Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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I know that a ton of carbohydrate (or protein for that matter) can make one sleepy. But a single cup of pineapple? Or one small sweet potato? Or a cup of melon?

I had been pretty high fat/mod protein/low carb for over a year and decided to add back in one cup of either fruit or sweet potato at lunch and again at dinner. My total calories remain moderate. It doesn't seem to matter whether it's fructose or glucose. With this change, right after eating, it's like I got slipped a mickey (or two).

I'm hoping my response will lessen as I acclimate. After three days of face-down-post-prandial-couch-naps, I got ahold of myself today, slapped my face, and went for a long walk to push past the Somnolent Vortex.

Anyone else have a similar response to fruit or sweet potatoes?

flag	asked Jul 21 at 19:10 PaleoOutfitters 301●1●4

Potato Avenger · Answer 1 · 2012-07-21 19:15:41Z UTC

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Carbohydrate making one sleepy after consumption is indicative of poor insulin sensitivity.

answered Jul 21 at 19:15

Potato Avenger
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	I think you hit the nail on the head. So, after 18 months of very low carb strict paleo, I'm insulin resistant. I'm sure was before on the SAD. But, I thought now that I'm healthy and fit, I'd be better able to handle carbs. I'll back off to adding one small serving of fruit to just after dinner. Bummer. – PaleoOutfitters Jul 21 at 19:41
	Totally. But its not pathological insulin resistance, as I try to explain in my answer. Its a consequence of low carb adaption, basically, because the muscle runs fine on fats, the body is used to saving its glucose for the brain. – Jamie Jul 22 at 3:19
	If you gradually reintroduce some starch into the diet, I think you can rectify the issue. There's no need to only eat a little bit of fruit each day. – Potato Avenger Jul 22 at 15:08

A at Grain Free Diet · Answer 2 · 2012-07-21 19:29:54Z UTC

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It does for me sometimes. I've taken to eating low carb during the day, and then having some fruit after dinner. I don't know if I'll keep this up, but for now, the sleepiness coincides with bedtime, so it's no big deal.

answered Jul 21 at 19:29

A at Grain Free Diet
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I like your workaround. Am going to try that. – PaleoOutfitters Jul 21 at 19:38

VB · Answer 3 · 2012-07-21 20:08:02Z UTC

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Cooked food makes me sleepy. Fruit does not make me sleepy at all. Not sure why.

answered Jul 21 at 20:08

VB
12.4k●1●7●40

	What about cooked fruit? – Mscott Jul 22 at 1:32
	I usually eat my fruits raw. I have not tried any cooked fruit so I do not know the answer to this question. If I ever do, I will let you know. – VB Jul 22 at 11:43

RaiseFitness · Answer 4 · 2012-07-22 02:10:49Z UTC

A fine reason NOT to go very low carb. It makes it difficult to tolerate carbs once you to too low for too long. Why are you VLC? Are you trying to lose weight? My recommendation is to have some carbs every day, just to keep your body from loosing the ability to handle them. I prob have 150-200g per day, but I am very active and do close to 3000 kcal per day. But most people can do at least 100g per day just fine. Its low enough to have some benefits and to be fat-adapted, but not so low that when you do have carbs, your body reacts negatively.

Jamie · Answer 5 · 2012-07-22 03:27:09Z UTC

This may help explain:

http://high-fat-nutrition.blogspot.co.nz/2007/10/physiological-insulin-resistance.html

"Carbohydrate restriction drops insulin levels. Low insulin levels activate hormone sensitive lipase. Fatty tissue breaks down and releases non esterified fatty acids. These are mostly taken up by muscle cells as fuel and automatically induce insulin resistance in those muscles.

This is patently logical as muscle runs well on lipids and so glucose can be left for tissues such as brain, which really need it. "

Its something ive just started reading on, because I myself am fairly low carb (well I try to have a bit of fruit each day!). Its basically a low carb adaption. Not the same as pathological insulin resistance.

The sudden introduction of larger amounts of carb/sugar can thus after years of VLC can produce a diabetic shock type reaction, like strong sleepiness and even heart palpitations.

So my advice to you: having been VLC for a year or more....slowly introduce the carbs. Possibly go with low GI carbs at first? Its creating an insulin spike because your body hasnt been using much insulin. Build up your blood insulin levels slowly, and it should go away, from what I understand.

.... ....

I kinda hope my bowl of fruit a day, and a bit of glucose as sweetner (prolly about 60-65 grams of carb per day), helps mitigate this myself (I cant eat starch), as I dont really want to end up in a situation where my body doesnt know what the hell to do with dietary carbs, even temporarily, it seems a bit dodge.

And my own question, here, if anyone can answer it......I basically cant get many carbs in for digestive reasons, its a dilemna, cause id prefer to be around 100gram/d:

Is 50 grams, 60 grams or even 70 grams of carbs a day (some fruit, a bit of glucose+ non-starchy veges, basically as much as I can tolerate with my illness) going to be enough to keep me from getting physiological insulin resistance to a significant degree?

Any experts on insulin and low carb out there?

Can fruit make you sleepy?

5 Answers