Carbs and Testosterone

[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/gend...ores-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/tryi...l-version.html