Carbs and Testosterone

[Southern Butterfly]

As I've said in another thread I used to be a major carb-aholic when I concieved my 3 boys but have switched to a low carb diet in the last year. One major thing I've noticed as a result is that my normally oily acne-prone skin has dramatically improved and when I do indulge in carbs I suddenly break out again. I've been doing some reading and never knew bad acne can be related to high T levels. I also found that high carb diets increase T levels (I just googled "low carb diet and testosterone) and found many weight lifting sights advising men not to eat low carb because it destroys T levels.

This really got me to wondering if I should be following the LE diet which is mainly carbs? Perhaps my body is more sensitive to the affects of carbs and goes into overdrive with making T (evident in my acne breakouts). I know everyone's body chemistry is different so I'm not in any way challenging the LE diet AT ALL. I'm just wondering if it is the right route for me (as far as carbs are concerned).

Now I'm just scared to eat anything lol. I'm afraid to eat too many fats/protien but also afraid to eat carbs now which means I can't effectively follow the LE diet. I don't know where my caleries should be coming from AHHHH. I'm so confused on what to do:worry:

Just in the last week I've been eating more "empty" carbs and am already breaking out.

[Sunflower3]

I conceived two boys on a very low carb diet. Ds 2 was conceived after I lost 50 lbs on a low carb diet.

[Tiggerian]

SOuthern - do you have any type of hormonal imbalance?

RE carbs - because there are many different types of carbs it depends of what type of carb you put into your body. It also depends on what else is in the product you're eating.

The LE diet is not so much about carbs, but more about lowering your body condition. Which means, even if you eat few carbs and loose weight, you can trick your body into thinking its in tiptop condition if it gets all the nutrients it need. Loosing weight doesn't garantee your overall conditions goes down too if you for example eat lots of vegetables, fruit and take supplements. Then your body would believe that despite loosing weight, it's still getting what i needs and would be more capable of sustaining a male pregnancy as healthy food is plentiful.

[mummypink]

Personally I don't think I have high testosterone levels as I have a low sex drive, and from my understanding high T levels often result in high libido?
My dh on the other hand has a very high libido so I guess his T levels must be high so maybe the way to go would be to try to lower his T levels?

Interesting idea, I'm sure Atomic will have some good info about it. x

[Southern Butterfly]

SOuthern - do you have any type of hormonal imbalance?

RE carbs - because there are many different types of carbs it depends of what type of carb you put into your body. It also depends on what else is in the product you're eating.

The LE diet is not so much about carbs, but more about lowering your body condition. Which means, even if you eat few carbs and loose weight, you can trick your body into thinking its in tiptop condition if it gets all the nutrients it need. Loosing weight doesn't garantee your overall conditions goes down too if you for example eat lots of vegetables, fruit and take supplements. Then your body would believe that despite loosing weight, it's still getting what i needs and would be more capable of sustaining a male pregnancy as healthy food is plentiful.


I agree and understand your point about losing weight doesn't mean declining condition BUT I'm worried if I over eat "empty" carbs it will raise my T levels.... but if I don't eat enough carbs then I'm relying on fat and protien as the primary source of my caloric intake. So which is better? Most of my calories coming from carbs (as in a strict LE diet) but risking raising my T levels, or try to stick to a lower carb diet but also try to keep fat/protien low as well? That leaves me with very little to eat lol. All of the LE staples such as white bread and pastas cause my skin to be oily and break out which I'm worried is a sign that my T levels are going up (as I've read can be a result of carbs). I guess I'm trying to figure out the best of 2 evils, if that makes sense.

[Tiggerian]

Well the question is this:

Do you have weight to loose?

If you have weight to loose than go after calorie intake and not carb in take. Stick to the recommended protein and fat limit. You body has some good storages and will get the energy it needs - if there aren't enough carbs it will tear at your fat deposits to create it. The only thing is that it gets less energy per gram fat than carb and will have to work harder to get the energy it requires (hence why this diet results in so dramatic weight losses)

If you don't have weight to loose than try to stabilise your weight, but alter your diet to contain less nutrients than before.

[Southern Butterfly]

No I don't have weight to lose. Over the last couple of months I've had a major lack of appetite and am down to 95 lbs (last I weighed myself, I think I lost more since then). I haven't been following a diet recently, just rarely feel like eating and get full pretty quick when I do.

[Tiggerian]

In that case you are currently doing an unintentional girl sway it would appear. Just make sure you get enough potassium - try to get some coconut water for example. Or eat some bananas!

[Southern Butterfly]

Thats kind of the conclusion I was coming to that I've kind of been unknowingly doing an LE-ish diet. Thanks for all the advice!

[atomic sagebrush]

there are two types of the LE Diet. One is the "crash and burn" style where you eat empty carbs. Not everyone can do this and anyone who has insulin resistance or PCOS tendencies (which, if carbs make you get zits, you may) then you need to do the "slow burn" style where you focus more on fruits and higher carb veg as sources of carbs, increase protein intake slightly to 50-60 g, and limit grains to 2-3 servings MAX of whole grains only. You may need to increase fat intake to the upper level of fat (60 g) and switch from skim dairy to full fat to help you get some calories. Upping protein slightly and aiming for the upper level of fat makes it possible to still get the 1500-1800 cals without the empty carbs.

The thing with the LE Diet is that just by virtue of skipping breakfast and avoiding snacks, and eating less calories overall, plus possibly losing weight, you are already doing a LOT towards improving your insulin sensitivity. So over the course of time, you may be able to tolerate more carbs than you originally could.

Have a gander at these two threads:http://genderdreaming.com/forum/ttc-girl-best-practices/1865-swaying-under-special-circumstances-part-1-blood-sugar-issues.html
http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gender-swaying-discussion-ttc-boy-girl-home-swaying-info/9052-swaying-under-special-circumstances-part-3-pcos.html

So an example of diet would be (this is just quickly off the top of my head and may need tweaking):

Skip breakfast (can have unsweetened coffee with cream)

Lunch 1 orange, 1 baked sweet potato with 2 T peanut butter, Diet pop

Midafternoon meal : 2 T hummus with vegetable strips and whole grain crackers, full fat yogurt, coconut water

Dinner: small green salad with Ranch dressing, egg white and veg omelet cooked in butter with small amount Swiss cheese, strawberries with whipping cream, wine or seltzer water

So you're still going to be getting a good 1500-1800 cals, the cals are coming more from fat, but still not a lot of fat, and slightly more protein. The carbs are in the form of fiber-rich fruits, veg, whole grains.

[atomic sagebrush]

I agree and understand your point about losing weight doesn't mean declining condition BUT I'm worried if I over eat "empty" carbs it will raise my T levels.... but if I don't eat enough carbs then I'm relying on fat and protien as the primary source of my caloric intake. So which is better? Most of my calories coming from carbs (as in a strict LE diet) but risking raising my T levels, or try to stick to a lower carb diet but also try to keep fat/protien low as well? That leaves me with very little to eat lol. All of the LE staples such as white bread and pastas cause my skin to be oily and break out which I'm worried is a sign that my T levels are going up (as I've read can be a result of carbs). I guess I'm trying to figure out the best of 2 evils, if that makes sense.

They don't HAVE to be staples though - it's just things that have worked for some people. The crux of the LE Diet is lower everything, and NOT any one specific food/foods. So I think it's absolutely fine for you to drop the empty carbs and get cals from other low nutrient foods instead. In the example above, Ranch dressing really is not super packed with nutrition, but does have quite a few cals. If carbs don't work for you, that's still ok, get cals from slight increases in protien (egg whites have a lot of protein and not much else) and fats (such as Ranch dressing.)

[Tiggerian]

Just so you know, the LE diet does cause my skin to break out too, but my T levels are very clearly going down. I used to have hair on my chin, but that's more or less gone now - a clear indication of lower T levels. I don't know if it works like that in all people - but I suspect the low amount of vitamins and minerals is why my skin is acting up.

[atomic sagebrush]

testosterone levels are only one of many reasons why skin breaks out, so your skin breaking out on LE Diet does NOT mean your T is going up - I have a thread about that here: http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gender-swaying-discussion-ttc-boy-girl-home-swaying-info/5166-mouth-sores-zits.html

[Wishing4Princess]

just want to mention something about my diet, as I was on the LE diet for 8 months. doing mainly carbs..pasta, rice, corn, sauteed zucchini. (I guess low glycemic carbs??) I would be very aggitated most of the time even though my T levels were very low (tested this ). I wasn't really having any fresh salads such as lettuce and cukes.

This time I switched to mainly bigger portions of iceberg lettuce, tbsp parm cheese, 1 tbsp cranberries, I feel full longer and I'm more calm w/ fresh salad than the rice and corn. the only thing I worry about is that the fresh lettuce and cran is more nutritious than the rice I was having..hopefully this will be ok?

[Melfin76]

I agree with atomic. You may be insulin resistant. I am quite thin and when I did the empty carbs I broke out with pimples and stopped ovulating. I have since been put on metformin, clomid and am doing the slow release carbs instead. Good luck!

[atomic sagebrush]

just want to mention something about my diet, as I was on the LE diet for 8 months. doing mainly carbs..pasta, rice, corn, sauteed zucchini. (I guess low glycemic carbs??) I would be very aggitated most of the time even though my T levels were very low (tested this ). I wasn't really having any fresh salads such as lettuce and cukes.

This time I switched to mainly bigger portions of iceberg lettuce, tbsp parm cheese, 1 tbsp cranberries, I feel full longer and I'm more calm w/ fresh salad than the rice and corn. the only thing I worry about is that the fresh lettuce and cran is more nutritious than the rice I was having..hopefully this will be ok?

Being agitated does NOT mean high T levels. I suspect your blood sugar levels were making you cranky.

Low nutrient does not mean no nutrient - fruits and veg are totally allowed and low carb vegetables are FREE meaning you can have as much as you want without even needing to count the cals in them. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/trying-conceive-girl/16780-low-everything-diet-nutshell-version.html