So, what do you make of this?

[paulm]

During the winter in Arizona is when I get most of my big yard work projects done because it's not Africa HOT!!! So I picked of 2.5 tons (5000 pounds) of landscaping rock last week because I had some areas that I had to fill in. It took me 3-4 hours to "distribute" the rock using a shovel, wheel barrow and a rake. Before being on a low carb diet this would generally mean 3-4 days of sore muscles, back, etc. Not this time...I got the job done and was a little tired, but not too bad.

The strange thing though was during the following days I had no discomfort or soreness. Strange, as I work a desk job and don't do physical activity, except for walking up and down two flights of stairs about 15 times a day as I refuse to use the elevator. So low carbing has some affect on my stamina as well as allowing my body to not be sore after what I would consider pretty strenuous work for a desk jockey?!?!

I have noticed that any time I have been on a low carb diet (this is the third time in my life) that I feel stronger, have more energy, stamina and have virtually no soreness after hard physical work (aside from an injury). Weird huh???

Also, I haven't been sick all winter?!?! All three of my daughters have been sick multiple times this winter, but I haven't caught any of their colds! Another strange side affect of LC'ing???

Another odd thing. I have always had excellent vision, 20/15 or so up until about five years ago. Staring at a computer screen all day for years has finally taken its toll. Well, now I don't even wear my glasses during the day and my eyes never seem to get tired! I used to get headaches or muscle spasms, but no more. Hard to believe that this is because of LC'ing, but it's happened the last two times I have been eating LC. Weird huh!!


So, is all of this coincidence or a benefit of eating LC? :confused:

[Duparc]

I guess I can subscribe to having similar benefits. Until I started low-carbing 16 months ago I lacked in energy and seemed to have spent most of my time looking for excuses not to do anything physical but, during the course of the year, whenever anything required action on the manual side, I had no hesitation at getting on with the job and getting it done. Currently I am in the process of catching-up with some outstanding DIY tasks that required attention and I have been fairly active since around July/August time and making good progress. In the evenings when I finish working I feel my muscles aching but never have any problems the following day at getting re-started. I had been aware that the increase in energy was probably due to the diet but was never quite certain, that is, until I read your post. Thanks for drawing it to attention. What a lovely spur to keep at it!

[jeff-az]

I live in Chandler so I know all about moving landscaping material around. Last time I did it was tough. I need to do some more in the back yard and have been putting it off for years. I have so much more energy now I may tackle it before it gets hot.

I was just thinking earlier today about all the energy I have now, I feel reborn or something. I also work a desk job these days but your post gives me hope that I won't kill myself getting outside to get some things done. :)

[Enomarb]

Don't want to jinx myself, but I have not been sick in 2 years. Always get whatever bug is going around- and nada since LC. I also heal more quickly- a cut is gone in days, and I just seem to heal faster. Have a lot more senergy, too. I wonder if it's the extra protein- I eat lots more than I used to. I also think the effects of the extra insulin on the immune system must not be great, and that this is better all around for my body.
I have noticed that if I lift weights after I walk (for an hour) I run out of steam in a way that didn't happen pre-LC, so now I lift first! I'll have to pay attention to the 'soreness factor'- interesting!
E

[Luzyanna]

Actually it's probably more of the lack of sugar and its effects on your body. Sugar suppresses the immune system and can weaken eyesight. It's just bad stuff all the way around. Amazing how strong and healthy a body can be without it huh? A great reason to make Atkins a lifetime commitment.

[TarHeel]

So, what do you make of this?

During the winter in Arizona is when I get most of my big yard work projects done because it's not Africa HOT!!! So I picked of 2.5 tons (5000 pounds) of landscaping rock last week because I had some areas that I had to fill in. It took me 3-4 hours to "distribute" the rock using a shovel, wheel barrow and a rake.

Mostly what I think of this is that I wish you were my next door neighbor looking to make some extra spare change doing yard work for me!

I can't address the improvement in immune systems with lc, as I have seldom been sick for years, and give credit to working with children and building up an immunity to lots of germs/bugs over the years. Washing your hands repeatedly is not necessarily a good thing, IMO.

But when I broke my ankle 2 years back, my health care team were quite impressed by how quickly the bones knitted after surgery. I think that may well have been due to all the protein in my lc WOE.

Correlation does not imply causation, but if you're feeling better all around, might as well give lc some of the credit.

Kay

[paulm]

Correlation does not imply causation

Ha, I like that and I agree with you.


Glad to hear that others have had similar experiences! :thup:

[JL53563]

Actually it's probably more of the lack of sugar and its effects on your body. Sugar suppresses the immune system and can weaken eyesight. It's just bad stuff all the way around. Amazing how strong and healthy a body can be without it huh? A great reason to make Atkins a lifetime commitment.


I use to work with a woman who seemed like she was ALWAYS sick. She was constanly coughing, sneezing, hacking, etc. She told me that her doctor told her the reason she was sick so much was because of her high blood sugar. Not sure if she was diabetic, but she was at least borderline.

[AuntJoyce]

I think Dr. Atkins is right about sugar being an anti-nutrient. Not only is it not good for you, but it is really bad for you. And of course starch and grains are metabolized the same way. I have also had better eyesight, strength and stamina. I only buy the small size of ibuprofin because it expires before I can use it up! I went for about 5 years without a cold. But I had one cold this year. I had been cheating too much and my blood sugar was higher (I have type 2 diabetes, but control it with LC diet and no meds). About 6 years ago when my blood sugar was high, I had a flu and then pneumonia!

Last summer, I shoveled a big truckload of gravel and then I played in a tennis match that evening. I felt so satisfyingly spent when I hit the bed that night! I have osteo-arthritis too, but eating LC and excercising is the best thing for that (plus glucosamine/chondroitin).

[KarenJ]

Paulm, Congrats! I love rocks.

I can't wait until the warm weather comes around and I can get back into the garden. The POND (http://www.pbase.com/karenfrogpond/general_pond_pictures) I built is always in need of rock, so if you have any extra send them up my way. ;)

I still do get sick quite a bit, but I suspect it's because I have two kids that go to school at a germ factory and cough & sneeze in my face all the time. However, I don't get sick nearly as much as I did on the high carb diet. I subscribe to the thought pattern that killing germs around the house with large amounts of antibacterial cleaners is a dangerous game to play.

[JandLsMom]

I know that Lowcarb eating does wonders for all kinds of things. Heres one for ya!! i tried for 16 YEARS to get pregnant, never used any kind of birth control, was always hoping, praying, trying. Me and hubby went on Atkins, and after 5 mos of LCing..i was PREGNANT!!!! i dont think it was a coincidence! I now have a beautiful baby boy! Also my Dad had tons of back, neck and shoulder pain for years, to the point he was having a hard time walking. He went on Atkins, within 2 weeks, ALL the aches and pains were gone and he was not only walking well, he started riding his bike and worked his way up to 20 miles a day after a few months on Atkins!! Its amazing..it really is!

[black57]

I had been jogging this week. My body feels different but it isn't sore. I was surprised that I was able to run as far as I did. Three years ago, I made an attempt to run and it felt as if every bone in my body was cracking. I took about 4 steps and decided then that I would not be running anymore. Wow, we are becoming animals, y'all!!! :)

[black57]

Remember what sugar does to teeth? Perhaps our bones experience the same battle. Is sugar the culprit behind osteoporosis? I know that I have said this before but I have fewer gray hairs in my head. There has got to be a correlation.

[foxgluvs]

I found that dropping sugar from my diet did wonders for me too. You could account the extra energy to weight loss, but I truly believe it is because we are no longer poisoning ourselves with toxins that accumilate from processing sugar and bad carbs. I found that within about a month of being LC I had heaps more energy, and I also found that when I cheated the first time round I felt TERRIBLE again....all the feelings of lethargy and aches and pains came back!

All in all I am sold after 2 yrs of being LC that I will never go back to the way I was before. I was SO much unhealthier!!

[foxgluvs]

The POND (http://www.pbase.com/karenfrogpond/general_pond_pictures) I built is always in need of rock, so if you have any extra send them up my way. ;)



That is a truly spectacular pond!! Wish you lived closer, I'd employ you to make me one!!

[black57]

Yeah, what a beautiful pond!!!

[Wildflowr6]

Agreed! Gorgeous pond!

Although I cheat FAR too often, and far too much, I have been following a low carb lifestyle since 1999. Last year I had the first cold I'd had in 5 years!

[KareninDE]

Low carbing can definitely make a difference in your immunity, although it's not the sole factor, of course. Here is an excerpt from a talk by Ron Rosedale that helps explain why.

From: http://bodye.com/insulin1.htm (but read the whole thing, it's really a fascinating talk).

==========================================

You really need to look at the root of what is causing the problem. We can use that cold as a further example.

Why does that person have a cold?

If he saw the doctor, the doctor might tell him to take an antibiotic along with the decongestant. You see this all the time because the doctor wants to get rid of the patient. In almost all cases of an upper respiratory infection, it is a virus, and the antibiotic is going to do worse than nothing, because it is going to kill the bacterial flora in the gut and impair the immune system, making the immune system worse.

The patient might see someone else more knowledgeable who will say, “No, you caught a virus, don't do anything, go home and sleep, let your body heal itself.” That's better. You might see someone else who would ask why you caught a virus without being out there trying to hunt for viruses with a net. We are breathing viruses every day; right now we are breathing viruses, cold viruses and rhinoviruses.

So why doesn't everybody catch a cold tomorrow?

The Chinese will tell you that it is because the milieu has to be right, if the Chinese were to quote the French. Your body has to be receptive to that virus--only if your immune system is depressed will it allow that virus to take hold.

So maybe a depressed immune system is the disease. You can be given a bunch of vitamin C because your immune system is depressed and it is likely that the person has a vitamin C deficiency. That's where most of us are at right now, where we would recommend a bunch of vitamin C to try to pick up the immune system.

But why is the vitamin C not working? Vitamin C is made in almost all living mammals except humans and a couple of other species. Vitamin C is made directly from glucose and actually has a similar structure; they compete for one another.

It has been known for many decades that sugar depresses the immune system. It was only in the 70s that they found out that vitamin C was needed by white blood cells so that they could phagocytize bacteria and viruses. White blood cells require a fifty times higher concentration, at least inside the cell as outside, so they have to accumulate vitamin C.

There is something called a phagocytic index, which tells you how rapidly a particular macrophage or lymphocyte can gobble up a virus, bacteria or cancer cell. In the 70s Linus Pauling knew that white blood cells needed a high dose of vitamin C and that is when he came up with his theory that you need high doses of vitamin C to combat the common cold.

But if we know that vitamin C and glucose have similar chemical structure, what happens when sugar levels go up? They compete for one another upon entering the cells. And the thing that mediates the entry of vitamin C into the cells is the same thing that mediates the entry of glucose into the cells. If there is more glucose around then less vitamin C will be allowed into the cell, and it doesn't take much glucose to have this effect. A blood sugar value of 120 reduces the phagocytic index 75 percent.

[RedJodie]

Interesting....