Why do carbs make me tired?

[younghutch]

I've read as many posts and articles as I could find and would be happy to be redirected to others if necessary, but I was hoping that some of the more knowledgeable members could help me a bit.

My diet is currently approx. 30 c / 40 p / 30 f and it seems that whenever I eat any significant amount of carbs I get very tired, sometimes even needing a nap shortly thereafter. I tried my first carb refeed this past weekend to attempt to jump start my metabolism using hi GI carbs like bagels & low-sugar cereals. I could hardly get off of the couch after about 8 hours of this plus I put on about 7 lbs. of water / glyco.

So this week I cut carbs across the board (to about 20% of macro. total) and suddenyl I felt lighter, leaner, more energized and more clear headed. Isn't this supposed to be the other way around?

I've read a bit about insulin resistance & metabolic syndrome but couldn't get the gist of most of it. I was hoping someone could put it in English for me (lol). Iv've read most of the keto threads here & it sounds like something I might need to consider.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[skelooth]

It seems to be most common amongst people who are insulin resistant... I get the same exact thing. I believe it has something to do with our insulin spiking then crashing....

When I'm doing CKD and I carb up, I feel almost 'drunk' and just want to sleep. Right now I'm not doing CKD but even now I feel much more energetic with less carbs and more fat

[Eileen]

Classic symptoms of carb sensitivity at least, and possibly insulin resistance. An awful lot of us spend our carb-ups trying to stay awake enough to eat!

We were not designed by nature to eat the amount of carbs we eat now, never mind the sort of refined processed carbs we take for granted. Our bodies eventually get tired of coping with the floods of insulin needed to deal with all the junk, and you get insulin resistance to start with, leading to type 2 diabetes.

You'll probably find you feel a lot better and healthier on keto, and will probably find that your carb-up will be a lot easier if you stick to low-gi carbs like root veg, whole grains and dairy.

Do a search on Metabolic syndrome for more information. If you're near a library, check out "The X Factor Diet" by Leslie Kenton. Even the old Atkins books have a lot on this.

[Minotaur]

Carbs are also used in the maufacture of serotonin, a brain neurotransmitter. It's the "feel good" neurotransmitter. It gives you a feeling of calm and well-being. It can also make you sleepy. Drugs like Prozac and Zoloft are called SSRIs... selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. That is, they stop the serotonin from being reabsorbed, so there is more of it available to make you feel good.

OK, TMI.

But Eileen is right about the carbs/insulin resistance/diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome connections. I know from experience.