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Dates and other dried fruit, juice/soda and fresh fruit (if you can handle the extra fluid), jam, syrup, honey, molasses, sweetened yogurt, cooked fruit (reduces water content and concentrates sugars). You can also sneak sugar in to “savory” meals – chicken with sweet and sour or barbecue sauce, extra sugar added to curries, chilli, meat cooked in Coke (not as weird as it sounds), etc.
I find that the single easiest way to get a lot of sugar in one sitting is cooked apples with added sugar and raisins. I can eat about 6 apples worth in one sitting – along with the additional sugar and raisins, that makes a pretty sugar-dense meal! And totally fat-free (although not for me, as I usually add a bit of cream!).
Hope that helps! :)
I think honey is a good source of sugar because it is also loaded with nutrients. Blackstrap molasses is a source of sugar that is also rich in nutrients. Just add these things to the food you cook.
If you don’t care about nutrients just add refined sugar to everything until you reach the level of sugar you want in my diet.
All of the above, plus: soft drinks, kool-aid, the “purple stuff,” angel food cake, baked beans, low-fat yogurt with fruit, chocolate skim milk, marshmallows, sherbet, and caramel rice cakes…
Hi Cindy, hope you are doing well. I stumbled across a number of your previous posts while searching for solutions to crashing after a meal.
I know that Matt wrote about the beneficial aspects of resting after eating, but what I was experiencing was much beyond that. Luckily, I have found the solution, and no longer experience any post meal crashes. I’ll share with you what worked for me after I answer the sugar question.
I think turning towards sugar is a step in the right direction first off. I think that it’s best to get sugar from natural places as well, as eating pure sugars leaves my teeth feeling nasty and can ‘burn’ the mouth.
Anyways, the best source of sugar is hands down fruit juices. My go to is Florida’s Natural orange juice. Make sure to salt the juice well.
Milk would be a secondary source if dairy is tolerated.
Now, as far as the post meal crashes goes it’s quite simple. Your body is reacting to either 1) something you are eating or 2) the combination of foods is impairing your digestion.
Step one is to simplify your meals. If you have to, only eat one thing at a meal, like starch with some small amount of fat, or a very large cup of juice, etc.
Step two is to keep a log of how foods make you feel, or how they effect you. Only by eating foods alone can you find out the pertinent information.
Which foods make your skin glow? Which foods make your skin bumpy and pale?
Which foods warm you? Make you cool?
Which foods leave your tongue coated? Give you a higher pulse? Alertness? etc.
Once you are comfortable in this method, you can try combining foods again into larger meals.
Hope this helps and that you haven’t given up.
Hello AteForHate, thanks for replying. Sorry for the long reply but I don’t know if you can private message people on here.
I am facing an awful (and particularly pricey) dilemma at the moment. I have reverted back to low-carb – my enemy and diet that destroyed my health and impaired my glucose metabolism – to prevent my insulin super-sensitivity or resistance (I don’t even know what the problem is any more, just going back and forth guessing).
I have concluded that ANY type of carbohydrate-dense food, whether it be sugar or starch, gives me an immediate low-blood sugar feeling. It is not so much the case of feeling sleepy or tired after a meal, it is the mental acuity decline, the confusion, the exhaustion. Literally I felt like I had a severe case of Addison’s disease a few weeks ago, my adrenals felt depleted and this severe brain fog was interfering with my academic performance as a student, my social life, my relationships etc. It is not that I felt tired, I just felt drugged, disorientated, detached. I went low-fat to get my body to utilise the carbs but felt progressively worse.
I HATE low-carb. Literally I despise it, I had to force myself to eat a lot of saturated fat today. Do I feel better? Surprisingly I do. The brain fog has lifted. I do not feel energetic, hyper or sharp, but I do feel better. I think I am going to stick to low-carb for another few weeks.
I have attempted EVERYTHING. Protein with meals, intermittent fasting, eating regularly, eating only starches. The only other method I have not tried is a high sugar diet. It is hard getting 300-400g of sugar a day, and it’s not the season for sweet fruit either. I have read experiences on the Ray Peat forums of starch giving people similar symptoms to mine, and they just prefer sticking to pure sugars for their carbs. Hard candy? Makes my mouth sore and gives me ulcers. Milk? I’m lactose intolerant I can just about tolerate half a glass. Ugh! I will experiment, however.
It has to be diet related. My blood tests results were “very good” as my doctor explained. My thyroid is good, my cortisol levels are great. I took raw adrenal and thyroid supplements (felt better) but my blood circulation suffered and my left arm and leg went numb and my sex drive went down the toilet. That was the last straw, low-carb ironically saved me.
I feel like I am a warning against low-carb. I represent every consequence of vanity, prioritising those last few lbs over my health.
I am determined to reverse my health issues and move on. I do not deserve any of this.
Sounds like you are going through a lot right now.
It seems to me like your digestion is very much compromised right now. I think that your body is reacting to pretty much any food you throw down the hatch. At least you have your low-carb lifestyle as a base to fall back on when all else fails.
But it is only a temporary place for relief. In the long term, getting off the low-carb diet is probably for the best. Once you are healed, you will be able to tolerate all foods again. The transition will be the hard part though.
My advice would be to stick to foods that are very easily digested, and that have the highest benefit/drawback ratio for healing.
These foods include good meats and fats (eggs, liver, shellfish, lamb, etc). I am guessing you can handle these, and are eating them now without too much of a problem? The body is very well equipped to digest these foods, but without a source of carbs it will be damaging in the long term.
Next up is fruit/fruit juices. You mentioned having trouble reaching 300-400g of carbs. I think first it is important to find a carb source that works for you, before worrying about hitting a certain number. I am looking at a 1.75 Liter carton of orange juice right now. It costs around 4 dollars, and has around 800 calories in it, if you finish the whole thing. Based on your digestion, I would advise getting the pulp free version. Beware, not all fruits are created equal.
Your best bet would be to stay away from starches. I think that they are damaging to you in your impaired state. One very easy test (which may or may not work) is to check to see how the back of your throat looks after eating a certain food. After eating starches, it might get slightly red and inflamed. It should be perfectly pink and smooth. I have noticed some of these things myself in the past. Basically anywhere you can find inflammation on your body is your go to place to check how you react to foods.
I would also advise to stay away from dairy. It is a very nutritious food, but if you can’t handle it, it will be detrimental.
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Some extra things that you could do to help heal more quickly would be:
1) to add vinegar, lemon, lime to your diet in some aspect
2) to find a source of gelatin you like and eat it liberally (I visit the local asian store for beef tendons)
3) to eat raw carrots (I like to grate the carrot and put vinegar and salt on it)BTW it is also possible, if you use coconut oil, that you will find that refined works better for you than extra virgin, if you decide to test that out.
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I am not saying you can never have starches or dairy or other things ever again, but that they are probably hurting more than helping you right now. I really don’t think it is possible that you will have problems with the orange juice – I have only met one person in my life who is allergic to fruits. So I wish you the best of luck in recovery.
Also, I just wanted to stress the importance of getting enough calories daily. No matter what you eat, if the calories are too low, progress will probably be impossible.
Thank you for replying.
I tolerate all low-carb foods very well, such as cheese (it’s low in lactose so I don’t have a problem with it), meats, eggs etc. I am trying not to go too low-carb and getting as much nutrition with raw veggies, some low sugar fruits.
I am convinced this must be an insulin issue, as the months progressed with my high carb diet, I started getting hyperventilation episodes after eating, noticeable weight gain around my abdominal and hip areas, brain fog etc.
Thank you for the reassurance. I may be doomed to low carb for a short while but I hope it does not impair my glucose metabolism any more. I’ll keep you updated on my progress.
If it is an insulin issue, that would be another vote for, and another reason to use fruit as your source of carbs.
Orange juice has a lower insulin and glycemic index than any of the starches.
Basically what I am trying to get at, is that you should give orange juice a try, rather than stay low carb. Low carb got you into this mess. Remember that.
Btw if you tolerate cheese, definitely hold onto it. Great source of calcium and whatnot.
@AteforHate Reading your recommendations,I assume you eat within a Ray Peat spectrum?
If so,do you eat starches?….and what do you think of starchier sources like pumpkin/root veggies,sweet potato,Plantains etc. as these ‘starchsources’ contain quite some sugar still, next to fruit and other natural sugarsources?(I know Ray advises against banana&plantain bc of high tryptophan I think…..but honestly when you look at it all foods either contain serotonin,tryptophan or natural estrogens).
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