I apologise in advance for War & Peace, peeps, but I had a bit of a 'lightbulb' moment yesterday and wanted to share it with you...
When I started LCHF back in March of this year, I soon noticed that I felt much better generally - less bloated, less tired, more alert - but that my levels of arthritis pain had increased significantly. I mentioned this a few times on the forum, but didn't hear from anyone else who had experienced the same effects. More recently I also noticed that my legs, feet, hands and arms appear to have lost muscle tone and were weaker than previously, although I simply put this down to the ageing process and didn't connect the two symptoms.
Yesterday, however, I was researching the latter effect when I found this: "
Protein reigns supreme as a muscle-building macronutrient. But protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, and cheese—along with refined grains and salt—create acids inside your body that can start to eat away at muscle over time, notes a review article on diet and sarcopenia in the journal Osteoporosis International."
(Source: http://www.prevention.com/fitness/how-reverse-muscle-loss)
I learned that age-related loss of muscle mass, strength, and functionality is known as sarcopenia, and upon further research I discovered the following statement:
"While consuming an adequate amount of protein is important for older adults, consuming too much protein can result in a low-level, diet-induced metabolic acidosis, or abnormally increased acidity in the body."
(Source: http://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2007/1/report_muscle/page-01)
Hmmmm... that's interesting. Acidosis = Acidity = Inflammation = Pain...
I also found that studies have shown that potassium can act as a buffering agent against sarcopenia and osteoporosis in post-menopausal women. Some of the foods containing the most potassium are potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomato juice and puree, orange juice, apricots, bananas, plums, satsumas, pineapple, mango, grapes, dried fruit, fat-free milk, bran, wheatgerm and wholemeal pasta. And I've cleverly stopped eating all of these items, whilst avoiding carbs and increasing protein and fats, including animal fats!
So yes, it's looking as if you've been right about protein all along,
@ickihun. I guess I need to do some more research, and fine-tune my diet to reduce some protein, increase the veggies, and perhaps include one or two of the potassium-rich foods I was previously avoiding...
I'll keep you posted. (Whether you like it or not!
)
