Anyone Know How Muscles Work

[BRUMI1968]

Does anyone know if someone's muscles might have to relearn where to get their food. For example, if one were to quit all grains/beans/dairy/sugar, and upped their intake of protein and nonstarchy veggies, would one get muscle weakness and aches during an adjustment period?

I think I am finally getting enough energy to add back some decent exercise (was in yeast die-off hell a week or two ago) - but want to make sure I don't lose any more weight and am feeding my muscles well. Thanks.

[Vladimir Gluten]

Does anyone know if someone's muscles might have to relearn where to get their food. For example, if one were to quit all grains/beans/dairy/sugar, and upped their intake of protein and nonstarchy veggies, would one get muscle weakness and aches during an adjustment period?

I think I am finally getting enough energy to add back some decent exercise (was in yeast die-off hell a week or two ago) - but want to make sure I don't lose any more weight and am feeding my muscles well. Thanks.

No, your muscles do not need to relearn what you eat. What happens is that the flow of nutrients going to the muscles is inhibited by the damage to your digestive system due to gluten intolerence.

Look at it like a faucet that is barely open, only a little water comes out. Similarly, someone with damage to his small intestine is not getting much nutrient flow to the bloodstream and ultimately to the muscles.

That is why, in my opinion, you have to take it easy on the exercise while you are healing up. Your recovery rate is limited by the rate at which your body absorbs nutrients. Once everthing is healed, your "faucet" will be fully open and the flow of nutrients will be such that you can recover quickly.

[eKatherine]

Does anyone know if someone's muscles might have to relearn where to get their food. For example, if one were to quit all grains/beans/dairy/sugar, and upped their intake of protein and nonstarchy veggies, would one get muscle weakness and aches during an adjustment period?

I think I am finally getting enough energy to add back some decent exercise (was in yeast die-off hell a week or two ago) - but want to make sure I don't lose any more weight and am feeding my muscles well. Thanks.

Your body uses protein to build muscles, but you burn either carbohydrates or fat as fuel. So if you're not getting enough energy calories, adding excess protein is going to make you sluggish.

You can add fat to your diet for calories, but there will be an adjustment period if you're used to getting your energy from carbohydrates.

[VydorScope]

Okay lets clear somthing up, your body ONLY uses glucose for engry. Nothing else. Everything you eat (if I was to over simplify a little) falls in to 2 catagoires;

Protien, Carbs, Fat = These are are converted by the body in to glucose for energy. Carbs convert the fastest and protien the slowest. This is why you get "sugar rush" from a candy bar, but a steak will give you more level engery. Exsess glucose is converted to fat for storage. Or at least thats how it works in the so called "healthy" person.

Vits, Minerals, etc : These are used as raw materails to build/repair your body parts. Calcium for example is what your bones are made out of, Iron is critical for blood production, and so on.

A properly balanced diet (mix of protein, carbs, and fat while paying attn to proper vit/min/etc intake) will yeild a body that burns off most of its fat stores while building muslce. Go slow and pay close attn to what you eat and you should be fine.

[tarnalberry]

I'll add that your muscles store glycogen, a storage form of glucose that isn't *immediately* available the way glucose in the bloodstream is, that is a more immediate form of energy than fat. Glycogen is stored in the muscles, and you can, over time, change how much glycogen is stored, but this is usually something only endurance athletes bother to do.

The body CAN run off of fuel sources other than glucose - there are other metabolic pathways for getting ATP (the actual molecular fuel), the other primary one directly involving fat. It is highly unfavored, chemically, on a diet that has plenty of carbohydrates, so is unlikely to be a factor for the vast majority of us.

But the body never stores anything directly from what you eat - it all gets digested and processed, so no, it doesn't have to "relearn" how to use non-wheat based sources of energy. It's all the same once it gets past the digestive system, the great chemical translator for the body.

[VydorScope]

I'll add that your muscles store glycogen, a storage form of glucose that isn't *immediately* available the way glucose in the bloodstream is, that is a more immediate form of energy than fat. Glycogen is stored in the muscles, and you can, over time, change how much glycogen is stored, but this is usually something only endurance athletes bother to do.

The body CAN run off of fuel sources other than glucose - there are other metabolic pathways for getting ATP (the actual molecular fuel), the other primary one directly involving fat. It is highly unfavored, chemically, on a diet that has plenty of carbohydrates, so is unlikely to be a factor for the vast majority of us.

But the body never stores anything directly from what you eat - it all gets digested and processed, so no, it doesn't have to "relearn" how to use non-wheat based sources of energy. It's all the same once it gets past the digestive system, the great chemical translator for the body.

So much for me trying to keep it simple... just leave it to you to start dumping more details in

As for the fat... as I recall it still travels as glucose, but I could be remebering wrong and that would just murk this up with details that I was trying to keep simple

[2kids4me]

The body is an amazing complex machine and looks like all of you are aware of metabolism. As a side note - when looking for energy, if no glucose is readily available (starvation or lack of insulin or malabsorbtion) - it first turns to glycogen, once those stores are used (or not available due to lack of insulin -as in Type 1 diabetes) - it then turns to fat for energy but the end result of converting fat to glucose is ketone bodies. Which is why uncontrolled or undiagnosed Type 1 diabetics can eat lots but lose weight - without insulin they cant even make the glucose availabale to the cells, and they burn fat (ending up getting very sick over a short period of time though).

Take it easy at first - I imagine you feel better so you wnat to go faster and farther Give your muscles time to build back up so you dont end up stiff and sore. Glad you have more energy!

[tarnalberry]

So much for me trying to keep it simple... just leave it to you to start dumping more details in

As for the fat... as I recall it still travels as glucose, but I could be remebering wrong and that would just murk this up with details that I was trying to keep simple

:-) I'm not good at keeping things simple...

Hmm... (I just double checked my biology book to be sure :-) )

since nerve cells rely on glucose as a sole source of fuel, there are checks in place to make sure that there is always glucose for the nerve cells. so, through a signalling process related to levels of insulin in the bloodstream, the liver, muscle cells, and body fat cells can use fatty acids, not glucose, as a fuel source when there is very little insulin in the bloodstream (and hence the pancrease has released glucagon, another stored form of glucose for the nerves to use). I was wrong - this isn't as rare as I though, it switches back and forth during the day as we eat, and go through periods of not eating.

for the OP, what really matters, though, is that by the time things get out of the gut, they really are all the same - it's all been chemically processed to look all the same.

[BRUMI1968]

Just to clarify, I was not getting the amazingly weak/sore leg/back muscles until I had quit all grains for about two weeks, and then quit sugar/fruit/starchy veggies as well, on a quest to kill any bacteria/yeast living inside me.

So it sounds like I probably was having a yeast die-off or something. The other possibility is that I was not getting enough CALORIES, rather than specific type of calories. (I was losing about .5-.75 pounds every day or two.)

I did buy some Ph strips to pee on to check my Ph since I'm eating way more protein than I used to...and I turned up fine by my morning pee.

Thanks to you all. I'm actually feeling so much better now that I'm going to add in my bowflex, and get back to walking. No danger of me overdoing it cardiovascularly - I'm not one for that type of exercise. But I want to make sure that don't lose muscle mass, and I need to build bone, so walking and weight lifting is where I'm going to start, along with Pilates. thanks.

[tarnalberry]

If you were losing that much weight, then yep it was probably from not getting nearly enough calories.

Glad to hear you're doing better.

[LoriCF]

I do not have celiac disease (my son may) and I'm new to these pages, but I'd like to add one thing. When you do get better, don't be afraid to try building some muscle. I used to feel weak and tired all the time until I started lifting weights. Having muscle raises your metabolism--I've never felt so good in my life. A good site: Open Original Shared Link

(I just can't help but want to spread the word. Men have been keeping the joysof weightlifting to themselves for far too long.)

[BBadgero]

...lifting weights. Having muscle raises your metabolism--I've never felt so good in my life. A good site: Open Original Shared Link

LoriCF, great comment, and I totally agree! I can't have gluten and suspect dairy (but will reintro some day to check for sure). Been gluten-free since May 06 and dairy since Aug 28th. I follow the Paleo Diet by Cordain, which some like and some don't, but I have had the same troubles with calories I think. I have stabalized weight to what my body probably "likes" and I am slowly putting on muscle. I find that reducing the cordisol right after the workout seems to help maintain weight and build muscle a little. This can be done by eating certain foods or supplementing in SMALL quantities of compounds like glutamine or HMB (I choose gluatmine). I just choose a gluten-free and yeast free supplement and seem to be feeling great!

I do miss the "bad" carbs from time to time, but when I feel so good, it is tough to justify going back....

Good luck! Good weightlifting (and running for cardio).

B

[Nancym]

If you restrict carbohydrates enough your body has to transition into a state where it gets it's energy from ketones, which come from fat. It also has to manufacture enough glucose to power the few cells in the body that can't run on ketones, from protein.

So yes, there is about a two week period where the body has to adjust and you're likely to not feel really terrific.