Brain fog after adding in carbs page

[sakura_girl]

Is this normal? I recently went from 2 months of VLC (with 2-3 times of cheating) to adding carbs back in regularly after workouts. I usually have 50-200g PW carbs depending on how much chocolate I cave into, but now I seem to have brain fog every afternoon when I do have carbs. Do I need to tone down the carbs a bit more or something?

[fiercehunter]

I cycle my carbs every few days so I can't say. You could try a few days higher carb then a few days of no carbs and see if that works for you.

[Ayla2010]

I would tone it down for sure. I am scared of trying too many, as I don't want that brain fog back either.

[@lex]

Your body is simply adjusting, just like when people go low carb and experience similar symptoms. Both diets have an adaptation period if you've been on one end of the spectrum for a while. Eat carbs > cut them out > brain fog for a bit. Don't eat carbs > add them back in > brain fog for a bit.

[Fiji]

I agree with @lex. You might be going through "reverse carb flu." I experienced the tiredness and major bloating and water retention when I added back starches to my diet although I felt 100% better in every other respect. My insatiable sugar cravings went away immediately after I started eating some white rice. I also had hypoglycemic symptoms from adding back starches but that eventually went away and I am totally fine now. Bloating and water retention also went away after about 3 weeks.

Maybe try gradually increasing the amounts of starches and eat with a little bit of fat and protein to help pace absorption.

[Timthetaco]

You might have better luck eating them with dinner. I really only eat carbs at night now. I couldn't say if I'm wonderfully adjusted to white potatoes, but if I eat them in the beginning or the middle of the day, they ruin me. Sweet potatoes don't seem to hurt me in the day, though.

I figure if your body is just adjusting, it's better to have brain fog at the end of the day when you don't have anything important to do.

[Owly]

Late day carbs don't seem to be the problem they've been made out to be. If you're finding you're crashy in the afternoon when you eat them earlier in the day, shifting them to dinner seems like a good possible alternative.

It's only one study and thus needs more research to follow it up, but I found this interesting since it contradicts the idea that carbs are bad at night:

Save Your Carbs For Dinner? | Dr. Sharma's Obesity Notes

[tarek]

What kind of carbohydrates are you eating? Are you sure it's not the cacao? I used to eat 40g of cacao every day to the point where I was addicted to it. Within a few minutes after eating it, I would feel fatigued, sluggish, and moody.

Just remember that theobromine IS a stimulant, and it works slightly different than caffeine does.

[sakura_girl]

That's an interesting point about chocolate, tarek. I'm currently cutting out my chocolate intake to see what happens anyway.

Typically my post workout carbs are eaten as dinner, so it's not a matter of early carbs making my body run out of steam. The only carbs I eat are Okinawan purple sweet potatoes and Japanese yams. (and also chocolate)

I'll ride out the next few weeks to see how my body adjusts to the carb-only-from-sweet potatoes intake. Thank you for your replies.

[DarthFriendly]

LIES!!! "natural carbs" are an internet proven panacea, because people on this forum say so!!