There’s little doubt that eating a low-carbohydrate diet quells hunger to manageable levels, largely due to a smaller and slower insulin release following a low-carb v. high-carb meal.
For this reason, I was very attracted to low carb…for a very long time.
I tried it every possible way. Moderately low (40 grams of carbs and under), very low carb (less than 10 grams/nearly “carnivore”), controlled carbs per meal (less than 30 or less than 15)…you name it.
And every single time, I will repeat that, EVERY time, I either binged like a madwoman, or sank into the depths of depression.
Now don’t get me wrong. Not everyone who lives a low-carb lifestyle experiences depression. But for some people, it’s a thing. It may be tied into altered thyroid hormone conversion function, or it may not; thoughts differ. I do have thyroid disease – Hashimoto’s thyroiditis – which I feel plays into these issues.
Whatever the cause, nothing ever seemed to stop the depression reaction, and I wasn’t willing or able to wait it out months to see whether I’d bounce back from “maybe I should just step in front of a car.”
Were We REALLY “Naturally Low-Carb” in Yesteryear? Nah
On top of all that, it just never felt natural to me. The argument goes that we are “meant” to eat very low carb; 30 grams at a maximum, in some experts’ estimation.
I do not see human history that way, nor does the evidence see human history that way. We have always been very opportunistic. We didn’t necessarily eat low-carb in one culture or another. We ate what we could get when we could get it.
Processing Could Be Key
Now the one huge difference is that they weren’t, until more recently (Industrial Revolution and onward), very processed carbs. Food has been processed for possibly 800,000 years, meaning we used fire; yes, that’s processing. And through prehistory, history and into the Renaissance and Enlightenment, processing, like milling flour and making butter, were, of course, parts of eating.
But ultra-processing is more 20th century and beyond, and my personal feeling is that this is the effect it has on my own, and possibly others’, hunger.
It’s the ultra-processing, not “more carbs,” that is the huge change, especially in the late 20th century. At that time we had all kinds of fascinating changes, like more targeted genetic modification of wheat (in the past, it had been mostly down to cross-breeding) and the introduction of high-fructose corn syrup into…well, everything.
Why Low-Carb Doesn’t Work for Me
There are just too many “well, if I can just overcome this tremendous hurdles involved for low-carb to work for me.
Low-carb also doesn’t eliminate the possibility of frankenfoods, such as artificial sweeteners. And I feel those are key in driving my hunger. Remember: I don’t have a specific study on that. It’s just my experience.
The emotional factor – doing without a huge variety of what I love – is just the (sorry) icing on the cake; literally the only payback I get from low-carb is less water, hence a slimmer-looking frame at least right out of the gate, and that doesn’t balance out the negatives for me.
Remember: this is just my experience. What do you think? Do you love low-carb? Hate it? Sound off below! I’d love to hear from you.
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