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Hi ladies
As my health has improved, my daily activities have greatly increased. I am working harder, longer, and taking on more. However, I often find myself faint with hunger, dizzy, struggling to concentrate, weak. I am hypoglycemic and I have a very fast metabolism, but I am afraid of increasing my caloric intake with carbs. It has taken me several years and much difficult die off to attain this level of health, and to me carbs are yeast feeders so I try to keep my carb intake in sync with protein and vegies, which means I'm eating smaller portions of rice and potatoes, etc. I've tried increasing the protein/vegie intake but it is hard to gorge on meat (I think I eat enough!) and vegies, no matter how big a portion, just don't "hold" you, ya know?
I was wondering if anyone has experienced the same weakness or hunger with increased activity while following the ic diet?
Yes
Hi,
When I first started the diet, I was very hungry all the time. From what I understand when your own body is hungry it gives off chemical signals to the brain telling it "it's time to eat" and then you do so. Yeast, also gives off those same chemical signals, but the only problem is that the brain cannot differentiate between the chemicals coming from your body and those coming from the yeast. At least this is part of the reason why people who have yeast issues feel hungry all the time. The other from what I understand is that your body is starving. People who are overweight are actually starving as well... we have a misconception of what starving looks like. If your intestines are not absorbing proper nutrients from your food b/c of issues with permeability, then you will feel compelled to eat more to make up for that inadequecy if that makes sense. Definitely bring this up with Matia though. She has mentioned in the past that it is important to eat the right combinations of foods... so maybe you need to make sure that you are getting fat with your protein and carbs and that you eat your protein first so you don't spike your insulin even if you are getting carbs from just potatoes and veggies. I would absolutely bring this up with her. Don't despair though, you are normal because I had this happen too. Nuts really helped me out. Also, olive oil on everything. There is a recipe for broccoli rabe with olive oil and anchovies and garlic. I will try and post! Just found it in a magazine called Eating Well. Lots of recipes that look healthy for IC patients. Many can be modified! They have a website: www.eatingwell.com . Here is the link for the broccoli rabe recipe. Most will probably want to leave out the chile pepper but the rest looks maybe pretty ok: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/broccoli_rabe_garlic_anchovies.html Good luck and let us know how you are hanging in there. Also, don't forget to drink a lot of water. Many times when dehydrated, your body will send hunger message to the brain.
Hi Jeannette
Hi JeannetteWow, thanks for such a great response! I will bring this up with Matia during an appt. I think you are right about the brain not being able to tell the difference between true hunger signals and yeast hunger signals. I've noticed that those feelings of hunger/faintness greatly increase while I am taking probiotics. So it may be the yeast screaming. It is very hard to ignore because I get this feelings like I haven't eaten in days even though it's only been a couple hours. It is hard to function. You are right, drinking water does help, I forgot about that. I so wish I could tolerate nuts, as I know they would definitely help and I wouldn't have to worry about carbs. I am much slower than the typical patient as far as tolerating new foods. I can't handle the garlic either, but I will check out the sites you posted. Thanks so much!icnot4me
Glycaemic Index
icnot4me: I was thinking maybe if you ate more carbs which are low GI (e.g. spelt) and less carbs which are high GI (e.g. white rice) it might keep yr blood sugar more on an even keel. I've read that how the carbs are prepared also alter the GI, e.g. Jacket potato is higher than boiled or steamed. Just a thought.