Extreme unexplained gradual water weight loss?

[MEsucks]

I have recently observed something interesting and possibly problematic with my weight that I can't find any info about anywhere. So I thought I would see if anyone else has experienced something similar or maybe know what is causing it.

In March 2022 I weighed 71 kg(156.5 lbs) and approximately 5.6 kg(12.3 lbs) of that was fat. Then I started a paleo diet, then a keto diet, then briefly a carnivore diet and then finally a more extreme almost fasting keto diet for a few days. During that time I lost weight when starting a new diet, but I also gradually lost weight with no sign of it slowing down, at the end of all this in August I weighed 63.2 kg(139.3 lbs) and approximately 4.4 kg(9.7 lbs) of that was fat. Then I went back to a normal diet with gluten and alcohol etc and gradually gained weight until November when I weighed 72.3 kg(159.4 lbs) and approximately 5.9 kg(13 lbs) of that was fat. And finally two months ago I started a low-FODMAP + exclusion diet and have so far lost 3.5 kg with no sign of that slowing down. For the last month I have been taking WHO oral rehydration salts, and it increased my weight slightly temporarily but is not stopping my weight loss.

I have POTS which I think got worse during keto, and is definitely getting worse right now, but that might be because it is summer so I sweat more. Also, during the first two weeks of keto, I had major improvements in fatigue and other symptoms. I might have lost some muscle mass but considering the rapid weight regain, I doubt it was that major, so to me, it seems like I lost maybe 6 kg of water, and it happened gradually with no sign of it stopping, which is very strange.


TL;DR I believe I lost at least 6 kg(nearly 10% of my body weight) of water during five months on the keto diet, and it happened gradually over months with no signs of slowing down, why?

 

[GreenEdge]

IMHO. The reason for no signs of slowing down is because you still had fat your body was quite happily using for energy. Don't overthink things - your body knows what it is doing. Long fasts are good for you (autophagy + mitophagy) and don't worry, hunger will return when your body is not comfortable loosing any more fat.

Edit: I would say up to 2.5kg of your weight loss and gain has been water. Inflammation causes swelling with water. Keto and carnivore are anti-inflammatory. (BTW the masters of keto are carnivore).

I think we're all carrying more fat than we realize, in the form of visceral fat and intra-muscular fat. My weight has been as low as 50.5 kg and is currently about 57 kg. Before carnivore my bicep muscles used to be spongy even when tensed (due to intramuscular fat). They are now firm when tensed and this is due to carnivore diet. I still have some visible fat around my waist and I suspect also visceral fat around my organs. After watching the following video - I'm now inspired to work on getting rid of it.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

It's interesting that the subcutaneous fat deposits...padding and such....I have found this does not return.

that furthers my theory that we lose subcutaneous fat, thru a process of the connective tissue and collagen being robbed or broken down.

Belly fat: no problem, jiggle jiggle. But fat does not come back on the soles of my feet or palms or fingertips.

I open cans with a Swiss Army knife. I'd had to add padding to my hand, otherwise I can't open the can any longer. I can't walk barefoot on the hard kitchen floor: ouch ouch

 

[MEsucks]

I would say most of your weight loss and gain has been water. Inflammation causes swelling with water. Keto and carnivore are anti-inflammatory. (BTW the masters of keto are carnivore).

I have also heard that you can lose weight by decreasing inflammation, but I have never found a reliable source(a study, for example) saying that a person with no obvious inflammation(standard blood tests are normal) can lose a substantial amount of weight by lowering inflammation. And even if it is possible, from what I have read it should happen within the first few weeks.

I think we're all carrying more fat than we realize, in the form of visceral fat and intra-muscular fat. My weight has been as low as 50.5 kg and is currently about 57 kg. Before carnivore my bicep muscles used to be spongy even when tensed (due to intramuscular fat). They are now firm when tensed and this is due to carnivore diet. I still have some visible fat around my waist and I suspect also visceral fat around my organs. After watching the following video - I'm now inspired to work on getting rid of it.

I had not thought about visceral fat and intra-muscular fat, but I double it is the reason. First of all I am 19 years old and have always been very skinny(I am 183 cm tall and still have some muscle left from working out before I had CFS).

My weight was slowly decreasing(probably due to muscle loss) before I started any diet and after regaining my weight I very abruptly stopped gaining weight, this suggests that if it is due to visceral fat the body wants me to have specifically that amount(and wanting a specific amount of water seems more likely).

Finally, when starting the final extreme keto diet I lost 2.4 kg in five days with a total calorie deficit of about 3000 kcal, meaning most of it must have been water. Since I was already following a keto diet(I however ate quite a bit of protein, so my ketone levels were not that high) that is a lot of water to lose.

Very interesting, in the video he mentioned 6,000 patients I believe, have any of these results been published in a study? Or is there some other study to back it up?

 

[MEsucks]

Here is the weight graph:

 

[GreenEdge]

I would say most of your weight loss and gain has been water.

I should not have said "most" and I will correct it. I should have said "up to 2.5kg".
- Some say water weight can be up to 5kg (depending on body size).

You have now given a more likely water weight loss amount by saying:

Finally, when starting the final extreme keto diet I lost 2.4 kg in five days with a total calorie deficit of about 3000 kcal, meaning most of it must have been water.

3000 / ~9 = ~333 g = 0.3 kg of fat loss
2.4 kg - 0.3 = 2.1 kg of water loss

After doing keto for some time you were probably no longer ketogenic until you did carnivore briefly - that got you back into ketosis before doing the "extreme keto diet".

I have also heard that you can lose weight by decreasing inflammation, but I have never found a reliable source(a study, for example) saying that a person with no obvious inflammation(standard blood tests are normal) can lose a substantial amount of weight by lowering inflammation. And even if it is possible, from what I have read it should happen within the first few weeks.

Consuming carbohydrates is one cause of inflammation. Proof that our bodies are not well equipped for eating plant foods. Our inability to digest fiber is further proof. Our appendix is a vestigial organ that was once a cecum (hindgut fermenter) used to digest fiber.
Edit: See: Hard Facts about the Carnivore and Vegan diets, with Dr Anthony Chaffee, MD.

All carbohydrates (except fiber) are broken down into glucose. The hormone insulin helps speed up it's removal from our blood where excess glucose is toxic (a condition called diabetes) causing damage to blood vessels via increased production of Advanced Glycation End-products (AGEs).

My weight was slowly decreasing(probably due to muscle loss) before I started any diet and after regaining my weight I very abruptly stopped gaining weight, this suggests that if it is due to visceral fat the body wants me to have specifically that amount(and wanting a specific amount of water seems more likely).

Visceral fat has a limited space to occupy so can not grow beyond a certain amount. That's why you stopped gaining weight.

Very interesting, in the video he mentioned 6,000 patients I believe, have any of these results been published in a study? Or is there some other study to back it up?

I don't think so. Here's Dr. Sean O'Mara website: https://drseanomara.com/research
Other studies: https://www.google.com/search?q=visceral+fat+causes+inflammation

 

[MEsucks]

@GreenEdge - Looking at the whole picture(including normal visceral fat to subcutaneous fat ratios) I still don't think visceral and intramuscular fat is the whole explanation. However, I don't have any other good theories, so I have used https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2040041/ and https://www.lih.lu/en/visceral-fat-calculator/ to approximate my visceral fat weight. If my weight continues to drop, I will do the test again, giving me an indication of how my visceral fat weight is changing. Thank you for the info/theory!