The Zero Carb Experiment (part 2)

So, did I survive on a zero carb diet?  Well of course I did (or I wouldn’t be writing this)!  Actually, I’m needing to apologize to my readers, because I’m only starting my third week of my experiment, and am going to have to withdraw.  Why you ask?  Because I’ve already answered the four questions I needed answered, and the most important was whether the zero carb way of eating would make me feel better.

Whenever any of us radically changes our diet, there will be a time of adaptation.  Because I have been ketogenically adapted for three years, I didn’t expect much of an adaptation process.  I was wrong.  Unfortunately, without having a lab available for daily blood analysis, it’s difficult to figure out what the problem has been.  Because of being insulin resistant, I hypothesize that it’s gluconeogenesis that may be the culprit.  Gluconeogenesis is quite a normal process where your body produces glucose from a non-carbohydrate form.  To put it REALLY simply, your body can take a protein and turn it into a sugary substance for your body to burn.  This is a good thing!  Absolutely necessary for survival.  Unfortunately, some of us are particularly sensitive to just HOW MUCH glucose is produced from protein.  In other words, I was showing all the signs of my blood sugar shooting up.  I wish I’d have thought to buy a blood meter before this experiment began…..but since I’ve had no trouble at all with blood sugar in the past year….it didn’t even occur to me.  Bad scientist!  Bad!

The first week of my zero carb experiment I followed the proscribed way of eating.  I ate meat and drank water.  Ok, so I had my coffee in the morning, black.  I felt simply awful by the third day.  I started feeling nauseated, having bowel irritability, headaches, body aches, fatigue, and deteriorating mood.  All the symptoms of keto flu.  I also had one of my classic high blood sugar signs, very red cheeks, particularly in the morning.  This is a symptom I knew quite well from when I was a full-on diabetic.  “Those rosy cheeks that look so healthy”, but it was a big ole lie in my case.  Red cheeks are a very bad sign.  Also, I was sleeping harder and longer, which you’d think would be a good thing.  Unfortunately, for me, sleeping that hard and that long are also signs that my blood sugar is going out of whack.  Especially coupled with the constant fatigue.  I pushed on.

By the second week, there was no sign that I was adapting to this high protein way of eating.  Although I was following all the protocols for relieving keto flu, it just wasn’t working.  I was not adapting.  Since I had my suspicions that my blood sugar was rising, and since I was already really tired of meat, I lowered my protein intake and raised my fat.  I also was eating less overall, averaging about 1000 calories per day.  Ah Ha!  I started feeling better almost immediately.  Another sign it was a blood sugar issue and not keto flu. 

Entering my third week, it was time to look at my original questions:

1.      Will my multiple sclerosis symptoms improve even more than on low carb?

Answer:  No, not in the short term.  Actually, I felt very much worse, but I’m not really sure it had anything to do with my MS at all.

2.      Will my weight be at all effected?

Answer:  Not really.  At 10 days I had lost 2lbs 6ounces.  By the start of day 15, I had gained back 2 pounds for a total loss of 6 ounces. 

3.      Will my energy and cognitive function improve as promised by many proponents?

Answer:  No.  Absolutely no.  Not in my case, although I believe it to be true for many others.

4.      Will my digestive issues (GERD) clear up.

Answer:  Kinda, maybe, sorta.  I did see just a mite of improvement, but it seemed like the feeling became more pain than just an acid feeling.  Either way, maybe kinda is the best answer I can give.

So in conclusion, zero carb isn’t for me.  I DO believe the proponents of the lifestyle that it has improved their lives and health.  I DO believe that it’s the one thing that has helped many to lose and keep off weight.  I DO think this would help many with food addictions.  So far, I haven’t found anything better than Ketogenics for me.  If you want to read more about starting a ketogenic plan, check out the four part series of An Easy Way to Control Autoimmune Disease .  You can also follow my Facebook page to keep up on the latest science and treatments for autoimmune diseases, or join my group page for recipes and to ask questions about ketogenics!  In the upper right corner, you can click to go to my Pinterest page and find lots more low carb recipes!

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Living on meat alone......zero carb life