Finding Your Carbohydrate Tolerance

If nothing improved during the test—and it was done exactly as described above—then you may not be carbohydrate intolerant. In this case, the level of your carbohydrate intake may be balanced and my only recommendation is to avoid refined carbohydrates. But if the Two-Week Test improved your signs and symptoms, the next step is to determine how many carbohydrates you can tolerate, without a return of these problems. This is done by adding a single-serving size of natural unprocessed carbohydrates to every other meal or snack. This may be plain yogurt sweetened with a little honey for breakfast or an apple after lunch or dinner. For a snack, try tea with honey, or a healthy homemade energy bar (see the Phil’s Bar recipe in chapter 18). Avoid all refined carbohydrates such as sugar and refined-flour products (like white bread, cereals, rolls, or pasta). In addition to fresh fruit, plain yogurt, and honey, other suggestions include brown rice, sweet potatoes, yams, lentils, and beans. If you can find real-food whole grain products, they can be used. These include sprouted breads, whole oats (they take thirty to forty-five minutes to cook), and other dense products made with just ground wheat, rye, or other grains. If in doubt, avoid them during this one- to two-week period.

The purpose behind gradually adding these carbohydrate foods is to determine if any of them cause the return of any of the original signs or symptoms, including weight gain, or even new problems. At this stage, having just completed the test, your body and brain will be more aware of even slight reactions to carbohydrate foods—basically, you’ll be more intuitive to how your body responds to food. Yet I want to re-emphasize not to add a carbohydrate in back-to-back meals or snacks, because insulin production is partly influenced by your previous meal.

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With the addition of each carbohydrate, be aware of any symptoms that you had previously eliminated with the test, especially for symptoms that develop immediately after eating, such as intestinal bloating, sleepiness, or feelings of depression.

Most importantly, if any signs or symptoms that disappeared during or following the Two-Week Test have now returned, you’ve probably exceeded your carbohydrate limit. For example, if your hunger or cravings were greatly improved at the end of the test, and now they’ve returned, you probably added too many carbohydrates. If you lost eight pounds during the test, and gained back five pounds after adding some carbohydrates for a week or two, you’ve probably eaten too many carbohydrates. Likewise, if blood pressure rises significantly after it was reduced, it may be due to excess carbohydrate intake. If any of these situations occur, reduce the carbohydrates by half, or experiment to see which particular foods cause symptoms and which don’t. Some people return to the Two-Week Test and begin the process again.

In some cases, people can tolerate simple carbohydrates, such as fresh fruits, plain yogurt, and honey, but not complex carbohydrates such as sweet potato, whole grains, beans, or other starches. In other situations, some individuals don’t tolerate any wheat products. During this post-test period, these factors are often easy to determine.

After this one- to two-week period of experimenting with natural carbohydrates, you’ll have a very good idea about your body’s level of carbohydrate tolerance. You’ll better know which foods to avoid, which ones you can eat, and which must be limited. You’ll become acutely aware of how your body feels when you eat too many carbohydrates. From time to time, you may feel the need to go through a Two-Week Test period again to check yourself, or to quickly get back on track after careless eating during the holidays, vacations, or at other times.