New cravings after weeks of low carb

StewartH

Well-Known Member
Messages
47
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
It is fantastic that you have lost weight and got your BS under control. That really is a life saver so don't give up.
When I switched to low carb, like you my experience of hunger changed considerably. Gone was the usual empty stomach feeling in the morning, instead I felt quite full so it didn't seem right to eat until l felt like it which is usually around 11.30 but varies a bit. But occasionally I feel a more subtle urge to eat, not the 'in your face' pangs of carb hunger but it's definitely there, especially after exercise.

I have come to know this as 'fat hunger'. Its my body asking for fuel! I have learnt that I have to keep the fuel and other minerals going in in sufficient quantity. Finding out how much fuel you need is key to this. When the pangs come have a bit more of your favorite high fat food, mine is half a teaspoon of butter with another half of peanut butter, or perhaps hummus on celery if I have some. Just something with a good dollop of fat and the pangs leave.
 

Carb_Junky

Member
Messages
7
Type of diabetes
Don't have diabetes
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
I cut to half the amount of coffee per cup and gradually reduced intake from eight to two cups per day and this decreased feelings of hunger. I replaced the lost coffee with water and on HCLF find that hunger is often thirst so carry water at all times. When I started to get deeper hunger pangs I tried three things to test what was causing it. First time it was too much protein, second time too little fat but I stayed on 50g carbs a day as I need to continue weight loss.

We're all different, so try all sensible advice given on here.

I'd say as you're first step, gradually reduce any diet products and replace fluids with water. When you've become used to that, check the three things as above.

A word of caution about sweeteners. Make your sweetened food or drink but use Stevia. It's from plants and is found not to affect BG or create cravings in the brain. You only need a pinch which is low carb.

Sometimes we forget that what worked to get a three stone weight loss has caused our body and brain to change. So we must check we've not started unconsciously increasing our portions, or carbs, eating out more often, or drinking more. If that looks OK, we should re evaluate what we're taking in as it must then be that which needs tweaking.

And it's true that so called diet products make you hungry.
 
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Butterfly1960

Well-Known Member
Messages
499
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I remember seeing a TV program some time ago when the divided people into 3 groups, the groups where given
  • Water
  • Coke
  • Diat Coke
To drink before having access to a room with unlimited food, have had not eaten for a few hours. It was monitored how much each person ate.
  • The people who drink the water ate the least,
  • The people with the full sugar coke had the next highest intake of calories including the suger in the coke.
  • The people who had the diat coke ate the most calories by a large amount.
The researchers think that that taste of sugar resulted in the brain expecting to get lots of carbs and the brain was not happy until it got all the carbs it was expecting…. It could even be that the taste of sugar results in insulin being released.
Wow! Would you believe it!!? I was drinking diet lemonade by the bucket full! Always hungry too... only stopped it cos told no more sweeteners. Now I know why I craved sugar so much! Ta for the info :)
 

charliebarker

Well-Known Member
Messages
256
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
All my life my downfall has been my sweet tooth. I low carb now, but have tried without success to halt the sweet cravings. I know they go hand in hand with anxiety, and I eat sugar free sweets when I need them. I know I should cut them out, but my anxiety prevents me ... I am trying though.

Yes - I have been overly anxious recently - so maybe that has contributed to it
 

charliebarker

Well-Known Member
Messages
256
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I cut to half the amount of coffee per cup and gradually reduced intake from eight to two cups per day and this decreased feelings of hunger. I replaced the lost coffee with water and on HCLF find that hunger is often thirst so carry water at all times. When I started to get deeper hunger pangs I tried three things to test what was causing it. First time it was too much protein, second time too little fat but I stayed on 50g carbs a day as I need to continue weight loss.

We're all different, so try all sensible advice given on here.

I'd say as you're first step, gradually reduce any diet products and replace fluids with water. When you've become used to that, check the three things as above.

A word of caution about sweeteners. Make your sweetened food or drink but use Stevia. It's from plants and is found not to affect BG or create cravings in the brain. You only need a pinch which is low carb.

Sometimes we forget that what worked to get a three stone weight loss has caused our body and brain to change. So we must check we've not started unconsciously increasing our portions, or carbs, eating out more often, or drinking more. If that looks OK, we should re evaluate what we're taking in as it must then be that which needs tweaking.

And it's true that so called diet products make you hungry.

thanks, I don't use sweetners or drink alchohol at all, and am still counting carbs and haven't changed, I think it was the diet coke that made the cravings kick in - that and a bit of stress.
 

charliebarker

Well-Known Member
Messages
256
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I have been drinking diet sodas all my life. I am drinking and eating aspartam/sorbitol whenever i want to i get no symtoms at all.

I get sugarcravings when i eat to little fat or to much sugar. (Tomatoes and carrots gives me cravings)

I have never ever felt anything negative linked to me drinking a diet soda.

my advice is to add more fat to your diet. Lower your carb increase fat.

lucky you !!! am eating a lot of fat and very little sugar, so i think for me at least diet coke is a no-no
 

charliebarker

Well-Known Member
Messages
256
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
My doctor told me that if I wanted to drink coke then diet coke wouldn't affect my blood sugar but might make it hard to kick the sugar habit. He advised against it and recommended water or plain soda water with a slice of lemon or lime. So it seems that your cravings could well be connected to the diet coke. As others have suggested - ditch it and see what happens. Congratulations, by the way, on the great progress you have made.
thanks ! yep - cravings certainly have got better since ditching the diet coke !
 
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charliebarker

Well-Known Member
Messages
256
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I didn't go to very low carb, but kept to about 100g/day (c.1600 Cal) with plenty of exercise while weight and BG came down. I lost 5 stones in 5 months and FBG fell from 14 to under 5 at the same time.
I had no cravings at all until my weight hit 12 stones (i.e. after losing 5 stones), then all of a sudden with no changes at all I was hungry all the time. I took this to mean that my fat stores were low/empty and I do now look quite lean.
Since then I have upped calories and carbs gradually (180ish and 2000ish) without affecting BG (so far) as I don't want to lose any more weight.

Is it possible that you have reached a suitable weight and that is why your cravings have begun?
Nice thought - but I'm still overweight - maybe I'm just having a levelling out, which is causing the cravings, or maybe it's just boredom !!
 

charliebarker

Well-Known Member
Messages
256
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Well that's good at least. Seems it might trigger something in your brain. Please keep me posted. I'll be interested to see if we nailed it

pretty sure it was the diet coke that gave me the cravings, their not entirely gone, but certainly much better. Think the rest might be sue to stress, which I've got a lot of at the moment.
 

charliebarker

Well-Known Member
Messages
256
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
It is fantastic that you have lost weight and got your BS under control. That really is a life saver so don't give up.
When I switched to low carb, like you my experience of hunger changed considerably. Gone was the usual empty stomach feeling in the morning, instead I felt quite full so it didn't seem right to eat until l felt like it which is usually around 11.30 but varies a bit. But occasionally I feel a more subtle urge to eat, not the 'in your face' pangs of carb hunger but it's definitely there, especially after exercise.

I have come to know this as 'fat hunger'. Its my body asking for fuel! I have learnt that I have to keep the fuel and other minerals going in in sufficient quantity. Finding out how much fuel you need is key to this. When the pangs come have a bit more of your favorite high fat food, mine is half a teaspoon of butter with another half of peanut butter, or perhaps hummus on celery if I have some. Just something with a good dollop of fat and the pangs leave.

weirdly after exercise I'm hardly hungry at all - I think, now that I've ditched the diet coke and things are a lot better, that it's a bit of a remnant of the old I'm bored so I want something to eat' - I wasn't having that before, so that's what's struck me as odd, I guess it's just the body going through changes etc
 

hooha

Well-Known Member
Messages
205
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
long queues.
Diagnosed with type 2 just under three months ago. Doc suggested I try 3 months of diet and exercise. Started low carb diet immediately, testing on average eight times a day. weight started to drop off, but bs didn't start to drop until I started skipping breakfast and keeping my carb intake to about 30g a day. Anyway, everything was going swimmingly until about a week ago....masses of energy, lost 25 lbs, BS averages down from the 13's to the high 6's (still a way to go!). Suddenly, after not feeling overly hungry or craving carbs at all, I'm suddenly thinking about food all the time again and craving sugar!! Help!! My willpower is rubbish and I was so thrilled that the low carb diet wasn't leaving me hungry! Haven't changed my diet and can't think what's causing the change.
HI Charliebarker. SNAP ! I was diagnosed type 2 in Oct. 2016, did the severe low calorie diet of Prof Roy Taylor, Newcastle University, lost 15 + kg in 2 months, got my blood sugars under control - no more diabetes !! Carried on with normal foods and low carb preferences [ no bread potatoes rice pizza noodles etc ] But oh oh...sometimes got late night cravings. After some beer and wine, got home and found myself raiding the fridge for the kid's biscuits and chocolate bars and even lumps of sponge cake ! This after stringently avoiding carbs all day . Answer ? Gave myself a strict talking to. Imagined the worst secondary symptoms of advanced diabetes. Recognised the danger of low will power after a few drinks.
[ Interestingly I have found my morning blood sugars are LOWER after alcohol, even beer. I understand this is because the liver has to get busy getting rid of the alcohol and thus has no time for making blood sugar.] Keep thinking hard on your goals, good luck !
PS A high carb splurge is probably ok every now and again...maybe once a month as a reward ? Or better still cancel that out completely and for a craving treat - eat raw vegetables and hommos or humus the mediterranean chick pea thing. Great appetite quencher and delicicous with lemon juice. Then of course there are NUTS - with no apparent effect on blood sugar. Although they contain carbs the carbs are sort of inactivated by the fat content...so I have read.
 

hooha

Well-Known Member
Messages
205
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
long queues.
Diagnosed with type 2 just under three months ago. Doc suggested I try 3 months of diet and exercise. Started low carb diet immediately, testing on average eight times a day. weight started to drop off, but bs didn't start to drop until I started skipping breakfast and keeping my carb intake to about 30g a day. Anyway, everything was going swimmingly until about a week ago....masses of energy, lost 25 lbs, BS averages down from the 13's to the high 6's (still a way to go!). Suddenly, after not feeling overly hungry or craving carbs at all, I'm suddenly thinking about food all the time again and craving sugar!! Help!! My willpower is rubbish and I was so thrilled that the low carb diet wasn't leaving me hungry! Haven't changed my diet and can't think what's causing the change.
Hi charlie again. I forgot to say - I love Coke Zero and it takes away hunger and cravings and in my humble opinion is quite safe, has no effect on my blood sugar and it tastes good almost identical to ' the real thing '. Some people say it has an effect on type 1 insulin response but I am not sure about all that. I researched the sweeteners as safe.
 

hooha

Well-Known Member
Messages
205
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
long queues.
This is all really interesting - I drink a LOT of diet pop, and sweeten my yogurt with Splenda (yoghurt which I have with sugar free jelly) - so I consume a lot of artificial sweeteners.

Can't be good for me...

:facepalm:
Hi - Try googling a---- Meta analysis of artificial sweeteners safety-- - and you will probably find they are safe. Lots of very clever folk have done the tests. And other clever folk then have overviewed the results from all sorts of sources.
 
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charliebarker

Well-Known Member
Messages
256
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi charlie again. I forgot to say - I love Coke Zero and it takes away hunger and cravings and in my humble opinion is quite safe, has no effect on my blood sugar and it tastes good almost identical to ' the real thing '. Some people say it has an effect on type 1 insulin response but I am not sure about all that. I researched the sweeteners as safe.
Tried that - it appears to kick in my cravings !! My brain reacts to sweetness I think!
 

Chook

Expert
Messages
5,095
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
People who think they know everything.
Tried that - it appears to kick in my cravings !! My brain reacts to sweetness I think!

Same here - I used to love diet cream soda - no carbs / no calories - but it pushes up my BG and causes dreadful cravings for anything sweet. I've stopped all diet fizzy drinks and sugar free sweets and just stick with ice cold sparkling mineral water.
 
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hooha

Well-Known Member
Messages
205
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
long queues.
Tried that - it appears to kick in my cravings !! My brain reacts to sweetness I think!
HI regarding the coke zero - I didn't drink it while eating normally - it was in my severe calorie restriction diet to fill my tummy when I occasionally felt hungry - so no question of cravings - during the severe restriction period I was never really tempted to break the routine.