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 For several years, I suffered from a mid-morning and
mid-afternoon low. Not
only would I feel tired, faint and lacking in energy, at times I'd get horribly
depressed too! I attempted a
variety of mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks - biscuits, sweet buns, a cup of tea, a
bread roll, but they didn't seem to help. I tried dairy and protein-rich foods like
cheese, yoghourt, even a ham sandwich on the grounds that they would provide
longer-lasting energy than sugary foods. Sugar triggers a burst of energy when you feel
you need it, but then your energy levels fall quickly again. Protein
foods take longer to provide energy but you remain satisfied longer. For a while, they certainly helped, but I still developed
energy slumps. I began to feel a bit of a
freak.
In the end I
contacted a clinical nutritionist recommended by my GP. She sent me a questionnaire to
fill out before our appointment. I had to
record everything I had eaten over a period of two days.
It was a relief
when I found out that I had an authentic condition that caused my distressing energy dips. I had a
blood test and was told I had hypoglycaemia, known to lay people as low
blood sugar. Hypoglycaemics suffer a marked deficiency of glucose in the bloodstream. Mine
was a borderline case, apparently.
The nutritionist said
that my emergency snacks weren't the whole story. I
needed to look at breakfast, lunch and dinner too. For breakfast I was having wheat flakes cereal, wholegrain bread, fruit, tea. My mid- morning snack was coffee and toast. Lunch typically was chicken noodle
soup, tuna sandwich on whole wheat bread. Mid-afternoon snack was tea, six dried prunes. Dinner: pasta
with basil and tomato sauce, salad and low-fat dressing, a glass of red wine, low-fat
chocolate mousse, a low-fat biscuit before bedtime.
The nutritionist
said that my meals were overloaded with simple carbohydrates. These are the foods that turn into sugar
just as quickly as cakes and pastries and puddings and chocolate bars. She pointed out the culprits: wheat bread, pasta,
pizza, noodles, white rice, alcohol, coffee. Those simple carbohydrates quickly raise
levels of serotonin, a chemical natural in the body. For me, the peak is reached too soon. Then
the descent is steep, plummeting within hours. Low levels of serotonin not only induce
fatigue, they are often indicated in depression too. The
situation was exacerbated by my borderline hyperglycaemia. (Those low-fat foods contained extra-high quantities of sugar to make up for
the flavour lost by the reduced fat. Even
snacks of dried fruit are laden with sugar.
I had been on a diet where the
emphasis was on low-fat and high-fibre, but all those simple, filling carbohydrates meant that I was getting too little protein, which is essential for making
serotonin.
Foods that take much
longer to be converted to sugar are the complex carbohydrates, such as rye bread, oat
cakes, potatoes, lentils, vegetables, fruits, and proteins of course.
Now I could eat cheeses.
And eggs and olives, chicken, fish, also red
meat. I could have olive oil and olive oil
spreads. And oily fish like mackerel,
herring, sardines.
But wouldn't this
mean I'd be putting on weight again?
Not if I controlled the
sugar intake. I could have fresh
fruits—pears, apples, berries, melon, and even some nuts, though only ten to fifteen
pieces a day because of their high calorie content. Unsalted
of course.
Shopping for wheat-free
foods is not too easy. The best place for
non-wheat carbohydrates is Planet Organic, in London's Westbourne Grove (they have a
mail-order service, see below).
My eating plan now
includes snacks which can be fresh fruit or wheat-free bread. I have three meals a day, and a glass of wine
daily. I have herbal tea in the morning and
am allowed one cup of regular tea in the day. Coffee
is not on the menu.
I thought
I'd put on weight. I
thought it wouldn't work.
But I have never
felt better. I have more energy,
very few lows and some unexpected benefits. A chronic sinus congestion has cleared and an
irritable bowel problem disappeared. And I have not gained a single pound in weight!
It is advisable to consult a clinical nutritionist to
get a diagnosis of your individual needs. For
recommendations, ask your GP or contact the British Association of Nutritional
Therapists, PO Box 626, Woking, GU22 OXD (enclose an sae for this)
Planet
Organic
runs a mail-order service and will send their catalogue on request. Telephone 020 7221 1345
To view previous articles in this series - see the laterlife-interest index page
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