Brain efficency and low carb diets.

[Rolf Nilsen]

I have recently hooked on the low carb way of eating, trying to be a good paleo eater.

While my body and muscles really enjoy this, leading to good progress in my training, I feel that my brain is lagging behind. I develop computer programs from time to time at work and the problems to be solved can be complex. Previously I would go to the canteena and pick up a soda, hot choclate or another sugary snack when I hit a wall. This would result in the problem getting solved almost straight away. Obviously I dont do this anymore, and apples or bananas dont seem to do the trick.

Now what does this mean? Is this just an idea I have or is it real? If it is real, does it indicate that I am eating wrong or have a medical condition I shoud have checked up. Am I right that eating some sugary crap will give your brain a jolt?

Ref: http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/carbs.html

The above link claims that having too low blood sugar certainly will make you less attentive and work slower, which is what I feel like at times.

I am setting myself up for quite a few jokes here, but that is ok

[ajhoover]

It takes 6 weeks for the body to addapt to burning protein similar to carbs. Read my post on sugar and you will see why you feel this way. If you have been doing this for 6 weeks and you do not feel normal then somthing is wrong. If you are used to heavy amounts of sugar in the diet, then rapidly switch to no carb you will feel it. I always advocate a slow transition especially a change as large as this. Remember that not every diet will work for every person.

Andrew

[Rolf Nilsen]

Is this the post you referred to: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2537&p=16402#p16402 ?

I dont think I am low on my intake of sugar from fruits and vegetables, but I accept that it can be a transitional phase and perhaps I have to adjust my diet.

What is quite surprising to me is that I feel much clearer/smarter if I down a dose of refined sugar (hot chochlate, soda, ice cream etc) while working on a hard problem. It is almost like the sugar goes directly to the brain and make it work better. Now you wrote about how sugar molecyles combine into messages, but I thought the brain used electricity, not chemicals, to transfer and process data. In what way does the brain use sugar and why do I feel like the brain gets a jolt that lasts for an hour or two? Any insight would be great.

The reason this come up at all is of course that for the first time of my adult life I am taking responsibility for what I am eating and is able to feel a difference. Earlier I downed anything I felt like, and my body did not like that at all, but my brain obviously loved it. Hope the transition does not take too long or my productivity will be down. Today I even had to read up on graph theory befory applying it..

[braindx]

If you are on high carb/low fat and switch to low carb/high fat it takes the transition time of 2-3 weeks or so for your body to rev up it's enzymes for gluconeogenesis in the liver, and for fatty acid metabolism as the energy to make that happen.

The 6 weeks suggested above is probably a really high upper limit, and it's not protein that is consumed to make glucose by your body unless you are on a starvation diet or something.

The brain runs on glucose and oxygen to make it work... so when you initially cut stuff out suddenly it's like a shock to your system and you're often tired/lethargic, think slower, recover slower, etc. Just push on through though and it should resolve itself. If it doesn't then you might need a more intermediate approach

[Rolf Nilsen]

Thanks for the replies and explanations. No worries, I'll push on through, or at least 6 weeks. It has been some weeks already but I dont give in easily. If it is not OK by mid next month, I'll have a re-check on my metabolic typing test.

Would you care to give a quick into on how the brain uses glucose to operate? How is it used? It is quite interesting that the brain runs on sugar. Also quite intimidating how quickly the body and brain responds to food. No wonder crappy food makes bad things to us.

[braindx]

Thanks for the replies and explanations. No worries, I'll push on through, or at least 6 weeks. It has been some weeks already but I dont give in easily. If it is not OK by mid next month, I'll have a re-check on my metabolic typing test.

Would you care to give a quick into on how the brain uses glucose to operate? How is it used? It is quite interesting that the brain runs on sugar. Also quite intimidating how quickly the body and brain responds to food. No wonder crappy food makes bad things to us.

Uh, it uses glucose like any of the other body's tissues like muscle.

here's the first result from "brain metabolism" search on google that looks fairly decent

http://www.acnp.org/g4/gn401000064/CH064.HTML