Low Carb and Nausea??

milkman21 · 08-17-2006, 08:38 AM

This is really a shot in the dark...

I'm not the type to get sick very often, particularly when it comes to nausea/flu-type symptoms. This morning, I woke up with an upset stomach that isn't going away.

When moving towards a low carb diet, has anyone experienced this? Since it's my week off training, I've had 3 consecutive lower-carb days (100-150g carbs, down from 300-450), and that's the only variable I could imagine is causing my upset tummy

Obviously it's possible I just got a bug of some sort, but since I ate only fresh foods from home yesterday I'm ruling out food poisoning.

Thoughts? (other than "you're a lunatic")

OldGuy · 08-17-2006, 08:46 AM

Are you keeping calories the same? I noticed when I reduced carbs my stomach would bother me if I also reduced the calories. If I kept them up by increasing protein or fat I was fine.

ParanoidAndroid · 08-17-2006, 08:52 AM

Im by no means an expert but heres my 2 cents:

If youre going low-carb you're probably eating a lot more fat. Fat takes a long time to digest and stays in your stomach for a lot time and makes you feel very full. This could be a cause. Also, if you're not used to eating rich, high-fat foods, this could make you feel nausous. (the first time I tried whole milk I almost spit it back...even now I can't drink 2%)

milkman21 · 08-17-2006, 09:18 AM

OG, since I'm not terribly active this week, I have cut back calories significantly, but I'm still above maintenance... so I don't think that's it.

Paranoid (great handle, BTW), I'm not eating any foods that are atypical for my diet, it's just that instead of doing 3 P+C meals in the morning/early afternoon, I'm strictly doing the P+F meals all day long for the last 3 1/2 days. I suppose the extra fat could be giving me a bit of nausea, but I was just curious if this is a common type side effect of an initially lowered carb intake.

gobbla · 08-17-2006, 09:32 AM

along the lines of what PA said, if I eat an abnormally large amount of fat I'll get nasous at some point later in the day. notice it especially with oil type stuff.

Ogedei · 08-17-2006, 09:36 AM

Hey Milk.

I haven't exprienced this, but hey I'm not an expert on this low carb stuff. I eat failry low carb, but I doubt I was down around the 100gram mark. I am right now though, but right now I am concentrating on it as I am curious about bulking without carbs

I have been around the 100mark for the last few days. Tomorrow is my last day at work though so I don't know if I will manage to stay below that mark...and then Shannon's Dad's birthday is on Saturday. Should be interesting. hahhahah

So far I've been good though. (really the only thing I have cut back on is oatmeal)

ParanoidAndroid · 08-17-2006, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gobbla

notice it especially with oil type stuff.

yeah, oil is definitly the worst as it is pure fat. I once added coconut oil to my cottage oil for the mcts...it was probably the most disgusting thing ive ever eaten-Screw MCT's, im not touching that stuff again.

Cassandra Forsythe · 08-17-2006, 12:15 PM

If you're body is producing ketones (which you can check by using keto-stiks), that may be the reason you're feeling nauseous. I'd recommend buying some ketostiks and checking that out.

It may also be a bug... but, you'd have to see what happens in the next day or two to really know for sure.

Ogedei · 08-17-2006, 01:10 PM

How likely is ketone production at 100grams of carbs a day? Just out of curiosity?

milkman21 · 08-17-2006, 01:12 PM

Cass and others have mentioned that it varies for the person in question here, but since it's only been 3 days on low carb (strictly as a low-activity diet, not an attempt at ketosis) I really don't think I'd be in ketosis yet.

Could be wrong though...

Ogedei · 08-17-2006, 01:20 PM

I was just always under the impression ketosis needed you to be very low. I thought 100 a day would be to high.

I realize it will be different for everyone, I was just surprised that it might even be a possibility at 100grams.

milkman21 · 08-17-2006, 01:24 PM

On second thought, you're right. That seems awfully high from what my feeble understanding of the subject has lead me to believe...

Ogedei · 08-17-2006, 01:29 PM

I thought we needed to be like at 40 or 50 or something like that (not even sure how to achieve that!

)

Hopefully Cassandra will post again!

slimsaw00 · 08-17-2006, 09:20 PM

Milk I've kind of gone through the same thing that you are describing, as my diet/nutrition has REALLY tightened up. Before this "upgrade" (as I'll call it) I was eating a fair amount of carbs in the morning simply because "most" seem to think that a.m carbs are okay, or better. But once I got REALLY serious into the whole nutrient timing idea I noticed that on days that I didn't workout and had significantly lower levels of carbs by eating mostly P+F meals I'd feel somewaht nauseous as well. I've gotten over this a little bit since the initial dietary change.

I'm obviously not an expert, just offering what I have experienced here just recently.

-Matt

Cassandra Forsythe · 08-18-2006, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkman21

Cass and others have mentioned that it varies for the person in question here, but since it's only been 3 days on low carb (strictly as a low-activity diet, not an attempt at ketosis) I really don't think I'd be in ketosis yet.

Could be wrong though...

Exactely: Ketosis varies from person to person. I've had some people in my study have ketones in their urine with only 100g/d whereas I can't get them unless I'm under 25g/d. Also, some people see them right away when it takes others weeks. The only way you'll really know is if you test for them. The sticks are cheap, but worth it (and fun to play with!).

Ogedei · 08-18-2006, 09:20 AM

wow I understood it varried and it was harder for some people than for others, but I didn't realize it varied THAT much.

Crazy.

Fun to play with? Weirdo.

RobLL · 08-18-2006, 11:07 AM

Don't know if any of this applies, but to maintain my weight/slightly lose I need to stay below 50 grams. But typically by the end of a heavy workout I am usually a little/medium queasy, and I don't like to do back extensions, they make it worse. Rob

Lost Dog · 08-18-2006, 11:16 AM

I got a bit queasy when starting low carb. Not sure if it was the low carb, per se, or the low cals that went with it. You don't have to do both. You can eat low carb with higher cals for a while, then drop calories.

I get queasy the first week of low cals, around workout time. Because I don't like to eat closer than two hours to workout, but I need to eat at about 3 hours. The solution was to drink a light workout drink (20-30g P alone or 15g P and 15g C) during the workout. I actually drink half just before, top it off with water then sip throughout.

milkman21 · 08-18-2006, 03:14 PM

Thanks for all the responses guys. I'm quite sure it was either (A) a bit of a bug, or (B) allergy related. I was a bit congested during the day, sneezing a little extra, and a little dry... so I'm gonna write it off as a fluke.

For the record, I'm not doing a ketogenic diet, but rather limiting 90% of my carbs to pre/post workout only. With no workouts, I was ~100g carbs/day by default--and not by an attempt at ketosis or anything.

Ogedei · 08-18-2006, 03:18 PM

Fair enough. I have been at around 100g per day by cutting out grains. I as well am not aiming at ketosis, but found Cassandra's post interesting that some people can hit ketosis at that level.

I've been eating about 3000cals a day at 100g of carbs since monday and haven't noticed a single ill effect.

Og.