To not understand why my healthy (I think) way of eating isn't making me feel energetic and fabulous

Wow! That’s not just poor science, it’s plain rude.

First you won’t accept anything without citations. Fair enough. So I go to the trouble of finding you citations. And summarising them for you. And, without even bothering to read the citations you demanded, you reject them and insult me.

I would never do that. Never.

Most of the body can run on keytones. And it makes glucose from protein and fat, via glycogenolysis, gluconeogenesis and ketogenesis. They are real, physiological processes you will find in any, quite basic, biology text lol, should you care to open one. And I was taught it in the first year of a Biological Sciences degree at a British university. By a professor. Who wrote a book on it. Twenty years ago. It’s old, respected, well established science. Calling ‘pseudoscientific babble’ makes you look ignorant as well as rude. So well done for that.

You are a (natural, organic) fruit loop.

You're again posting reams of pseudoscientific babble instead of just admitting you were wrong to say that the body does not need glucose and wrong to say that grains don't contain anything the body needs.

At least you've made it very clear to anyone else reading that your "advice" is gubbins, so well done for that.

No, she isn’t. 45-65% of an adults calories should come from carbs.

The last two quotes are advice for diabetics. Is there anything about diabetics which means that advice for them would be different to the general population?

The other two, you're totally right. All life forms can use carbohydrate. All organ systems require glucose. Is everyone happy with that? No problems at all, there? This completely fits the world as we know it? It doesn't raise any questions? We can proceed on that assumption.

Carbohydrate isn't glucose. I assume I do not need a citation for this. Grains do not actually contain glucose.

Grains (or complex carbohydrates) are broken down into sugars by via glycolysis. They are not just available to be used as energy as they are. They need to be broken down into glucose. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482303/

I get it. What you're trying to prove is that cells use glucose for energy. We therefore need grains to break down starch into glucose to run cells. And that's true. It's just, way, way too simple. It's how cells work. It's not how complex organisms work. And that's a really important difference. How can I cite a source to say that physiology isn't cell biology scaled up?

If you should miss a meal, or fail to ingest enough carbs, your blood sugar will drop. That's normal. It's supposed to. It's not bad. (There won't be a paper on it. Then idea that homestasis depends on small changes is a fundamental principle of physiology) The drop means that your insulin levels drop because you don't need to be pulling sugar out of your blood and pushing it into fat to prevent high blood glucose. You then use glycogenolysis to break down stored glycogen from your liver and fuel metabolism. And when that runs out, you make glucose from and protein. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK549820/

Because you don't only make glucose from carbs. You also break down protein and fats into glucose as well, via glycogenesis. So even if your cells could only run on glucose, you can get it from fat and protein. This is a normal pathway. Not something specific to long term keto diets or diabetics. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541119/

And even if you didn't, there is glucose in a grain-free diet. From vegetables. Without the problems with carbs. As you can clearly see from the macros I posted earlier.

And even if there wasn't, most (not all) of your organs can in fact run on other sources of energy. They preferentially run on glucose. But they don't have to. And part of the reason they preferentially run on glucose is that glucose is a massive problem in your blood. You're all worried about low glucose. But HIGH glucose is a bigger problem, physiologically speaking. Your body is continually trying to drive it down. That's why diabetics are in trouble. That's what actually causes type 2 diabetes.

That's when you get into ketones as source of alternative source energy. I will pull together some evidence for the last two paragraphs later. I'm out of time for the moment.

You sound orthorexic. That may be why you aren’t feeling particularly well.

There isn't very much of anything there!

Porridge is very healthy plus nutritious. That should help energy plus fill you up.

I have found that the more fibre I eat the better I feel. Whilst your example isn't massively low in fibre it's not that high in fibre either. We should all be eating at least 25-30g of fibre a day as a minimum from a variety of sources.

Focus on adding in a wide variety of fibre sources- nuts and seeds, beans, legumes, high fibre fruits and vegetables (https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/high-fiber-foods/art-20050948) and whole grains into your diet.

I eat beans and/or lentils pretty much daily- you can make a cheap and easy salad with a drained tin of cooked beans, some sweetcorn, chopped up salady items or some shredded cabbage. Make a nice dressing (I like either a homemade vinaigrette or a yogurt, tahini and lemon juice dressing), and you an add in things like some cooked quinoa/rice/potatoes and a protein source like tofu, eggs, fish etc for a filling easy lunch.

Exercising tends to improve your energy levels- resistance training is so good to build muscle and bone strength as well as getting the blood circulating and boosting your confidence.

Plus it might be worth getting iron and vitamin levels checked. I eat plenty of meat and fish but I still tend to get low in B12 and iron if I don't supplement.

This!
Also check your iron

Even Artic region hunter-gatherers didn't have what modern (influencers) people would call an extremely low carb diet traditionally, that's another myth. About 29% of their kcal from carbs. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8172218/

Traditional (Aussie) aboriginal diet also included plenty of honey. Lots of carbs and their carbs were all high fibre. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19087457/

It's mostly low energy density punctuated by honey binges, huge amounts of dietary fibre and plenty of dirt on your veg, if you want a hunter-gatherer type diet, assuming not aiming for Artic region model. And you have to physically work for every morsel of it no matter which region one is emulating.

I'm currently on an eat something diet. Despite being diabetic this diet does not do anything nasty to my blood sugar. Portion size is also important. There's no way I can eat as much as OP and I'm not an undereater , just recovering from illness. Listen to your body.

I forgot to add that I had an iron infusion as well.

Breakfast was missed due to a patient transport mixup.

If you want advice make an appointment with a dietician. They're actually qualified.

Sounds very high in grains to me

What would Otzi say?

Oh my god 😂 😂 😂

My thought would be that its high in fat, especially breakfast.

My diet today has been no breakfast, lunch was a small bowl of branflakes with skimmed milk, afternoon snack an hot cross bun, a handful of mixed nuts , and a few grapes. Dinner was a mixed bean soup.

You need to remember that your body is a system and different parts need different nutrients.

Poor Otzi.

Its well known he was on his way trudging to remote communities to study their dietary intake.

It not as well known that he was found with a portfolio of their grain intake. They kept that information from us in the documentaries.

No, I don't want you to write a bloody course (please, no). I am just asking you to provide a reputable reference for any of your claims.

Did you see the part where one of my sources said: "Carbohydrates are ubiquitous energy sources for every organism worldwide and are essential to fuel aerobic and anaerobic cellular respiration in simple and complex molecular forms."

Or the bit that said: "Glucose is essential for the proper functioning of every organ system."

Or what about this bit: "Mild-to-moderate low blood glucose can be easily treated. But severely low blood glucose can cause serious complications, including passing out, coma, or death."

Oh look what's that? It's another good bit: "If you don’t eat enough carbohydrates or skip or delay any meals, your blood glucose level could drop lower than what is healthy for you."

Unless he's done a really good study to prove that these sources are actually false, I don't give a shit about Otzi the Iceman.

Hunter gatherers evolved to eat what we would call a low carb diet, without significant glucose content.

That's not true... up to 80% of kcal come from honey in peak honey season, more like 15-20% of their calories if annualised (from honey alone) in hunter-gatherer societies. See https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047248414000815

If you're passionate about hunter gatherer eating then Fibre is what you need to be promoting: not carbs vs. protein www.visitnatives.com/post/5-eye-opening-facts-about-the-hadza-diet-and-what-hunter-gatherers-can-teach-us

I know I am. Im just about to force myself off the sofa and get some chocolate.

If you dont hear from me again, it was nice knowing you all.

I know you have. But you must acknowledge it's unreasonable to expect me to write a fully referenced course. Most of this is pretty well established knowledge, and can't all be new information for you.

Your sources detail glucose metabolism. They show how humans metabolise glucose. I have never said we can't, and I know we do. I said we don't need to.

Hunter gatherers evolved to eat what we would call a low carb diet, without significant glucose content. Otzi did. Modern hunter gatherers do. The evidence is above. Do you accept those citations as valid, or do I need more to establish that low carb diets are a pre-historical norm and are viable in modern populations?

Do you accept that modern day human metabolism is the same as pre-historic people and modern day hunter gatherers, or do you assert that our metabolism is fundamentally changed?

people are exploding from eating carbs now

Well the actual subject of the discussion, the OP - remember her? - doesnt eat grains all day and well into the night

It was your post replying to her that set this part of the conversation off, you saying she horrifically was eating so much carbs she might just explode.

👊🏽

Only that I'd be crucified if I'd have posted anything by AI. I don't think it matters for your point, though.

We don't eat the odd bit of barley. We eat grains all day and well into the night.

I'd be looking at other causes of fatigue, if it was me. Like sleep or exercise levels. I doubt it's your diet. You've had some weird comments on the thread, but in the real world, most people would think it's amazing.

If you want diet advice though, I'd post somewhere more nutrition-focused than AIBU. People will say any old thing on here 😂