So Are You Carbohydrate Intolerant?

April 10 2018

Carbohydrate tolerance is a grey area. The amount of carbohydrates that works for one person’s metabolism doesn’t always serve another’s.

So you want to know if you’re carb intolerant? Start by answering these questions.

  1. Are you overweight?
  2. Do you feel fatigued much of the time, especially after eating a carb-heavy meal?
  3. Do you lead a largely sedentary life?
  4. Do you feel like your appetite is out of control?
  5. Do you frequently crave sweets or starchy foods like bread, pasta, potatoes, or beans?
  6. Do you feel lightheaded and dizzy when you get hungry?
  7. Is your blood sugar in the upper ranges of “normal” or beyond?
  8. Are you struggling with brain fog, anxiety, depression, skin problems, joint pain, aching muscles, hormonal issues, and/or sleep problems?
  9. Optional: If you’ve had blood work done recently, look at your hemoglobin A1c levels. This provides a snapshot of your average blood sugar levels over the last three months. Has your diet been clear of sugary foods, yet the number is still above 5.5?

If you answered yes to one or more questions, try 14 days of cutting out of your diet all grains, legumes (beans and peas), starchy vegetables (carrots, corn, potatoes, squash, sweet potatoes, yams), and fruit. (In case it’s not obvious, sugary foods; natural sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, and agave; and most packaged drinks should be removed completely.) After day 14, revisit questions 2, 5, 6, and 8. If you have experienced a marked change in your symptoms, you may have discovered your own carbohydrate intolerance.

So I’m carb intolerant: Now what?

Take heart! Healthy low-carb diets can improve blood pressure and help you lose weight, have fewer sugar cravings, and feel less driven by hunger. Skin and digestion often improve, as well as triglycerides (a form of blood lipids) and blood sugar and insulin markers.

Follow all the advice in this section—then tweak your diet slightly using the suggestions that follow:

  1. No sugars or refined carbohydrates. Increase the amount of leafy and cruciferous vegetables at each meal, and dramatically or completely decrease complex carbs like starchy vegetables; grains, beans, and legumes; and “pseudo-grains” like quinoa and buckwheat. Maximum two or three portions of these complex carbs per week.
  2. Be more generous than you think you should be with “good” fats like avocados and extra-virgin olive oil.
  3. Limit dairy: It’s high in carbs.
  4. Eat low-sugar fresh or frozen fruit only: fresh berries, citrus fruits, green apples, maximum two or three times a week.
  5. Go very light on the alcohol: And if you do drink, go for the lowest-carb options. Pure spirits like whiskey, vodka, and tequila are carb-free, and dry wine is better than beer. Avoid sweet drinks and mixers, which may contain a lot of sugar.
  6. Pay attention to the effects of starchy foods when you eat them.

Your tolerance can rise and fall depending on how much you exercised, how well you slept, how stressed you are, and so on. There’s nothing a doctor can give you that is more valuable than this personal awareness. If you find that you handle whole-food complex carbs quite well, I still advise that you keep them to a reasonable amount, picking from the low- and medium-count foods described above. If you are using carb-counting devices, know this: Conventional dietary recommendations suggest a limit of 225 grams per day. That’s too high: Stay under 150 grams a day maximum, and preferably under 100 grams.

 

Sourced from Mind Body Green.