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Hi all, I'm new to paleo (my 5th day, after afew days adjusting to low carbs).

Had a late breakfast, quite more than I'm used to, and after that I felt a minor headache beggining and a light dizziness. It passed an hour or so later. It's not the first time it happened to me after starting paleo. Is it normal ? Am I suffering the symptoms of carbs rehab?

More info: I ate some roman lettuce with aurogula and lemon, 2 boiled eggs, a whole avocado and some leftovers of cooked vegs such sweet potato, cauliflower‏‏‏‏, carrot. It might be that I'm eating too much for one sitting? it may be because I'm afraid to get hungry after a short while, which happened before.

I'm not doing it to loose weight, just to get healthier, in fact I hope to gain mass as I'm too skinny.

Thanks!

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 Your body is still adjusting. What works for me is eating when I'm hungry and stopping when I'm full - no worries with that schedule :) Just pay attention to see if the dizziness continues.. maybe something else is going on. – jesuisjuba - paleorepublic.com Sep 17 2011 at 12:27
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 How's your salt intake? Lots of us do broths to alleviate dizziness in the beginning and then we do broths because they're just so nutritious. – Sandra Sep 17 2011 at 12:46
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 no, your 3 word question is not normal, re-word it to make it more useful to fellow hackers. It's a 'hack' not a 'surprise'. – BaconBoy Sep 17 2011 at 13:18

3 Answers

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If you have lowered your carb intake significantly, this can lead to the symptoms you are describing: light-headed, headache - also fatigue is common.

You are welcome to do low carb paleo, but paleo is about food quality, not macronutrient levels. IMHO, low carb is primarily for people with metabolic damage and/or need to lose substantial weight. Ketogenic diets are useful for certain brain dysfunction diseases such as epilepsy. If you are healthy and normal or under weight, a more moderate carb approach with some sweet potato/yams (or even white potato/white rice) or some fruit should work well and alleviate the above symptoms.

Even if you decide to stay low carb (say 50 or less grams per day), easing in to it will help to manage the switch with much less pain.

You say you want to gain, so more carbs would tend to be helpful in this regard. Probably in the 100g/day range. If you are active (working out a fair bit), you may need upwards of 150g/day. It's tough to gain without some carbs - just keep it to good food quality or "safe starches" and don't fall into sugary crap and you'll see good progress!

Salt could also be the issue, as noted above. If you are peeing a lot (losing water) - you are also losing minerals like sodium and potassium - so look to replenish those for a few days (until the water loss from glycogen depletion stops).

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Thanks for the answer. I did not intend to do a no carb diet, just loose grains and legumes. I do eat sweet potato as mentioned, any other paleo "safe starches"? It will be a shame if I lost weight (my wife would kill me). And I will keep in mind the salts issue, it might be it. – Izzy Sep 17 2011 at 13:43
Why do you think underweight people gain weight with carbs? Most underweight people are on high-carb diets. Underweight/Overweight is just two side of the same coin. – Primordial Sep 17 2011 at 13:45
I'm an underweight person and I can't gain weight without carbs. When I was on high-carb I was skinny too - I just don't carry much body fat, no matter what. But combining paleo (high-calorie, high-fat, moderate protein, moderate carbs which are an excellent vehicle for more fats) with a weight-lifting regimen put muscle on me. I can't work out and eat to bulk without starch, my muscles don't perform well in ketosis and it's extremely difficult to eat loads of protein and fat alone. – animalcule Sep 17 2011 at 19:28
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It looks to me like you need to up your fats and proteins. Adding some sausage or bacon to that meal would likely give you more energy, and keep you satisfied for a longer period of time. And add fat to everything!

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I had persistent problems while eating low-carb paleo (for about 6 months) with headaches, migraines, dizziness, mental 'fuzziness', and stuttering. I no longer eat very low carb, although I suppose I am using fat and protein as my main fuel for a good part of nearly every day (I get up between 6-8 and usually eat no/negligible carbs before 2pm - but I get 100-200g in before bedtime!)

Like you I am skinny and would like to gain, starch is pretty much essential if this is your goal and IMO there is no benefit to low carb diets for metabolically normal people. Tubers, roots and fruits are 'paleo' carb sources.

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This information if very essential for me. Again, I have nothing against carbs - just tring to be paleo I drops bread, rice, pasta etc. which was my main fuel before. Does it mean I can't be an orthodox paleo? and what is your main source for starch? Thanks. – Izzy Sep 17 2011 at 20:34
My main starch sources are white potatoes and white rice. I find that they are the most versatile (blandness I guess) and they give me no digestive issues, unlike sweet potatoes and most grains – animalcule Sep 18 2011 at 15:38
Orthodox paleo is pretty low-carb, unless you eat tons of fruit (which I can't, it triggers my eczema and IBS). For some reason the people who first started using the term 'paleo diet' didn't address the fact that most primitive populations use starchy roots and tubers as a main calorie source. Orthodox paleo is also fairly low in fat, which is not a very popular POV here at paleohacks – animalcule Sep 18 2011 at 15:42

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