I’m trying to eat healthier. I suffer from chronic anxiety issues, and I’m not sure I fully understand the science here.
In: Biology
Why?
Imagine a person stuck in a desert with no water and no transport. Then imagine a person in the middle of a huge lake with no flotation device.
Or someone stuck in a very cold place without heating and someone stuck in a burning room.
It is perfectly possible (and more than likely) that too little and too much of the same thing can be dangerous.
I’m not going to try to answer whether your premise is right — that carbs and blood sugar are linked to mental health — because I wouldn’t know. But logically too little and too much of something are both bad states to be in. You don’t want low or high blood sugar, you want normal levels.
If you’re concerned your blood sugar is out of whack get a fiber supplement and take it with any high-carb meal. Fiber will reduce how quickly sugars are absorbed by your GI tract. I’ve recently started taking a 5g fiber gummy with my white rice for lunch and I think it has helped with my digestive issues.
Ketosis does not create low blood sugar. Once the body enters ketosis, your liver transforms fats into ketones as needed by the body. The brain likes burning ketones instead of glucose-it’s more efficient.
Your muscles can burn the ketones, too. The downside is that (when not in ketosis) the muscles store carbs as glycogen so that your muscles can keep performing well after you’ve eaten. Muscles can’t store ketones, so they rely on your liver to churn out those ketones. This makes ketones slightly less efficient for muscles.
It’s basically just utilizing ketosis instead of carb sources glucose.
Dr. Chris Palmer (I think is his name) is the leading doctor on this topic right now if you want the latest reasoning and research
My understanding is low blood sugar happens to diabetics on extra insulin or happens to normal but potentially insulin resistant people when blood sugar dips too low and over shoots from crashing, again caused by insulin response. The mental symptoms come from unsteady blood sugar levels.
People on low carb diet don’t have blood sugar spikes so no insulin response and no dips.
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