"It's gas, not hunger," not just for the newly-sleeved!

I've experienced this several times recently and am sure there were more times when I didn't analyze and realize it.

This morning we went out for breakfast. I splurged and had one plain piece of toast with my two fried eggs because I grew up eating "egg on toast" and it's a big treat for me.  Put the fried eggs on top of the toast. Cut up, spread yolk all over, then cut up toast and eat. Just a Thing, y'know. Brings back my childhood.

So a couple of hours later I logged it and saw that it's more than my typical breakfast (duh) and yet I was hungry, and really wanting some Greek yogurt, and drank water, and still felt my tummy calling "more, more!"

And then it hit me, this was actually more of a mild discomfort than hunger. And I popped a couple of Gaviscon, drank another glass of water, and now I'm fine.

I keep telling the newly-sleeved, "It's probably not hunger. It's probably gas." And I didn't realize it was still happening to me, too.

Go figure!

My guess is that you also spiked your insulin which caused you to feel more hunger.  This "high" is often what happens to me after I eat carbs.

The fat and protein combination of the two eggs should be more than enough to counter the toast, I think. Hmm. Let me check.

Yes, judging by my old Zone Diet chart (the Zone Diet is totally about controlling insulin and having an even flow all day without spikes) the whole eggs and toast are both unfavorable choices (which I knew) but 1 egg and 1/2 piece of dry toast provide an appropriate balance between carb/fat/protein, thus, no insulin spike.

Fat also slows down the body's ability to access/break down the carbs, and can slow or eliminate the insulin surge, too. For obvious reasons, that would not be a good way to control them, though!

No matter how much protein or fat I have ever consumed with bread pasta rice or the like, I always got a blood sugar spike which solicits the pancreas to spill more insulin into the system and being insulin resistant...well...you get the picture. I would always test after eating carbs, even brown rice, whole grain or pumpernickle bread...hoping that maybe this time there won't be a spike and it never failed to reassure me that indeed there was. I was always looking for more bread or more rice after. Sometimes totally worth it, I get the Proustian memory thing totally!

My only experience with it (not having insulin issues) was with the Zone Diet which was about balancing carbs/fat/proteins. However, there were good and bad carbs, and pasta and rice would definitely be those that were high glycemic and thus would goose the insulin production.  Low-glycemic carbs were stressed, although occasionally having the others was okay. Bananas were high glycemic and caused the insulin spike while apples were low, for example. I've forgotten most of it.  It was the only "diet" I ever went on that worked, that made me feel great, and I was never hungry.  I just got tired of giving up bread and pasta. Of having a meal that had enough protein to balance out the good carbs (since I usually relied on a meat and steamed veggies, and that got old after awhile) and found myself slipping more and more and more...

 

 

All I can tell you is that I never used to be able to "feel" the insulin surges before because I was eating carbs all the time.  I think my whole prior life was one big insulin surge.  :)  Now, whenever I eat carbs, even with protein and fat, I feel the surge.  It can be mild or intense, but it is clearly there.  I think it has a great deal to do with my "clean eating".  You are right, it is much milder when I eat it with protein and fat. I have clearly become much more aware of my physical response to carbs and also to natural flavors of foods.  For example, I need much less salt than before and I can really pick out and enjoy the flavors in veggies that I never liked before.

The Zone Diet was all about the numbers--it was created by a chemist who felt food should be looked at as a fuel, and what kind of fuel would best run the body.  His conclusion was that when our calories are balanced between fat, protein and carbs, and we eat small meals throughout the day to keep that steady, the body runs like a well-oiled machine without spikes. I can't vouch for the chemistry but the diet worked and I wasn't hungry, either. Like all of them, I eventually slid off the wagon.

I am only now beginning to really come to terms with what being "full" might be, with so many of the physical feelings that go with eating. I know I have a lot more to learn, and it's possible that I did get a carb spike. The weird thing is, I just ate a 1/3 cup of Greek yogurt with SF Torani, and now my stomach is feeling that same way again. Mild discomfort. 

I posted once before that I have a long history of eating to feel better, as in, thinking there is something I can put in my stomach to make it feel better. That is also something that I'm probably sometimes confusing with hunger. Discomfort leading me to thinking I need to eat something else/different.  (I know, I'm weird.)

It's more likely acid than gas, but I do get uncomfortable gas if I eat too quickly or the food is too dry. (plain chicken is too dry for Fred - he squeaks, squawks and gurgles loudly until I oh so carefully send down some tiny sips of water)

Mild acid doesn't feel like normal hungry. It's more like "something doesn't feel right. Maybe if I ate something..." Severe acid feels burny in chest and base of throat.

Kelly-Anne

Thank you for this. It's mild acid, then. Which means my antacid isn't doing the trick, which doesn't disappoint me. It's an expensive prescription and while my insurance covers it, I wouldn't mind trying something less expensive.

My GP prescribed the same drug as I brought home from Mexicali, but the dose in Canada is double the amount of the drug and in a tablet form. The tablet (even a whole one) wasn't helping much, but 1/2 tablet crushed does a dandy job. I bought a crusher, but 2 spoons also works just fine.

Warning - it tastes horrible. Have something pleasant ready to sip right away!

Kelly-Anne