[mom4life]

This past weekend, dh and I had more meat then usual. Not much, just either 2 hamburger patties or 2 chicken breasts. On both days we both experiences nausea. The first day we both thought that there was something wrong with the meat, so we vowed never to go to Wendy's again. LOL The second time, when we had the chicken, we wondered why that was happening.
He loved meat, but since we were both on the Low Cal diet before going on the Atkins, meat was reduced. So when we started on the Atkins, he was all over it thinking he would finally get what he always wanted.....meat. So when the nausea hit, he didn't know what to think. So the rest of the day he didn't want any.

Any answers to this?

[kaplods]

There are several possible sources of nausea on a high-protein/low-carb diet.


Some that I've read about or have experienced:

Too few carbohydrates (this doesn't mean you have to eat bread and potatoes, but a little more low-carb vegetables can help). Personally, induction level (under 20g of carbohydrates) always makes me somewhat nauseous, but I have blood sugar issues and am on blood sugar lowering medications (which probably lowers my tolerance threshold). Find the carb-level that allows you to lose weight, but feel your best.

Too much fat. I find that high fat meats, or meats prepared with a lot of fat can sometimes leave me feeling like there's a big rock in my stomach.

Too little fat (especially if combined with too little carbohydrate) can cause nausea, headaches and in extreme cases worse (resulting in rabbit starvation - very interesting and dangerous condition, google it, or search on this site where it's been discussed).

Eating too much or eating too quickly. Because you're allowed unlimited portions, it can be easy on low-carb diets to initially overstuff yourself. Remember the goal of Atkins and other low-carb plans are to eat to satisfaction, not discomfort. Often, because it takes a while for satiety/fullness signals to process, if you eat quickly you can become overfull before realizing it. Eating slowly, and really paying attention to whether you are satisfied can really help.

Too little water: Water is essential for protein digestion (too little water and ammonia can build to dangerous levels). If you increase the protein ratio in your diet, you may need to increase your water level proportionally. I'm not saying you need to drink liters and liters of extra water, but increasing water a bit may help.

[kelly315]

I don't eat very much meat on my lowcal diet, so when I try to, I have a similar to reaction. For me, it's worse with fatty meats. I think it's just a matter of being used to a certain amount of these things.

[sarahinparis]

I don't know -- I'm always really suspicious of meats from chain restaurants & fast food, because they may contain other things (sugars, starches, fillers) in addition to the meat.

I'm guessing there might be something in the stuff from Wendy's.

That said, I am nauseous much more now that I eat LC than before. I suspected it was an effect of the ketones (known to reduce hunger) but it could be fat or protein related. I don't think I eat that much more protein than before - for me it's mainly fat calories that increased a lot.

[Shen]

I read that nausea is a normal side effect of ketosis and atkins induction. I've had the same thing happen to me. Maybe it will pass with time.

[mom4life]

you're right. It did pass, it only happened one time after that. Haven't had it since.