Anxiety and Insomnia Possibly caused by Intermittent Fasting and Low Carb?

Hi, I'm new here as well as new to Low carb and Intermittent fasting. I gradually started intermittent fasting 2 months ago and began experiencing anxiety. At the time I made no connection to the dietary change. 3 weeks ago I switched to what I would consider a fairly low carb, high fat and protein diet along with the 16:8 Intermittent fasting. I immediately began having fairly extreme insomnia after 3 days of low carb. I went from about 140g carbs a day to about 30-40 total carbs per day along with the insomnia came a large increase in anxiety and inability to wind down. Anxiety is not a normal thing for me and only happens under major stress.

The only thing that's changed is my diet so I began doing some research to see if there was any link. I found quite a bit of info connecting low carb and intermittent fasting with anxiety and insomnia. Mostly from the lack of carbs leading to a reduction in serotonin, as well as increased cortisol levels that results from reduced insulin levels. I also started adding up what I was eating and realized I'd only been consuming around 1,000 calories a day. This was not intentional... I just only ate when hungry. I assume this could be adding stress to my system and adding to the anxiety and insomnia?

Being so new to this... I'm hoping someone can help shed some light on this and what I need to do/change to get this back in balance? More carbs? Abandon the whole diet? etc...

 

Thanks!

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  • 2 yrs agoLast active
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