Too many eggs and hypoglycemia? page

[Wafaa]

I had an odd thing happen to me. Since I was trying to gain a bit more weight and doing some weight training, I started eating 3 scrambeled eggs for breakfast instead of my regular 2.

Consistently, everytime I had 3 eggs for breakfast (whether alone, with a banana, or with some cheese), I always get a hypoglycemic episode about 2.5 hours later. Almost like clock work: Nausea, dizziness, cold sweat, the works.

Sometimes I toughed it out, sometimes I'd head for nearest banana or tsp of honey. It took me a few weeks of experimenting with my breakfast to track down the culprit simply because the idea that an extra egg might do this was odd. So I stopped the 3 eggs and went back to 2 eggs (again, either alone or with some other stuff) and away went the hypoglycemia. I now can last easily till lunch or even skip it altogether if I need to.

I curious to know whether anyone has experienced something similar. I know hypoglycemia is related to what goes on in the liver. I'm pretty small (~93lbs.) So maybe 2 eggs at a time is the limit to how much my liver can handle? I wasn't over eating or anything at breakfast, especially when I tried 3 eggs alone, I didn't even feel particularly full.

Anyway, this is making me concerned even about the 2 eggs I'm eating and if they're doing some harm I don't know about I didn't feel any particular benefit on days when I don't eat eggs at all. Any thoughts?

[namelesswonder]

Are you sure it's hypoglycemia? I only ask because I used to have it and eating protein/more protein never affected it. It's a blood sugar problem. Also, for myself, that's not how I would describe it. I get painfully hungry, start shaking, feel weak, and nauseated. Eating anything helps get rid of it. It always returns if I eat too much refined sugar in the morning.

If you don't feel particularly full at breakfast with 3 eggs, that doesn't sound like you are eating enough food, but I guess that depends on how you space out the meals for the rest of your day, and if you are fairly short.

[Knifegill]

Lol. No, marginally improving your already insufficient egg intake is not causing a sugar crash. Try eating six eggs, or maybe a dozen to put some weight on, with some fruit and nuts at the same time so your body will store something for later. If you want to gain weight quickly, simply eat a lot of fat and a lot of carbs together often.

[Wafaa]

Six eggs! I can't imagine eating that much! I already felt with 3 that I was forcing it down.

Hmm, well, I know it's low blood sugar (isn't that hypoglycemia?) since it goes away if I eat sugar right away (like honey or table sugar). I do feel weakness and my hands would shake. But I don't get hungry actually, or maybe I couldn't tell because of the nausea.

Actually, I was eating more than just the eggs for breakfast. 3 eggs alone was just an experiment. I also tried skipping breakfast altogether and also didn't have problems. I'm pretty sure I get enough calories, I usually eat about 4 meals per day, 3-4 hours apart and average around 1800-2000 per day. I'm pretty sure the eggs are behind this somehow, just not sure what exactly is going on I kind of want to eat more eggs, so this really bugs me out. Is it possible for an egg allergy to cause this?

[ScottMcCollum]

It's not necessarily low blood sugar.

About 12 years ago I started having hypoglycemic symptoms after eating a carby meal. We had a diabetic in our office so I borrowed his glucometer when I crashed and I my blood sugar was 92. I was confused since I had all the symptoms of low blood sugar. I went to my Doc and they performed Glucose tolerance test - what we found out was my blood sugar was rising to 190ish, staying there for an hour or so, then crashing back down to 80s and 90s. My Doc didn't think too much of it and told me to eat 6 times a day...whole grains..yada yada yada. I wasn't satisfied and went to an endocrinologist.... same advice... He said it didn't make any sense and that maybe I had a delayed insulin response and sent me on my way. He also said that the change in blood sugar from 190 to 90 quickly would cause hypoglycemic symptoms...

From the little bit of reading I've done about this... I think I was developing insulin resistance in my liver. Insulin resistance is tissue specific and not necessarily a system wide issue.

Here's what I would do ... buy a glucometer - take your blood sugar in the morning before eating - eat your breakfast and test your blood sugar every 30 minutes for 2 hours. I did this with numerous meals and figured out that a change of blood sugar >50 points would make me shaky....

[Sandra in BC]

Maybe you have an egg allergy/intolerance. 3 might be over your tolerance limit. Try cutting eggs out entirely and eat some meat for breakfast.

[Warmbear]

I get this too if I eat just eggs for breaky. try a veggie heavy frittata with a good bit of butter or ghee. I use peppers, onions spinach and tomatoes and 4 eggs but I am a big guy.

[Knifegill]

Good idea to try meat instead of eggs for a bit.

[Wafaa]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try to switch eggs with some other options, add some vegetables, and see how that goes.

@Scott, I do like the idea of a glucometer to see how my blood sugar is responding (especially considering I abused sugar as a teenager and I have some other hormonal problems). The only time I've ever had a blood glucose test was a couple years ago pre-primal, in the morning before food, and it was 101. My doctor said it was fine at the time, even though I read it's supposed to be lower than 99.

[ScottMcCollum]

Since you only have 1 pre-primal fasting glucose, you can't hang your hat on that number. That's why you need to do it now, so you can get multiple measurements and establish a baseline. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but you should shoot for the 75-85 for your fasting glucose.

Another thing.....I remember listening to one of Chris Kresser's podcasts... where he said the association between heart disease and fasting glucose gets a lot stronger once your fasting glucose is greater then 95. I would believe other conditions like diabetes/high blood pressure risks would be elevated too.

It's crazy how much press cholesterol concentration gets... even though that association is much weaker...