salt and sugar

[Guest guest]

Dan, my suggestion might sound crazy, but I suggest eating many more

unrefined, whole grains (the gluten-free ones, of course) and seeing if this

helps your blood sugar. It should. The " slow " absorption of sugars into

your blood stream is what your body appears to be calling for. The " quick

fix " will give you an immediate " sugar high " , but it will also result in a

" sugar crash " and damaging of the sugar regulators in your body. Whole

grains provide a slow, steady stream of carbs into your blood stream and

they should help you keep on an even keel. Are you gluten-free? Or just

vegan? The reason I'm asking. . .is that since my DH went gluten-free as

well as vegan he has had to work on this same thing. Most gluten-free

alternatives are very refined; it takes effort and thought to get enough

whole grains in a gluten-free,vegan diet (IMHO).

 

HTH,

LaDonna

[Guest guest]

Dan wrote:

 

> Second is salt - very similar to my sugar thing. It seems that when I

> eat a lot more salt, not only does it taste amazing, but it makes my

> body much happier. What does that mean? Anyone?

 

How's your blood pressure? If it's okay, don't worry about the salt. I

have low blood pressure and actually *need* more sodium in my diet

(doctor's orders). My husband doesn't need as much as I do, so I rarely

salt food as it's cooking. We salt our individual dishes.

 

My father has high blood pressure and must watch his sodium levels

closely. He even has a special low-sodium salt substitute that looks

and tastes like salt. The last time I visited, I started getting very

dizzy and falling down, blacking out, etc (my low blood pressure

problems). I couldn't figure out why until I wanted to refill what used

to be the " normal " salt shaker and could find no regular salt in the

house. Mom stopped buying it after we kids moved out, but I didn't know

that. I called her and asked her to buy some on her way home from work

and after using it for an evening or so, my symptoms were alleviated.

 

You might be fine with extra salt. Heck, you might even need it.

 

 

ygg

--

 

 

 

**~*~*Never underestimate a cow who can knit with her hooves*~*~**

[Guest guest]

>First it is my sugar level. I have cut out refined sugar and

eat

>about 3 to 4 pieces of fruit everyday. What's been happening

lately

>is that I eat a piece of fruit as a snack or even with a meal

and it

>isn't enough sugar for me.

 

I think it would be good to eat MORE fruit. I eat probably 10

servings in a day... an apple, an orange, a banana, a bowl of

grapes, and/or apricots/cherries/peaches/lichees/pears whatever

is in season; plus half a small melon or a quarter of a

watermelon. My husband eats this way too. We've eaten like this

for almost 20 years.

 

There is a whole vegan type of eating that is almost all fruit

and salad. It works really well for many people. Gerry and I

ate entirely fruit and salad for 2 1/2 years... 10 lbs of it

every day.

 

 

 

>About a 1/2 hour to an hour later, I start

>to get dizzy and feel like I have low blood sugar.

 

This may be a reaction to something you are eating, something you

are allergic to. Are you noticing this after EVERY meal, or are

there certain meals only that it happens after? ... that contain

certain foods?

 

How about the fat content? Excess fat content in the diet can

cause hypoglycemia:

 

http://www.drmcdougall.com/science/hypoglycemia.html

 

 

 

 

>Maybe I should start

>putting sugar on my rice cereal in the morning to help add more

to my

>diet? Anyone have any strange experience with too little sugar

in

>their daily routine?

 

Sugar can be a bandaid solution, but I think there is most likely

a much healthier, much more constructive solution to what is

happening.

 

 

 

 

>Second is salt - very similar to my sugar thing. It seems that

when I

>eat a lot more salt, not only does it taste amazing, but it

makes my

>body much happier. What does that mean? Anyone?

 

You MAY just be going through a cleansing reaction. Salt is an

glandular stimulator, so your body MAY just be trying to keep the

glands whipped-up the way they used to be.

 

Whadda ya think?

 

Deborah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Deborah Pageau wrote:

 

 

> There is a whole vegan type of eating that is almost all fruit

> and salad. It works really well for many people. Gerry and I

> ate entirely fruit and salad for 2 1/2 years... 10 lbs of it

> every day.

 

yes, and it doesn't work so well for others. my husband had issues with

high triglycerides and needed to his fruit intake. he had to watch all

carbs--simple and complex--very carefully.

 

ygg

--

 

 

 

**~*~*Never underestimate a cow who can knit with her hooves*~*~**

[Guest guest]

Dan wrote:

 

> About a 1/2 hour to an hour later, I start

> to get dizzy and feel like I have low blood sugar.

 

Your problem may be reactive hypoglycemia (the pancreas dumps out too

much insulin after eating carbohydrates). If you can afford to test

your blood sugars with any of the home meters, I would suggest

testing blood sugars before meals and when you feel like your blood

sugars are low. If your blood sugars are low (< 70), record what and

how much you ate. Your records might so a correlation between what

you ate and your blood sugars.

 

Joanne

[Guest guest]

>yes, and it doesn't work so well for others. my husband had

issues with

>high triglycerides and needed to his fruit intake. he had to

watch all

>carbs--simple and complex--very carefully. ygg

 

 

Is your husband no longer with us? ... I noticed you were using

the past-tense about him here.

 

Deborah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Deborah Pageau wrote:

>

> >yes, and it doesn't work so well for others. my husband had

> issues with

> >high triglycerides and needed to his fruit intake. he had to

> watch all

> >carbs--simple and complex--very carefully. ygg

>

> Is your husband no longer with us? ... I noticed you were using

> the past-tense about him here.

 

no. he's still here. he's not watching his carbs right now.

 

it's a very long story. in college, my husband was diagnosed with very

high triglycerides. he saw a nutritionist, was put on a diet that was

basically 30-30-40 (carb, fat, protein, think), ordered to exercise,

etc. the problem eventually resolved, but he was to stay on the diet,

which is basically just a healthy, balanced diet that isn't carb-heavy.

all was good, all was nice, he was healthy.

 

basically, his whole body flipped out in january. it *seemed* like he

developed sudden onset adult food allergies to lots of foods. we *knew*

he was allergic to shiitake mushrooms. one day when he wasn't feeling

terribly hot (mentally), he ate a pilaf made with white mushrooms. he

had what seemed like an anaphylactic reaction, which he tempered with

benadryl. i told him that the *next* time, he had to go to the ER.

well, he reacted that way the next day, to something *else*, so off he

went.. his doctor saw him the next day, gave him epi-pen 'scripts.

well... what followed? three visits to the ER in seven days, epi-pen

use, epinephrine inhalers, his asthma inhalers, etc.

 

he kept having reactions, his diet got smaller and smaller, the

allergist told him to go on a rotation diet. we had to start buying

meat to keep in the house just so he could get some nutrition and

protein (normally, we don't keep any in the house at all as i refuse to

prepare it). his reactions involved itchy mouth, numb lips, difficulty

breathing, and he got really *distant*.

 

well, around that time, *i* got really sick with what eventually turned

out to be pericarditis and cardiac tamponade and i ended up in the

hospital for emergency surgery...

 

and he kept getting worse, losing more and more weight. the diet he was

on for triglycerides went out the window because without eating lots of

carbs, he could *not* maintain his weight (or really survive).

 

he started seeing an acupuncturist, because none of the doctors could

get him straightened out.

 

well, we moved in april, a week or so later, i had surgery again (this

time planned, but very major)... and he kept having problem after problem.

 

and then we realized. he was having *anxiety* attacks. since the first

couple revolved around *food*, food started triggering him. with my

*very* rocky health situation, though, he started having non-food triggers.

 

boom. anxiety. no *wonder* he got so much *worse* when epinephrine was

introduced. speed + anxiety. ugh.

 

*sigh* so, no food allergies likely. however, anxiety is a whole other

ball of wax. he reacted VERY poorly to every single med. he finally

got referred to a decent counsellor for stress management and he found

an acupuncturist down here. he's also meditating, doing chi gung, and

is working from home (same company he's worked for since 2000). he's

doing much better, but it'll be a long road.

 

he still avoids tuna, chicken, corn, and green peppers, but he's

probably okay with them. he's now eating all the OTHER foods (LOTS)

that he formerly reacted to (and he *was* having positive skin tests to

EVERY food he ate within seven days of the test at the time, stress and

histamine are *very* connected).

 

 

so. he's not watching his diet the way he before this year. his

triglycerides *were* checked this summer and they're okay, but he's

starting to make sure he doesn't overdo the carbs. type II diabetes

runs in his family.

 

of course, he doesn't eat soy, because i react if he eats it. i've got

plenty of my own food allergies. my soy allergy is nasty. i don't eat

wheat daily, because i do react to it when i do. no papaya,

penicillium, or peanuts. and i'm vegetarian, so no meat.

 

ygg

--

 

 

 

**~*~*Never underestimate a cow who can knit with her hooves*~*~**

[Guest guest]

Thanks to all the people that replied and gave advice or shared their

views. If there are more ideas out there - please feel free to

respond!

 

I did more research on food and veganism...I couldn't find much in the

area of being gluten-free AND vegan or stuff about salt intake and the

vegan diet. I did find some interesting articles about new vegans and

how there is a tendency to not eat enough food in general. After

reading the article, I stopped and looked at what I eat and realized

that I probably have around 200 calories with my breakfast - not

nearly enough if I'm gonna try for the standard 2000 calorie a day

idea. So my goal currently is to eat a lot of food every day and make

sure that it's very diverse.

 

Someone suggested more carbs - I eat a lot of brown rice and corn

everyday. It seems that since I bumped my intake up a little bit I

feel better. My craving for sugar goes down with this. Someone else

suggested the idea of low blood pressure. I know that within the last

year I went to the doctor several times and found out that I'm a

little bit below " normal " blood pressure. The doctor seemed to think

that it was borderline low. But there was one time when I had my

blood pressure checked and the nurse just stared at me and said, " wow.

you're 120/80 - you're prefect! " heehee...I do feel better eating

more salt though...and I suspect that I don't really get much salt in

my diet except for tortilla chips - which isn't too often. Another

suggestion was to eat more fruit - yep. I upped my fruit intake as

well. That seems to be helping.

 

Thanks again to everyone that responded! I'm slowly getting

there...trying to listen to what my body is craving for. And when I

start craving meat, I try to figure out what it is in the meat that

I'm craving and then find it in other sources...in hopes that I will

re-train my body to crave something healthier.

 

Dan

[Guest guest]

Potatoes are brain food! You should also try to eat more " root " vegetable (like

potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, etc.) . The starch in these vegetables when

they metabolize in your system converts to a high-quality (sugar) carbohydrate.

 

The naturalist doctor that I go to lives on potatoes (and has sooooooo many

creative ways to make potatoes!

 

Leilani

 

 

 

 

 

News - Today's headlines

 

 

[Guest guest]

>I did more research on food and veganism...I couldn't find much

in the

>area of being gluten-free AND vegan or stuff about salt intake

and the

>vegan diet. I did find some interesting articles about new

vegans and

>how there is a tendency to not eat enough food in general.

After

>reading the article, I stopped and looked at what I eat and

realized

>that I probably have around 200 calories with my breakfast - not

>nearly enough if I'm gonna try for the standard 2000 calorie a

day

>idea. So my goal currently is to eat a lot of food every day

and make

>sure that it's very diverse.

 

SUPER! I do think that is bound to help! :-) Making sure to eat

enough is something I have to remind myself to do sometimes.

Sometimes get so involved in what I am doing, I just don't want

to take time to eat... so I may go most of the day having eaten

one plum or something. By dinner time, I'm FAMISHED and feeling

so eager to eat that I tend to think in terms of a chocolate

rather than the good dinner that takes a little time to prepare.

:-) If that is the case, I eat some fruit to take the edge of,

and then I can prepare the meal in comfort.

 

 

>Someone suggested more carbs - I eat a lot of brown rice and

corn

>everyday. It seems that since I bumped my intake up a little

bit I

>feel better. My craving for sugar goes down with this.

 

Good. That's probably helped increase your calorie intake too.

 

 

>Thanks again to everyone that responded! I'm slowly getting

>there...trying to listen to what my body is craving for. And

when I

>start craving meat, I try to figure out what it is in the meat

that

>I'm craving and then find it in other sources...in hopes that I

will

>re-train my body to crave something healthier.

 

Chances are, the cravings will pass entirely, because they are a

result of your body cleansing toxins that accumulated when you

ate the thing you are craving. My understanding is that cravings

accompany the shedding of accumulated, improperly digested

peptides from the foods.

 

In any case, I think your idea of eating something healthy

instead of the meat when the cravings hit, is an excellent

plan... a very constructive way to handle the situation. My

husband had those cravings for quite awhile after he stopped

eating meat, but they did stop! I suffered cravings more for

dairy products for years after I stopped them.

 

I've been doing some reading on this site recently (gluten-free,

dairy-free). There's a TON of info. It's not vegan per se, but

it's close! :-)

 

http://www.gfcfdiet.com/

 

Deborah