Evelyn McWilliams wrote:

> I'm going to guess my fat intake as the equivalent of about 4 teaspoons of oil per day and half a dozen walnuts. Plus the hidden fat in the meat protein which I am now eating (having been vegetarian for last couple of years). So about 4 to 6 oz of lean protein per day (turkey at one meal, red meat at another).

Omigosh.  Still what I would consider a low-fat diet.

> Water: well, I drink a lot of caffeine in tea and coffee through the day (say about 10 cups) and try to counter that with about three glasses of water.

I was going to suggest you might be getting caffeine withdrawal, but if you're still drinking
that much coffee and tea?  Perhaps you were cushioning yourself from the caffeine
effects with the extremely high carb intakes.  If you've cut out your colas, you
might still be having caffeine withdrawal even with the quantities you are drinking.

> I have been seriously low carbing for the last four days by cutting back on the previously large quantities of fruit I was eating as well as the sugar sweetened beverages. So I'm now down to about five or six pieces of fruit per day. Other carbs are negligible - salads, broccoli etc.

Still a lot of fruit.  With so little fat and low protein, you could be getting hypoglycemia
from the fruit, especially if you are eating a fruit-based breakfast.  If you continuously eat
high carb, you wouldn't notice the hypoglycemia because you are always shoring up
your blood sugar.

> I suspect the unaccustomed higher fat intake might be the problem as I feel a bit "liverish" this morning.

Coffee is very tough on the liver.

Another thing to try is digestive enzymes; get a good multi-enzyme tablet.  This will help
you make the transition to a new type of eating.  (OK; paleo people did not use
digestive enzymes, but remember they ate "paleo" for their whole lives....)

Are you taking calcium, magnesium, and potassium?  When you cut down on carbs,
you can get a real diuretic effect (and rapid weight loss).  This can quickly lead to a potassium
deficit, causing you to feel like death  warmed over.

As the Life Without Bread fellow said,  major dietary changes are best done gradually,
especially if you're older (dunno if this applies to you).

Congratulations on making this first big step; I'm sure you will find lots of benefits
as time goes on.

    Lynnet