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[CLKD]

Certainly I found swapping from toast, butter, to a cereal with lots of grains and nuts stopped that mid-morning hunger, although I have to eat enough!  A little milk added or it can be eaten 'neat'.

[dangermouse]

Re. Nick Panay thread... Oh that's so good Tempest, glad the fruit additions helped someone as the jittery feeling is beyond horrible!

Yes CLKD, you do always tell us what a difference it makes and the 3 hour eating is so the opposite of what I used to do! About 15 years ago I did daily intermittent fasting (Warrior Diet) where I ate very little during the day and had my main calories in the evening. My insulin went low so I had no sugar cravings and I craved healthy food (as I was probably in need of the nutrients!). It worked great for the first year, had tonnes of energy, lost excess weight and felt motivated and switched on at work. However, I was never then right after that year and felt exhausted all the time and I now understand that keeping insulin low creates a stress response from the adrenal glands, and the nice uplift it used to give me turned into a burn out type feeling.

My main addition is freshly squeezed orange juice which I, at first, was guzzling as if I'd just been rescued from a dessert island. After a few days though I only fancied the one glass as I believe my glycogen is nicely topped up. More recently I used to have lots of pasta (wholemeal) as I craved it so much but it did little to make me feel better. I suspect it's the sugar hitting he bloodstream more quickly that, for me, was what I needed.

I also did the Candida Diet about 5 years ago (had slow digestion) which avoids sugar almost completely. I felt awful but just assumed it was some kind of detox reaction but low sugar never made me feel better and symptoms just became worse and worse.

I don't know if the low glycogen stores was why I had such an intense reaction to the oestrogen surges (could only drink milk for 2 months due to severe nausea) as it would make sense if this lack of sugar meant my adrenal and thyroid glands couldn't cope? Or that may be a separate issue and purely down to the high oestrogen.

I also had to stop the flaxseed I was having recently as it was giving me terrible gas pains (not from the fibre as the pure oil did the same) and now realise all nuts and seeds have caused me digestive issues. Bowel transit is great now though.

[Hurdity]

Your body makes sugar from carbohydrate which is in many foods so your insulin should not go low even if you avoid sugars in the diet - just normal and stable rather than unnaturally high and spiking intermittently.

Hurdity x

[dangermouse]

Sorry, I meant my blood sugar stayed low so I wasn't having the insulin spikes. I was in ketosis during the day so was getting my energy from fat.

Although I stopped being strict about it when I felt it no longer made me feel good, I've always tried to extend my nighttime fast as long as possible. I did try on several occasions to eat every 3 hours but it would make me too ravenous as if my blood sugar was permanently high despite having lots of complex carbs and protein.

For some reason replenishing with fast release carbs has made me feel more rebalanced and the cravings have gone. Perhaps the frequent fasting kept me in a glycogen deficit?

[Tempest]

I have been fanatical about low sugar and low GI foods this past 18 months and have felt hideous!! I can't still however eat refined sugar or I flush ridiculously and jitter from the sugar rush. So I have taken on board both Dangermouse's and CLKD's advice and come up with a balanced plan (I think)!

I wouldn't even have a piece of cake even occasionally as a treat though. Boy, have I been a miserable sod! I've decided my somewhat 'sackcloth and ashes' approach to life is helping loads in making me more depressed. I need to have a wee treat now and again, and not live life grasping my little packs of finely milled oatcakes like my life depends on the blinkin' things. I must have shares in Nairn's by now......

[CLKD]

As a recovering anorexic ………. though never low enough to stop my periods, bugga   â€¦â€¦.. from the age of 11 I ate enough to keep me upright.  The lowest I went to was 5st 5lb, C.mas 1972.  No one every asked why I didn't eat much  .

So anything that I fancy goes into my gob, I also have fads and fancies  .  Sometimes it will be cheese salad for lunch followed by a small egg custard or fruit; or it will be pork pies with mango chutney; Himself always cooks a hot meal at night which we decide upon mid-afternoon.  Usually a chicken-based meal with fresh veg. or pasta, steak with fresh veg., we eat lots of curry with rice.  I try not to eat too many chocolate eclairs  or other prepared food-stuffs but when I need to eat I need to eat now - or I get beyond and run into problems.

My go-to has always been dried fruits and nuts; Dextrose ; energy bars ; I have never bothered about added sugars or what is in my food choices because I have always had access to fresh fruits and veg. as our family grew a lot of these at home.  I suppose the first ready meal was fish fingers  . 

When we go walking I can get to the point of shaky legs, weak thighs, sudden nausea - a sign for me that I have used up any stored energy.  Which is why we carry slabs of fruit cake, plenty of liquids, cold home-made pasta/chicken mix …… When I have done a lot of gardening I suffer the same symptoms  but I can always 'pull one more weed'  . 

The body detoxes itself.  That's what the kidneys are for  ……. we are designed to graze when possible, hunter-gathering would have been difficult because food stuffs weren't as easy to catch ……. so humans would rise with the sun, go foraging, eat as much as was available, go to bed at dusk.  Then someone invented chips and chocolate 

My Victorian Gran used to tell me that 'a little of what we fancy does us good'. 

Tempest - why did you wait 18 months   

[Tempest]

Because I'm a numpty and must love making myself miserable, I should think!! This has been a bit of a 'theme' with me since this whole menopause thing started (since peri., before the surgery even).

I'm coming to realise that I've denied myself a lot of pleasurable things since all this started. It has to stop!!

Your Victorian Granny has wise words there, CLKD!

[CLKD]

Himself often tells me that if I hadn't anything to worry about, I would find something    .

However, when we want to feel well we will think about our diet and life-style and try things to see if we improve. 

What you going to do now?

[Lizab]

I tend to get low blood sugar, but if I reach the point of hunger that I'm shaky and nauseated, sugar is the worst for me. The surge from a glass of juice or soda would make me feel terrible. I have to get some proteins in maybe combined or followed by a carb or sugar, but the protein is key for me or I'll feel off all day. Cheese and apples or toast, yogurt, nuts, beef jerky, etc are my go to quick boosts if I let myself go too long without a proper meal.

[CLKD]

 

[Yammy1]

As an anxiety sufferer and a diabetic I think too much sugar for anybody is very dangerous, the initial high is very short lived and the crash can leave you feeling a lot worse
Yammy