"Life Without Bread"

Hello all,

I recently embarked upon the paleo diet. Just last week in fact. I haven't quite gone down to the low levels of carbs mentioned earlier in this thread(~0-20g), I'm playing it more loose right now akin to the diet established originally in LWB(keeping it under 72g pretty safely). I've cut out all my grains, dairy, limited fruits, mostly just veggies, meat and fat. Been sticking with bacon/eggs in the morning. A small salad and meat for lunch. And usually a small burger and onions for dinner.

I've been feeling really good generally, a lot of the gas and bloating I've been suffering from recently basically cleared up overnight, it was a total miracle for me. And I recently got some of the supplements mentioned earlier in this thread (Magnesium, Potassium, Vitamin C, and L-carnitine).

My big issue right now is I am having some of the worst heartburn I can remember right now. Its not coming up, its just boiling in my stomach with a steady burn. When I eat it relieves it for a little while, and then it comes back. I also have a bit of pressure feeling right below it like things aren't moving around. I remember last time I went to the doc like this, he just handed me a prescription for Nexium and sent me on my way. Is there some supplement that can help relieve this? Should I be adding more carbs back in?

I am 25 btw, no history of a vegetarian diet, on the slim side besides a bit of a gut that as shrunk a little since I started the diet.
 
blindpsychic said:
Hello all,

I recently embarked upon the paleo diet. Just last week in fact. I haven't quite gone down to the low levels of carbs mentioned earlier in this thread(~0-20g), I'm playing it more loose right now akin to the diet established originally in LWB(keeping it under 72g pretty safely). I've cut out all my grains, dairy, limited fruits, mostly just veggies, meat and fat. Been sticking with bacon/eggs in the morning. A small salad and meat for lunch. And usually a small burger and onions for dinner.

I've been feeling really good generally, a lot of the gas and bloating I've been suffering from recently basically cleared up overnight, it was a total miracle for me. And I recently got some of the supplements mentioned earlier in this thread (Magnesium, Potassium, Vitamin C, and L-carnitine).

My big issue right now is I am having some of the worst heartburn I can remember right now. Its not coming up, its just boiling in my stomach with a steady burn. When I eat it relieves it for a little while, and then it comes back. I also have a bit of pressure feeling right below it like things aren't moving around. I remember last time I went to the doc like this, he just handed me a prescription for Nexium and sent me on my way. Is there some supplement that can help relieve this? Should I be adding more carbs back in?

I am 25 btw, no history of a vegetarian diet, on the slim side besides a bit of a gut that as shrunk a little since I started the diet.
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Hi blindpsychic. It sounds like your body isn't keeping up with the dietary changes you're making and it needs a little support. I would try a digestive enzyme supplement that includes HCL and Ox Bile. With any luck, this will help your body adapt to these dietary changes and you'll be able to eliminate this supplement, but this could take awhile.

All the best :)
 
I tried the Betaine HCl, although I think what I got was far too strong. It just made the burning worse, like I had a sun in my chest. Perhaps the digestive aid supplements with bile? I have had some issues with my gallbladder before, a bit of 'sludge' appeared on an ultrasound of that spot.

Thanks!
 
blindpsychic said:
I tried the Betaine HCl, although I think what I got was far too strong. It just made the burning worse, like I had a sun in my chest. Perhaps the digestive aid supplements with bile? I have had some issues with my gallbladder before, a bit of 'sludge' appeared on an ultrasound of that spot.

Thanks!
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Try a little test - get some apple cider vinegar and put a couple of tablespoons in some water (you want to dilute it enough so it doesn't hurt going down, but so that it's still quite acidic) and drink it with your meal (not on an empty stomach). If the burning gets worse then you don't need HCL. In fact it probably means you're one of the rare cases that actually produces too much stomach acid.

A question for you - have you done a complete elimination diet to see what foods you're sensitive to? Heartburn can often be caused by food intolerances.
 
dugdeep,

I'll give what you said a try. I haven't done an elimination diet, I humored the idea of doing the ultra simple one a long time ago when it was first talked about here, but the information coming from the forum and books keeps changing at such a rapid pace that I didn't feel like that was the direction to go. It all got rather confused, and so I continued to wait and do more reading before I made a decision.
 
Galaxia2002, homemade raw sauerkraut helped me with my hard stools, after I got rid of mental stress that was binding up my gut. I believe my problem was a gut flora imbalance. However it is important to eliminate inflammation and heal your gut before carb restriction, if you have gut issues. This usually consists in eliminating gluten, casein, nightshades, lectins, etc. Some people are sensitive to coconut, eggs, etc. Bone broth is said to be extremely helpful in healing the gut, and it is being discussed heavily in the Ketogenic Diet thread right now.

In the Ketogenic Diet thread, it has been said that you need around .8 to 1.5g of protein per Kg of body weight (read the Ketogenic Diet thread for a breakdown of the calculation of protein/fat in the diet). Any excess protein is converted to glucose, essentially carbs, and can be a hidden barrier. You need a fat/protein caloric ratio of 3:1 or 4:1. This means 3 or 4 calories of fat to 1 calorie of protein; this works out to about 1.3g fat to 1g protein. Meat isn't pure protein, beef is about 25% protein. Again, this is discussed quite a bit in the Ketogenic Diet thread.

On page 201 of LWB it says underweight people may lose 3-6 pounds before gradually gaining weight, and tend to experience less appetite.
 
Galaxia2002 said:
Thanks for the reply Megan. I need to do a lot of work on this too. I did a kind of elimination diet some time ago. I am sensitive to diary, curry, beans, pepper, cabbage, but I give the sardines for sure and it was not so. Is there an elimination paleo diet or something like that? because I remembered that the one we do here was the Ultra simple diet that had a lot of veggies and not sit well to many people.
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I don't know of a new recommendation here. The modified Ultrasimple Diet is still on the EE website. The flaxseed and veggies caused me quite a bit of trouble.

IBS = Irritable Bowel syndrome. It seems to be a emotional component and I believe it is true in my case, because it started in the most stressful week of the year.
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Yes, I know the initials -- I was diagnosed with it years ago. But it means different things to different people.

I don't think I lower the carbs sharply, it last months. I lost the 6 Kg in 1 1/2 year ...This is another problem, I feel satiated with relatively few food compared with persons I know. So I believe I need to force myself to eat more. What I don't know is what ratio fat/carb keep
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If your appetite isn't directing you to eat more, "forcing" isn't necessarily going to help in the long run. I don't think we have a really good theory yet of why people gain or lose weight. It may have a lot to do with inflammation, and that can come from food. Various environmental contaminants are also being linked now with obesity and diabetes, including BPA and even EMF. This might result from inflammation as well -- nobody knows for sure.

I am not sure why you would be concerned with the fat/carb ratio. The fat/protein ratio is important for a ketogenic diet, but until you solve the problems you are having you might want to lower that (i.e. eat more protein). It seems you are more likely to run into problems with plant foods than animal foods. Experiment with eliminating different foods (or families).

I am not the best person to figure this out. You are. There is a lot of guidance and experience here in the prior posts in this topic, and in the recommended reading. If you are having problems with gut bacteria, though, that might be harder to work out; it certainly has been for me.

Changing your diet shouldn't make you seriously ill. If it does, don't do that! I tried going zero-carb, for example, found myself in a bad way, and brought my carb levels back up. Some forms of intentional suffering are not so good. But I think I am going to try it again, going down much more gradually, because nothing else I have done has stopped the excess fermentation completely. So do try things, but don't force yourself to do things that don't seem right.
 
Galaxia2002, if your gut symptoms are stress-related, this stands out to me. In the KD thread, it has been discussed how stress can work against one getting into the ketogenic diet. It seems like I had the same problem. I was very stressed out. I found the solution was to practice self-acceptance and to release tension in the gut area. There was an immediate change. However I went out of ketosis before this. I will start on the diet again at some point.
 
blindpsychic said:
dugdeep,

I'll give what you said a try. I haven't done an elimination diet, I humored the idea of doing the ultra simple one a long time ago when it was first talked about here, but the information coming from the forum and books keeps changing at such a rapid pace that I didn't feel like that was the direction to go. It all got rather confused, and so I continued to wait and do more reading before I made a decision.
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DOing an elimination diet, or at least testing for foods that your body is comfortable with via the elimination diet is the first building block of the whole process. This IS the direction to go before ALL others. Otherwise there is likely to be total confusion in the effects you and your body experience.

Megan said:
...
The modified Ultrasimple Diet is still on the EE website. ...
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blindpsychic said:
dugdeep,

I'll give what you said a try. I haven't done an elimination diet, I humored the idea of doing the ultra simple one a long time ago when it was first talked about here, but the information coming from the forum and books keeps changing at such a rapid pace that I didn't feel like that was the direction to go. It all got rather confused, and so I continued to wait and do more reading before I made a decision.
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Which is unfortunate since you could have been learning from your own body during these various experiments.
 
After reading the threads and PBPM I started the diet over a year ago. I went back to visit my mum, aunt and sister and they were mortified at the state of me. They said I looked over 90 years old! I didn't exactly feel full of life and have been under continual stress so knew that was a major contribution to how I looked. I had lost so much weight that my skin was flabby plus my eyes were sunken/dark and eyelid red. Also my cheeks were very hollow. So it was quite frightening. I hadn't realised how bad it was as it crept up on me I suppose.

Also in retrospect I recall someone meeting me for the first time and not recognising me yet commenting to another person about 'the old women who came here last week with her dog'. Well I was only 55 and had always looked younger and bright eyed! Shock horror and back to my usual way of eating for a while. It worked and everyone was happy again. However I never completely regained the healthy plumpness in my face.

I must say that My grandfather lived to 92, my grandmother to 94, My mum is 81 and extremely healthy and has more energy than me and can even walk faster than me. But both my father and his mother died at 73 of pulmonary embolism.

My usual way meaning back to pasta bread and potatoes, cheese. I still wanted to join the diet though so at new year started cutting out the baddies. My energy levels were not good though. I was taking supplements all this time and plenty of water.

I was never really over weight - about 53 kilos at 5' 4". Swim in the sea doing aqua aerobics regularly and enjoy walking.
Been on the diet for the last few months. Still have a few baddies to stop eg ice coffee (with dash of milk), occasional wine or brandy sour. Socially I find it difficult as my friends/support system all meet at bars and cafes as normal social habits in hot climate! But what to drink. Even fruit jiuce has sugars in it. So am left with just water. They are not happy with me bringing a herbal teabag and asking for hot water!

My point is now that I cannot afford to lose any more weight. Already notice my thighs getting a bit saggy despite swimming. But more importantly my cheeks have gone really hollow again and my eye socket look a bit ghoulish, dark and eyelids red. Energy is a bit better.

Actually a stranger came to my house yesterday (an estate agent who wanted to buy my apartment for himself). Out of the blue commented on how much energy I radiated, that I exuded light/energy in a room. (I am very protective of my sanctuary and careful who I have around here). I had already immediately declined any sale so to my surprise felt it to be a genuine comment.

So am now in a quandary what to do. I have 4 bacon rashers and 2 eggs with plenty of goose fat and butter every morning. The only vegetables I have are onions, avocado, mushrooms, lettuce, cucumber, with the occasional aubergine, tomatoes. I do notice sugar cravings in the evenings sometimes but take a spoon of coconut oil. Supplements are Vit C powder, Melatonin (can only get the NOW 3mg tablets here), B complex and fish oil capsule.

I eat breakfast and another 'meal' when I am hungry. My sleep is not good as get bitten by sand flies so try to catch up in the morning when they dont seem to bite though the heat/humidity here is too much for everyone at the moment.

I dont know about Ketosis as cannot get the stix here, nor can we get anything sent via post.

I am cutting out the alcohol/sugar - a bit of a coping mechanism/self medicating/reward system going on there - same with the ice coffee. Still get the chocolate cravings though was never one to have a sweet tooth anyway.
I have suffered from low energy and brain fog for a long time now but the brain is getting a bit better now.

Would really appreciate some advice/feedback as I am seriously missing something here.

Background: Work on the self and emotional baggage is continual. (psychopath/grief-shock stuff). I live alone (by choice, in 'recovery'), very frugally with my dog and cat. Am internally a happy/grateful soul plodding along until I get my business launched. I thoroughly enjoy my studies - top priority, being in nature, communicating with people.

Thank you for any suggestions and your time. :cool2:
 
Happyliza, if you were fine on your old diet, had no problems at all, then you might as well stick to it.
 
Thanks for helping Laura. Like everyone here I just wish to be the best I can be to complement the Work - to give ourselves the best chance that we have in light of what is happening on the BBM especially in this vicinity.

You are so right when you say people can continue blindly following their usual regime regardless of the fact that harm is being done internally.

I am pretty sure I have leaky gut - though am no longer getting the symptoms. And everyone must have inflammation of some sort too.

My post is seriously not a cop out and I truly believe the truth behind all the findings about how we should eat. My sister is a die-hard vegatarian and i see what it is doing to her - not good. With serious bowel bleeding now. But she will not listen.

I still wish to try to get to ketosis like everyone else. You all make so much sense with this. I just love these 'aha' findings in truth.

Maybe I should try a bit more meat and veg with the fat. Not so I feel really full but up the calorific intake a bit. Better sleep somehow too. A bit of self compassion on the sleep would also help the stress - a killer in itself no regime could properly work on anyway. Luckily I am not time-bound so I dont have to be ruled by 'time' at the moment.

Will also prioritise EE and spinning for the above.

Does anyone else have similar results/effects?

I will see how that goes for now FWIW. You are all doing so well and I am just as committed too.

Thank you again. Happy ketosis for everyone on Paleo :)
 
I think you should read the entire ketogenic diet thread before you do anything at all. Do not do anything that you don't understand.
 
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