The FastDay Forum

Lately, I've had an issue being shaky! This is new, it didn't happen for the first year of 5:2.

My fasting has been going well, I usually drink water, seltzer and coffee throughout the day, and eat two meals totaling around 400 calories. My issue is the next morning. I tend to eat breakfast and then get very jittery and shaky. It's uncomfortable and scary! I tend to eat some bread for breakfast once I get to work in the morning after a fast, and that is when the shakes start.
I'm thinking it's related to blood sugar. I suppose I should make my breakfast more protein based.
Has this happened to anyone else? Any ideas?

I haven't. That's scary. I would try protein like you say. If that doesn't work, see a doctor.

Yes it could be carby based and you might do better with a protein brekkyX
Like MaryAnn said tho,see yr doc if it goes on x

Are you ok before you eat the morning after? I wonder if you wait until lunchtime and do a 16:8 whether that would help. Otherwise, try having porridge or a boiled egg...but stay off the toast. I'm not sure why that would affect you though. Hope you get through it because I'd hate for you to be put off fasting.

All the best

Bean

[carorees]

When we fast our bodies do not need to make insulin (the hormone which keeps blood sugar down when we eat carbohydrates) because we are not eating any carbohydrates while we are not eating at all! When we eat again after fasting, sometimes the body is slow to respond in making insulin in response to the carbs we have eaten. This results in a spike of blood sugar, then the body over-reacts to this spike by producing lots of insulin which removes too much glucose from the blood leaving you with symptoms of low blood sugar. This is why it is a good idea to eat a low carb/high fat/medium protein breakfast or at least if you have carbs they should be the kind that are slowly digested (low glycaemic index). Refined carbs such as sugar, white bread, cornflakes etc have a very high glycaemic index which means they spike your blood sugar. Even brown bread is not particularly low glycaemic index unless it is made with stoneground flour. This is because of the way modern flour is processed for bread-making.

Here is a short list of some very high glycaemic index foods that should be avoided:
Pineapple, fresh 66
Cantaloupe melon 67
Croissant 67
Shredded wheat 67
Mars bar 68
Ryvita 69
Crumpet, toasted 69
Weetabix 69
Wholemeal bread 69
Mashed potato 70
White bread 70
Watermelon 72
Swede 72
Bagel 72
Branflakes 74
Cheerios 74
French fries 75
Coco Pops 77
Jelly beans 80
Rice cakes 82
Rice Krispies 82
Cornflakes 84
Jacket potato 85
Puffed wheat 89
Baguette 95
Parsnips, boiled 97
White rice, steamed 98
Sugar/Glucose 100 (the maximum)

You'll notice that breakfast cereals feature prominently in this list!

And here is a list of some low glycaemic index foods that might be suitable for breakfast. Of course foods with no carbs such as eggs have a glycaemic index of zero and don't appear in this list.
Nuts 14
Low-fat yoghurt with sweetener 14
Cherries 22
Grapefruit 25
Whole milk 27
Dried apricots 31
Skimmed milk 32
Low-fat fruit yoghurt 33
Apples 38
Pears 38
Apple juice, unsweetened 40
All Bran 42
Peaches 42
Porridge made with water 42
Oranges 44
Green grapes 46
Orange juice 46
Baked beans in tomato sauce 48
Kiwi fruit 52
Stoneground wholemeal bread 53
Special K 54
Banana 55
Raw oatbran 55

Im surprised about the Cornflakes and Rice Krispies but there again I remember when I used to do Slimming World and they didn't rate them as that healthy. As for All Bran, does that include Bran Flakes?

I guess the humble egg is our best friend really isn't it.