Cab flu – the greatest punishment for eating healthy
Ok, I will admit – nobody can love carb flu, it must be the worse punishment ever for trying to eat healthy. I Still remember my very first Whole 30 and how we suffered from this evil. I was convinced that being unhealthy and overweight is much less painful.
So lets start with what is carb flu? In simple terms – you are experience withdraw symptoms just like any drug addict do when they give up their drugs – in our case CARBS. Your body is so use to burning “carbs” (in the form as glucose) as fuel and while the body adapt to the new fuel source – fat – the dreaded carb flu kicks in. No everybody experience carb flu – sadly I am not one of those lucky ones.
Carb flu is not truly flu – so please if you experience fever please consult your GP. Carb flu symptoms will surely make to doubt your decision to change your eating habits. The good news – these symptoms will go away. The bad news – you will experience them time and again if you cheat (or at least in our case). So what are the symptoms of carb flu?
- Headache ( my worse symptom)
- Brain fog
- Lack of energy
- Bad mood – irritability
- Cravings especially for sugar
- Upset stomach or even nausea
You might ask how long this will last. That’s a bit harder to answer as it will differ from person to person, just in the same way that some people will experience carb flu and other won’t. Generally, it can last anything from a few days (3 – 5) to a few weeks (1 – 3 weeks). Luckily, carb flu is not all doom and gloom. There are a few things you can try to lighten the nasty symptoms:
- Drink plenty of water
- Increase your salt (pink Himalayan) intake
- Increase your fat intake – think fatty biltong (jerky)
- Drink bone broth
- Keep protein intake moderate
- Stay active – this might be hard if you have little energy, but will help.
For us, carb flu is real and after the Easter weekend, visiting family, I am trying to remind myself I will feel better in a few days. In my case, I will suffer from carb flu every time I “cheat”. To me, this is extra motivation to stay on plan and not give in to temptation. I know it can be hard at times, but in the end you need to decide if the after effects are worth the “cheat”. To me – NO.
References – for some additional reading
For the love of...... 