Bloom, I too notice the more level blood sugar that I now have on a low-carb diet. After a carb containing lunch I too would have a sugar high then an insulin-induced sugar drop that would make me tired and disoriented.

Lisa N has not grasped what she is reading. Carbohydrates are changed into glucose in the blood. Low carbohydrates mean lower blood sugar which is why low-carbing helps hypoglycemics and diabetics so much.

When you read on Atkins FAQ page:
"The body can only store a two-day supply of glucose in the form of glycogen, so after two days of consuming no more than 20 grams of carbohydrates, most people go into lipolysis/ketosis."

This means you are low on glucose (glucose is blood sugar), i.e. you are low on blood sugar and have used up all your blood sugar stores.

When you read on Atkins FAQ page:
"If you are restricting the amount of carbohydrates you eat, your body turns to fat as its alternative source of energy. In effect, lipolysis/ketosis has replaced the alternative of burning glucose for energy. Both are perfectly normal processes."

Why did your body turn to burning fat instead of glucose? There wasn't enough glucose (blood sugar i.e. you had low blood sugar).

That's why the Atkins FAQ page says:
"The body uses two fuels for energy: fat and glucose (blood sugar). Carbohydrates break down in the body as glucose. So when you cut back on carbs, you effectively take away most of one of the body's fuels and the body is turns to fat burning, the metabolic process called lipolysis and the secondary process of ketosis."

Atkins FAQ page:
http://atkinscenter.com/helpatkins/faqs/faqlipolysis

It is a fact that the brain metabolizes approximately 150 grams of glucose in a twenty-four hour period. Other tissues such as muscle, fat and liver utilize glucose when it is plentiful (e.g., after a carbohydrate containing meal) but can utilize other metabolic fuels (i.e. protein and fat). The glucose taken up by these tissues may be metabolized or stored as glycogen.

http://www.indegene.com/jiacm/indJI...oglycaemia.html

Okay, so what is the difference between hypoglycemia or the sugar spikes and insulin-induced low blood sugar that I previously experienced and why am I no longer on the sugar roller-coaster when I have just induced low blood sugar by a low carb diet? Answer: By low-carbing I'm getting rid of the worst culprit: insulin spikes. High doses of insulin released from high carb meals cause an immediate and drastic glucose drop. Even during the first two or three days of induction, the fact that your glucose is dropping makes you ravenously hungry. Once in ketosis, your hunger abates as your body begins to use ketones as glucose (blood sugar). Blood sugar is lower (glucose is lower) but it is more leveled out. Therefore, your body produces less insulin, therefore, the glucose remains more level and you don't have low blood sugar plunges. Protein fuels muscle so you don't need carbs to do it even though they could. Fats can fuel tissues and organs, however, they have to turn into ketones in order to feed the brain.