Problem with nausea

[JPaleo]

Hello!

So I have gotten back on track and been purely Paleo for the past two days (after two weeks of mostly Paleo with some cheating) and I am just feeling kinda sick but also ravenously hungry most of the time. I am getting plenty of saturated fat.

I have started having problems with eating eggs (they are starting to make me feel sick) and seem to want fruit more often. Is this my body trying to get some sugar since I am off grains? I tend to feel headachy after eating one little apple. :(

I really want this to work because I believe very much in the Paleo Philosophy.

Any suggestions or ideas as to why I am feeling worse and not better?

-J

[PaleoDeano]

I would suggest that you eat whatever paleo food you want for about a month, since you really don't have that much weight to lose. Eat all the fruit, veggies, nuts, seeds, meat, animal fat, eggs, that you want. Just try and listen to your body and see what it wants, and then feed it fresh, whole food. And make sure you are getting TONS of water!!!!

Don't worry about what you are eating... as long as it is Paleo. You are going to feel strange for the first week or two... that is a GIVEN. But, if you have cravings for fruit... well, then... EAT FRUIT! :)

[JPaleo]

Okay. I am feeling a bit better today. I think I have some problems with my potassium levels falling when I go on low carb type diets (I've read about this in Protein Power). The first week (when I was pure Paleo for five days) I was getting really weak and dizzy. Then I put some Morton's Lite Salt (with extra potassium) on my morning eggs and felt much better.

I guess I am just a little impatient to start feeling better and have some evidence that this is way of eating is better for me.

I am not grossly overweight but I like the Paleo philosophy because it is about being healthier. And I definitely have issues with sugar. I feel sick a lot of the time (when I follow the SAD) and have IBS issues.

However, thus far in my life my blood pressure and cholesterol levels have always been excellent (in Jul--TC 169, HDL 63, LDL 90, trigly 77). I am a little worried about what will happen to those on this new diet. From what I have read they shouldn't worsen but I have this little fear in the back of my head (probably due to the the media demonizing fat and eggs). Still, the Paleo way of eating seems like it should make me healthier and I am hoping will stop the sugar highs and lows I have most days on the SAD. Anyone have blood work done?

I was a little disappointed last night when I had chopped up pork and onions wrapped in a lettuce leaf and actually felt a little sick after (hot flashes like when I eat too much bread or sugar) and then got heartburn. Why would that happen? Is my body still in some detox stage?

Oh, and what about dried fruit (like raisins). I have been craving those. Should I eat as much of those as I want or steer away because of the sugar content?

-J

[PaleoDeano]

That is really great that you have such a good lipid profile! Don't worry about the eggs and fat. Your cholesterol is not affected by eating foods "high in cholesterol". Once, for an experiment, I ate 4-6 eggs fried in butter every day for a month (along with chicken skins, and anything else I could eat for animal fat). My cholesterol went down!

I take potassium supps regularly... it helps with the dizziness and especially the muscle cramping! As far as any digestive problems... if you stick to eating meat and plenty of fat, and get your carbs low... those problems will completely go away! As far as the dried fruit thing... it is really up to you. For me, I remember my first few weeks trying out this paleo diet. I was eating lots of nuts and dried fruit and fresh fruit. I later started cutting the fruits down to just a couple small helpings a day. Now, I have been staying completely off of fruit and nuts and trying to just eat loads of veggies... cuz, I am trying to get my body fat down to 8%. It all depends on what you are trying to do. If you are new to eating this way, then you may have to decide that you need to focus on just learning to live without processed food and without any grains, legumes, dairy, refined sugar... if it helps you to stay away from that stuff by eating raisins, then that is a choice you have to make. At one point, I decided that I would eat bacon and hotdogs and cream cheese and stuff like that, just to get away from serious sugar binging... that seemed to work, but after a few weeks, I was cutting out the processed meats and trying to eat things like steaks and salmon, etc. Lately I have been trying to get away from using butter and cheese for fat, and I am making pemmican and saving fat drippings to use on meat, etc. Once I feel I have enough animal fat, I will be cutting out the butter (already cut out the cheese - not hard to do). So, do what you think you need to do. Just realize that you will feel better when you don't constantly consume bread, pasta, potatoes, junk food and soft drinks with sugar, etc. You are correct about getting off the roller coaster. Your moods will begin to stabilize (along with your insulin production) and you will be much less depressed and have more energy. But, it does take time for your body to adjust it's metabolism. There are many ways, though, to go forward in gaining better health... cuz, you always have to deal with the psychological issues too. One thing for sure, we are all pretty much creatures of habit... and after awhile, you will be amazed at how different you are eating compared to way back when!

Hope this ramble helps! :)
Good Luck!

[JPaleo]

Thanks!

That helps. I think I am focusing on too many things at once. I should break it down into steps.

1) Get off the non-Paleo food (and eat any Paleo food I want)
2) Once cravings are gone evalute what Paleo foods I want to cut back on to speed up any weight loss
3) When I reach my weight goal eat any Paleo foods I want to maintain myself where I am

I guess looking at that it is simple.

This forum is very helpful. Just having people out there to ask questions of and get support is great.

So, I still wonder (and I hope I am not asking too many questions)will eating Paleo help my blood sugar issues even if I eat a lot of high sugar Paleo foods like fruit and dried fruit (I think I am sensitive to sugar)? Or do I need to evetually cut them out for a while to give my body a chance to rebalance itself?

Thanks!!!!

-J

[PaleoDeano]

That is something only you can decide. It really depends on what is the most pressing. If you are having a hard time with sugar, and feel that you must get off of it, you may want to cut out anything sweet and eat lots of other junk (if you need to) like cheese or hot dogs, or whatever, in order to help do it. But, you may feel just fine eating healthy meats and fat and eggs and veggies and have no need to do this. Lots of fruit (fructose) will raise your blood sugar, and you will be producing excess insulin to control it. But, if you really are having a hard time getting away from potatoes, rice, bread, pasta... then you might need to cut those foods out first. It is trial and error, and getting to know what you need to work on. It is a gradual transition... especially if you feel you are "focusing on too many things at once" as you say... it has helped me to deal with one thing at a time. I could never have just gone from SAD to Pure Paleo overnight... but, eventually you get there (or close). I eat WAY different than I did four years ago! And that is why I know that slow, methodical transitions work for me. And I am still always working on changing my diet for the better. Just yesterday I ate raw egg yolks (from a very trusted source!) for the first time. Tomorrow I am getting some bison fat and meat to make pemmican from grass-fed bison (for the first time).