Healthier diet leading to worse health?

[Metalhead]

I think my decision to cut myself down to 1,800 calories a day a couple of weeks ago might have something to do with my current swollen painful ankles. I am not drinking alcohol. I did seriously cut back on my meat consumption and I added a lot of fresh raw produce.

I just can’t deal with the ankle situation right now. This is BS.

 

[Slime_Punk]

I've been dealing with this trend for years; I keep eating healthier, keep getting injuries, keep getting surgeries, etc.

I'm about ready to just start eating a carnivore or keto diet at this point. I'm sick of it

 

[Aspychata]

I read that heavy salt intake will do this. Also l was surprised to learn biking can do this. Long distance running does give you cankles. Sitting down for a long time will cause this. So stand up, raise up on your toes perhaps. And when you get home, elevate your legs.

 

[Luca]

@Silhouette Mirage I came here to say the same thing!!

@Metalhead I’m sorry you’re feeling worse
Would your doctor know anything about this?
I think eating too few calories can make us feel pretty crappy in general.

 

[Au Naturel]

I think my decision to cut myself down to 1,800 calories a day a couple of weeks ago might have something to do with my current swollen painful ankles. I am not drinking alcohol. I did seriously cut back on my meat consumption and I added a lot of fresh raw produce.

I just can’t deal with the ankle situation right now. This is BS.

If you are genuinely eating a healthier diet you ought not to get swollen ankles from it. A reduced calorie content or reduced meat consumption or increased veggie consumption do not by themselves guarantee a "healthy diet" but it is a start.

Do not confuse coincidence with correlation and do not confuse that with causality. The causes you need to investigate are too much sitting or standing still, recently started medication, blood clots, and varicose veins. Obesity and various diseases (or pregnancy) can also cause swollen ankles. This is something that calls for contact with a doctor.

 

[SusanLR]

Add to the list Chronic Venous insufficiency, kidney problems and CHF.
It takes tests only a doctor can do for a diagnosis.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

I think my decision to cut myself down to 1,800 calories a day a couple of weeks ago might have something to do with my current swollen painful ankles. I am not drinking alcohol. I did seriously cut back on my meat consumption and I added a lot of fresh raw produce.

I just can’t deal with the ankle situation right now. This is BS.

On a less serious note from CHF or venous insufficiency,....what you MAY be experiencing is a loss of albumin,...a protein found in the blood that is, in part, responsible for maintaining the blood's consistency or osmolarity. The blood plasma becomes thin enough that it starts to seep between the cells,...where it normally wouldn't be. In the hospital, we call this tissue edema, "third spacing", and we will sometimes give albumin infusions to people who are sick enough they cannot eat. At any rate, you mentioned you "seriously cut back on meat consumption and added a lot of fresh produce",...it could be that missing protein content. If you are going down that route of "less meat" or being vegetarian, make sure you are still getting your proteins from things like nuts, beans, etc. I think you can do a simple internet search on "vegetarian protein sources" and come up with some options for you.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

Some diets are more harmful than people like to think. The worst ones in my opinion is Keto if you don’t have a health condition where being on the diet will help improve your life and the raw diet because of all of the dietary restrictions it makes you follow.

 

[Luca]

I think I ate about 800 calories in the last two days combined, and slept for a total of 12 hours, and I feel like I'm losing it.
This isn't intentional btw, but I have been putting off food shopping which is my own fault.

 

[Slime_Punk]

The worst ones in my opinion is Keto if you don’t have a health condition where being on the diet will help improve your life

Most of the time it seems like people only gravitate toward these extreme diets when they're (like myself) really sick with medical issues and they eat a wide variety of whole foods, while not being able to explain why they're falling apart and getting organs removed. Otherwise, it would really suck the joy out of most peoples' lives to do it. I wouldn't wish even this extremely low carb diet I'm doing on anyone I love or care about but it's the only thing that gets me out of debilitating pain, so I guess they can work as last-resort solutions.

As for everybody who doesn't have health issues, your diet and genes are probably pretty good

 

[Slim Jim]

I'm fallin off the wagon badly, today. And I was doing so well. 600kcal of chocolate junk. Plus coffee. (Not advised in heatwave.)

 

[Tom]

When I first saw this thread I was still half asleep and read it as 'Heather Diet'. And I thought 'could there really be such a terribly named diet?'

Personally I am very suspicious of diets and health supplements in general. I see aisles and aisles of powders at the store and wonder how they can really do anything.

One recent study came out saying after analyzing extensive data there was no evidence that any vitamin or other supplement actually made any difference as far as medical conditions went. For example those who used them as well as those who did not died at exactly the same rate in all the examined medical conditions.

I do think common sense can come into play and eating a good selection of natural foods is of course better then living off Ice Cream and Jelly Beans.

 

[Rodafina]

…eating a good selection of natural foods is of course better then living off Ice Cream and Jelly Beans.

@Tom, are you calling my diet of ice cream and jellybeans unnatural? How dare you!
___________________

I think all of these diets come down to the idea of whether or not they are sustainable – if they are too extreme, too exclusive, or just too dang depressing, there’s no way they can have lasting impact. If there is no medical reason for such an extreme diet, it seems eventually motivation would dwindle (I realize that the situation @Silhouette Mirage described, is much different, and the medical need could be the motivation.)

Also, I noticed that any drastic changes in my diet started doing wacky things to my body in my later 30s and now as I look toward my 40s.

 

[maycontainthunder]

 

[Metalhead]

Well, my doctor thinks it is a major gout flare up. My sponsor is being a jerk, rubbing in that I did this myself. I am getting around my house using a wheeled office chair.

 

[Slime_Punk]

I don't know how you could possibly give yourself a gout flare-up. Sounds like he doesn't know how health conditions work

 

[Metalhead]

I don't know how you could possibly give yourself a gout flare-up. Sounds like he doesn't know how health conditions work

Having a bad diet for many years can cause gout.

 

[Au Naturel]

The best diet in the world is one that reduces calories while deriving those calories from a wide variety of sources. You couple this with an increase in your actvity level which in turn keeps your metabolism higher.

People keep looking for that miracle that will make them skinny without putting in the effort. The easiest diet in the world is the one where you eat less because you are engrossed in doing something else. If you are not busy, your body naturally tells you to go eat something to prepare for the famine that is inevitably coming.

When one is surrounded by cheap high calorie food, munching is almost impossible to resist, so don't surround yourself. A diet that is based on resisting the urge to eat is probably doomed.

Some people are naturally heavier than others. Your distant ancestors came from a place where famine was common and only those who are extremely calorie efficient survived. Maintain a good level of physical fitness and replace junk food with nutrition. Do this and you may still be heavier than average but you won't be obese. Beyond that, there's nothing to be done for it. Accept the extra poundage as how you were meant to be and love your body.

There are a very small number of people who have hormonal issues or are on a medication (like steroids) and that is the source of their weight problem. They are far more rare than those who like to say that's their problem.

I get a real kick out of the supposed "paleo diet." The real paleo diet is whatever you happened to find that day. One day you might get lucky and find some berries. Another day you find a rotting carcass that you gorge on until a more dominant predator comes along. Yet another day you're eating roots and grubs and bugs. (Which bugs and grubs and which carcasses and which berries varies wildly from one location to another.) You drink unfiltered water from a source shared by every other animal on the savanna. Fresh meat from a hunting party or pure honey from a hive is a red-letter day.

Hovering over everything is the very real chance of famine or death by dehydration when the muddy water hole dries up. Welcome to the true paleo diet.

 

[Slim Jim]

An appropriate diet should always make you healthier. Everybody has their own sensitivities.

Paleo, Is not too bad, if you are relatively lean and healthy. I can do that with no problems, the only problem being is when I start to desire stuff that's not good. Like this here Chocolate I'm binging on. So I'm not exactly doing it right now. I will do Paleo. But do it loosely. 1 day on, 1 day off, where I relax, the rules. Cause I do tend to give in to cravings.

 

[Au Naturel]

Some diets are more harmful than people like to think. The worst ones in my opinion is Keto if you don’t have a health condition where being on the diet will help improve your life and the raw diet because of all of the dietary restrictions it makes you follow.

Yeah. The keto diet causes you to lose weight by forcing you to eat almost entirely fat. Little protein and almost no carbs. This upsets your body's normal metabolism in order to lose weight. Fruit and fleshy vegetables are almost entirely carbs, so you've lost those vitamins. It takes weeks to months to fully kick in. Not a good choice IMHO.