Re: Experiences with Atkins diet

From: Brian Atkins (brian@posthuman.com)
Date: Sat Apr 26 2003 - 19:07:30 MDT

  • Next message: Brian Atkins: "Re: Experiences with Atkins diet"

    Hal Finney wrote:
    >
    > I also bought some special products, low carb versions of foods I couldn't
    > have otherwise, like ketchup and barbecue sauce and salad dressing.
    > I've been eating Atkins snack bars and the pre-made shakes as well, which
    > taste great and satisfy my sweet tooth (however they are quite expensive).

    Watch out because many of the low carb specialty products have hidden
    carbs. They are using a loophole in labeling requirements whereby "sugar
    alcohols" do not have to be counted as carbs. Beware of maltitol, etc.
    In many people this can trigger an insulin response... see below.

    >
    > The bad news is that I haven't felt that good. After about two days
    > I started getting headaches and feeling an upset stomach, with not
    > much appetite. This is supposedly because ketosis is kicking in as
    > the body has used up its store of carbs and now has to digest fat.
    > The book said this would go away and I would feel full of energy.
    > Well, the headaches have gone away but I don't have that much energy.
    > My workouts are not quite as hard. Generally I feel somewhat listless,
    > and I'm slow to warm up, although once I get going I can work at pretty
    > much the same level as before. The one positive difference is that I
    > literally feel light on my feet. The rapid weight loss is noticeable
    > in the soles of my feet as I walk, they feel the lessened pressure.

    Carefully note the times of day that you feel the symptoms. Do they come
    within a certain timeperiod after a meal? If your previous diet was
    heavily carby, your body may be used to producing large amounts of
    insulin, and it may hypothetically be overreacting to your new meals and
    causing low blood sugar. Something to ponder at least... and it will be
    interesting to see if your body adapts better over time. When you do eat
    carbs, try not to hit "your limit" all in one meal. The goal should be
    to prevent any serious insulin spikes.

    >
    > It's possible that if I increase my carbs somewhat I'll start to feel
    > more energetic. Atkins recommends doing a very low carb diet, less than
    > 20 grams per day, for the first two weeks, then gradually increasing
    > the carbs and seeing how your weight loss goes. My main concern is
    > the first triathlon, but that isn't until August. I need to be at full
    > energy by then. Hopefully I will be able to do that by increasing carbs,
    > without falling back into my old eating habits.
    >

    Are you eating enough fat? If you eat a low-carb, low-fat diet, then you
    are just going to get too much protein, some of which will just get
    converted into glucose. Not only will this potentially slow weight loss,
    but it isn't going to help your insulin situation either. I have read
    some studies lately that say for endurance events it is better to train
    on a high fat diet since this may improve your body's ability to burn
    fat during the race for energy. Perhaps your cells are still just too
    used to not having to burn fat for energy? They literally may have to
    add on some more mitochondria... takes time. Another benefit is that
    your cells will likely increase their insulin sensitivity the longer you
    keep to a low-carb high-fat diet... which also I believe has been show
    as a major goal for athletes to strive for. Then just a couple days
    before the race also do some carb loading for an extra little kick to
    help with any really high exertion periods.

    -- 
    Brian Atkins
    Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence
    http://www.singinst.org/
    


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