Low carbs and dizziness

[Lumberg]

Hey guys I have recently reduced carbs in my diet and I have had these crazy dizzy spells. I seriously feel like I am going to pass out and I get this jolt of adrenalin. Sometimes it's when I am walking around and sometimes it's at my desk, it seriously freaks me out. I am taking a B-100 complex tab everyday and I have been drinking 2 cups of coffee a day which I don't usually do. But it doesn't seem to be related to the coffee.

Is this normal? If I had to guess I would say that my blood sugar is getting low and my body is releasing adrenalin to release glycogen to increase blood sugar. It's weird, even when I am calm or try to be calm I'll still get this jolt of fear, it's like my mind is trying to stay relaxed but my body is jolting it. I also feel more "out of it" than usual.

Otherwise I feel fine, my strength hasn't suffered and my abs are showing more than ever.

So I am wondering, is this normal for low carb/keto diets?

JC

 

[Gingerly]

Yah, it's normal. When I get carbs below 50g I get dizzy and fatigued, sometimes headachey. Try some potassium, 400mg (especially if its hot out) - keto diets are really dehydrating, you lose a lot of salts with that water. Potassium should fix it. Keep the water intake up when you use potassium though (heck, keep it up when you lower carbs)

G

 

[plornive]

I don't see the point in reducing blood glucose this much. If you are dizzy, I think you could absorb more glucose and only benefit from it. You could either increase carbs a little or protein a lot without leaving ketosis. It takes a while for your brain to get used to being in ketosis, and even then your brain needs to get at least some of its energy from glucose.

 

[poohbear]

The brain needs at least 50 gr of carbs for normal function.

 

[MuscleDm]

Join the club of low carb dieting....you may be able to get in more carbs like the others mentioned. The brain needs about 50 to 100 per day.....

Ryan

 

[Lumberg]

SO even on a keto diet you should get at least 50 g of carbs a day? Meaning the kind of carbs you can burn, i.e. not fiber?

Does this 50g include the approximately 30 g of Dextrose I take post-WO on workout days?

I have increased carb intake just due to moving and having to eat what I have and not having had time to prepare more foods so the dizziness is gone but I do plan to go back to lower carbs again.

Also I made a point on the Crm thread that what is the poinbt of carb-ups? Why not take the amount of carbs you would eat on a typical carb-up day, divide by the number of days between carb ups, and just eat that much more carbs on each day? I think it would be more sustainable.

NYWAYZ.........please respond.

JC

 

[plornive]

One quick note:
50-60% of protein has the potential to be converted to glucose by the liver. 10% of fat. 100% of carbohydrate. Therefore, you could just eat a hell of a lot of protein and not be so dizzy.

 

[MuscleDm]

The main point of carb ups is to refill muscle and liver glycogen stores after a long week of depletion so you have some enegry to train using the glycolytic system (most weight training).

ryan