Book "Grain Brain" and my changing perspective on carbs

Just read a book yesterday called "Grain Brain", and it is about how gluten and carbs are so terrible for your body.  The book recommends 40 carbs or less for the first month, then after that 60 carbs.  You are supposed to also not ingest gluten, and I found that part a bit overwhelming given it is in pretty much everything.  But, if you stick to your protein, green leafy veggies, and fruit that is low on the glycemic index it is easy enough to avoid gluten. 

During my weight loss phase and into maintenance thus far I was way over the carbs described here- I usually end up around 150 carbs, 100ish net if I am behaving.  That worked awesome for me!  Trouble is, my glucose levels are creeping up, as is my A1C.  I was diabetic before surgery, then struggled with low blood sugar after surgery for several months.  But for a while now I have not had any problems with low blood sugar, although I have been very careful to eat 3 meals and 3 snacks a day.  I also suspect I have had episodes of somewhat high blood sugar levels, but have not tested to confirm- but it felt that way for sure.  I wonder... can my system tolerate going under 40 carbs now?  Will it bring back down the lab results a bit and stop this creep I am seeing back toward diabeties?  I don't know, but I think it is worth a try.  

So Frisco don't fall off your chair- but I am giving the under 40 carb thing a whirl.  I do not need to lose weight per se (13 pounds under goal at the moment) but if a couple are lost no big deal.  I am only in day one so it will take a few days to see what the impact will be on going low in the morning.  But dang, I forgot how tough it is.  My omlette and sausage breakfast racked up 6 carbs (had some veggies in there, and 1 strawberry on the side)... At least in the beginning I am going to have to rely on shakes to keep the carbs down.  If I can tolerate the low carb for a week, the following week I am going to try and remove as much of the gluten out of my diet as I can.  The book made a connection between that and Adhd... could be a load of crap, but it can't hurt to try.  I hate taking adderall- 

Anyone out there with experience with the low carb/gluten free approach that can recommend a website or something with recipe ideas?  

Good luck on your journey- HT

Good luck with trying to go low carb. The website "Chowstalking" isn't low carb per se, but you can search the database for low carb and grain free recipes. For some reason, though, I was seeing a bunch of rice and corn recipes on there... just scroll past those, I guess. I used that site a lot for recipe ideas when I lost a bunch of weight before starting the WLS process. I found that I did best if I kept my carbs from 20-40/day. It's really difficult! But possible.

It's an eye opening book for sure. I sent a copy to my SIL as she has lupus and fibromyalgia and the book speaks about reducing inflammation via cutting certain dietary items out.

Yep- the inflammation aspect hit home with me too.  Between my skin issues, allergies, asthma, etc. if I can reduce the inflammation that would be very helpful!

marksdailyapple.com is actually a Paleo diet website and has lots of good info and recipes.  You'll find that Paleo people still use a lot of sweeteners to make "dessert" type foods but if you just ignore those I think you'll get some good tips.  

(I hope Frisco has some padding under that chair for his skinny behind because I guarantee he'll fall of it after reading your post - lol!) 

Thank you for the suggestion.  The low carb attempt today has been rough- and a fail.  I am sitting at 59 carbs at the moment with 5 hours left until I usually go to bed.  Weird thing is that I have been unusually hungry all day, and my calories are higher than normal too- opposite of what I would have expected.  But on a happy note I made my brussel sprouts in coconut oil and they were fantastic!  (Grain brain suggests using 1 tsp daily of coconut oil- something in it is good for the brain.) 

Udis gluten free is a good website, they sell gluten free as well as have recipes.  My best friend friend lives completly gluten free and it has helped her tremendously.  I think I am gluten sensitive so eating just protein and a few veggies has helped me. Next time I talk to her I will ask her where a good source of recipes is but I know she's a big fan of udis.  Best wishes, gluten free is really hard. But at least if you don't "have" to do it as a way of life it's a little easier, you can get by with going to places that have both, ect........

Thank you- I will check this out for sure.  I don't think that I "have" to go gluten free, but I am aiming for being aware of it and reducing it whenever possible.  Thanks for the resource!

For recipes, try searching for the I Breath I'm Hungry blog.  Lots of good recipes, and mostly paleo (though I don't follow paleo myself), which also works for low carb.  I also like AllDayIDreamAboutFood, and her recipes are low carb sugar free, but lean pretty heavily towards baked goods and sweets, though she does some great main dishes and soups too.

Are you doing net carbs?  If so, I found it handy to print out a list of low net carb veggies (for example, endive has 0 net carbs) and focus on those veggies.