woman? What have you got to offer?

Also, are you early 20's or 30's?

What do you mean what have I got to offer??? I'm 34

NipNip

lukesmom wrote: »

What do you mean what have I got to offer??? I'm 34

Oh the shame. I was intending to reply to another unrelated thread. So sorry!!!

JJayoo

NipNip wrote: »

Oh the shame. I was intending to reply to another unrelated thread. So sorry!!!

Link to that thread, sounds way more interesting.

MaceFace

The amount of nonsense on here from people who obviously know very little about the subject....

Oryx wrote: »

Theres a lot to be said for common sense

Thanks for enlightening the rest of us to your obvious knowledge on the subject.

WhyTheFace wrote: »

All fad diets like Atkins are a waste of time. Why would anyone want to torture themselves like you are?

Eat healthy and exercise regularly and you will lose weight.

Whatever you lose now you'll put back on and some unless you plan to continue like this for good.

What? Eat like this for ever or you will put back on all the weight? Seriously? Is there some magic here that says once you start eating carbs again that you will somehow gain all the fat you lost on a deficit back again and there is nothing you can do about it? Seriously?

Oryx wrote: »

Fads don't work. Why do people consider short term torture to be a good option when it comes to food? Food should be a pleasure, trouble is most of us don't appreciate good food as we are addicted to sugar and processed junk. The one thing I have found is that if you eat clean your body will tell you what it needs. Weird but true (for me anyway).

Atkins has been around for over 40 years. What makes this a fad?
Truth is that a large proportion of the population is overweight and eating at a deficit (dieting) is required to lose excess fat. How else can people shed excess fat?

yawhat! wrote: »

Exercise and FRESH food in proper portions is all you need! And by exercise I mean an hour walk at least every day.

Eat 1400 calories or so instead of the recommended 2000 for women and exercise and you will lose weight.
Diets are stupid!

Erhh - all women should eat 1400 calories? Seriously? Why 1400 and not 1200 or 1500?
Besides, you are recommending someone lose weight but diet's are stupid? Errh, why recommend one then....

WhyTheFace wrote: »

If you don't mind me asking, how much weight did you lose and continue to keep off as a result of your zero carb diet?

I did Keto which Atkins is a variation of and lost 25lbs. Put on about 4lbs over the last 2 weeks due to multiple large family gatherings and parties but expect to shed at least 3 lbs of that in the next few days.

lukesmom wrote: »

In 5 days I've lost 3lbs but I'm quitting as the side effects are not worth it

This is a pity as your experience will be like so many stories you read which will be along the lines of Atkins (or zero carbs) suck as they make you feel terrible not realizing that this is your body adapting to the use of ketones for fuel rather than glycogen which is very short term. Once adapted, you feel fine and your energy levels will be on par with what you experience with carbs and potentially much better.

Oryx

MaceFace, you proved my point for me. Atkins didn't work for you. You said it yourself, you put on weight again because it is unsustainable in practice. This is because FAD DIETS DON'T WORK. If Atkins worked it would be something people could live by, but they don't. They jump in and out of it and diets like it and their weight yo-yos back and forth. Just like you.

WhyTheFace

MaceFace wrote: »

I did Keto which Atkins is a variation of and lost 25lbs. Put on about 4lbs over the last 2 weeks due to multiple large family gatherings and parties but expect to shed at least 3 lbs of that in the next few days.

So you put on 2kg just by going to a few gatherings?

This just shows you've no idea how to control yourself. People who understand healthy eating can go to such events without putting on any weight.

Come back here in 6 months and see where your weight is at.

I really do feel sorry for people who think the weight loss is sustainable.

Alf Veedersane

MaceFace wrote: »

Truth is that a large proportion of the population is overweight and eating at a deficit (dieting) is required to lose excess fat. How else can people shed excess fat?

By consuming fewer calories than they burn in a day.

That doesn't have to be done by dieting. It can be done by eating healthily which tends to be a lot more sustainable than dieting.

lukesmom

Had a bowl of porridge this morning. I don't advise anybody to do atkins because it makes you feel crap. I have no doubt if I had of continued it I would have lost more weight and maybe my mind as a result.

Amazingfun

lukesmom wrote: »

Had a bowl of porridge this morning. I don't advise anybody to do atkins because it makes you feel crap. I have no doubt if I had of continued it I would have lost more weight and maybe my mind as a result.

Not sure why you say that, plenty of people use low-carb diets, or versions of them, quite happily. It was already explained to you why you felt like crap, and that had you stuck with it,you would feel fine in a few days. Atkins is not low low carb forever, lots of veggies and fruits like berries, etc, are all part of the lifestyle down the road.

MaceFace

Oryx wrote: »

MadFace, you proved my point for me. Atkins didn't work for you. You said it yourself, you put on weight again because it is unsustainable in practice. This is because FAD DIETS DON'T WORK. If Atkins worked it would be something people could live by, but they don't. They jump in and out of it and diets like it and their weight yo-yos back and forth. Just like you.

I never done Atkins, I done Keto which is a variation of Atkins.
I put on weight because I hoovered up so much rich food, junk food and alcohol over the last 2 weeks due to an exceptional number of extended family events and parties and not because I previously done keto.
I actually went back on carbs about a month ago after nearly 3 months of <20g carbs a day. Up to 2 weeks ago I continued to lose weight.
People do live by keto (see here) long term. Just because it does not appeal to you does not mean it doesn't appeal to others.

What do you mean I jump in and out of diets? What are you talking about? You don't know me and you have no idea what kind of diet I have ever done. This is exactly the problem - people jumping in making rash judgements without having any knowledge on the "facts" they are making.

Have you ever tried a low carb diet for an extended period?

WhyTheFace wrote: »

So you put on 2kg just by going to a few gatherings?

This just shows you've no idea how to control yourself. People who understand healthy eating can go to such events without putting on any weight.

Come back here in 6 months and see where your weight is at.

I really do feel sorry for people who think the weight loss is sustainable.

Hmmm..... people who understand healthy eating. LOL!

I consciously chose after 8 months of complete dedication to gym life to take 2 weeks almost completely off and eat what I liked, when I liked knowing full well that it would involve weight gain. Now that those 2 weeks are over, I will revert back to how I lived prior to these 2 weeks.

Can you please explain why weight loss on an Atkins diet is not sustainable? What is it about Atkins that causes weight gain to reoccur once a person reverts to eating medium/high carbs?

MaceFace

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

By consuming fewer calories than they burn in a day.

That doesn't have to be done by dieting. It can be done by eating healthily which tends to be a lot more sustainable than dieting.

define "diet": restrict oneself to small amounts or special kinds of food in order to lose weight.

Eating fewer calories than they burn in a day is dieting.

This thread is showing the exact problem when it comes to having a constructive conversation on the subject.
A person says they tried it and it made them feel terrible so advises others to not do it.
A person labels it a "FAD" trying to associate it with being a short term wild idea that we will soon all learn as being silly.
Others claim something as not possible to do even though plenty of people are doing it.

The important thing is not necessarily the type of diet one uses to lose weight, it is how they live once the move from a deficit to a maintenance level. Many people end up going back to their old ways which involves the half pack of biscuits for supper or couple of glasses of wine for dinner or take away once or twice a week so end up calorie creeping and eating more and more.

Alf Veedersane

MaceFace wrote: »

define "diet": restrict oneself to small amounts or special kinds of food in order to lose weight.

Eating fewer calories than they burn in a day is dieting.

This thread is showing the exact problem when it comes to having a constructive conversation on the subject.
A person says they tried it and it made them feel terrible so advises others to not do it.
A person labels it a "FAD" trying to associate it with being a short term wild idea that we will soon all learn as being silly.
Others claim something as not possible to do even though plenty of people are doing it.

The important thing is not necessarily the type of diet one uses to lose weight, it is how they live once the move from a deficit to a maintenance level. Many people end up going back to their old ways which involves the half pack of biscuits for supper or couple of glasses of wine for dinner or take away once or twice a week so end up calorie creeping and eating more and more.

I used the word 'diet', as you kindly defined for me above, in the context of the short term means people use to lose weight.

People typically go over the top and take on an unsustainable "diet" to lose weight rather than look at what they eat and the portions sizes and tailor it so that they're below their TDEE. That's sustainable.

For the majority of people, cutting out one particular macronutrient isn't going to be sustainable. Yes, plenty of people do it but it's a relatively small number (relative to population numbers)

There are easier, more sustainable ways of losing weight than the majority of people choose. What I do agree wiith in your post is that the transition from deficit to maintenance is where people lose it and that's usually because they've tried something so far removed from their norm that it falls apart.

lukesmom

Amazingfun wrote: »

Not sure why you say that, plenty of people use low-carb diets, or versions of them, quite happily. It was already explained to you why you felt like crap, and that had you stuck with it,you would feel fine in a few days. Atkins is not low low carb forever, lots of veggies and fruits like berries, etc, are all part of the lifestyle down the road.

So being so dizzy to the point of having to skip going out to friends house yesterday and having awful headaches is normal? I know your saying it doesn't last too long but in all honesty I don't think it's healthy. After eating brown bread I started feeling well again. It might work for others who don't mind feeling awful but I want to be happy and lose weight a healthy way instead of robbing my body of important carbs which I found out are essential for both body and brain. If it works for you then fantastic but I couldn't cope with feeling that bad.

Amazingfun

lukesmom wrote: »

So being so dizzy to the point of having to skip going out to friends house yesterday and having awful headaches is normal? I know your saying it doesn't last too long but in all honesty I don't think it's healthy. After eating brown bread I started feeling well again. It might work for others who don't mind feeling awful but I want to be happy and lose weight a healthy way instead of robbing my body of important carbs which I found out are essential for both body and brain. If it works for you then fantastic but I couldn't cope with feeling that bad.

You only tried it for five days. Did you not read up on it before starting? It's well known you will have some "withdrawal" symptoms for a few days but they pass.

Also, I don't know what you actually ate for those five days?

Anyhow, no one is forcing you to do low carb/grain free, so good luck with whatever road you try next.

MaceFace

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

I used the word 'diet', as you kindly defined for me above, in the context of the short term means people use to lose weight.

People typically go over the top and take on an unsustainable "diet" to lose weight rather than look at what they eat and the portions sizes and tailor it so that they're below their TDEE. That's sustainable.

For the majority of people, cutting out one particular macronutrient isn't going to be sustainable. Yes, plenty of people do it but it's a relatively small number (relative to population numbers)

There are easier, more sustainable ways of losing weight than the majority of people choose. What I do agree wiith in your post is that the transition from deficit to maintenance is where people lose it and that's usually because they've tried something so far removed from their norm that it falls apart.

I do agree but it depends on what someone means as unsustainable. It is unsustainable in terms of ensuring enough longevity no eating at a deficit to reach ones goals or unsustainable in terms of once a person reaches their weight goal, they don't revert back to bad habits.
The first is probably more true for Atkins as it is very difficult to eat low carbs for an extended period. It takes a lot of work to understand the choices and learn what is involved. One still has to eat healthy but once someone understands the food choices and learns various recipes, it becomes quite straightforward. The hard part is at parties, Christmas or Easter etc when there is an abundance of junk food around that becomes very tempting. Whether someones macro ratio is 40/40/20 or 60/35/5 doesn't really matter, that bar of chocolate is just as appealing.

lukesmom wrote: »

So being so dizzy to the point of having to skip going out to friends house yesterday and having awful headaches is normal? I know your saying it doesn't last too long but in all honesty I don't think it's healthy. After eating brown bread I started feeling well again. It might work for others who don't mind feeling awful but I want to be happy and lose weight a healthy way instead of robbing my body of important carbs which I found out are essential for both body and brain. If it works for you then fantastic but I couldn't cope with feeling that bad.

Any type of dizziness or ill feeling is not good and your body is trying to tell you that. However, when you read up on the subject, you find reasons for this and you can mitigate them.
If you go cold turkey and eliminate carbs, your body will of course not understand this. That is why there are recommendations to slowly cut down on the carb intake for a couple of weeks before getting to a very low amount. This will limit the impact it has on your body.
Regarding dizziness. This also affected me and when I read about it, it tends to be low electrolytes due to your body not storing as much water when on a low carb diet. So, you need to up your sodium intake. When I done this, the symptoms disappeared.

To be clear though, carbs are not essential for either body or brain. It is the one macro nutrient we can actually do without, if of course one chooses to do so.

Alf Veedersane

MaceFace wrote: »

I do agree but it depends on what someone means as unsustainable

Something one can maintain in the long term.

For most people eating 20g or less of carbs is a day isn't sustainable.

For some it is. But for most it isn't.

Amazingfun

@ Maceface, thanks for the link to this wildwoman Stephanie Fitskater, she is something else, what a tonic, lol

lukesmom

Amazingfun wrote: »

You only tried it for five days. Did you not read up on it before starting? It's well known you will have some "withdrawal" symptoms for a few days but they pass.

Also, I don't know what you actually ate for those five days?

Anyhow, no one is forcing you to do low carb/grain free, so good luck with whatever road you try next.

I read a bit of the atkins book. Ate exactly what the book suggested. And you are right nobody forced me. I will continue to cut down on potatoes/rice/pasta/bread but not cut out completely. Oh and any diet that tells me not to eat apples there is something wrong there in my opinion, but you know what I will agree with you that it does work and makes you lose weight. I just couldn't handle the side effects, others can. C'est la vie

Amazingfun

lukesmom wrote: »

I read a bit of the atkins book. Ate exactly what the book suggested. And you are right nobody forced me. I will continue to cut down on potatoes/rice/pasta/bread but not cut out completely. Oh and any diet that tells me not to eat apples there is something wrong there in my opinion, but you know what I will agree with you that it does work and makes you lose weight. I just couldn't handle the side effects, others can. C'est la vie

Which bit did you read?

How do I get good carbs into my diet?

The best kinds of carbohydrates are those that do not raise blood sugar quickly, nor raise it too high but provide lots of nutrition – more bang for your nutrition buck. Those kinds of carbohydrates are described as good carbs or low glycemic foods. Good carbs include vegetables, low glycemic fruits such as berries and apples, as well as legumes and unprocessed high fiber whole grains.

(that's from the Atkins site, btw).

http://www.atkins.com/Science/Nutrition-and-Exercise/Good-Carbs.aspx

lukesmom

Amazingfun wrote: »

Which bit did you read?



(that's from the Atkins site, btw).

http://www.atkins.com/Science/Nutrition-and-Exercise/Good-Carbs.aspx

First two weeks induction I'm talking about. If you are allowed apples in the induction period then my mistake and apologies.

mickman

NipNip wrote: »

Oh the shame. I was intending to reply to another unrelated thread. So sorry!!!

class :-)

ford2600

I've never had a weight problem and always have had excellent health, yet I chose to eat low carb, call it Atkins if you wish.

8 months later I've never felt better; stronger leaner more energy and now know difference between hunger and sugar craving.

I would add you need to be clever,
* I don't eat processed meat
* Chicken minus the breast, chiken meat juices and skin are fantastic
* eggs from my own farm, I eat lots of these
* grass fed beef and lamb
* in absence of fruit I eat an enormous amount of veg, particularly green leafy veg
* You need to add salt to your diet, on high fat your body typically dumps sodium compared to low fat
* Lots of olive oil, cocunut, butter
* fish fish oil
* all kinds of nuts

I cook all my own meals and under any definition eat clean.

20g a day is necessary for some to enter ketosis, other can get away with 100g. It's a spectrum, people vary a lot.

On this diet I can now do the following
*cycle 130km plus in a fasted state in morning
* On just breakfast without any food on bike regularly cycle 160k and up to 190km
* Recently cycled 440km in 24hrs with very little food.

Atkins/LCHF is not a fad. Your training your body to switch over to a state of nutritional ketosis. Don't do your homework and you will suffer though.

As an aside my hdl has gone from ok to above optimum and triglycerides have halfed. Tell me another diet that does that. At 38 I spent the rest of my time following food pyramid nonsense and clean living with only ok bloods

WhyTheFace

ford2600 wrote: »

I've never had a weight problem and always have had excellent health, yet I chose to eat low carb, call it Atkins if you wish.

8 months later I've never felt better; stronger leaner more energy and now know difference between hunger and sugar craving.

I would add you need to be clever,
* I don't eat processed meat
* Chicken minus the breast, chiken meat juices and skin are fantastic
* eggs from my own farm, I eat lots of these
* grass fed beef and lamb
* in absence of fruit I eat an enormous amount of veg, particularly green leafy veg
* You need to add salt to your diet, on high fat your body typically dumps sodium compared to low fat
* Lots of olive oil, cocunut, butter
* fish fish oil
* all kinds of nuts

I cook all my own meals and under any definition eat clean.

20g a day is necessary for some to enter ketosis, other can get away with 100g. It's a spectrum, people vary a lot.

On this diet I can now do the following
*cycle 130km plus in a fasted state in morning
* On just breakfast without any food on bike regularly cycle 160k and up to 190km
* Recently cycled 440km in 24hrs with very little food.

Atkins/LCHF is not a fad. Your training your body to switch over to a state of nutritional ketosis. Don't do your homework and you will suffer though.

As an aside my hdl has gone from ok to above optimum and triglycerides have halfed. Tell me another diet that does that. At 38 I spent the rest of my time following food pyramid nonsense and clean living with only ok bloods

If its not a fad does that mean there are people on the Atkins diet for 10-20 years?

whirlpool

lukesmom wrote: »

So being so dizzy to the point of having to skip going out to friends house yesterday and having awful headaches is normal? I know your saying it doesn't last too long but in all honesty I don't think it's healthy. After eating brown bread I started feeling well again. It might work for others who don't mind feeling awful but I want to be happy and lose weight a healthy way instead of robbing my body of important carbs which I found out are essential for both body and brain. If it works for you then fantastic but I couldn't cope with feeling that bad.

Withdrawal from anything you're addicted to has unpleasant side-effects. Going by the logic in your post here, alcoholics should continue drinking alcohol, and heroin addicts should stay on heroin - all because the withdrawal side effects are not "normal."

While alcoholics experience negative symptoms of alcohol addiction, and drug addicts experience negative symptoms of drug addiction, you could be experiencing negative symptoms of your high carb diet, without even realising that those symptoms are a result of your carb intake.

You are addicted to carbs. That's why, like with anything, you experienced unpleasant side effects when you tried to withdraw. Not because you need a high amount of carbs, just like the heroin addict doesn't need heroin. You have utterly convinced your brain that you need a high-carb diet - that's why when you tried to take the carbs away, your body screamed bloody-mary at you.

I would echo what previous posters have said, the best diet is not one that forces you to go hungry, it is one that is filled with plenty of high quality, natural foods, which your body can process well and and which doesn't spike your blood sugar.

Cravings are a separate thing. All cravings are the same - they occur when you completely convince your brain that a particular substance is necessary for your survival - even when it's not. And when you try to take that substance away, your body screams. If I were you I would take this past week of unpleasant withdrawal symptoms as a sign that you are addicted to carbs and start to slowly wean yourself off them to a lower amount. No need to do it instantaneously.

WhyTheFace

whirlpool wrote: »

Withdrawal from anything you're addicted to has unpleasant side-effects. Going by the logic in your post here, alcoholics should continue drinking alcohol, and heroin addicts should stay on heroin - all because the withdrawal side effects are not "normal."

While alcoholics experience negative symptoms of alcohol addiction, and drug addicts experience negative symptoms of drug addiction, you could be experiencing negative symptoms of your high carb diet, without even realising that those symptoms are a result of your carb intake.

You are addicted to carbs. That's why, like with anything, you experienced unpleasant side effects when you tried to withdraw. Not because you need a high amount of carbs, just like the heroin addict doesn't need heroin. You have utterly convinced your brain that you need a high-carb diet - that's why when you tried to take the carbs away, your body screamed bloody-mary at you.

I would echo what previous posters have said, the best diet is not one that forces you to go hungry, it is one that is filled with plenty of high quality, natural foods, which your body can process well and and which doesn't spike your blood sugar.

Cravings are a separate thing. All cravings are the same - they occur when you completely convince your brain that a particular substance is necessary for your survival - even when it's not. And when you try to take that substance away, your body screams. If I were you I would take this past week of unpleasant withdrawal symptoms as a sign that you are addicted to carbs and start to slowly wean yourself off them to a lower amount. No need to do it instantaneously.

While this is somewhat true it is not correct.

It is not an addiction to carbs per se in the same way one becomes addicted to drugs or sugar.

Neither drugs or sugar are essential for normal bodily functions. Carbs play an important role as they are the fuel that drives the body.
You do not need to have been eating carbs in huge amounts to get those types of feeling on stopping them.
It would be similar to people feeling thirsty without water. Severe dehydration isn't a sign of you having an addiction to water, its a sign that the body is missing something essential to its normal function.

ford2600

"If its not a fad does that mean there are people on the Atkins diet for 10-20 years?"


Entire groups/tribes of people have thrived on high fat for years, Masai, Inuit, Native Indian etc. I spent some time with the Masai and they seem to do quite well in a harsh environment. They could never understand why the white man(me) was hungry so often!

Many other populations do quite well to on a diet high in Cabohydrate, many living in the same region as Masai where the banana in it's 30 or so forms is the staple of the diet.

As for your 10-20 years, how well has the Western world done since fat was demonised in the 1970's, with low fat becoming official government advice? An explosion in diabetes and obesity; I wonder is there a link

I'm not anti carbohydrate, I run quite well on it, many others are not so lucky with high carb diets. Expecting one food pyramid diet to suit all people is a nonsense

ford2600

"Carbs play an important role as they are the fuel that drives the body."

Correction carbs are one of the fuels that drive the body. Even on a high carb diet you have more energy as fat(and interestingly more as saturated fat compared to a high fat diet) than glycogen in your blood.

In the absence of carbs your body can run quite well on fat. We are an adaptable species

WhyTheFace

ford2600 wrote: »

"Carbs play an important role as they are the fuel that drives the body."

Correction carbs are one of the fuels that drive the body. Even on a high carb diet you have more energy as fat(and interestingly more as saturated fat compared to a high fat diet) than glycogen in your blood.

In the absence of carbs your body can run quite well on fat. We are an adaptable species

While fat may be used as a source of energy it is nowhere near as efficient as carbs and sustained intake of high levels of fats have their own obvious health implications.

Also you are not comparing like with like when you mention such tribes as their bodies have adopted over hundreds of years to survive the harsh conditions of their environments. It's called evolution.

WhyTheFace

ford2600 wrote: »

"If its not a fad does that mean there are people on the Atkins diet for 10-20 years?"


Entire groups/tribes of people have thrived on high fat for years, Masai, Inuit, Native Indian etc. I spent some time with the Masai and they seem to do quite well in a harsh environment. They could never understand why the white man(me) was hungry so often!

Many other populations do quite well to on a diet high in Cabohydrate, many living in the same region as Masai where the banana in it's 30 or so forms is the staple of the diet.

As for your 10-20 years, how well has the Western world done since fat was demonised in the 1970's, with low fat becoming official government advice? An explosion in diabetes and obesity; I wonder is there a link

I'm not anti carbohydrate, I run quite well on it, many others are not so lucky with high carb diets. Expecting one food pyramid diet to suit all people is a nonsense

The explosion in diabetes is due to excessive carbs, fats and sugar...usually in combination. Nothing is wrong in moderation, but any of the above three in excess have obvious health implications.