12 replies to this topic

[curiosity]

Hello, I quit eating extremely unhealthy foods last week (I still eat a few canned beans and soups though), but nowhere near to what I had been eating.

before last week:
Fast Food 30% of my meals
20% unhealthy cheese and icecream from the fridge etc
50% unheathy breads/grains like pizza pockets, microwave crossants, tortilla /w cheese, mayonaise with white bread, etc ( i literally feasted on this stuff)
no multivitamins
no health supplements
I don't know how, but I was more energized than I had ever felt by eating tons of this stuff, then not eating at all for the weekends (because I was so full from eating all week) I usually had one day (sunday) where I was super-productive, and very clear minded.
a TON of sodas (virtually no pure water in months) i usually took 4-5 sodas a day, and maybe some of those capri-sun juice things,
rarely 2% milk and sweetened orange juice

Then, 7 days ago I dropped all of it except a few slices of cheese for my wheat bread sandwhiches.
I replaced most of it with:
raw vegetables, 100% "healthy" juices which have no added stuff (you even have to add your own water)
Multivitamin
canned beans and soups
I dont eat near as much meat
way more water, and no sodas at all, no capri suns, only water and 100% juices
fruits
sandwhiches (mostly peanut butter and jelly)
my snacks are: peanut butter crackers and variety of nuts
white rice,
among other things, i dont remember half of it, but im sure its much more healthy

The problem is, even with this healthier diet, I feel worse than ever, mostly with fatigue (even though im "full", im getting enough calories etc) To be more specific, I feel fine in the mornings throughout the day until school ends, I get home and I feel tired in my head at first, due to this, i lay down and maybe watch TV (something i didnt do on the old, unhealthy diet) and then my body starts feeling "unmotivated" too. Its hard to explain, but I used to read read study, and I used to have alot of higher-thinking processes (a good thing) that I could never get rid of on my old diet, now its gone, all I can think about is how tired I am, and I dwell on what all I haven't gotten done today.

I don't know whats going on? I'm still getting some sodium from the canned foods, just alot less. Do you think this is temporary feeling? If not, no matter how much longer I live, its not worth it if my best years are swamped with fatigue.

[luv2increase]

You are detoxing. This is a good thing. Make sure to drink lots of water, preferably not tap water though.

[niner]

Could you be hypoglycemic? It seems like you are still eating a relatively high glycemic diet with the fruit juice and white rice, but still way less glycemic than before. It sounds a little low in protein, especially relative to where you were. I wonder what would happen if you went back on the junk food diet as an experiment?

[superpooper]

There is a possibility of the multivitamin causing problems. I couldn't tell you anything specific because there is a lot of stuff in a multivitamin obviously. I could suggest trying the multivitamin for a week or so then going a week or so without it to see how you feel.

I have problems with high copper. 2 mg a day of copper from a multivitamin was BAD BAD BAD for me. I felt better after quiting it.

[ajnast4r]

what type of soda were you drinking?

the soda was probably providing a good amount of caffeine... you could just be suffering caffeine withdrawl

[curiosity]

why not tap water!? is tap water evil?

I was drinking dr pepper almost exclusively, although I do sometimes drink the caffiene free.

holy freaking cow, how do you get tested for hypoglycemia, almost all of the symptoms match,

the double vision, staring, blurred vision, palpitation, borborygmus, sweating (when not hot, especially when not doing excercise), I am known to keep my room very warm, and everyone feels it but me, I have high anxiety (even anxiety attacks) nervousness, shakiness when I hold out my hands at any time during the day, (im also sensitive to sunlight but thats not a symptom), depression, slurred speech (recently), uncoordinated, dizziness and confusion, pessimism, paresthesia, etc.

However most of it I had to "look for" in myself, so if I have it, I probably dont have the serious spectrum, as I have had no seizures or birth defects, etc.

My parents say its because I quit the unhealthy foods cold turkey, and thats causing me to feel mentally fatigued, even though I dont crave the old foods. wierd, I still want to look into hypoglycemia though, it would explain alot... how do you get tested?

[suspire]

All sorts of possibilities as a number of posters here have mentioned--caffeine and/or sugar withdrawal being the big ones.

My results were similar, initially, when I changed to an extremely healthy diet(moreso than the list you posted--no fruit juices, no white rice, no canned beans and soups, etc)--for the first few days. Then, quite literally, a few days later I found myself feeling much better and much more energetic. I now require less sleep. The big change was the absence of junk food and snacks of all sorts--every time I do snack, I end up a lot more sluggish for the day.

I would recommend adding stuff like green tea and the like, if you haven't already.

[synaesthetic]

why not tap water!? is tap water evil?

"Chemicals used to disinfect water often contain chlorine, which can react with organic matter in the water to form compounds such as trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs), known collectively as disinfection by-products (DBPs). DBP exposure has been implicated in reproductive abnormalities, and earlier human studies have found associations between DBPs and adverse pregnancy outcomes. A new study of DBP exposure now shows only weak evidence of sperm quality damage from exposures at or below regulatory limits..."

While you probrably wont die from drinking straight tapwater... it generally has chlorine, fluoride, dead bacteria and sometimes lead which acutely can cause foggy brain and stomach ache, but also have implications in some negative long term effects.

I don't think its beneficial for your brain to drink it. Most people who say the've been drinking it for years and are perfectely fine are biased because they really don't want to believe government approved tapwater could mess them up! It's your choice if you want to continue drinking it, I recommend getting a filter in the least.

[curiosity]

"Chemicals used to disinfect water often contain chlorine, which can react with organic matter in the water to form compounds such as trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs), known collectively as disinfection by-products (DBPs). DBP exposure has been implicated in reproductive abnormalities, and earlier human studies have found associations between DBPs and adverse pregnancy outcomes. A new study of DBP exposure now shows only weak evidence of sperm quality damage from exposures at or below regulatory limits..."

While you probrably wont die from drinking straight tapwater... it generally has chlorine, fluoride, dead bacteria and sometimes lead which acutely can cause foggy brain and stomach ache, but also have implications in some negative long term effects.

I don't think its beneficial for your brain to drink it. Most people who say the've been drinking it for years and are perfectely fine are biased because they really don't want to believe government approved tapwater could mess them up!  It's your choice if you want to continue drinking it, I recommend getting a filter in the least.

My water comes from a well and calcium or iron (i dont remember which) was the only problem, so we installed a filter at the well-base for it. Other than that, I drink refined tap water aka bottled water. I guess my sink is more healthy than the bottled water haha.

[Shannon Vyff]

Chemflip --I'm not sure if it is a good thing or bad thing that my eight year old boy liked your avatar--Curiosity I agree with my six year old girl that yours is very cool!

I had the same symptoms when I started to eat healthy, but checking into hypoglycemia would be a wise thing. I had that when I was pregnant, but I also ate a lot of refined foods, deserts, simple carbohydrates, the symptoms were much stronger. Now I only feel that way if I've gone all day without eating. (I used to do every other day CR, but now eat two or three snacks with one main meal-each day) (my snacks are 5 raw walnut halfs/carrots and 4 dark chocolate chips and 3 or 4 orange pieces--my main meal has a lot of veggies and protein, no breads)

I drink filtered water. (also green tea, or coffee--no soda, or juices)

[whitenoise]

It sounds like excessive adenosine activity, aka caffeine withdrawl. Adenosine is the "sleep poison"; it's the chemical that builds up in the body while you are awake and increases with concentrations progessively throughout the day, and is then removed during sleep. It's inhibitory in the brain, and has several other effects in the body, in particular it's a vasodialator (enlarges blood vessels). Caffeine binds to the same receptor and blocks the action of adenosine, to which the brain responds by increasing the number of receptors (standard tolerance effect). When you don't get enough caffine after the build-up, the adenosine has more effect on the body, and so it'll hit you sooner. Additionally, the increased vasodilation in the brain floods it with blood, which causes withdrawl headaches.

Caffeine withdrawl can account for all, or nearly all of your symptomes and considering your previous caffine intake, is almost certainly a problem (if not the only problem). There is probably some shock from such a radical change in diet habits as well.

Adenosine receptors return to normal in 5-7 days (depending on level of caffeine addiction). Considering that this is one of the simplest explainations, I would bet caffeine is a tremendous portion of your problem.

Small amounts of caffeine will help with a lot of the problems. I second suspire's suggestion of green tea, it contains some caffeine and theophylline which should help the symptomes, and is generally pretty good for you. Also, it tastes delicious, imo.

On the issue of tap water, I'd not worry so much. Tap water is by-and-large much, much safer than even bottled water. I recall a discussion about this in my chemistry class in fact. The chlorine issue in tap water comes from an older chemical additive used to clean the water. Recently there has been a move to ozone, although this is more expensive, and another chlorine-based chemical that holds the chlorine much tighter so it does react in the body the same way. Although even so the old chlorination process was pretty safe.

If there's significant amounts of lead in your tap water, it is contaminated and I'd suggest you call the county about it.

[ajnast4r]

dr pepper has 41mg per can 12oz... i believe 1 can is 12oz

x 5 = 205mg caffeine (and 135g simple sugar btw)

more than enough caffeine to cause withdrawl...


green tea will relieve the symptoms and not exacerbate the addiction. drink a cup or two a day and see how you feel.

Additionally, the increased vasodilation in the brain floods it with blood, which causes withdrawl headaches.

the headache is from elevated levels of a certain chemical that causes vasoCONSTRICTION [i believe]

[whitenoise]

No I thought the same thing, but it's dilation not constriction that causes the headache. Check the wiki article http://en.wikipedia...._and_withdrawal And it's not elevated levels (the chemical is adenosine), it's from increased sensitivity to adenosine.

Unless you've got a more accurate source that shows otherwise...?