Everyday Systems

I've never tried going on an actual low-carb diet. But, every year at Passover, I eat a lower-carbohydrate diet for the eight days of the festival (since most wheat products, rice, and corn are not allowed during Passover). By the end of it, my mood is generally terrible- irritable and mean.

I have depression, which is treated with Prozac. I found that there may be a connection between that and my mood when I eat fewer carbs:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles ... state-mind

Has anyone else had an experience like this with low-carb diets?

I've never tried a low-carb diet or restricted carbs for any reason. I have read however, that mood changes are a common side-effect of carb restriction -- essentially what the article said.

Being pissed off from a sense of deprivation on a low carb diet would be enough to account for my mood change.

As for Passover, I find I get plenty of carbs (potatoes!), what I've usually been short on is fiber.

But I've found a a delicious and gastronomically appropriate solution to that latter issue:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/ ... nes-241853

(I know, the prunes sound disgusting, but it's the best brisket I've ever tasted).

Reinhard

reinhard wrote:Being pissed off from a sense of deprivation on a low carb diet would be enough to account for my mood change.

As for Passover, I find I get plenty of carbs (potatoes!), what I've usually been short on is fiber.

But I've found a a delicious and gastronomically appropriate solution to that latter issue:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/ ... nes-241853

(I know, the prunes sound disgusting, but it's the best brisket I've ever tasted).

Reinhard

I think that sounds delicious! I love the sweet/savory combination. I think there must be a whole generation or two that haven't tried prunes because the parents grew up hearing they were "good for you" rather than that "they're good!" I've always liked prunes -- they're sweet and tasty.

Yes. I tried South Beach before No S. It was a living nightmare. Yes, I lost weight, actually quite a bit. However, my mood was unbelieveably terrible. I'm not sure how to explain it, but it seemed as if a cloud was hanging over my head. My head felt foggy, I didn't enjoy anything, and nothing made me happy. I assume that's what depression feels like but I've never been formally diagnosed. Anyways, one day I broke (unsurprisingly). I went to the movies and got a bag of peanut butter M&Ms. I ate the whole bag, I literally could not stop even if I wanted to. As I ate the bag the cloud lifted, it felt as if I could think for the first time in weeks. It even seemed as if colors got brighter, as if the world had been draining of color over the past few weeks. I started smiling uncontrollably and realized I hadn't smiled since the second week of the diet (I was at about week 8 or 10). I know this sounds dramatic but it seriously seemed like this to me. I had never had an experience like that before, and I will never again because I refuse to do that to myself again. Even now (it's been years) the idea of making myself go on the South Beach diet makes me want to cry.

But now I have No S so I don't need it.

wosnes,

Have you ever tried the Sunkist Essence prunes? They have Orange Essence, Lemon Essence, Cherry Essence, etc. Very yummy.

I have tried low carb (along with every other diet I've ever heard of) and my experience was a lot like ShannahR's - plus I had a headache and felt nauseous the whole time (a few weeks) and only lost around 3 pounds. I've heard the brain prefers to run on sugar (or at least carbs) so that probably accounts for my 'foggy' (hard to think/concentrate) feeling.

I love the idea that on No S I can eat my favourite foods (or whatever is served at a family dinner) and no one even needs to know I'm on a diet.

I have a reputation in my family of 'I wonder what she's allowed to eat this time' - in the past couple of years I've done WeightWatchers, low carb, low fat, vegetarian, vegan, no starch/sugar and a few self-designed plans that were just as complicated. I'm sure they will be relieved when I say I can eat everything, but just one plateful!

Strawberry Roan wrote:wosnes,

Have you ever tried the Sunkist Essence prunes? They have Orange Essence, Lemon Essence, Cherry Essence, etc. Very yummy.

No, I haven't, though I think they sound great. They're hard to find around here, or at least they're not at the stores where I regularly shop.

I was on a low-carb diet for about 3 years to control my unstable blood sugar. (Discovered later that most of my crashes were actually caffeine/adrenaline crashes from WAY too much diet coke. I still occasionally get real blood sugar crashes, but only if I'm completely reckless about what I eat.)

I had mood swings during the a transition period (i.e., switching back to low-carb after going off-plan significantly, like I did at holidays), but they only lasted 2-3 days. Once I was fully-transitioned, I felt fine.

reinhard wrote:Being pissed off from a sense of deprivation on a low carb diet would be enough to account for my mood change.

This definitely happened.

I've been on a lower carb way of eating for about a month now. I don't know if it's actually low carb. I don't deny myself bread or potatoes I just try to eat a little less.

There is a grocery store near my house that carries these thin sandwich breads that I LOVE. I still get to have a tasty sandwich and I get my bread fix. I found thin bagels too which I love.

These are the breads I am talking about. They are still nice and soft even being thin.

http://www.oroweat.com/thins/

and the bagels

http://thomasbagelthins.com/

I did Atkins prior to my wedding many years ago in an effort to lose the weight that I had gained in college. I jokingly tell people that low-carb dieting caused me to lose the will to live, and while it's an exaggeration, there is a kernal of truth in it. It felt like all the joy of eating had been sucked dry, and towards the end (I think I lasted 5 or 6 weeks), I could barely bring myself to eat at all. The thought of facing another steak, egg, piece of cheese, or even salad was too much to bear. I never guessed that this would happen, since I'm generally a great lover of meat, cheese, and eggs. Sometimes I read about potential health-benefits of low-carb diets (for example the founder of http://www.marksdailyapple.com/ believes that humans aren't equipped to properly digest grains), and I fleetingly consider doing low carb again, purely for my health and not for weight loss, but I'm overcome with horrible dread. And then I think, "I won't actually live longer, it will just FEEL longer."

Strawberry Roan wrote:wosnes,

Have you ever tried the Sunkist Essence prunes? They have Orange Essence, Lemon Essence, Cherry Essence, etc. Very yummy.

They are yummy, and they are prunes. Not "dridplum" that the marketers are trying to peddle.

Low carbing is hard, and though I think it does produce better bloo chmeistry, lower bp rates, etc, I can be tough getting through the induction stage at one. But if a person looked at the oroignal Drinking Man's Diet, or even the firt edition of Atkins he was a more simpler steak and salad appraoch, and then in the 80's they tried to make it fancy. They have come back to simplicity and the "New Atkins" tries to balanc =e the met and vegie more.

There are some people who have turned around serious auto-immune affliction with very low-carb diets, but I'll wait until I have one to do it. However, I do eat a lot less carb than I used to, and certainly less refined carb. I tried to go more vegetarian years ago when I first got into yoga and such, and I was a raging sugar freak. I'm still a sweets freak, but it always gets worse when I try to cut back on the protein. I wish I thought I could be a vegetarian for the planet's sake, but if I try to double my starch and cut way back on animal protein, after 5 days, I start to feel cattywompus about food every day.

What happened to my spelling?

"Sometimes I read about potential health-benefits of low-carb diets (for example the founder of [url]http://www.marksdailyapple.com/[/url] believes that humans aren't equipped to properly digest grains)..."

I've read this sort of thing before. Paleo-diet people love the idea that we can't digest grains properly. But we've been eating grains now for at least 10,000 years, and realistically, before that when we were hunter-gatherers. I find it difficult to believe that something that has worked so well for so long is a bad idea.

ctopherrun wrote:I've read this sort of thing before. Paleo-diet people love the idea that we can't digest grains properly. But we've been eating grains now for at least 10,000 years, and realistically, before that when we were hunter-gatherers. I find it difficult to believe that something that has worked so well for so long is a bad idea.

My ancestors didn't work hard at building a civilization so that I could eat the same stuff hunter-gatherers ate!