Pounding Heart Rate After Drinking Fruit Juice

[celiacker]

Hello,

I've been diagnosed with Celiac for about a year now. It's going well, to the degree that I'm leaving out most dairy, taking L-acidophilus eating a varied diet (thanks to the advice of a previous forum post about doing the latter).

But I have one outstanding problem: After guzzling a bottle of (100% juice) fruit juice I always feel very tired: heart rate is pounding and fast (80-90 bpm, my regular rate is 50-60), even though I'm just sitting at my desk at work. It usually starts about 15-30 minutes after drinking the juice and lasts for an hour. I haven't noticed this symptom with anything else. The juice is usually pure apple, pomegranate, cherry, blueberry or orange.

I have a thyroid condition, but it's currently under control. All levels are normal.

I looked online about hypoglycemia and diabetes but couldn't find any reasonable explanation that it would be either of those.

HELP!

Thanks,

Liz

[AliB]

Hi Liz.

One problem that most people aren't told about when they are diagnosed, or go gluten-free (and unfortunately most Doctors are completely clueless about it too), is that many who are Celiac/gluten intolerant actually have a problem digesting carbohydrates in general properly, including sugars.

Unfortunately, another thing the food manufacturers don't tell you is that their 'pure' fruit juice' is usually 'pure' sugar. People are fooled into thinking that they are drinking a very healthy product - it is not true. Ok, maybe it doesn't contain added sugar, but it is still very high in natural sugar.

Most commercially-made fruit juices are heat-treated to destroy any of the unwanted natural microbes (and unfortunately a lot of wanted ones, too!), and to give them a longer, more commercially viable shelf-life. The heat not only destroys the microbes but it also destroys valuable enzymes and nutrients that are essential for digestion.

It makes a nice drink, but is VERY carbohydrate dense and gives the body a huge sugar hit. If say you drink a 500ml carton or bottle of orange juice, you are drinking the equivalent of at least 15 oranges. No-one in their right mind would eat 15 oranges in one day, let alone one sitting!

The difference too between drinking orange juice and eating an orange is that the fruit contains a lot of fiber. The fiber slows down the release of fructose into the system so that the body is much better able to deal with it.

Because I don't digest carbs properly, I get the pounding heart thing too. It's not necessarily fast but very obvious - like my whole body is throbbing. I am Diabetic so I have a double whammy on the carb thing.

I would suggest, if you want fruit juice, either drink it well diluted with water (you would be surprised how quickly you can get used to drinking it diluted - when I used to drink it I would only need an inch or two in the bottom of a glass topped up with water - any more than that and it was way too sweet), or just drink the water and have the fruit in its natural form - as a piece of fruit. It is far better for you than the juice. The sugar rush actually makes you VERY dehydrated. Within a short period you would be very thirsty again.

I no longer drink commercially made juices, I either juice them myself or make good filling smoothies (Great for breakfast and the addition of some veg makes it really healthy). You can juice your own with a blender, without having to go to the expense of a juicer.

Put the combination of fruit in the blender - peeled, stoned, pipped and/or cored where appropriate, add a large glass or two of water, blend it all down, then strain either through a fine mesh sieve or through a jelly bag or muslin, squeeze dry, and drink. Yum. Loads of good microbes, loads of nutrients, and loads of valuable enzymes.

[tarnalberry]

is it usually the same type of juice? you might allergic.

[lizard00]

is it usually the same type of juice? you might allergic.

I was thinking the same thing. Allergies can cause your pulse to rise.

[chatycady]

It is possible your blood sugar is diving and the "pounding heart" is from an adrenaline rush which your pancreas releases to bring your blood sugar level up.

It may be due to a damaged small intestine.

[RollingAlong]

If you suspect blood sugar problems you need a meter. www.bloodsugar101.com can help you sort out that angle.

But possibly it is the salicylates in the juice. You could try a low sal juice to see if you have similar symptoms. You would need to make pear juice from pears canned in syrup or ripe peeled pears (the details are important). Read up on the Failsafe diet for the full scoop.

[AliB]

The blood sugar will plummet after drinking pure juice. The sugar shoves the blood sugar up so fast that the liver can't cope with it. It chucks out a load of insulin to offset it and the blood sugar will then dive.

Doing that several times a day will send the blood sugar into yo-yo mode and will, if the diet is not adjusted to stop that happening, result in pre-diabetic or 'Syndrome X' condition at some point.

Why are we getting such an epidemic of diabetes? Because the high-sugar, high-carb Western diet is culturing it.

Because it is considered 'normal', we don't view the Western diet as self-indulgent, but it is. People start the day with the high-sugar cereal they like (carb), the toast (carb), the neat fruit juice (carb), they have sugar in their tea or coffee (carb), a mid-morning bagel or cookie (carb), sandwich, burger, fries, hot dog, for lunch (carb), soda or other soft drink (carb), more sugary drink in the afternoon with more carb cake or pastie and for dinner in the evening, pizza, pasta, potato, rice, etc. (more carb), dessert (carb), and finally finish it off with snacks, chips, crisps, and beer all evening in front of the TV (carb, carb, carb & more carb).

Is it any wonder we have a diabetes epidemic, a host of gut problems and raging Candida?