A poison so sweet
May 2, 2019 1:12 PM Subscribe
I've lost 8 lbs in the past month by doing keto and tracking my calories. I feel perfectly fine. However, two times I have "cheated" - once with 8 Ritz crackers at supper, and once with a very TINY slice of gluten free cake - and both times I woke up with a nasty hangover - nausea, vomiting and a pounding headache. I don't buy into the CARBS ARE EVIL, I really am just cutting them out to lose weight, but I feel like I've been poisoned! WTF?
I think keto works because it eliminates a huge food source and I don't seem to get hungry between meals. Ie - it works because I can keep to a calorie limit that is sustainable for weight-loss.
I never got "keto flu" But I have remained in ketosis since I started the diet, and After those two cheat meals I easily popped back into Ketosis after a day or so.
I think keto works because it eliminates a huge food source and I don't seem to get hungry between meals. Ie - it works because I can keep to a calorie limit that is sustainable for weight-loss.
I never got "keto flu" But I have remained in ketosis since I started the diet, and After those two cheat meals I easily popped back into Ketosis after a day or so.
Best answer: Carbs aren’t evil, you’ve just specialized away from them. Your gut biome has become more optimized for digesting fats than breaking carbs down into glucose.
Seeing as you had such an extreme reaction, if you were going to try that again I would suggest spending the day or two beforehand increasing your carb intake with fruit and vegetables.
posted by delezzo at 1:37 PM on May 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
Seeing as you had such an extreme reaction, if you were going to try that again I would suggest spending the day or two beforehand increasing your carb intake with fruit and vegetables.
posted by delezzo at 1:37 PM on May 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
After two weeks on a low-carb diet, I failed a glucose tolerance test (scheduled before I started the diet; no one had mentioned to me that I shouldn’t restrict carbs before taking the test). By “failed”, I mean the results came back as pre-diabetic, indicating that my body could not produce enough insulin to regulate my blood sugar. They scheduled a re-test a couple of months later, during which time I went back to consuming a regular amount of carbs (as I hadn’t lost a single ounce on the low-carb diet). My results came back completely normal for the second test.
This is n=1, of course, but it suggests that your body probably just stops being any good at handling carbs when you don’t eat them — specifically with regards to blood sugar.
posted by snowmentality at 2:59 PM on May 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
This is n=1, of course, but it suggests that your body probably just stops being any good at handling carbs when you don’t eat them — specifically with regards to blood sugar.
posted by snowmentality at 2:59 PM on May 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Unless you were otherwise right at your limit, neither of those were necessarily cheats as far as keto is concerned (~16g from the crackers, Google says, and I'm guessing probably far less from a little cake). I mention this because it means you'd be allowed to ask this question in r/keto, where 20g total is the standard cutoff. Yes there are "carbs are evil" folks over there, but that's not everyone, and the overall knowledge base about keto tends to be a lot deeper than on AskMe just by virtue of the audiences they attract.
To take a stab at answering the stated question, however, although short-term hangover-type stuff usually ends up being about electrolytes, I really don't have a theory about why such a small amount of anything would throw you off so badly. I almost wonder if you're actually allergic to/intolerant of some common ingredient that you've incidentally been avoiding otherwise.
posted by teremala at 3:01 PM on May 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
To take a stab at answering the stated question, however, although short-term hangover-type stuff usually ends up being about electrolytes, I really don't have a theory about why such a small amount of anything would throw you off so badly. I almost wonder if you're actually allergic to/intolerant of some common ingredient that you've incidentally been avoiding otherwise.
posted by teremala at 3:01 PM on May 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
This happened to you after a month?
I have one parallel experience. I attended a camp when I was younger for two weeks that was vegetarian and sugar free. When my parents picked me up I made them take me to pizza hut, where I had a small soda and pepperoni pizza. Shortly after eating it I went outside and threw it up. All of it.
I'm pretty sure in my case it was the sugar, but it could have been the meat and cheese too. In any case, I'm pretty sure your experience is normal, and would go away if you started consuming sugar and carbs again. It may not be evil, but our bodies weren't designed for massive sugar or carb intakes.
posted by xammerboy at 3:03 PM on May 2, 2019
I have one parallel experience. I attended a camp when I was younger for two weeks that was vegetarian and sugar free. When my parents picked me up I made them take me to pizza hut, where I had a small soda and pepperoni pizza. Shortly after eating it I went outside and threw it up. All of it.
I'm pretty sure in my case it was the sugar, but it could have been the meat and cheese too. In any case, I'm pretty sure your experience is normal, and would go away if you started consuming sugar and carbs again. It may not be evil, but our bodies weren't designed for massive sugar or carb intakes.
posted by xammerboy at 3:03 PM on May 2, 2019
I lived in Japan for a year, and when I came back to the U.S. even the blandest, most theoretically healthy of meals here made me so sick to my stomach. When I was abroad, I didn't eat clean by any means (read: a daily box of chocolates and a bottle of coke), but I think there is something to our diet here that can be harder on our bodies than we realize. When I travel for shorter times now, I find similar issues, especially with amount of sugar/carb and grease in our food. Getting used to a different diet highlights what my body is used to tolerating (and, indeed, what I often enjoy).
posted by past unusual at 3:30 PM on May 2, 2019
posted by past unusual at 3:30 PM on May 2, 2019
I get feelings like that when I consume or am exposed to something which causes one of my autoimmune problems to flare up.
A sensitized immune system appears to be most likely to attack tissues which are active, as in the case of the 'sleepers' Oliver Sacks treated with L-dopa who woke up briefly and then sank into a deeper lethargy from which nothing could awaken them.
When you ate those carbs, and your metabolism switched from fats to carbohydrates, presumably the islets of Langerhans in your pancreas started secreting more insulin, and there is a large population known to have circulating antibodies to their islets of Langerhans: people with LADA, Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults.
I wouldn't say you have this, but if you have those antibodies it would explain your reaction to the carbs in my opinion. And if you happen to have an opportunity, it wouldn't hurt to get tested for those antibodies, I'd think.
posted by jamjam at 6:31 PM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
A sensitized immune system appears to be most likely to attack tissues which are active, as in the case of the 'sleepers' Oliver Sacks treated with L-dopa who woke up briefly and then sank into a deeper lethargy from which nothing could awaken them.
When you ate those carbs, and your metabolism switched from fats to carbohydrates, presumably the islets of Langerhans in your pancreas started secreting more insulin, and there is a large population known to have circulating antibodies to their islets of Langerhans: people with LADA, Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults.
I wouldn't say you have this, but if you have those antibodies it would explain your reaction to the carbs in my opinion. And if you happen to have an opportunity, it wouldn't hurt to get tested for those antibodies, I'd think.
posted by jamjam at 6:31 PM on May 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
I follow Keto and from what you described as a cheat likely wouldn't be called a cheat in the Keto community. There are many Ketoers that can handle 50g + of carbs and still stay in ketosis.
As someone else said - sounds like electrolytes to me. You have to increase and supplement with salt, potassium, and magnesium while on Keto. And make sure you are getting lots of water.
It's also recommended to log your meals (I use Cronometer). It's surprising how fast carbs/protein/fats and calories add up!. It is generally recommended to follow the prescribed macros and adjust if you are having any adverse effects. Some people up the carbs (ie:20g to 50 g) and say they feel better or some adjust their fat/protein levels.
Also - some Ketoers become very sensitive to additives (ie: artificial sweeteners, colouring etc..) - and it's not uncommon to have adverse reactions. Listen to your body!
Another option is to get a blood glucose monitor and test your levels at different times - might give you more information.
If you are on Keto for weight loss - like any diet, it's recommended to track calories.
There are at least a dozen Keto groups in reddit- and a lot of them have fairly good FAQ's.
posted by what's her name at 6:43 PM on May 2, 2019
As someone else said - sounds like electrolytes to me. You have to increase and supplement with salt, potassium, and magnesium while on Keto. And make sure you are getting lots of water.
It's also recommended to log your meals (I use Cronometer). It's surprising how fast carbs/protein/fats and calories add up!. It is generally recommended to follow the prescribed macros and adjust if you are having any adverse effects. Some people up the carbs (ie:20g to 50 g) and say they feel better or some adjust their fat/protein levels.
Also - some Ketoers become very sensitive to additives (ie: artificial sweeteners, colouring etc..) - and it's not uncommon to have adverse reactions. Listen to your body!
Another option is to get a blood glucose monitor and test your levels at different times - might give you more information.
If you are on Keto for weight loss - like any diet, it's recommended to track calories.
There are at least a dozen Keto groups in reddit- and a lot of them have fairly good FAQ's.
posted by what's her name at 6:43 PM on May 2, 2019
Response by poster: This was really helpful. My question was "why did I react so poorly to a small amount of carbs?" - thank you for reading between the lines! I think my body just got really shitty at handling spikes in blood sugar. I could snag a glucometer and perform a macabre experiment where I dose myself with candy and then throw up and check my sugar but I will probably just keep avoiding carbs. Really interesting about LADA, I'm reading up on it now.
posted by pintapicasso at 8:06 PM on May 2, 2019
posted by pintapicasso at 8:06 PM on May 2, 2019
Response by poster: Oh, I'm sorry to thread sit - I do not think this was electrolytes because I only felt sick after eating the sugar, not while I was restricting carbs. I have a basic but solid grasp on how electrolyte imbalances develop and I don't think that fits here.
posted by pintapicasso at 8:09 PM on May 2, 2019
posted by pintapicasso at 8:09 PM on May 2, 2019
Yeah, once your body gets really used to not eating a certain thing, eating it can really mess with you. I remember, after many years of vegetarianism, indulging a sudden craving for a piece of fish and having lots of tummy troubles for 24 hours.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:26 PM on May 2, 2019
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:26 PM on May 2, 2019
Best answer: Electrolyte issues can come of abrupt re-carbing too. Usually the numbers are bigger, but basically the idea is 1. Keto lowers your total electrolyte reserve in part because you are retaining less water and so your body needs fewer electrolytes to reach the concentration that it likes, but then 2. You eat carbs and your body retains extra water to deal with them, so now your electrolytes are more diluted. Alternatively, if you are supplementing electrolytes and throw carby food back in, you can end up with too high a concentration of electrolytes since carb-heavy stuff is often heavy on salts too. It's a fine balance and bodies are usually good about maintaining it over time, but major shifts in consumption patterns can definitely disrupt the system. Again, for <20g carbs I'm having a hard time convincing myself that this is your issue, but some people are really sensitive, especially early on in fat-adaptation. If you avoided keto "flu" by virtue of following the usual instructions about drinking water and supplementing electrolytes, then that could well have masked the issue. If you just quit carbs one day and never suffered for it, then probably it is something else.
posted by teremala at 7:45 AM on May 3, 2019
posted by teremala at 7:45 AM on May 3, 2019
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I know I tolerate carbs a lot more poorly than I did when I was young, and the more I keep the carb count low, the better off I am in many respects. Keto eating by itself didn't lead to the intolerance, FWIW.
posted by Sheydem-tants at 1:29 PM on May 2, 2019 [3 favorites]