• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Feeling cold since starting low-carb

Yes, metabolism is a complex (and fascinating!) thing. And type 2 is a metabolic disease, so has many complex (I won't say fascinating!) expressions of it.

How I express this is by saying 'metabolic' is at the cell level. No wonder it affects so much of our physical life!

The most basic med for type two is metformin (and it's herbal sister from my own p.o.v.) - berberine, affects us at the heart of the cell, the mitochondria, which is about energy, and how our body deals with it. (Lots about this online if you want to research it.)

It makes sense then that blood glucose levels, and different kinds of nutrtion affecting that would affect your body temperature. As does other metabolic processes like movement/activity, and of course - eating! And all that hormonal activity working to keep us alive, and all that gut biome 'stuff' doing their own thing that affects us so much. And how we are in 'contact' with that with our emotions - all affecting our blood glucose (and dealing with fats) system.

No wonder it type two can express itself, as it were, in complex ways. As does the food and drink we take in - big big player in this picture.
 
@AloeSvea yes, metabolism is certainly complex and there is a lot to go wrong if something is off kilter. I would agree with you that it is a fascinating field. It maybe that my own stubbornly raised blood sugars are related to this LMHR phenotype, who knows. It's interesting that they studied ultra marathon runners when choosing participants for some studies. I didn't run ultra marathons but I certainly ran long distances and was super fit. I'm still very fit now as I love exercise and I really push myself. Fascinating.
 
I’m on anticoagulant and I feel cold often. Assumed it’s this
 
I was the same, I did keto for around 3-4 months after being diagnosed T2. I didn't need weight loss, and my HbA1c was still in the 60s so went on meds. I now know the reason why though, as was diagnosed LADA last year. And a keto diet was never going to be enough on its own to get my bloods normal. But at the time I thought I was T2. I absolutely hated keto and could never have kept it up long term, it felt futile as it didn't help my blood sugars and I felt so rubbish all the time, really lethargic, headachy and just craving fruit. Never again!
 
TheSecretCarbAddict said:
I didn't consider BP changes. Will need to dust off my BP monitor and collect some data.
Click to expand...
I've been on keto since July last year and have experienced the same effects you and others have noticed with body temperature. I used to always be the warm person in my family, never needed central heating turned up, used to go out in just a t-shirt in all weathers/seasons. Don't know if it's just keto, the weight loss, or both, but I'm always freezing these days - especially my hands and feet.

On the BP point, definitely good advice from Jo to keep an eye on this. I was on 3 medications for BP in July last year, which controlled it to normal levels. By November, I'd been taken off two of these medications due to blood pressure dropping, and I'm going to see if I can come off the third medication at my next nurse appointment in May.

For headaches, I've only experienced these when I first went keto ("keto flu") and also when my BP dropped lower previously. Only time I get them now is if I go over 50g carbs per day, particularly if I consume most of those in a one meal time window, but that's only been on two occasions since July last year.
 
That's interesting @ATB123 so you had the same experience as me, going keto didn't lower your blood sugars. And you felt rubbish on it, so it was a challenge to stay on it. I didn't feel rubbish this time, but I felt miserable on it. Like you I thought what's the point being on keto, eating food that doesn't inspire (It does if it's a meal in the mix of non keto, but not continuously) if it doesn't lower your blood sugars. This may be a stretch but I'm going to say it anyways, keto doesn't work if food is not the reason ones blood sugars are high. Edited as I had lots of spelling errors. It's very early here on the west coast of Canada. I'm using that as an excuse for carelessness.

Sorry @TheSecretCarbAddict I don't want to hijack your thread.

​

 
Just to note that I am climbing back on the low carb wagon after a holiday (including very carby airline food) and I am really cold at the moment.
I've got my coat on and it isn't a cold house.
I am warm when I am walking, but back home I feel really cold at the moment.
I assume it is my body complaining about the lack of those lovely carbohydrates.
 
Another coldie here! I put it down to weight loss, even the soles of my feet don't feel insulated any more. But I do suspect thyroid as I work with just half a one.
Interesting that movement warms you up quickly. I'm forever taking a layer or 2 off then back on again, within minutes.
A small pinch of salt often helps stop a migraine in me, and I often have low blood pressure

I wish I knew causes and solutions
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…