THE more I eat carbs, the more I’m convinced I should stop because of their side effects.My body now complains a lot whenever I start carbo-loading again: high blood pressure, red eyes, skin allergies, muscle pain, body aches, and my recovering left knee suddenly switches back to ACL-tear mode.
At least my lab results continue to behave (puera buyag, fingers crossed), especially in the metabolic syndrome department.
The five markers of metabolic health are: blood sugar (<100 mg/dL); blood pressure (120/80 mmHg); triglycerides (<150 mg/dL); HDL cholesterol (>40 mg/dL for men, >50 mg/dL for women); and waist circumference (<35.5 inches for men, <31.5 inches for women).
If three or more of these fall outside the normal range, there is an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.
Back in January 2021, when I was on a high-carb diet and weighed 180 pounds, my lab results were normal — except for my blood pressure. That’s why doctors prefer to see their patients face-to-face when making a clinical diagnosis.
At the time, I didn’t realize that my sinusitis, rhinitis, skin allergies, body aches, muscle pain, trigger finger, headaches, colds, fever, and even body odor were linked to carbs.
I’m back to carnivore for the nth time. No more overthinking about “I wonder how yummy that is” every time I see carbs. Sugar addiction is real. The struggle is real.
My latest carb obsessions were Starbucks’ Churro Crema Catalana and Totsy’s Black Pepper Beef Asian Rice Bowl, Pastrami and Ham Croissant Pizza, Milk Chocolate Croissant Bites and Honey Parmesan Twist.
If you’re healthy, these, along with MiMo Cafe’s goodies and Coach Jowen Racines’s Basque cheesecake, are definitely worth the carbs.
Starbucks’ Churro Crema Catalana is seasonal, meaning it is available only until supplies last, so I panicked and bought three pieces at its branch at SM CDO Downtown Premier.
Other carb favorites that I’ve stopped eating are Mandarin’s Chop Suey Rice, Royce Nama Chocolate, Fat Chef’s Bilo-Bilo, salted egg hopia, onion hopia, sans rival, sylvannas, kakanin, Cucina Higala’s Mango Mambo, Jacks Halo-Halo’s Taro-Ube Overload, and anything and everything ube (ice cream, cake, pandesal, halaya, candy, hopia, and more).
Goodbye, carbs. Hello, proteins and fats: beef, pork, and eggs. I don’t even like fish or chicken anymore. My love-hate relationship with eggs continues.
Compare my list of proteins and fats with my list of carbs, and you’ll see how much I’ve missed — and will continue to miss. There’s only one question whenever I see carbs nowadays: these or metabolic health? I don’t want to go through another episode of panicking over a high blood-pressure reading. Whew.
That has already happened twice in the four years I’ve been practicing low-carb — in July 2022 and in the last few days. I had become overconfident, hoping that returning to carnivore after carbo-loading would easily diminish the side effects. Not.
The side effects linger for a while, as if hoping I’d begin to like them. Nope. No love lost there.
