I decreased my caffeine significantly over the last two months, and I was doing well, but now the diet change is making me struggle. I just don't feel like my brain is adjusting. I don't really know what else to do to improve the situation. I had caffeine (tea) the last two days, but I don't want to make that a habit again. I'm really struggling, any more suggestions?

Did the caffeine help?

UPDATE:
I had been avoiding bread/wheat foods because they seemed to increase my fogginess. Then last night I had some Rye Crisp crackers (no sugar, just wheat, barley and oats). I had a horrible case of bloating and gas withing the hour. Then I thought about the fact that I haven't had any problems with bloating and gas over the last week or so that I've been avoiding wheat and grains. This had been a problem for me for so long, that I just accepted it as part of my high fiber diet. Now I realize that I might have some kind of gluten intolerance. That might be related to the low globulin protein level on my recent blood test, because I read that this type of intolerance can cause a problem with protein absorption. I see the doctor again in another week, so I plan to have some additional blood tests.

Please let us know if you wind up having gluten intolerance. I do great when I avoid pretty much all grains except for rice, which doesn't seem to bother me. I had some scones yesterday
and the gas returned & bloating, and a 2lbs weight gain.
I wanted to comment from reading 2 books about gluten intolerance, Against the Grain, and Dangerous Grains, that the
fatigue from gluten can practically make a person crave caffeine
in order to function. That seems to be part of my history.
I haven't been tested for gluten, but I would love to find out for
sure. The other book that I tend to follow is the Blood Type Diet by Peter D'Adamo. He says that type O's don't do well
on wheat or coffee, tea, etc. He does allow for green tea as
a beneficial beverage, but I hate the taste of it. Oh well, it sounds like you are making progress!

It sure does! Please let us know how it goes. I don't seem to have any intestinal issues with grains. I'll have to watch and see if any fatigue accompanies them. They're such an easy way to get my carbs up. After so many years of low carb, it's hard to figure ways to eat carbs, but I plan to branch out more. Like today, I bought a few tiny potatoes to try out.

Do you have any of Dr. Schwarzbein's cookbooks? She usually
makes mashed potatoes with cream. Tastes so good! We also like a potato salad recipe from her book, I think it's called picnic potato salad, with hard boiled eggs, green beans, red pepper, etc. lots of other veggies added in. My 18 year old daughter
asks me to make it. If grains don't bother you, you may actually be healthier. That's good news!

I guess I'm the only person who likes green tea here. But I would recommend that you try brands which blend green tea with lemon grass or mint. Might make it more palatable for you. There's a blood test you can take which looks for certain antibodies and is 95% accurate with regards to gluten intolerance. Unfortunately, the most accurate method involves an endoscope to take a bowel biopsy. Yuck. Think I'll try the blood test first.

I think I do have some issues with wheat. The days that I eat it at all 4 meals, I have a stuffy nose that night requiring a breathe-rite strip to sleep. So something is definitely going on, but it may be mild enough that I can still eat it some, but I guess I have to really think about whether I want to continue putting something into my body that I have ANY sort of reaction to in order to maximize my health. I know there are other types of bread and crackers, so it wouldn't be the end of the world if I had to seek them out.

Yesterday, I had wheat at 2 meals, still needed the strip. Today, I'm cutting it down to one meal. At lunch I had a tiny baked potato with sour cream and chives, along with my hamburger patty and coleslaw. It was really yummy, and I was happy to be able to eat the potato and know that I was still "on plan." Thanks for the tips about the recipes...I do have her first cookbook, I'll look in there.

Elle there are lots of gluten alternatives for you if you want to cut down. I cut gluten out months ago and have no problem getting healthy carbs in. Some suggestions: oats or oat bran (have gluten but are often better tolerated), butternut or acorn squash, brown rice, quinoa (the spinach and feta quinoa recipe in her cookbook is awesome), millet (kids love it), buckwheat, sweet potatoes, potatoes, beans (black, kidney etc.), lentils, chick peas, green peas, turnip, corn if you're into that sort of thing, and yummy, yummy fruits. I try to limit the grains and potatoes to post workout times while my insulin sensitivity is temporarily improved and my muscles are looking to increase their glycogen stores, and go with more beans, fruits, squash, etc. for all the other times of the day. In about a month or so, it will all be second nature to you and you will not feel like you are having to try at all.

Paulum, I thought all tea was to be avoided if you have a low thyroid because of the flouride content. This is why I avoid green tea, otherwise I would use it for its benefits. Do you find it doesn't have any adverse effect on you?

Jende,
I don't feel so great after drinking green tea either, so maybe it is the flouride. Interesting to know. I just could never enjoy it, so I was trying to drink black tea, then quit that. I have sort of gone backwards lately with some coffee though. I think I need to try to eat right consistently to feel good enough to get off the caffeine. Someone on another board told me that celestial seasoning has a delicious blueberry tea, I am going to give that a go.....

I did not need the breathe right strip last night after wheat at only 1 meal. I'm also down 2 pounds as of today!

Okay, this is the beginning of week three. My boyfriend still feels great! More energy on the soccer field and with his strides. I'm getting a little better. Tried some digestive enzymes to help with the blood sugar, bought some Stevia and I'm having a cup of green tea once a day. The brain fog seems a little better, but for the last two days, I've felt like I'm gaining weight or maybe I'm just bloated. I'm going to weigh myself tonight, but things feel a little tighter. All I did was switch the gluten bread for non-gluten bread (and I stick to one piece and no more than one slice a day). Maybe it's the cottage cheese and raw almonds, but I'm not pigging out. Salads with protein for lunch (olive oil and balsamic vinager , no dressing) and substitued corn grits for oatmeal. I'm not uncomfortably full or anything. It's weird, because at first I felt like I was losing weight, but maybe that was just water weight and bloating from the gluten. Anyone GAIN weight from this?

Bread and grits do tend to me feel bloated. I was still wondering which carb level you're following? I simply cannot physically eat more than 60, perhaps 75g of carbs a day, her lowest recommended levels without feeling bloated.

Hi again,
Mc I am not trying to make this more complicated, but one other diet that I have "had" success with, when I followed it, was the blood type diet from ediets. I'm an O, so it means no dairy, wheat/gluten, or corn also. Those are the main avoids for my type, but there are different ones for each blood type.
Type B's have the most options including dairy. Wheat is bad for almost all types though. Maybe there are little things like the grits, vinegar can bother some people, if you like lemon you could use that instead. I don't like to push the eat right for your type diet, but I know it works. It's not much different from Schwarzbein, as it is also a whole food diet. There's a website for it too at dadamo.com. Just trying to help figure out what's happening for you.....

Here's a link.....
http://www.dadamo.com/