Wondering if anyone here on 8/1/1 or predominately fruit diet have any blood sugar issues and how you resolved them?

I tested mine yesterday, was so very low explaining the reason I've felt so awful this month (dizziness/shaking/inability to think or concentrate) 2 hours after eating 3/4 of a pineapple. It was back to normal after a dinner of raw 'falafel' with whole wheat wrap and some kiwis.

Just curious if anyone has had the same. I was knocked unconscious last week in martial arts class because I was so out of it :-)

what do you eat in a typical day? dizziness, shaking, inability to think ..would lead me to think you are not eating enough ... just curious

ouch on getting knocked out ..thats not good lol !

This is so incredible as I was going to start a similar thread just this morning!

My dear wife earlier today made mention of some new 'vitamin' out there that's supposed to help folks think more clearly & sharply. She said something about how it addresses those with low blood sugar as that apparently manifests itself by making those afflicted mentally flighty & in general 'out of it'.

Since my better half is decidedly NOT raw and almost flaunts her creation of two new food groups - those being Coke and Pringles - what good raw foods can I suggest she eat or is low blood sugar caused by waiting too long between meals? Since she's a snacker by nature, maybe the thing to do is have her eat grapes throughout the day to keep a constant flow of caloric intake.

I too, am quite interested in the responses to this question.

Happy Friday!

David

P.S. Martial arts and the phrase "out of it" are not a good combination!!!

That's interesting about getting low blood sugar 2 hours after eating pineapple - that means the fruit must've spiked your blood sugar first, for it to crash like that. So feeling spacy from too much fruit cannot be blamed on just detox. There's no doubt in my mind that all-fruit cannot be done across the board as a general diet for all people in all locations. It can, however, be done in warm climates or if a person exercises alot. That's my opinion.

Hey Diamond Dave!

I totally hear you on this one, but it's easiest if you happen to be the one that prepares most of the food. My husband might prefer to eat a lot of stuff that would be worse for him, but if a plate of healthy food appears in front of him, and the other option is to get up and cook something himself, he will most often go along with whatever I have to offer. So if you get the chance to get ahead of things, and have a snack or two ready to eat before your wife feels like a snack, you might be able to entice her. Raw nuts, guacamole or dehyrated crackers might satisfy that craving for chips. Fruit would be great, but might not be appealing for a person craving potato chips.

I had a bit of an addiction to cola a few years ago, and one day I decided that it couldn't be good for me. Instead of making the decision to deprive myself, I made up my mind that any time I get a big craving for a coke, I would first drink a bottle of water. Once I drank the water I would be allowed one coke. I surprised myself by discovering that in doing so, I never drank coke again - turns out all those cravings for coke were just thirst, and the water did the trick. Terrible to think how many times I satisfied plain old thirst with that awful stuff!

Sapphire

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW !!! pass the toilet paper with them good ol pringles ! ackkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk !!!




California Sues Potato Chip Makers


California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has filed a lawsuit intended to force makers of potato chips and French fries to warn consumers about a potential cancer-causing substance in their products.

Acrylamide

The chemical in question is acrylamide, which is created when starchy foods are cooked at high heat. The lawsuit states that producers of French fries and potato chips are in violation of a 1986 law requiring California companies to warn consumers about known carcinogens.

"Can Cause Cancer"

In a March press release, the FDA stated that acrylamide "can cause cancer in laboratory animals at high doses, although it is not clear whether it causes cancer in humans at the much lower levels found in food."

Acrylamide is also used for sewage treatment and other industrial purposes.


"Speaking of Acrylamide, popular American brands of snack chips and French fries contain the highest levels of the substance, according to laboratory tests commissioned by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). Fast-food French fries showed disturbingly high levels of acrylamide with large orders containing 39 to 82 micrograms. One-ounce portions of Pringles potato crisps contained about 25 micrograms, with corn-based Fritos and Tostitos containing half that amount or less.

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

badawie, I have blood sugar issues (having Type 1 Diabetes) but I have not experienced what you are experiencing so I'm afraid I wouldn't be much help.

If I don't take insulin before eating pineapple (a very sweet fruit) my blood sugar goes sky high and stays there until I take insulin. Kind of the opposite of what you experienced.

@jgunn/jodi
I normally eat half a pineapple or a mango w/1 cup strawberries and a head of lettuce for breakfast. Then I have 2 small meals of fruit (used to be bananas or watermelon but they made me feel really sick, used to get a strong sugar taste in my mouth after eating and no amount of brushing could get rid of it). For dinner I have a piece of fruit and some cooked food (whole wheat pasta w/fresh tomato no oil, or veggies w/couscous no oil). Sometimes I have indian food (no oil) and sometimes lebanese foods (no oil!).

My cals usually add up to between 1200-1500, and my count for the week is approx 76/12/12 (with some variation). I dont feel that I'm under eating, especially since I've only lost 2 lbs in a month! I can't exercise (as I mentioned my little 'accident'), dr d said maybe I need to exercise to get the sugar and insulin flowing properly, but I really really can't. I almost passed out at the gym today.

@diamonddave
lol. yes, you are right! unfortunately my cognitive functions are so impaired I was not able to even make that call..
I don't know if grapes are such a great idea..lots of sugar..

@sunshine79
funny you should say that about the spike..I often feel fantastic for up to an hour after the fruit, to the point where I'm bouncing around gleefully, and then suddenly, boom, I crash. I'm going to test my blood sugar 30 minutes after fruit and then 2 hours after again. Though I'm not sure what that would prove or how it would help me in my quest to be one of these glowing, athletic people's like coconutcream and bryan!

@karen
my best friend has diabetes. I see her struggle with it every day. What ever happened to those studies they were doing that showed diabetes 1 might be caused by a parasite? I can't remember..
I'm just wondering if this happens to me but other people are ok, that it means I should get it checked out? By the way, allergy still there, and my doc decided to move his practice out of the country! We're having some political instability here, a lot of people who have the means to are choosing to leave (a lot of doctors unfortunately).

Good to hear I'm not the only one at least!

badawie,

you may want to consider the possibility that the indian food and the wheat products can impact your body and cause some of those reactions that you are experiencing, as opposed to the fruit, even though it may appear to be related to the fruit.

Hmmm, had you considered trying to incorporate more less sweet fruits for awhile and see how that works? Apples for one. Then also fruits that we usually categorize as veggies - cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, etc.

Also, have you considered skipping breakfast and waiting until you are truly hungry to eat? Unless you are truly hungry at breakfast time. A whole head of lettuce sounds like a lot at breakfast time. I do a lot better without breakfast and I have read a lot of postings where a lot of other rawfooders also skip breakfast.

I'm eating the wheat and indian food in minute portions like half a plate for dinner (less than I ever have) while I am ingesting much much higher amounts of fruit than I ever have..and when I say indian food, I mean foods prepared at home without oil or any chemicals..

I think, since an increase in fruit (by about 500% daily) is the only major change to my diet, that it would be counter intuitive to blame it on the things that were in my diet in a higher amount for years. I have never ever eaten this much fruit before.

I have never had a problem with wheat. I do plan to phase it out at some point, but I don't feel comfortable doing that till my blood sugar stops crashing. I do understand that high fruit levels combined with oil are a problem, which is why I have stopped my half tea spoon of olive oil (that I was taking to try and stop my hair loss). Other than that, there are no overt fats in my diet. I don't eat nuts of avocado.


Thanks for the suggestion though, I realise that many people have problems with wheat..

I can relate as to the sweet fruits. I can't eat a lot of them either without taking lots of insulin and then I don't feel good, even with the insulin, if I eat too much of them.

I find fruits in green smoothies helps to balance out the effects of the fruits.

See my previous posting in regards to non-sweet fruits and not eating breakfast.

badawie im not sure what country you are in but is it possible you are being exposed to some unsafe levels of pesticides or herbicides in your food ..?

this is just one example the side effects of a herbicide ..im sure there are others under different names that can cause the same effects:

2. Exposure & Acute Effects

Poisonings with Arsenal (Active Ingredient Imazapyr)



According to previously collected data on lethal doses in rats, Arsenal is characterized by low toxicity. However, the cases covered in this study show that poisoning with Arsenal may produce toxic effects including low blood pressure, impaired consciousness, lung dysfunction, metabolic acidosis, temporary liver and kidney dysfunction, elevated white blood cell counts and fever.

It is not known whether the toxic effects observed in these patients were produced by imazapyr itself, by the “inert” ingredients, or by a combination of ingredients.

Hsin-Ling Lee et al., “Acute Poisoning with a Herbicide Containing Imazapyr (Arsenal): A Report of Six Cases.” Journal of Toxicology— Clinical Toxicology 37(1), January 1999,
pp. 83-89.

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

I'm eating greens with the fruit..that's why I have the head of lettuce with breakfast.

I prefer not to make smoothies as supposedly it goes into your bloodstream to fast - or is that only applicable to juicing and not smoothies?

Sorry I'm a little slow with navigating this site still, I missed that post!

If I wait till I am hungry I will have already left the house, and it's then likely that I will forget to eat most of the day, which means I won't get enough cals.

I usually have the tomato and cucumber and zucchini for dinner..I try to eat high cal during the day so I exercise (or have the energy to at least leave the house anyway :-)

I guess I'm just wondering if the sugar surge and subsequent crash are normal. I mean, do we think the body eventually gets used to it or am I the only one?

I hope Bryan drops by and answers your question. I would be interested in his answer.

badawie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> years. I have never ever eaten this much fruit
> before.
>

it's not necessarily about the amounts eaten. and it's not necessarily the food, but the reactions occurring in your changing body.

what can happen is that as the body changes, we react to things that we never had a problem with. so to say that you never had a problem with wheat does not mean that it is not causing at least part of the problem now. iow, we become more sensitive in a way.

i'm not trying to tell you you're wrong, but just to consider that it's not just fruit causing the problem.

to think that eating cooked food regulates our blood sugar level and well being is not a very productive place to work from ...

Actually I'm not saying that eating cooked food regulates my blood sugar and well being.

I'm saying I'm still in transition, I haven't suddenly added the cooked foods to the fruit, it's what I was already eating, so my assumption, rightly or wrongly is that the sudden high amounts of fruit are more likely to be creating the blood sugar fluctuations rather than the foods I have never had a problem with.

The blood sugar tests I did indicated that eating pineapple gave me a surge then a crash, whereas I did not experience the same surge and crash with non-fruit food.

I am willing to accept the idea that maybe my body is becoming more sensitive, but that would actually be something I would worry about. Homosapiens is a very adaptable creature. To live my life I can't restrict my diet to the point where I become sensitive to foods I may have no choice but to eat one day. If I go broke (lose my job, my lease, whatever), I won't be able to afford to spend the money I spend now on fruit and organic foods. So what would I do? Give up my medical insurance or my rent money to buy fruit/organic? No, more likely I would have to eat whatever I can afford until I can buy it again. If my body is suddenly going to start shutting down if I feed it 'normal' food (and by that I don't mean sad, just the staple med diet available here cheaply) then I guess I have to re evaluate my foray into more healthful eating.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/2007 06:38PM by badawie.

@jodi
eeek! what a horrible thought. it's certainly possible..I live in beirut..I'm having an allergy to something still..I'm sensitive to a few foods, apparently something I added to my diet this month has set it off again, but yes, I was wondering about chemicals in relation to allergies. I hate eating fruit that's not organic, but no choice whatsoever. In addition, we have few local fruits, most are imported (so surely treated with something to stop them spoiling).
re the potato chips..I can't believe people eat them! They are gross..

I used to have the same problem with sweet fruits--rise and crash. It doesn't happen as much now that I've been 100% raw for ten months. In the beginning I did something that helped me not rise/drop so much when I ate sweet fruits: I combined them with a small amount of protein (nuts, seeds, or protein powder). I know a lot of people say protein isn't all that great for you if you are adding it to your foods, but honestly it made a huge difference for me. It's probably not proper food combining, either, but it allowed my body to eat sweet fruits for the first time without being afraid that I'd be passed out and feeling unwell for the rest of the day. I learned to combine the protein with the high sugar fruits after reading a book called The Insulin Resistance Diet.

Anyway, that was my experience. I think eating more sweet fruits has helped me heal faster--and I wouldn't have been able to eat them and not suffer if I didn't eat them with protein (maybe it was the fat in the protein, though, I'm not sure).

Love,

Gypsy

I was reading some articles on hypoglycaemia, which also say that fat should be eaten with some fat and protein, but that totally contradicts the 8/1/1. There's no organic protein powder here anyway (no hemp ironically even though we are one of the world's major exporters of marijuana and hashish) so that's not really an option.

But yeah, the almost passing out daily thing is a problem..I can see why you 'branched out'

sadly alot of banned farm chemicals find their way over to europe and asia and beyond to be used on stuff that we consume

i saw evidence of this when i was in nepal working on some volunteer research projects in agriculture there

sadly not to say that some of these chemicals banned or not dont find their way into the organic stuff either ...there are all sorts of loopholes that people use to fool us into thinnking are food is goood or wholesome or safe

really i cant even really say that the food that i do grow myself is considered safe as i have no real idea what happened before i ended up with the patch of dirt ...for all i know there could be all manner of toxic things lurking ! but i really do feel im getting good health value in my homegrown stuff ...some people arent as lucky as i am though to have some space to do what do

but sorry im veering your original topic off track LOL ! .. i seem to do that

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist




Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/2007 07:16PM by Jgunn.

badawie, I think for transition purposes some people have to branch out. 8/1/1 can be your long-term goal but it doesn't have to be your exact diet for right now. Can you eat nuts with your fruit since hemp isn't available?

'sigh'. allergic to nuts of course! lentils or garbanzos or fava beans maybe? I know garbanzos/chickpeas have quite a bit of fat/protein. I'm just confused because dr d (and bryan) both suggested that my intake of fat with fruit (even in the same day let alone same meal) could be contributing to the space out.

I wish I could just sit back and enjoy it, some people pay good money for street drugs for this feeling!

badawie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Actually I'm not saying that eating cooked food
> regulates my blood sugar and well being.
>

i understand you weren't saying that but that seemed to be the reality of it.

> I'm saying I'm still in transition, I haven't
> suddenly added the cooked foods to the fruit, it's
> what I was already eating, so my assumption,

i understand where you are.
i was just pointing out that it may be of use to consider other things besides the fruit.

insuring that true hunger is present is another aspect to attend to, as i'm sure you know.

we all transition the best we can, but transition does not mean necessarily that we need to hold onto cooked foods that aren't doing us any good except emotionally. and lightly steamed veggies or roots might be better than some other choices that contain opioids and other negative aspects.


>
> I am willing to accept the idea that maybe my body
> is becoming more sensitive, but that would
> actually be something I would worry about.


that's one way to look at it.
but i love that i'm more sensitive to some things now.


> Homosapiens is a very adaptable creature. To live
> my life I can't restrict my diet to the point
> where I become sensitive to foods I may have no
> choice but to eat one day. If I go broke (lose my
> job, my lease, whatever),

i understand what you're saying,but
that won't happen after you get over the hump.
having a clean body and being more sensitive to things and then reintroducing them doesn't cause the body to fail or shut down, just gives us a stronger kick in the butt.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/2007 07:29PM by fresh.

>i understand what you're saying,but
>that won't happen after you get over the hump.
>having a clean body and being more sensitive to things and then reintroducing them >doesn't cause the body to fail or shut down, just gives us a stronger kick in the >butt.

lol. that made me smile! ok, that explanation makes me hopeful. I do frequently eat lightly steamed veg, but I guess you are right, I'll have to pry the cooked grains from my kung fu grip soon.

I guess part of it is my journalistic tendency to doubt things that I don't feel I have concrete proof of (for every study or article I read on raw foods, I see two more refuting them - as karen and jodi also mentioned in another thread). I'm trying to let go of applying that to my body..but it's hard when my main source for this is what my brain is telling me. I guess I should apply my 'two source' minimum to myself too :-)

hehe well one thing i have learned in the deep dark depths of reading about toxic food and chemicals as some of these things can store within you for longgggggg periods of time only to release at a later date ...

i have no doubt the twinkies and hostess dingdongs of my past caught up to me in the last 5 years at somepoint



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/2007 08:02PM by Jgunn.

Badawie,

You sound like a terribly decent fellow. I hope you get these issues resolved to your satisfaction.

I must agree with Karen and others who are recommending you steer clear of sweet fruits. An obvious and less than robust analogy comes to mind years ago when I began endurance bike riding/racing. At rest stops they provide a HUGE spread of carbs featuring all manner of foods from cookies & pastries to fresh fruit (oranges & bananas). At that time I knew nothing of the raw lifestyle and with burning 3,000 calories at the drop of a hat cycling in this manner, I felt I could consume anything I pleased which I did. And of course I gravitated towards the junk foods. My next five or so miles on the road were Lance Armstrong-like followed by a massive crash! It only took one time for me to learn that on any bike ride, fresh fruits are the order of the day.

I typically make a green smoothie for breakfast and my energy is more steady & reliable when I incorporate apples and similar fruit. In fact I'm on top of the world and ready to face the workplace and my lunchtime workout.

I fully concur with you and my dear Jodi relative to potato chips. However, seeing as how they are a favorite food group with my spouse and children, this is a dicey battle at the moment. I'm working on it however. With the ammo provided by Jodi, I am slowly making a case.



Sapphire,

My wife isn't terribly domestic and I do most of the cooking in our house. On the weekend I adhere to your fine suggestions. It's during the week that kills me as she gets home sooner than I do and with me not around, snacks abound for her and my two kids. I about blow a gasket when I painstakingly prepare a great meal that she can easily throw in the oven and cook, only to have it go uneaten since they're all full from snacks an hour earlier. Grrrrrrrr!!!!!!

My best,

David

diamond dave Wrote:
>
> I fully concur with you and my dear Jodi relative
> to potato chips. However, seeing as how they are
> a favorite food group with my spouse and children,


you and i have this particular thing in common.
i feel your pain

i liked your work with van halen.

;-)

Thanks for that Fresh! Brought a smile to my face.

And yes, am out touring again with the boys. I hear the Classic Van Halen tour is getting great reviews. I listened to a bootleg from the first night in Charlotte and the band was spot on.

Have always been a fan of Dave and not so much Sammy. Although Mr. Hagar and I used to share a love of tequila but that was some time ago! Believe he still dabbles however.

Take care,

David