change in diet= > no change in energy, but ....

[DoggyLady]

i don't detect any change in my energy or alertness level so far, after 2 mths of change in diet. (more fruit and veggies, less meat, less fried)

i do notice that my complexion has improved. No pimples. that's a good thing, i guess. and this is despite that i sleep late often (i socialise a lot).

i notice that food cravings happen, when we are down.

two nights ago, i went through a lot of trouble to eat indian food (stirfried noodles with indian spices). because i was in a bad mood. ouch. broke my routine of "no spicy foods". (Chinese traditional medical doctor diagnose my body as "heaty", so spicy foods like chilli, peppery stuff, jalapeno, tomyams are bad for me)

Anyway, I wish I can have that "marked alertness" that people talk about.

i don't feel it so far !!! what do u feel like ??

[BobbySox]

You might find removing gluten from your diet is the answer. I suffered chronic fatigue until I read that gluten can cause this. After 2 days gluten free, my fatigue had gone.

You might also need your TSH levels for thyroid function testing. Doctors are still using old charts for normal levels for TSH, but newer research states that 2.5 should be the top of the range. I tested as 2.5 which my doctor insisted was normal. However, I requested a higher dose of natural thyroid medication and can happily say I feel more alive now than I have done for the past 20 years!

[craftyjake]

Have you been keeping track of your exact diet? Try a food journal and see if you're really living up to what you say you're doing. Not to say you aren't, but often people overestimate how clean their diet is.

Also, how much water do you drink? Do you take a multivitamin? Try drinking more fluids and taking some more vitamins and fish oil.

[Clint Cora]

Could be an iron deficiency there too. But do you also exercise? Many who exercise claim to actually have more energy as a result.

[nzmegs]

try cutting out sugar and anything white (pasta, rice, bread etc). believe me in three days the energy will return. Don't stress about fat in your diet - it is OK.

[beautyscientist]

There is a principle in biology called homeostasis. It is one of the characteristics of living things that they try to maintain their internal conditions in the same state. Whatever diet you select your body is going to do its level best to keep it in its optimum state. You can perturb it out of the optimum. For instance if you eat a lot of sugar or food so highly processed it can turn to sugar very easily, you can overwhelm your pancreas and have wild fluctuations in your blood glucose that you experience as changes in your energy level.

When people report increased clarity of thought when they switch to more raw diet this is what they are probably experiencing. The pimples seems to be another manifestation. I think the body sometimes gets rid of excess sugar via the sebum glands making them an attractive home for micro-organisms.

I have a feeling your diet is just fine. Its just that it wasn't that bad before you switched. I'd stick with exactly what you are doing. Improved skin appearance is no small benefit and you have probably considerably reduced your chance of getting diabetes. As to your mental clarity - if you are alert enough to stay up half the night socialising you are probably more with it than most of us already.

[DoggyLady]

Originally Posted by nzmegs

try cutting out sugar and anything white (pasta, rice, bread etc). believe me in three days the energy will return. Don't stress about fat in your diet - it is OK.

what's wrong with pasta and rice ???

i'm chinese. I eat rice every day!!! rice is what asians eat !!!!

i did cut down rice a bit, and replace with pasta.

because i eat pasta salad now, because it is vegetarian. rather than "duck rice" or "fish noodles" which are typical foods that singaporeans buy for lunch.

so a switch to pasta has been an attempt to be more vegetarian and less oily.

[DoggyLady]

Originally Posted by beautyscientist

There is a principle in biology called homeostasis. It is one of the characteristics of living things that they try to maintain their internal conditions in the same state. Whatever diet you select your body is going to do its level best to keep it in its optimum state. You can perturb it out of the optimum. For instance if you eat a lot of sugar or food so highly processed it can turn to sugar very easily, you can overwhelm your pancreas and have wild fluctuations in your blood glucose that you experience as changes in your energy level.

When people report increased clarity of thought when they switch to more raw diet this is what they are probably experiencing. The pimples seems to be another manifestation. I think the body sometimes gets rid of excess sugar via the sebum glands making them an attractive home for micro-organisms.

I have a feeling your diet is just fine. Its just that it wasn't that bad before you switched. I'd stick with exactly what you are doing. Improved skin appearance is no small benefit and you have probably considerably reduced your chance of getting diabetes. As to your mental clarity - if you are alert enough to stay up half the night socialising you are probably more with it than most of us already.

great to hear that !

i'll stick to this diet then

and at the same time....

i'm continuing to look for new ways to have variety and tastes in vegetarian diet....

eventually, if i can make vegetarian diet so delicious, i can cut out meat totally!!!

[Clint Cora]

Although it's not for me personally, I have been to a few vegetarian restaurants run by Buddhists and I must say that many of their dishes were quite tasty.