In "Life Without Bread", Dr.Lutz explains that low carb eating (72 grams or less at 9.4 grams per hour) controls your insulin output. This was the recommendation for diabetics before insulin injections were available.

Actually I don't remember feeling that bad when testing. I know if I do go long periods without eating while not on an LC diet I get symptomes (like more then 6 hours or skip 1 meal). I would get slurred speech, nausea, disorientation, confusion, weakness and so on. I knew I had to eat but had no energy and too much nausea to go get something to eat. Kind of a bad cycle.

LadyBelle, sounds like you are living on the edge with respect to your carb count. I think that would bother me, to know I was only hours from being in a bad way like that. I hope you find a maintenance WOE that gets you away from that possibility.

Thanks Cindy, caveman just posted that reference and I'm reading the free online excerpts. I want a t-shirt with "Leben Ohne Brot" on it. And maybe a loaf of bread with a big X through it. Those would sell like hotcakes (hotcakes made of soy and whey protein and wheat gluten of course).

She said she gets that way when NOT on a LC WOE.

I've found the same thing--when I'm eating LC, my blood sugar is stable almost all the time. It's the eating sugar that sends the insulin spiking and blood glucose follows. If you don't eat (many) carbs, you make only as much blood glucose as you need from what you're eating, and you don't get the spikes.

Sorry, did read that wrong. She threw me when she said she felt alright at 20mg/dl. That does sound she was experiencing classic symptoms of hypoglycemia, wonder what her sugar was then? Sheesh it must've been next to nothing.

It is interesting that eating low carb consistently, will lead to fewer instances of super-low blood sugar. This makes snese, since your metabolism is turned on to making glucose, instead of relying on another sugar fix. And another, and another,...

There have been numerous postings on what the brain can use for fuel. The general agreed result is that most of the brain uses ketones very well but there is a small part which must have glucose. We eat enough carbs to keep this going and if not the body can make glucose from protein.

from dr. eades pplp: up to 50% or protein can be converted for use as glucose and up to 10% of fats can be converted. so the body makes all it needes. however when the body is encouraged to enter a ketotic state (lipolysis), the brain will begin after about 3 days to use ketone bodies as a fuel state, quite easily. here is an interesting article about tests of a ketogenic diet. (ketogenic diet is high fat, low controlled protein, low carbohydrate) which is the kind of diet originally espoused by atkins in atkins72.

http://dietandbody.com/article1077_2.html