My brain doesn’t function on sugar

db9

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Well today was the ultimate proof yet again. After drinking a glass of apple juice I got tired and unmotivated as usual. I drank a protein shake this morning and felt asleep again and woke up with a lot of energy, euphoria and motivation for a couple of hours, until I drank some sugar and became lethargic. It’s not just juice it’s everything with carbs in it. I’ve been peating for a year and seen the best results from aspirin but I don’t know if sugar really has done anything positive for my health. I was doing keto before but with carbs usually at the end of the day. The reason I started keto and left it as well was because of carbs making me feel very lethargic which hasn’t become any better. Dopaminergic substances make this condition disappear. Adhd meds, Alcar and so on. I’m young, strong and muscular with pretty low body fat and get compliments on my physical appearance although I don’t strength train often.
I would really appreciate some help on this issue @haidut
 

catharsis

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It sounds like you have low thyroid activity from keto; the tiredness and low motivation could be hyperglycemia and insulin resistance. Have you tried any B-vitamins? Well-sugared coffee with gelatin and aspirin work well for me and could be your entrance into more glucose oxidation.
 

DrJ

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Well today was the ultimate proof yet again. After drinking a glass of apple juice I got tired and unmotivated as usual. I drank a protein shake this morning and felt asleep again and woke up with a lot of energy, euphoria and motivation for a couple of hours, until I drank some sugar and became lethargic. It’s not just juice it’s everything with carbs in it. I’ve been peating for a year and seen the best results from aspirin but I don’t know if sugar really has done anything positive for my health. I was doing keto before but with carbs usually at the end of the day. The reason I started keto and left it as well was because of carbs making me feel very lethargic which hasn’t become any better. Dopaminergic substances make this condition disappear. Adhd meds, Alcar and so on. I’m young, strong and muscular with pretty low body fat and get compliments on my physical appearance although I don’t strength train often.
I would really appreciate some help on this issue @haidut
Do you ever try eating whole fruits as your only source of carbs?
 
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db9

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It sounds like you have low thyroid activity from keto; the tiredness and low motivation could be hyperglycemia and insulin resistance. Have you tried any B-vitamins? Well-sugared coffee with gelatin and aspirin work well for me and could be your entrance into more glucose oxidation.
My free t3 is 5.3 pmol/L out of a range of 3.3-6.0
T4 (free) 20 pmol/L out of 10-22
TSH 1.8 mlE/L out of 0.4-4.0

Have tried out most b vitamins and complex but haven’t found anything to really be fundamentally effective.
 

redsun

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Well today was the ultimate proof yet again. After drinking a glass of apple juice I got tired and unmotivated as usual. I drank a protein shake this morning and felt asleep again and woke up with a lot of energy, euphoria and motivation for a couple of hours, until I drank some sugar and became lethargic. It’s not just juice it’s everything with carbs in it. I’ve been peating for a year and seen the best results from aspirin but I don’t know if sugar really has done anything positive for my health. I was doing keto before but with carbs usually at the end of the day. The reason I started keto and left it as well was because of carbs making me feel very lethargic which hasn’t become any better. Dopaminergic substances make this condition disappear. Adhd meds, Alcar and so on. I’m young, strong and muscular with pretty low body fat and get compliments on my physical appearance although I don’t strength train often.
I would really appreciate some help on this issue @haidut
What foods do you normally eat?
 
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db9

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What foods do you normally eat?
Well, I eat meat daily. Fruits. Fruit juices. Occasionally standard Swedish meals while trying to avoid pufas as much as possible. I’d like to add this problem first occurred during a very stressful period in my life where I was probably overtraining as well. I would wake up very dizzy and and have immense fatigue and felt like fainting. With time those issues disappeared but tolerance to carbs remains and the only times I feel energetic and euphoric are either on nocarb or aspirin. Or alcohol or other drugs ?
 

redsun

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Well, I eat meat daily. Fruits. Fruit juices. Occasionally standard Swedish meals while trying to avoid pufas as much as possible. I’d like to add this problem first occurred during a very stressful period in my life where I was probably overtraining as well. I would wake up very dizzy and and have immense fatigue and felt like fainting. With time those issues disappeared but tolerance to carbs remains and the only times I feel energetic and euphoric are either on nocarb or aspirin. Or alcohol or other drugs ?
Eggs?
 

catharsis

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My free t3 is 5.3 pmol/L out of a range of 3.3-6.0
T4 (free) 20 pmol/L out of 10-22
TSH 1.8 mlE/L out of 0.4-4.0

Have tried out most b vitamins and complex but haven’t found anything to really be fundamentally effective.
Serum levels of hormones aren't often indicative of tissue levels... TSH somewhat for overall thyroid status but it says nothing about the hormones exerting an effect. High dose B1, B2, B3, B6, B7 are helpful (be careful of B6, make sure you have adequate magnesium for B1).
 

redsun

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Yeah I eat a lot of eggs as well forgot to mention it, sorry. Like 6-7 at a time a few times a week
Sugars from fruit, and fruit juices are half fructose or more. The body only has a limited ability to process fructose to glycogen in the liver. Once the liver glycogen is full, fructose is converted to fats. The muscles cannot use fructose. So even when you eat a ton of sugar carbs, you will not fill your muscle glycogen properly which is necessary to maximize energy. This is one reason why carbs being mostly sugar is trash. If you want to optimize energy levels you need to consume mostly starches for your carbs, at least 250g of carbs from starches a day since starch is absorbed as pure glucose, the body's preferred fuel. You can still have some sugars as well but fruit juices can be draining for some people. Eat high carb fruits like apples, bananas, etc but sugar should not be your major carb source. This issue becomes more obvious if you are more active as you will depend on muscle glycogen more.

Starches work very well in filling up your muscle glycogen. You liver stores about 100g of carbs, while your muscles can store about 300-400g (depending on your size).

You will have much better energy this way. And yes it is normal to suddenly feel tired from carbs especially if you are used to keto. Because keto is a stress state and an insulin resistant state. Eating starch will bring you down a lot because pure glucose calms the body down, which is actually a good thing and you will get used to it.

Also it would be ideal to space out your egg intake to have a few daily since choline is needed every day and is important for muscle contractions (and thus reducing fatigue).
 
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BRBsavinWorld

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That sounds like really bad endotoxemia.

Have you been eating carrot salad daily?

I’d start/continue there. Maybe adding a little oat bran to help flush bile faster (since you did keto, you may need to start slow, like 1/2 tablespoon of cooked oat bran).
 
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db9

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Sugars from fruit, and fruit juices are half fructose or more. The body only has a limited ability to process fructose to glycogen in the liver. Once the liver glycogen is full, fructose is converted to fats. The muscles cannot use fructose. So even when you eat a ton of sugar carbs, you will not fill your muscle glycogen properly which is necessary to maximize energy. This is one reason why carbs being mostly sugar is trash. If you want to optimize energy levels you need to consume mostly starches for your carbs, at least 250g of carbs from starches a day since starch is absorbed as pure glucose, the body's preferred fuel. You can still have some sugars as well but fruit juices can be draining for some people. Eat high carb fruits like apples, bananas, etc but sugar should not be your major carb source. This issue becomes more obvious if you are more active as you will depend on muscle glycogen more.

Starches work very well in filling up your muscle glycogen. You liver stores about 100g of carbs, while your muscles can store about 300-400g (depending on your size).

You will have much better energy this way. And yes it is normal to suddenly feel tired from carbs especially if you are used to keto. Because keto is a stress state and an insulin resistant state. Eating starch will bring you down a lot because pure glucose calms the body down, which is actually a good thing and you will get used to it.

Also it would be ideal to space out your egg intake to have a few daily since choline is needed every day and is important for muscle contractions (and thus reducing fatigue).
Thanks for the tips man!

Well I react nearly worse to bread and such. I feel overly sleepy and usually can’t continue my day of work without of nap due to very strong brain fog. Fortunately I get that opportunity during my breaks at work. My understanding is that I probably have very low naturally occurring noradrenaline in my brain/body and glucose further tanks it and makes me very sleepy. Either that or something wrong with my insulin response. As said, physically I don’t fit in in a diabetes body type, but this problems has been very disturbing. I think I rad a post where you wrote about histadelics and low catelechomanines. What’s the best way to raise those apart from drugs. Non harmful drugs would be of help as well. Thank you for your time.
 
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db9

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That sounds like really bad endotoxemia.

Have you been eating carrot salad daily?

I’d start/continue there. Maybe adding a little oat bran to help flush bile faster (since you did keto, you may need to start slow, like 1/2 tablespoon of cooked oat bran).
Alright alright. I’ll try those out man. Thank you ?
 

redsun

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Thanks for the tips man!

Well I react nearly worse to bread and such. I feel overly sleepy and usually can’t continue my day of work without of nap due to very strong brain fog. Fortunately I get that opportunity during my breaks at work. My understanding is that I probably have very low naturally occurring noradrenaline in my brain/body and glucose further tanks it and makes me very sleepy. Either that or something wrong with my insulin response. As said, physically I don’t fit in in a diabetes body type, but this problems has been very disturbing. I think I rad a post where you wrote about histadelics and low catelechomanines. What’s the best way to raise those apart from drugs. Non harmful drugs would be of help as well. Thank you for your time.
Rice should be tried instead of bread.

Histadelics don't get sleepy during the day so likely your histamine is lower end but also you could just not be sensitive to catecholamines for other reasons. You would also have low blood pressure and heart rate of norepinephrine activity is low. But you could have low excitatory signalling of glutamate, and other NTs involved in wakefulness such as glutamate, dopamine, acetylcholine, histamine....

What type of meat do you usually eat? Is it white meat like chicken or red meats, like beef, lamb.
 
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db9

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Rice should be tried instead of bread.

Histadelics don't get sleepy during the day so likely your histamine is lower end but also you could just not be sensitive to catecholamines for other reasons. You would also have low blood pressure and heart rate of norepinephrine activity is low. But you could have low excitatory signalling of glutamate, and other NTs involved in wakefulness such as glutamate, dopamine, acetylcholine, histamine....

What type of meat do you usually eat? Is it white meat like chicken or red meats, like beef, lamb.
Alright man. I’ll start incorporating rice in my daily routine then. Thanks.

90% of the time it is red meat. Usually ground beef.

I respond extremely well to vyvanse which is an adhd med. I have friends with adhd which say they get sleepy on it. My problems with carb tolerance disappear as well.
 
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db9

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Alright man. I’ll start incorporating rice in my daily routine then. Thanks.

90% of the time it is red meat. Usually ground beef.

I respond extremely well to vyvanse which is an adhd med. I have friends with adhd which say they get sleepy on it. My problems with carb tolerance disappear as well.
And the doctors in Sweden totally ignore and neglect what I describe and just rub it off as nothing. Extremely irritating.
 

redsun

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Alright man. I’ll start incorporating rice in my daily routine then. Thanks.

90% of the time it is red meat. Usually ground beef.

I respond extremely well to vyvanse which is an adhd med. I have friends with adhd which say they get sleepy on it. My problems with carb tolerance disappear as well.
Zinc which is high in red meat tends to increase wakefulness while also helping you sleep through various mechanisms. But if you get a lot of zinc this can lead to copper deficiency, which would reduce catecholamine levels and contribute to hypersomnia. But usually its quite hard to get a copper deficiency from just food choice but it depends. If you eat a ton of red meat it may very well be possible and because you avoid most plant foods which is where most people get their copper.

With lack of copper you may have low norepinephrine activity and this can contribute to sleepiness. Do you consume caffeine? Do you respond well to that. Of course, it wouldnt be surprising to respond well to amphetamine. But it is difficult to figure out what exactly is the issue because it could be many things.

You can try a copper bisglycinate supplement to see if that helps.
 
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db9

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Zinc which is high in red meat tends to increase wakefulness while also helping you sleep through various mechanisms. But if you get a lot of zinc this can lead to copper deficiency, which would reduce catecholamine levels and contribute to hypersomnia. But usually its quite hard to get a copper deficiency from just food choice but it depends. If you eat a ton of red meat it may very well be possible and because you avoid most plant foods which is where most people get their copper.

With lack of copper you may have low norepinephrine activity and this can contribute to sleepiness. Do you consume caffeine? Do you respond well to that. Of course, it wouldnt be surprising to respond well to amphetamine. But it is difficult to figure out what exactly is the issue because it could be many things.

You can try a copper bisglycinate supplement to see if that helps.
I do eat liver a few times a month as well. Doesn’t that contain quite the amount of copper? I could definitely try that out cause it’s one of the few supplements I haven’t tried out.

Yeah I drink a lot of coffee and I respond well to it. Nowadays as I am so used to it I don’t feel much anymore but it is nonetheless a bit energizing.
 

redsun

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I do eat liver a few times a month as well. Doesn’t that contain quite the amount of copper? I could definitely try that out cause it’s one of the few supplements I haven’t tried out.

Yeah I drink a lot of coffee and I respond well to it. Nowadays as I am so used to it I don’t feel much anymore but it is nonetheless a bit energizing.
If thats the case you likely dont need it but you can give it a shot anyway.

I would also try iodine 1mg to observe its effects. It could also be an issue of lack of sodium in the diet unless you heavily salt your meat.
 

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