Sugar Cravings

[Whit]

Does anyone else have sugar cravings?

I'm not talking about the taste or anything that superficial. And I'm not talking about white processed sugar. I'm talking about fruit for the most part. And I eat mostly organic seasonal fruit. Apples and oranges (and frozen blueberries) in the winter and everything else in the summer.

After meals, especially protein meals, I get what I'm guessing is low blood sugar, and I've tried pushing through it, but I get really slow and dull feeling and almost kind of dizzy, kind of like my brain is going numb and just shutting down. If I eat some fruit, it really helps and it's really hard not to give in, I get kind of desperate feeling and (even more) disfunctional if I don't. I've been "medicating" like this to get through these "low" periods for years, probably 5 years or so. Even before CFS hit me full on, this was happening, I would always carry fruit with me and eat it in class.

For the last year I've been eating a paleo sort of diet, except that I eat probably more fruit than would be considered strict paleo. And I eat chocolate and ice cream. But I cut out all grains and most starches.

Here's a breakdown of a typical day of eating. I am very routine with my food and I'm lucky enough (given the unlucky circumstances) to have everything prepared for me from scratch.

wake up

• Ground turkey (30g + protein dark meat turkey)
• sugar craving - 1-2 nectarine/peach/plum, some chocolate
• bowl of above ground fibrous vegetables
• fish or red meat (30g + fish 2-3 times per week, or buffalo or grass fed beef)
• sugar craving - 1-2 fruits
• ice cream craving - this one is intense and it feels like my body needs both sugar and fat at the same time, and ice cream hits the spot, it's really hard not to give in, as I start to crash really hard, and ice cream makes me feel better
• bowl of above ground fibrous vegetables
• another small bowl of veggies, or lately some yams or butternut squash
• big bowl of yogurt with blueberries or strawberries and honey (2.5 small cups whole fat organic yogurt, I eat this right before bed and can't sleep without my belly being full of this for whatever reason)

sleep

So I've read a lot of stuff about sugar over the years, and always wanted to try cutting it out, but I just can't seem to do it. Even for a day, I feel like I really need it. I try to eat the best forms of it as I can. There's so much BS in the diet world, it's hard to know what to trust. Like a lot of the candida diet stuff comes across to me as very misinformed. So I wind up feeling like I need to trust my body.

Anyone have any thoughts? Anyone experience something similar?

 

[Esther12]

Trusting your body sounds like a pretty sensible approach... until there's really compelling evidence to the contrary anyway.

When I've had a period of eating sweet stuff, then I get more cravings for it (especially after meals too), but I tend not to have much sweet stuff in the house (I find it too tempting to snack upon instead of eating properly, especially when particularly tired, and cooking takes so much energy). I'm drawn to pure bad sugar (cakes, chocolate and sweets) rather than sugar in fruit, which sounds pretty virtuous.

I get the impression that there's a lot of BS around diets too, so think that it's probably best to just do what works for you.

 

[heapsreal]

try mixing some glutamine amino acid powder approx five grams in glass of water and drink, give it a few minutes to work. Used alot for those on low carb diets who get sugar cravings, cheers

 

[taniaaust1]

After meals, especially protein meals, I get what I'm guessing is low blood sugar,
Anyone have any thoughts? Anyone experience something similar?

I'd personally think that wouldnt cause low blood sugar. Protein helps balance the bodies insulin and can help prevent it from suddenly spiking... Insulin lowers blood sugar. Hence protein can help low blood sugar .

 

[taniaaust1]

It may be the time factor which is what is giving you low blood sugar.. eg you havent eatten any carbs since the night before.. and overnight is like a fast so you may notice your blood sugar low in the morning.

So then you have your sugar hit (in your fruit) which then later wears off and you then get another sugar craving.

many snacks during the day of complex carbs are a better way to stabilise blood sugar. You could be needing a carb hit every 4 hours or so if you have low blood sugar issues. (due to my hypogycemia.. I got told at one point to try to eat complex carb snack every 4 hours).

Consider getting a 2 hr Glucose Tolerance Test with the Insulin included... as anyone with these kinds of issues could have something show up on such a test.

 

[November Girl]

I have similar problems with low blood sugar. Protein takes a lot longer to digest than simple fruit or even ice cream. If I've gone too long before eating, I usually have a small glass of juice a few minutes before I eat. The sugar gets to the blood right away, allowing time for the food to digest & be absorbed.

I try to eat as Tania suggests - something every few hours.

Many of us have low stomach acid production, so taking betaine HCL & digestive enzymes with meals can be a great help.

Another theory is that since our bodies are so poor at producing energy, we crave fruit or sweets for that immediate energy boost.

 

[Whit]

I actually don't have this craving first thing in the morning. The first one comes about an hour after my first meal.

I think the protein meals have this effect because they take more work to digest, and blood probably is going to my stomach. The protein meals are kind of tiring for me.

 

[Whit]

I have similar problems with low blood sugar. Protein takes a lot longer to digest than simple fruit or even ice cream. If I've gone too long before eating, I usually have a small glass of juice a few minutes before I eat. The sugar gets to the blood right away, allowing time for the food to digest & be absorbed.

I try to eat as Tania suggests - something every few hours.

Many of us have low stomach acid production, so taking betaine HCL & digestive enzymes with meals can be a great help.

Another theory is that since our bodies are so poor at producing energy, we crave fruit or sweets for that immediate energy boost.

Yes, I eat regular, smallish meals as you can see from my list. I separate most foods too, a meat meal, then a veggie meal, etc.

I've also had the thought that I'm craving sweets because I'm so tired/weak, and it could be a kind of false alarm, where my body is misinterpreting the lack of ATP and sending false signals. I usually have a strong feeling that "I need something" and have for years kind of subconciously sought out some rare nutrient that I wasn't getting. If a healthy person felt this way, they would be starving to death or at least it would be true that they would be in dire need of some nutrient.

Another strange thing I've noticed is that I like to eat meat with ketchup. I eat my turkey with ketchup and if the other meat isn't in stew form, I put ketchup on it. I put lemon on the fish. It's partly to cover up the meat flavor (I'd rather be vegetarian) but I think it's for the vinegar in the ketchup, or the acid in the tomato/lemon. It's another craving that comes from something deeper than just flavor.

 

[November Girl]

Yes, I eat regular, smallish meals as you can see from my list. I separate most foods too, a meat meal, then a veggie meal, etc.

I wonder if you would do better with your foods not quite so separate? I think that a meat meal that is all protein, with little or no complex carbs, would not help keep your blood sugar up. My doc told me that I need to eat carbs every few hours, and I often have a bit of protein with them as even complex carbs don't last real long for me.

I've finally found a breakfast that really works for me. I eat trail mix, usually with Greek yogurt. We mix our own, with 1/2 dried fruits and the other half nuts & seeds.

Interesting about the acid craving.

 

[Whit]

What kind of doc is this that will work with you and figure things out like this? I've got a bunch of doctors and none have time for this kind of thing. I saw my GP the other day and he said he wouldn't help me get a wheel chair covered by insurance because he wouldn't feel comfortable with it because he thinks I should walk... I was like hey, I think I should too, but that doesn't change anything, %^**##$

 

[November Girl]

Yeah, someone once told me that it would be very good for me would be to go back to work. At the time, there was nothing I would have liked more! ...didn't mean I could do it.

The doctor in question was in Family Practice (more or less a GP) The discussion was about the low blood sugar issues. She was a very good doctor. She didn't know much about ME/CFS, but didn't assume that it didn't exist just because medical knowledge about it was pretty scant. She still wanted to help ameliorate my symptoms, and did help.

What kind of doc is this that will work with you and figure things out like this? I've got a bunch of doctors and none have time for this kind of thing. I saw my GP the other day and he said he wouldn't help me get a wheel chair covered by insurance because he wouldn't feel comfortable with it because he thinks I should walk... I was like hey, I think I should too, but that doesn't change anything, %^**##$

 

[November Girl]

Btw, a very good internist once told me that low blood sugar problems are not directly tied to blood sugar levels - that very fit soldiers had no symptoms when their blood sugar dropped, and that some people reacted to very mild decreases. I suspect this could account for why so many of us have problems with low blood sugar - our bodies are stressed, and our general health is poor.

My personal experience is that the healthier I am, the less low blood sugar bothers me. I've no idea if that means it's not dipping or just that my body has a bit of reserve energy besides the sugar in the blood.

 

[taniaaust1]

What kind of doc is this that will work with you and figure things out like this? I've got a bunch of doctors and none have time for this kind of thing.

With special diets.. its a nutritionist one sees. I agree with what another here said.. better to be combining the different food groups rather then having them separately.

The specialist I see for my hypoglycemia and insulin issue is an allergist but is one which has a speciality in the area of insulin/glucose issues (he's like a foreleader in this field and right up with the research etc). Im under him and two different nutritionists (one nutritionist specialises in the low glucose while other nutritionist specialises in those with insulin issues)

You may have to do some online searches to see if you can find anyone who specialises in the area of hypoglycemia in your area.