Michele Deradune writes-- >Any dedicated raw fooders out there who, like me, are very sensitive to >sugars ? If so, I would much appreciate hearing the things you usually eat for >morning, mid-day and evening! >This past week I got so low on energy, from eating too much fruit. I love >grapes and sweet pineapple, but they do me in so that I get VERY low on energy >and it's terrible! In fact, I think I am someone who needs to eat very, very >little fruit in my diet. Hi Michele, I currently eat about 60/40 or 70/30 raw, and I'm very sensitive to sugars as well. It was brought on by a dozen years of extremely heavy Dr. Pepper (hi-sugar and caffeine) consumption--half a gallon a day, perhaps--in the late 1970s and 1980s before I got into a healthier raw-food-type diet, with the last several years of that under high-stress deadlines in the advertising business (typesetting). The end result for me was severe hours-long panic attacks, and apparently burned-out adrenal glands. I managed to conquer the panic attacks by giving up the caffeine/sugar soft-drink addiction, plus getting back into regular aerobic exercise again (distance running) which helps in processing carbohydrates and sugars. A few long fasts have also helped re-regulate my blood-sugar processing somewhat, but the results have been limited--NOT a cure-all by any means. Even after having taken these steps and experienced definite improvement, however, I'm still sensitive to sugars even in fruits, and can bring on early-warning symptoms of pre-panic-attack precursors if I overdo, so I have to be careful. Here's what I do to maintain an even keel: 1. I have pitched any food-combining rules regarding fruits. If I eat fruits alone as the rules say, unless I eat very minimal amounts I am almost sure to bring on an episode of low-blood sugar afterwards. It is just too much straight sugar for my body to handle. But I've found that combining fruits with proteins and or fats (or both) works well. (I've not experienced any digestive problems whatsoever from having done this.) The fruit gives me an initial blood-sugar lift, and then the energy from the proteins/fats begins to kick in which is a lot longer-lasting, preventing the usual let-down if I eat the fruits by themselves. Combos I use: Sometimes I cook grains for breakfast and eat dates or grapes or apples with them. Trail mix also works well for me as a snack. Oranges with nuts is another good one. Avocadoes with fruit works well. Yogurt with fruit also does nicely. Another tasty meal that really hits the spot is very lightly poached eggs combined with 1- or 2-day buckwheat sprouts and either cherries or grapes. Another strategy is to mix celery with fruits which I've found will more evenly meter the rate of sugar absorption into the bloodstream--although this does not work as well as the other mixes for me. 2. I try to eat most of my fruit consumption early in the day and minimize it past early afternoon. I find that if I have gone a fairly long period of time without food like in the morning after one has not eaten all night, my body is more receptive to handling sugars. At that time, I can often eat medium-sugar fruits like apples alone and be alright, but trying to eat a very high-sugar fruit like watermelon alone would send me into a tailspin. (Watermelon and avocadoes are a VERY tasty combo I've found--try it!) Similarly after heavy exercise, my body will handle sugars better than otherwise, when it is asking for them. (Interesting aside: On one of the distance running email lists, it turned out that Fig Newtons were a favored carbohydrate re-loading food, and purely coincidentally, I had found that mixing dates with mochi [cooked brown rice patties] worked wonderfully in reloading after particularly hard distance workouts--essentially a more "natural" Fig Newton.) But it seems as my "sugar quota" for the day has been reached, as the day wears on, in general I have to switch over to more starches if I feel the need for carbohydrates, or else I'll get a low-blood-sugar reaction. Usually, before my early evening workout, I'll have some type of grain--sprouted essene bread like what you can buy in the health-food store, for instance, and/or some type of sandwich using some other type of sprouted grain mixed with liberal globs of mashed avocado spread and/or goat cheese. Again, this amounts to a protein/fat/carbo mix which helps sustain me a lot better. (Also, personally, although this may not be true for all runners, I have empirically found starches a much better fuel for me as a distance runner than fruits alone, the latter of which can cause me to "bonk" halfway through a run if fruit is all I've had for fuel in the preceding hours.) However, I've found that even the starches can also bring on symptoms of low-blood sugar if I eat beyond a certain amount. So if that is seeming to be a problem, then I turn to fairly high-protein foods like trail mix with lots of nuts in them, or--and I know this won't be popular with most here--other higher-protein animal foods, such as eggs or fish mixed with some kind of fruit. I've found mixing fruits with proteins like these allows me to indulge in more fruit (which I very much like) than I otherwise would be able to. But this may be somewhat unique to me as I have a digestive system which ripsnorts through heavier proteins very, very fast. My body seems to like and thrive on very concentrated foods like nuts, fish, eggs, heavy essene breads, etc., so I find one way for me to sustain my energy levels through the day is to eat smaller meals more frequently of concentrated foods. That way I don't overload my digestive system yet I can still take in large numbers of calories that way as fuel. Again, however, I have a very high metabolism, and this may not work for everyone. 3. I notice I do not sleep as well if my blood sugar is low. Sometimes I feel the need for something with a bit of sugar in it, though not too much, to bring it back up a bit before bedtime. So if have any kind of fruit before bedtime, I have gotten into the habit of mixing it with yogurt so as not bring on any panic-attack-like nervousness and anxiety when I am trying to sleep. Also, for some reason, bananas don't seem to bother my blood sugar too much at night and help with sleep, so if I wake up in the middle of the night hungry (which sometimes happens after a lengthy distance run of 6-8 miles or more earlier in the evening) a banana often works well getting me back to sleep. In summary, the three things I've noticed that help are that: (a) Sugar-processing sensitivity is tied into circadian rhythms and/or the amount of time since your last high-sugar meal; (b) Aerobic exercise can help your sugar-processing abilities out a lot. The more you do, the more fruits you'll be able to eat without trouble. (c) You can mix sugars like in fruits with fats and proteins to slow down the rate it hits your bloodstream. One other thing I'd note is that there have been a few individuals in the Natural Hygiene M2M who used to be heavy consumers of fruit live to regret their past excesses who also compromised to some degree their body's ability process sugar well. Peter (Brandt), I know you've said you've had trouble with blood sugar yourself in the M2M, but you were nevertheless able to eat as much as 50% fruit recently. Can you give us any insight as to how you were able to do that successfully? It would be interesting for me, at least, as I have come by the answers the hard way, and would like to know if other people have different strategies I've not stumbled across yet. --Ward Nicholson <[log in to unmask]> Wichita, KS