Hey, I am looking for some input from low carb dieters on this strange experience I had.
I have been low carb dieting for 2 weeks now. Less than 100 grams of carbohydrates per day. So far I am very pleased with my results. 3 days into the diet I got a mild headache, and I have been fine since then. (I’m guessing I went into ketosis at this point?)
Anyway during my last workout I consumed 50 grams of BCAAs and a little bit of crystal light to mask the flavor. I had done this during previous workouts and was fine. Usually, I will then drink a simple Grow! whey shake post workout.
However, last workout instead of a whey shake I had Surge. I was fine for 30 minutes, then all of a sudden I felt “mentally horrible”. It was like I couldn’t think straight, I felt incredibly light headed and everything was sort of surreal.
Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I figured it must be a hypoglycemic episode or something, so since it was late at night I ate my cottage cheese + peanut butter + yogurt + cinnamon meal to try and stabilize my blood sugar levels. It didn’t really help so I just tried to go to sleep and when I woke up I was fine.
I know BCAAs are insulinogenic, though they have no sugar in them. I assume that this would lower blood sugar levels. Perhaps then the spike of sugar in the Surge caused a huge insulin release which then cleared all of the sugar out of my blood and gave me a hypoglycemic episode?
As you can tell, my understanding of this stuff is limited so i would love to hear some input either from people with personal experience or the science of what happened.
I think you should concentrate your BCAAs pre-workout, then take Surge after. I may be wrong in my understanding of this, but my guess is that would help you timing wise.
Eating cottage cheese, yogurt, and cinnamon are counterproductive when you are trying to stabilize blood sugar. The first two are insulin stimulators and cinnamon improves insulin sensitivity, so you might have made yourself worse since you weren’t supplying any glucose.
Eating cottage cheese, yogurt, and cinnamon are counterproductive when you are trying to stabilize blood sugar. The first two are insulin stimulators and cinnamon improves insulin sensitivity, so you might have made yourself worse since you weren’t supplying any glucose.[/quote]
??
All foods stimulate insulin to some extent, but I wouldn’t classify cottage cheese or yogurt as foods prone to cause blood sugar issues.
I’m not sure whether you had your Surge Recovery during or after your workout, but 30 minutes is about how long I wait after consuming it until I eat again. If it was during training, try sipping the Surge throughout as opposed to chugging it.
I’m not a fan of extremely lo-carb diets since they hinder performance and usually worsen insulin sensitivity over the long run, but I’m glad that you’re seeing result with it.
I’m a little curious about the cottage cheese comment as well. I always through cinnemon in my cottage cheese just to make it palatable.
I’ve read in many many places that the best way to do the low-carb thing is to have 2 days per week, spaced out, where you upp them a bit (doesn’t even have to be a HUGE amount, but enough that the body fluctuates somewhat)
I am not saying that it caused the hypoglycemia. I am simply saying that if you are hypoglycemic, eating protein won’t do much to help you; especially not one that helps to lower blood sugar levels further.
This is coming from someone who took an OGTT and had BS levels of 34 at 3 hours… so needless to say I know a bit about the issue.
Alright, so the general consensus is that I went into hypoglycemia because I waited too long after drinking Surge. So my follow-up question is, for someone in a situation like mine, is it necessary to have some carbohydrates in the next meal, or would it not matter much as long I ingested some food before I went hypoglycemic?
I’m not a fan of extremely lo-carb diets since they hinder performance and usually worsen insulin sensitivity over the long run, but I’m glad that you’re seeing result with it.[/quote]
I’m not a fan of extremely lo-carb diets since they hinder performance and usually worsen insulin sensitivity over the long run, but I’m glad that you’re seeing result with it.
May i ask where you read this? Source?[/quote]
Mainly real-life experience with myself and clients, although I believe I’ve read Berardi and/or Lonnie Lowery talking about it as well.