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I think that we are going too far into hypotheticals now.
You really just need to find what works for you, one food at a time. When reading about this health stuff, you can only go so far before you start going in circles.
You already have all the knowledge you need in order to live a healthy life. No more amount of reading is going to get you to your goal. In fact, the more you read, the more unhealthy you might become due to stress.
I think the best course of action is to eat meals containing just a single food until you make a log of foods you know are completely positive for you.
For example today I sat down and ate 8 pears in order to see if I like them and it turns out I really don’t, and my body doesn’t either.
Having a bad metabolism/diet/digestive system can be the cause of a lot of stress. Your anxiety might clear up as you take control of your health. Those reactions you listed seem pretty severe. One of the main things I learned during my journey so far is to never ignore a signal that the body gives.
For now though, things I have found that really help with any bad feelings are bag breathing, light exercise, being outdoors, sunlight, carrot salad with vinegar, tons of salt, and having a set routine.
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As far as starches being fattening, I think that the potato hack fad pretty clearly showed a lot of promise for allowing the potato to be cleared of any false charges held against it as a fattening source of carbohydrates. I don’t even think it matters if it is paired with something or not (for weight gain). The pairing is usually to help with digestion (to the best of my knowledge).
I have my own n=1 experiment that makes me think that rice is fattening though. Of course, most people say that Asia as a whole is pretty skinny, but I have seen that it is more of a skinny-fat. Most asians I have seen in my life are pretty ‘soft’ in the belly.
Yes I am a musician. Or at least I like to pretend to be.
As far as being scared of starch, one has to be very careful when looking at studies involving starch because
1) There are many types of starch (legumes, tubers, grains) etc
2) The way in which they are cooked and eaten changes how harmful they might beI have looked into this in a very limited manner myself, and it seems like potatoes/tubers are in a completely different class of food than other ‘starches’.
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The one idea that gets thrown around the most as far as himalayan salt goes is the high levels of iron and heavy metals it contains. That may be giving you the negative reactions. I’m currently in the middle of testing between canning salt and ‘real salt’ (brand name). What kind of negative reactions are you seeing?It doesn’t make sense to me that a healthier body would actively seek to be irritated by previously tolerated foods. But your scenario could be possible if it were caused by some sort of ‘overload’ (iron for example).
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Here’s the part of the post where I start guessing.
As far as sugar vs starch , and not knowing what to eat: It actually seems to me like your digestion is weaker now (trouble digesting pizza?). I think it would be best to focus on eating clean, good foods in high volumes until your body is healed.
A healthy body should have no problems digesting any foods that are given to it.
Once healthy, figuring out what to eat won’t matter as much, since everything you eat will make you feel better (within reason).
Just focus on calories, carbs, salt, clean foods. A great post to read over and read the comments on is the ‘eating disorder recovery update’ post on this site.
Hey Dutchie,
Definitely my diet is influenced by the recommendations set forth by RayPeat, Danny Roddy, and Andrew Kim. But instead of placing myself firmly within any camp, what I like to do is steal the best ideas from all who blog about health and diets. I would probably put more emphasis on food combinations than most. I think good sources of fiber are beneficial. I also stay away from dairy (it messes with my vocal cords, and I need those to stay in top shape).
I think that starches are perfectly fine and healthy as long as you are healthy first. They do put stress on the system though. But the tradeoff is a very dense source of calories. It’s probably best to stick to the absolute best starch source if it is a major part of your diet – to my knowledge that would be the regular white potatoes (other high sugar starch sources have either worse nutrient loads or have other potential harmful substances for people who are susceptible). That said, I know people who lived to their 90’s very healthy eating bread every day with every meal (along with a diet of meat, dairy, fruits, veggies, etc).
Most of RayPeat’s recommendations seem to be aimed at completely optimizing the diet in terms of allowing a person to heal from a potentially life threatening illness. Although he says certain starches are bad, it’s all relative. I think you can find cultures that live primally on whichever starch source you pick.
I also tend to believe that the best diet is one that includes all foods possible. It’s usually best to blame your body first, before blaming the food. Following your cravings is usually a good choice (usually).
That said, good sources of sugar seem to work much better for me than starches. If I eat primally sugar, I can be warm with pale urine, and my skin glows/radiates. If I eat only starch (tried it before), my urine has to be medium dark yellow in order for me to be warm, and my skin just looks ‘normal’.
Today I have gotten all of my carbohydrates so far from orange juice and dates (around 300g). I have potatoes waiting for me on the stove, but if I end up not craving them, I will just eat more dates.
I used to worry that I was eating too little of a variety for carbs, but then I remembered that I used to just eat rice with every meal for my carbs growing up. Definitely put my mind at ease.
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The refined coconut oil is less allergenic than the extra virgin coconut oil. I currently have both sitting in front of me at 78 F: The refined oil is completely liquid and clear (slight yellow tinge though), and the extra virgin is cloudy with white substances in it still. Some people will have inflammation from the extra virgin oil, but not from the refined one.
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I rambled slightly. I guess I think its better if you know how I feel about a subject instead of just giving a dry answer so that you can make your own conclusion on it.
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.
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.
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.
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.
