Friday, June 23, 2017

Cut Carbs = Get High? Maybe

The Daily Mail (U.K.) summarizes the findings from an article in The Conversation about the effects of low-carb diets, like Atkins. It turns out the body's process of switching to fat-burning from carb-burning produces BHB, chemically very similar to GHB, aka Fantasy, the party drug.

It is likey that some people on low-carbohydrate diets experience euphoria as a result. I share this article with you because of an experience the DrsC had.

The builder of our current house in WY, now some 17 years ago, happened to be on a low-carb diet during the build. As we were around the building site frequently we had many interactions with him. Our contractor was ebullient about the experience of the diet, he was an absolute evangelist for low-carb.

Looking back on it, I believe he was one of those individuals who "gets high" from cutting out carbs. On the other hand, perhaps 3 years later the other DrC and I tried a low-carb diet for about a year and got no such sensation whatsoever.

Unlike many, we lost maybe 20 lbs each and then plateaued at that level for month after month, eventually giving it up as a bad job. Maybe we cheated some, I don't remember clearly nearly 14 years later. I do remember we ate a carload of leafy green salad and a ton of meat.