Ketosis, mental energy, and euphoria page

[Reservoir]

Hello guys,

I used to suffer from anxiety and depression, until I first tried a VLC diet. After 3 days, I had a sudden rush of happiness, excitement, and energy to my brain, and the constant background anxiety disappeared. I was much sharper, and calm and the same time. It felt really good.

However, after 10 days of feeling good, I ended up binging on carbs a couple times, and kept getting on and off the keto wagon. This time around, I stuck with the keto diet and after more than a week eating 0 carbs, I felt a little burst of euphoria which quickly disappeared after a couple hours. I'm now back into my sluggishness, and cant seem to get to where I was.

I am rather confused.

So I have 2 questions:

-did you feel a similar hyper-energetic/happy feeling in your brain when getting into ketosis? did it last indefinitely or was it temporary?

-do you get even more energetic after 3 weeks, when the brain is supposedly ketoadapted?


I hope the cure to my mental disorder can be found in this diet, nothing has ever made me feel so good . I just hope I can feel as good as I was in the initial stages of the diet, the first time I tried!

[sbhikes]

I do get a strong mental clarity when I go very low carb. I wouldn't describe it as euphoria. I have read of others who truly benefit from a mental health standpoint from very low carb diets. It evens out their emotions. This is a far cry from a euphoric high, unless finally not feeling depressed and in a mental fog could be described as euphoria.

I would doubt that if you are seeking a feeling of being high that you will attain it like you did at first. It was probably just the newness of suddenly not being clouded by the effects of grains and bad oils and getting over that initial low-carb funk. Your brain at last getting what it needs with nothing in the way.

[Grizz]

Here is a really EXCELLENT video about Ketosis..
Iodine Replacement Therapy

Grizz

[Reservoir]

Nice to know, for the mental clarity. I also did experience it. The thing about euphoria: for me suddenly getting out of depression translates to euphoria, but that might just be the way you feel on a daily basis if you've never had mental issues.

How long does it generally take you to become clear-minded in the initial stages of the diet?

[Rattybag]

I felt great at first, but sadly it died off for me and Im back to my sluggish tired old self.
However, this might be the reason for it! Might be worth a look.

Going Low-Carb too Fast May Trigger Thyroid Troubles and Hormone Imbalance | drcate.com

[CaveWeirdo]

I've suffered depression often in the past, but since being primal I have noticed a general improvement of my day-to-day moods, less mood swings and less irritability about minor things. My sister is also primal and she says she feels more 'extroverted' lately.

Depression is a symptom of minor brain damage, which can be healed holistically. Pretty much anything you can do to keep your body healthy will prevent a bout of depression starting. These are the 4 things I would prescribe to every patient I ever met, if I were a doctor:
- reduce inflammation by having a clean diet,
- improve blood and lymph circulation by doing some regular intense exercise,
- spend some time every day in fresh air and direct sunlight (even if the weather is crap),
- cultivate healthy gut flora by taking fermented foods and/or a probiotic supplement.

There are visualisation and therapy techniques that can help as well but I haven't found them to be necessary - while running on good quality fuel my brain just seems to run better!

[carlh]

Here is a really EXCELLENT video about Ketosis..
Iodine Replacement Therapy

Grizz

click
ctrl+F
"ketosis"
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[js290]

I'm now back into my sluggishness, and cant seem to get to where I was.

I am rather confused.

Have you tried eating more?

[Reservoir]

Have you tried eating more?

THe number of calories isn't a problem, I eat around 2500cal.

[Reservoir]

I felt great at first, but sadly it died off for me and Im back to my sluggish tired old self.
However, this might be the reason for it! Might be worth a look.

Going Low-Carb too Fast May Trigger Thyroid Troubles and Hormone Imbalance | drcate.com

Interesting. But when I go low on carbs, its not like I feel worse than when Im eating sugars. I feel just as sluggish and anxious.

I have found a study showing that in the initial stages of ketosis some can feel euphoria due to production of BHB, a GABA neurotransmiter agonist. Thus explaining why we feel calm and relaxed. So it is possible that we wont feel so good on the long run.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17011713

But hey, its still worth trying in my opinion! I'm going to go full keto for a month to see if keto-adaptation can enhance my mental energy. Normally, according to studies on mitochondria in the brain, it should.

How long have you been in keto? How long has the euphoric feeling lasted initially?