Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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I'm new to Paleo-- It will be 1 month in a few days. My Dr has recommended this diet with a no sugars (maple, honey, agave, etc), no fruit, no starchy veggie restriction. I'm to eat 40g or less of carbs, 50g or less of protein and get the bulk of my calories from fats. I do eat dairy. I've been sticking to these guidelines pretty closely. I've rarely gone over the carbs, but I've gone over the protein a few times by 15-25 g

Anyway, I feel like I've been extra anxious lately and I'm having trouble distinguishing whether or not that's owing singularly to the fact that I AM in a stressful season at the moment, or it the new diet habits are contributing. My anxious i mean the anxious/ panic feeling and elevated heart rate, etc. I just feel like I'm not handling things as well as I might. Is there something I might be doing wrong? Could the protein/ carb/ fat ratios be making things worse? I want to be sure that I've given a good go at figuring it out myself before calling my Dr. He's a naturopath and not covered by my insurance, so I'd rather not spend the money to talk with him if I don't have to. Any thoughts on how Paleo might impact anxiety would be appreciated. If it's a beginning thing, does it generally go away after a while?

flag	asked Jun 24 2011 at 20:00 themommybug 518●4●14

Previous diet, sleep patterns, sun exposure (d3) and general emotional stability should definitely be some of the first things to consider. Lowcarb flu unveiled some debilitating anxiety for me... I got over it by mindfulness practices (primarily), really focusing on what my body wanted (with paleo ideology in mind), and keeping myself motivated with reminders about my ultimate health goals. Good luck; hope this was hopeful or at least relevant :P – Meghan Jun 25 2011 at 1:13

Matt · Answer 1 · 2011-06-24 20:42:41Z UTC

I'll share my personal experience thus far, and maybe some of it will be reassuring for you if not entirely informative.

I started VLC Paleo last October (High fat/med protein/very low carb). I started losing weight, went through the low carb flu, was tired a lot and brain fogged..and after a little over a month or so I started to feel better. However I found myself, getting what could be described as panic attacks or severe anxiety. (I've never been prone to anxiety or feelings of impending doom, but here it was). Through November and December I battled with trying to pin down the cause, changing around my supplements..adjust carbs and protein.....

Finally I found that for me, it was Primarily Caffeine related (and possibly some related to Tea Tree Oil Toothpaste I was using).

On the SAD I was a pot a day coffee drinker, and other than some sleep issues, never had a problem with it. However, after a bit of time with Paleo eating my body has become much more efficient at processing things..alcohol, caffeine, sugar, etc...

I've since found that I can personally tolerate about 2 cups of green tea, or 1 cup of coffee or black tea without getting jittery and anxious (I'm 5'9" 210lbs male). Similar with alcohol now..more than 2 hard drinks and I'm drunk and similarly can feel anxious and uncomfortable.

Increasing starches and carbs to around 150 does seem to alleviate the sensitivity for some reason, but stalls out my weight loss, so it's a balancing act.

I would suggest looking closely at any stimulants you're taking currently, and find a way to reduce them: (nicotine, caffeine, sugar, etc..)

Albert · Answer 2 · 2011-06-24 20:25:35Z UTC

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Erin -- forgive this if it's a silly question, but where are you with caffeine?

answered Jun 24 2011 at 20:25

Albert
1,947●2●11

I have it once or twice a week, Maybe. I do drink decaf coffee more frequently. – themommybug Jun 24 2011 at 21:05

@Erin: BE aware that decaffeining coffee is very imprecise. Decaf coffee can range anywhere between 10% less than normal caff and, say, 95% less. Highly variable. – Atkins-witha-loincloth Jun 24 2011 at 22:04

@Albert: +1 for an important quesiton. – Atkins-witha-loincloth Jun 24 2011 at 22:04

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mem, i disagree. i have heard decaf has about 1-2% of the caffeine of normal coffee. this site says that US regulations say it must have 97.5 of the caffeine taken out - coffeefaq.com/site/node/50. i could be wrong though, it has happened before – peter Jun 24 2011 at 22:36

@peter: My info may be old now. Hopefully so, will check it out more too. In the past, in reading quite abit about it, it was very, very uneven, with no controls. Thanks for the heads up, Peter. +1 for you for giving me new info to check out. – Atkins-witha-loincloth Jun 24 2011 at 23:20

Sara · Answer 3 · 2011-06-24 20:09:23Z UTC

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You can eat more protein than that if you want to.

I think it's the coming down off the sugar addiction. I've been gnawing at my fingernails like crazy the past week, and I think it's the crazy withdrawal kicking in.

Why did he recommend this diet? If you have no medical disorder and not a ton of weight to lose, healthy starches are perfectly okay. Root vegetables primarily.

answered Jun 24 2011 at 20:09

Sara
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I have undiagnosed issues.Unexplained and perplexing Muscle weakness and pain. I've been tested for all sorts of things. They are thinking perhaps a mitochondrial disorder, but the testing is $$ and not covered by my insurance. He thinks the diet will help me feel better. So far I haven't felt much difference. – themommybug Jun 24 2011 at 20:15

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@Erin: Does your insurance cover any lab testing? If it does, mitichodrial disorder testing is standard allopathic stuff and can uncover serious disorders and there is no reason it would not be covered by insurance that covers other labs. ??? – Atkins-witha-loincloth Jun 24 2011 at 22:00

It seemed to be indicated to me that if I do have it, I'm in the very early stages and not symptomatic enough... But that was the opinion of the naturopath. I've not asked my GP yet. – themommybug Jun 25 2011 at 0:26

BAMBAM · Answer 4 · 2011-06-24 20:44:25Z UTC

Mood swings often coincide with blood sugar swings, thus your anxiety. It took me two weeks to stabilize my blood sugar to the point where I didn't feel anxious and hungry. After that it was easy. The trick is to eat veggies and drink H20 throughout the day. Up your protein intake as well because protein helps stabilize blood sugar.

Overall, you really have to focus on getting past this first few weeks or months of correction and detoxification. Give your body time. It knows how to heal itself. You just have to flood it with the right materials it needs to perform its miracles.

Eat foods high in antioxidants like salmon, blueberries and green tea.

Take high doses of vitamin C, D and Omega 3 supplements. This will reduce oxidative stress and inflammation in your body which in turn helps lower stress hormone levels like cortisol and adrenaline that are fueling your anxiety.

Hang in there.

Thomas Seay · Answer 5 · 2011-06-25 00:25:56Z UTC

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Up your carbs: fruit, potatoes, etc. Your problem is probably high cortisol. That's my opinion. Try it and see if the anxiety levels diminish.

answered Jun 25 2011 at 0:25

Thomas Seay

Elizabeth · Answer 6 · 2011-06-24 20:13:43Z UTC

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Erin, Do you have PCOS?

answered Jun 24 2011 at 20:13

Elizabeth
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Not that I know of. – themommybug Jun 24 2011 at 21:04

Wozza · Answer 7 · 2011-06-24 22:47:32Z UTC

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Could it be candida die-off?

answered Jun 24 2011 at 22:47

Wozza
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egk · Answer 8 · 2011-06-26 01:47:33Z UTC

possibles to check - vitamin D, thyroid and ferritin levels. Also salicylate sensitivity:

http://forums.phoenixrising.me/showthread.php?7653-Non-Standard-Anti-Anxiety-Treatment/page2

This forum may have some input on the undiagnosed issues: http://www.salicylatesensitivity.com/forum/

for example, sals and mitochondrial issues: http://salicylatesensitivity.com/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1266&page=1#Item_0

This last possibilities I can think of is that you could be sensitive to casein or to very small amounts of gluten. (Dairy has phenolic compounds and phenols are a kind of salicylate.)

New to Palelo- Anxiety

8 Answers