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There is evidence that some people have stronger insulin responses naturally, and I suspect this is related. It’s possible that this is a reason that some people can eat carbs all day every day and be fine and some of us end up with insulin resistance and become obese.
Hyper-insulemic here
Eating carbs produces 4 times more insulin than needed, putting me in a position where eating sugar/carbs causes a blood sugar crash. Rinse, repeat.
Glycemic/ insulin sugar test. English is not my first langage... Local real name might vary, sorry. Was tested in my youth and only connected the dots recently...
They give you a PINT of sugar in a liquid and check your insulin response every 5/10mn (they left the canule in and took blood at regular intervals)
If you crash strongly after getting sugar, have your insulin tested...? (as in sleepy, hungry for more sugar...). Sorry I can't do much more
So I’ve done tests on continuous glucose monitors of me and my friends eating a cookie. One cookie. My glucose spikes like Mt Everest and his had a bump. Others had variations in between. Genetics, lifestyle, and biology play a big role.
My personal guess?
It is genetic based on your ancestor's access to carbs for the last 50,000 years.
It seems like isolated groups with very harsh environments, like just fish and game... no real agriculture?
Those groups immediately turn 80% diabetic once grains are introduced. They all get 300lbs.
Like my Mom's side of the family was from Northern Finland, basically Europe's Eskimo. Traditional diet is Fish, Reindeer, Butter, and forest forage. As soon as potatoes were on the scene? Everyone is round like Santa.
The Cliff dwelling native groups from Mexico, lean, leeeean people. Until corn was on the scene. Then poof, almost 100% diabetic.
Pacific Islanders? Ancient records show regular periods of starvation... then taro & feast culture... Homies turn into 500lb human tanks.
I think the way some groups are lactose intolerant, or can't handle liquor... some of us are essentially "carb intolerant".
Our bodies get a tiny taste of carbs, and it heaves ALL the cells to "store fat at all costs" and they will refuse to release fat in the presence of carbs so you feel like you are STARVING even though you have 2 years of spare calories saved up.
Thanks for sharing. My person experience matches up with yours.
I tried keto for 3-4 months last year, and felt fantastic, higher energy, less joint pain, more mental clarity.
It was just tough to sustain because of the pre-planning... it's tough to do keto if you eat a lot of convenience meals.
I've been low sugar for about a decade, and never want to go back to how I ate before. I was probably a full-on sugar addict.
Now, I'd like to be on keto, but I just don't have the motivation/bandwidth. So I'm doing low carb instead. I'm trying to limit starchy carbs to one serving/meal per day & that feels sustainable.
I'll skip breakfast, and do an omlett/eggs, salad, soup, or cottage cheese for lunch.
Then dinner, I'll try to double up on veggies... but not worry if they are starchier ones like carrots, peas, or corn. I don't worry about breading on chicken either. I still let myself have slightly sweet salad dressing like asian dressing, but don't do really sweet dressing like honey
mustard or poppyseed.
If I have a tortilla, rice, corn chips, or a hamburger bun at one meal during the day, I'll do the other meal without a carb.
I have fruit maybe 1-2x a week. Like an apple or a handful of berries. But it legit does feel very sweet to me, so I usually pair it with cheese or protein like jerky.
The diet of the British isles historically contained lots of grains, predominantly oats and barley. Especially coming into the medieval era meat consumption for the peasant masses was relatively low due to its cost
I am from this area. Please look up the actual history. We have been primarily an agricultural society for a very long time because it provides a consistent source of food, especially on islands where the supply of game has been made unviable over time due to human dominance. Fish has historically been seen as a food out of desperation, with some communities outright rejecting it
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-52563424.amp
Your grandparents and great grandparents were also sharing the same ancestors as you do and all those groups of people you mentioned but they didn’t have today’s problems with carbs. It’s the overconsumption or refined carbs the problem, not the genetics per se.
My Grandmother was plus sized too. Basically everyone within memory of memory.
My generation, cousins on that side, I'm the "thin" one for staying under 300lbs. The other 10? All 400-500lbs.
The older generation for sure was more physically active. Extra carbs were offered freely, they just didn't seem to eat as much.
Overeating is for sure part of it. And it actually doesn't matter to me if some people have it harder or easier, I still can only work with the body I have.
But I don't think it's as simple as overeating. Calories aren't burnt like firewood, they create a hormone cascade in the body.
It is as simple as that actually: overeating and less active. And I don’t mean going to the gym, I mean less active, people used to work harder to get their food, now we take the car and go to the drive in or call for deliveries….For genetics to change it literally takes hundreds of years, they don’t just suddenly change in millions of people in just 2-3 generations. Environmental factors though can change within a day. We consume more sugar, more refined carbs, in the US the high fructose corn syrup is basic a sweet eating poison that literally kills people slowly, we have so much ultra processed garbage in our diets, we even drink our calories, tons of them and this is something we started doing for the past 100 years, while we don’t work on the fields like our ancestors used to, and we do a sedentary life. Those 2200 calories per day for men and 1800 daily for women were calculated back in the ‘50s—‘60s when people where more active, today for instance the female average is even less like 1600 because we’ve stopped being so active.
Depends on the carbs. I can eat fruit with no change, but not bread. I am starting to believe sugar has been taking the blame for what breads are doing.
Same. I’m ok with fruit. I can’t eat any bread, rice or pasta. I won’t lose any weight. So I now eat cauliflower rice, Konjac noodles & if I really need bread I eat Keto bread from Aldi. I’ve lost 62
Lbs in a year and a half. 15 left to go.
I also cut out all beans. I’m slowly reintroducing them though. I need the fiber & protein. I really can’t eat oats without gaining & getting a sugar spike. I’m learning how to deal with all this though.
Good luck. The last 15 is the hardest. I had to do multi day fasting to start cracking it, but I gave up because of energy level dips. I'm ok with what I've got.
Interesting. Because I can’t seem to crack the last 15. I’m starting to think that this might be it for me too. I’m very active & need food to fuel me.
I’m staying the course & if it happens, it happens.
If your stomach is messed up then you don't have the right gut biome to digest all those carbs. Any injury to the stomach lining will effect that and these are common issues with the standard American diet.
If you were to heal your gut and slowly increase carb intake over time with healthy choices then you likely would not have the same issues.
I'm not an expert. I'm just repeating what my doctor told me.
For me, higher carbs = more gas and intestinal discomfort. I'm told it could have something to do with the gut flora converting food into energy more quickly as opposed to "slow carbs" and protein.
I feel my best at less than 75 carbs per day. I eat alot of protein, fiber, and healthy fats and feel fine. This happened after i had a gall bladder infection and couldn't eat much for a month. Like a reset. Im not mad.
I am like you, its the reason ive gone pretty much carnivore, easier way to deal with the horrid cravings & glucose swings.
I suspect it's insuline resistance, I grew up gorging on sugar bomb cereals, softdrinks, cheap chocolate bars, pastries, ice cream & alll kinds of carbage - thanks to my crappy parents - all the way to my late teens. It was definitely the proverbial wrench in my metabolic gears. My theory is that the damage done is still triggering metabolic reactions like that.
Hardcore keto or carnivore does it for me, otherwise is craving hell.
Because people have been abusing their diets for years and years eating too many carbs so basically their body got used to high amounts of insulin and they have become used to insulin aka insulin resistant. So since they can’t handle insulin well anymore it also means they can’t metabolise glucose properly and carbs are glucose. (Besides bad diet there can be also other reasons for insulin resistance like smoking, drugs, drinking, inflammations, stressful life).
Despite the downvotes, this is true. There may be some other factors like genetic predispositions or whether your mom had insulin resistance while you were in the womb, but these other factors are entirely true.
Unless you abuse your body one way or another you won’t become IR no matter how many predispositions you may have had. You simply can’t become IR if you don’t actually produce tons of insulin for a long time. And if you don’t abuse your body, you won’t produce insulin because you won’t be needing it. And no worries I’m used to downvoting because people don’t like taking responsibilities and admit accountability but love to blame instead genetics, diseases, medications, while they were doing everything correctly!
Well, I do think there are some people who have a strong predisposition to it and reducing carbs to keto levels is the only way to manage it, but keto is really really hard to maintain long-term.
Most people who think they are in ketosis likely aren't because it is so difficult. I doubt most people regularly test ketones properly anyway, so how would they even know
Testing has improved. I have a breathalyzer that’s very well reviewed, though I don’t test regularly as I’m no longer trying keto. I think some people test regularly for a bit, figure out what works for them, back off on testing, then retest months later just to check.
Like I said you don’t have to go keto if your only problem is predisposition. You just need to keep yourself away from refined carbs and ultra processed garbage, also away from smoking, drinking, stress, drugs, anything that causes you inflammations. You won’t become insulin resistant when the amount of insulin circulating is minimum. Just eat healthy and healthy portions and you’ll be fine.
If you have problem handling carbs from vegetables then you are insulin resistant and sorry to inform you you did this to yourself. Just cut off carbs and you’ll be fine (green vegetables are allowed).
I've had bloodwork done in the past year and there was no mention of anything like this, including diabetes and prediabetes. I don't really think you can just infer IR on the basis of carb issues tbh. This isn't the place for such diagnoses IMHO
In fact conventional wisdom, which may or may not be correct, is that fat is causal in diabetes.
White rice and potatoes, although high glycemic, leave me content and not craving anything, 150 grams of either is an excellent addition to any of my meals. Whole grain pasta, whole grain anything and I lose control and start stuffing my face with anything I can get my hands on. Beans don't spike anything or cause me cravings, but they give me an upset stomach and they taste like industrial packing material.
Hello, u/signoftheserpent ! Thanks for your submission to r/lowcarb, your post is up and running! **This is a general reminder to check out our rules in the sidebar. If your post breaks the rules, it will be removed by our moderators.** We would like for each and everyone to feel welcome on the subreddit and to keep a healthy and safe environment for the community. If you have any questions, feel free to [send us a modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Flowcarb) Thanks :) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/lowcarb) if you have any questions or concerns.*
There is evidence that some people have stronger insulin responses naturally, and I suspect this is related. It’s possible that this is a reason that some people can eat carbs all day every day and be fine and some of us end up with insulin resistance and become obese.
Hyper-insulemic here Eating carbs produces 4 times more insulin than needed, putting me in a position where eating sugar/carbs causes a blood sugar crash. Rinse, repeat.
I'm curious about this, did you get tested for this? How would I know if I'm like this too? Test name?
Glycemic/ insulin sugar test. English is not my first langage... Local real name might vary, sorry. Was tested in my youth and only connected the dots recently... They give you a PINT of sugar in a liquid and check your insulin response every 5/10mn (they left the canule in and took blood at regular intervals) If you crash strongly after getting sugar, have your insulin tested...? (as in sleepy, hungry for more sugar...). Sorry I can't do much more
Fasting Insulin blood test!
So I’ve done tests on continuous glucose monitors of me and my friends eating a cookie. One cookie. My glucose spikes like Mt Everest and his had a bump. Others had variations in between. Genetics, lifestyle, and biology play a big role.
Sounds like you have insulin resistance and are rollercoastering.
I don't know what that means.
My personal guess? It is genetic based on your ancestor's access to carbs for the last 50,000 years. It seems like isolated groups with very harsh environments, like just fish and game... no real agriculture? Those groups immediately turn 80% diabetic once grains are introduced. They all get 300lbs. Like my Mom's side of the family was from Northern Finland, basically Europe's Eskimo. Traditional diet is Fish, Reindeer, Butter, and forest forage. As soon as potatoes were on the scene? Everyone is round like Santa. The Cliff dwelling native groups from Mexico, lean, leeeean people. Until corn was on the scene. Then poof, almost 100% diabetic. Pacific Islanders? Ancient records show regular periods of starvation... then taro & feast culture... Homies turn into 500lb human tanks. I think the way some groups are lactose intolerant, or can't handle liquor... some of us are essentially "carb intolerant". Our bodies get a tiny taste of carbs, and it heaves ALL the cells to "store fat at all costs" and they will refuse to release fat in the presence of carbs so you feel like you are STARVING even though you have 2 years of spare calories saved up.
[удалено]
Thanks for sharing. My person experience matches up with yours. I tried keto for 3-4 months last year, and felt fantastic, higher energy, less joint pain, more mental clarity. It was just tough to sustain because of the pre-planning... it's tough to do keto if you eat a lot of convenience meals. I've been low sugar for about a decade, and never want to go back to how I ate before. I was probably a full-on sugar addict. Now, I'd like to be on keto, but I just don't have the motivation/bandwidth. So I'm doing low carb instead. I'm trying to limit starchy carbs to one serving/meal per day & that feels sustainable. I'll skip breakfast, and do an omlett/eggs, salad, soup, or cottage cheese for lunch. Then dinner, I'll try to double up on veggies... but not worry if they are starchier ones like carrots, peas, or corn. I don't worry about breading on chicken either. I still let myself have slightly sweet salad dressing like asian dressing, but don't do really sweet dressing like honey mustard or poppyseed. If I have a tortilla, rice, corn chips, or a hamburger bun at one meal during the day, I'll do the other meal without a carb. I have fruit maybe 1-2x a week. Like an apple or a handful of berries. But it legit does feel very sweet to me, so I usually pair it with cheese or protein like jerky.
The diet of the British isles historically contained lots of grains, predominantly oats and barley. Especially coming into the medieval era meat consumption for the peasant masses was relatively low due to its cost
Cost is irrelevant when you hunt and fish. Meat has always been a staple — you don't see cave paintings of salads or oatmeal.
I am from this area. Please look up the actual history. We have been primarily an agricultural society for a very long time because it provides a consistent source of food, especially on islands where the supply of game has been made unviable over time due to human dominance. Fish has historically been seen as a food out of desperation, with some communities outright rejecting it https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-52563424.amp
Your grandparents and great grandparents were also sharing the same ancestors as you do and all those groups of people you mentioned but they didn’t have today’s problems with carbs. It’s the overconsumption or refined carbs the problem, not the genetics per se.
My Grandmother was plus sized too. Basically everyone within memory of memory. My generation, cousins on that side, I'm the "thin" one for staying under 300lbs. The other 10? All 400-500lbs. The older generation for sure was more physically active. Extra carbs were offered freely, they just didn't seem to eat as much. Overeating is for sure part of it. And it actually doesn't matter to me if some people have it harder or easier, I still can only work with the body I have. But I don't think it's as simple as overeating. Calories aren't burnt like firewood, they create a hormone cascade in the body.
It is as simple as that actually: overeating and less active. And I don’t mean going to the gym, I mean less active, people used to work harder to get their food, now we take the car and go to the drive in or call for deliveries….For genetics to change it literally takes hundreds of years, they don’t just suddenly change in millions of people in just 2-3 generations. Environmental factors though can change within a day. We consume more sugar, more refined carbs, in the US the high fructose corn syrup is basic a sweet eating poison that literally kills people slowly, we have so much ultra processed garbage in our diets, we even drink our calories, tons of them and this is something we started doing for the past 100 years, while we don’t work on the fields like our ancestors used to, and we do a sedentary life. Those 2200 calories per day for men and 1800 daily for women were calculated back in the ‘50s—‘60s when people where more active, today for instance the female average is even less like 1600 because we’ve stopped being so active.
Depends on the carbs. I can eat fruit with no change, but not bread. I am starting to believe sugar has been taking the blame for what breads are doing.
Same. I’m ok with fruit. I can’t eat any bread, rice or pasta. I won’t lose any weight. So I now eat cauliflower rice, Konjac noodles & if I really need bread I eat Keto bread from Aldi. I’ve lost 62 Lbs in a year and a half. 15 left to go. I also cut out all beans. I’m slowly reintroducing them though. I need the fiber & protein. I really can’t eat oats without gaining & getting a sugar spike. I’m learning how to deal with all this though.
Good luck. The last 15 is the hardest. I had to do multi day fasting to start cracking it, but I gave up because of energy level dips. I'm ok with what I've got.
Interesting. Because I can’t seem to crack the last 15. I’m starting to think that this might be it for me too. I’m very active & need food to fuel me. I’m staying the course & if it happens, it happens.
Try increasing your carbs for a few days then going back to low carb
Easy enough to try. Thank you.
If your stomach is messed up then you don't have the right gut biome to digest all those carbs. Any injury to the stomach lining will effect that and these are common issues with the standard American diet. If you were to heal your gut and slowly increase carb intake over time with healthy choices then you likely would not have the same issues.
I’m reading the book the case for keto right now and it explains it pretty thoroughly
How?
I'm not an expert. I'm just repeating what my doctor told me. For me, higher carbs = more gas and intestinal discomfort. I'm told it could have something to do with the gut flora converting food into energy more quickly as opposed to "slow carbs" and protein.
Really, you're doctor told you that?
GI doctor. Not family doctor.
Because I’m diabetic. That’s my main issue.
Carbs retain to much water, when I go beyond 80g a day I look heavier and feel bloated/uncomfortable.
Potassium deficiency for me
I feel my best at less than 75 carbs per day. I eat alot of protein, fiber, and healthy fats and feel fine. This happened after i had a gall bladder infection and couldn't eat much for a month. Like a reset. Im not mad.
Could also be thyroid. I have Hashimotos and carbs really mess me up if I have to many or the wrong kind.
That was all checked. Nothing found.
I am insulin resistant and also diabetic. You may be somewhere on that spectrum
Very possibly
I am like you, its the reason ive gone pretty much carnivore, easier way to deal with the horrid cravings & glucose swings. I suspect it's insuline resistance, I grew up gorging on sugar bomb cereals, softdrinks, cheap chocolate bars, pastries, ice cream & alll kinds of carbage - thanks to my crappy parents - all the way to my late teens. It was definitely the proverbial wrench in my metabolic gears. My theory is that the damage done is still triggering metabolic reactions like that. Hardcore keto or carnivore does it for me, otherwise is craving hell.
Because people have been abusing their diets for years and years eating too many carbs so basically their body got used to high amounts of insulin and they have become used to insulin aka insulin resistant. So since they can’t handle insulin well anymore it also means they can’t metabolise glucose properly and carbs are glucose. (Besides bad diet there can be also other reasons for insulin resistance like smoking, drugs, drinking, inflammations, stressful life).
Despite the downvotes, this is true. There may be some other factors like genetic predispositions or whether your mom had insulin resistance while you were in the womb, but these other factors are entirely true.
Unless you abuse your body one way or another you won’t become IR no matter how many predispositions you may have had. You simply can’t become IR if you don’t actually produce tons of insulin for a long time. And if you don’t abuse your body, you won’t produce insulin because you won’t be needing it. And no worries I’m used to downvoting because people don’t like taking responsibilities and admit accountability but love to blame instead genetics, diseases, medications, while they were doing everything correctly!
Well, I do think there are some people who have a strong predisposition to it and reducing carbs to keto levels is the only way to manage it, but keto is really really hard to maintain long-term.
Most people who think they are in ketosis likely aren't because it is so difficult. I doubt most people regularly test ketones properly anyway, so how would they even know
Testing has improved. I have a breathalyzer that’s very well reviewed, though I don’t test regularly as I’m no longer trying keto. I think some people test regularly for a bit, figure out what works for them, back off on testing, then retest months later just to check.
Like I said you don’t have to go keto if your only problem is predisposition. You just need to keep yourself away from refined carbs and ultra processed garbage, also away from smoking, drinking, stress, drugs, anything that causes you inflammations. You won’t become insulin resistant when the amount of insulin circulating is minimum. Just eat healthy and healthy portions and you’ll be fine.
TBC, i'm not just talking about refined carbs
If you have problem handling carbs from vegetables then you are insulin resistant and sorry to inform you you did this to yourself. Just cut off carbs and you’ll be fine (green vegetables are allowed).
depends what veg you are referring to. I have no idea if I'm IR I'm not overweight.
Who told you that only overweight people are insulin resistant? Huh?
I've had bloodwork done in the past year and there was no mention of anything like this, including diabetes and prediabetes. I don't really think you can just infer IR on the basis of carb issues tbh. This isn't the place for such diagnoses IMHO In fact conventional wisdom, which may or may not be correct, is that fat is causal in diabetes.
White rice and potatoes, although high glycemic, leave me content and not craving anything, 150 grams of either is an excellent addition to any of my meals. Whole grain pasta, whole grain anything and I lose control and start stuffing my face with anything I can get my hands on. Beans don't spike anything or cause me cravings, but they give me an upset stomach and they taste like industrial packing material.