Does low carb diet makes you tired

biren1973 said:

Hi

Since I opted for low card diets and exercise with one metaformin a day, my bg remains stable, but I feel very tired and not feeling any energetic. Is it common? Do you recommend to take any vitamins to overcome this? Any suggestions?

Regards

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Hi there, Hubby is newly diagnosed and seemed to find the same thing-some days just doesn't have the 'get up and go', others he is fine. Tends to have his carbs for breakfast only and usually feels more with it in the afternoons. I think it is probably the body adjusting to less calories to obtaining energy from different sources (not just from carb) to being expected to exercise on less fuel.Perhaps also other changes, in Hubby's case it was also a lowering of BP and recovering from a virus. I would give yourself time, it will probably settle down.

as for vitamins you could try magnesium as a supplement which is good for supporting energy levels. x

You could ask your doctor for some vitamin and mineral tests to see if you have deficiencies.
Are you eating a balanced diet within your low carb regime?
Personally, I don't feel tired or lethargic at all and take no vitamin supplements.

biren1973 said:

Hi

Since I opted for low card diets and exercise with one metaformin a day, my bg remains stable, but I feel very tired and not feeling any energetic. Is it common? Do you recommend to take any vitamins to overcome this? Any suggestions?

Regards

Click to expand...

I should also add to my previous comment that I think Hubby's lethargy has a lot to do with lousy sleeping patterns....

I do not find that I am tired on a low carb diet so much as when I drop my calories down.
So if you eat enough of something else (to replace the energy found in carbs) then you get energy back.

When you rid carbs out you do need to think about adding in some fat to help - healthy fat if you want to consider it that way - olive oil etc. I have read so much about meat fats that I tend to eat those now even thought I did not previously.

Also - rather than have carbs for breakfast - what about omelettes, plain or mushroom, cheese, ham. That will provide a nice morning kick.

the body needs time to adapt ... after all the brain has been used to almost swim in high blood glucose for quite a while in many of us diabetic at the time we are diagnosed...there is a phenomenon called "low carb flu" where people do feel almost like having the flu the first week or weeks when they change their eating pattern..

But then remember; IT IS NECESSARY TO CHANGE EATING STYLE AND LOWER CARBS RATHER DRAMATICALLY .... so in that respect it is not really a choice.

I didn´t experience low carb flu, when being highly diabetic my brain was totally fatigued all the time, so in my case, I felt better and better when going both lower carb and also very low calories initially...

but not all do feel well when doing the very low carb eating style like under 50 grams... I personally don´t have the character to do it, not yet at least... but actually I hope to be braver in that respect in the future.

The initial stages of a low carb diet can be still have symptoms of what you describe.
Until the balance between carbs, fats and proteins are found by experimenting and testing, will this change and the sleeping patterns will improve as well.
This may take a few weeks.

Supplements can be useful but it usually what he eats what dictates his symptoms.

Can you give us an idea of what his daily diet is like?
We may have some suggestions.
Is he on any other meds for any other conditions?

Best wishes.

If anything I find the opposite true for me. I was running out of energy all the time before diagnosis, and now on low carbs, I have my old levels of energy back. As others have suggested, I eat eggs at breakfast time, and that starts the day well.

Certain foods contain an amino acid called tryptophan that causes tiredness. Carbohydrates make tryptophan more available to the brain, which is why carbohydrate-heavy foods make me tired.

Hi. Make sure you are having enough proteins and fats to go with the low-carb diet. I'm afraid extra vitamins are unlikely to help in my opinion.