Scalp overheating from high protein / low carb diet...

...just thought I'd report for anyone interested.

I've been on this diet for 2 weeks now, and my body has adjusted to it. I'm quite dehydrated and noticed that when I exercise, my scalp hardly sweats at all (in comparison to when I eat carbs), and it is producing tremendous amounts of heat.

If I continue exercising on this diet, I know for a fact that I'm going to lose more hair because, simply put, my scalp just cannot cool down. I guess my body just isn't hydrated enough to produce enough sweat to help me cool down efficiently enough, hence my scalp burning up.

I am going to have to drink more water to counteract this heating issue brought on by this diet... perhaps dowse my scalp with some cool water afterwards.

That's a useful observation, Xenon. Many don't realize just how important carbs are for adequate hydration. They require water to sequester, particularly glycogen so they help the body retain water. A good deal of the weight people lose quickly on a low-carb diet is from dropping all of that water. So yes, carbs are certainly important.

Coincidentally, carbohydrate also increases the metabolic rate if you up your carb intake on a consistent basis. This should increase the amount of heat generated in the body. So I'm not sure if you experience a trade-off there in terms of your theory or not.

anthonyspencer54 wrote:That's a useful observation, Xenon. Many don't realize just how important carbs are for adequate hydration. They require water to sequester, particularly glycogen so they help the body retain water. A good deal of the weight people lose quickly on a low-carb diet is from dropping all of that water. So yes, carbs are certainly important.

Coincidentally, carbohydrate also increases the metabolic rate if you up your carb intake on a consistent basis. This should increase the amount of heat generated in the body. So I'm not sure if you experience a trade-off there in terms of your theory or not.

Yes, I know what you mean in terms of carbs raising metabolism, yet the additional water likely assists cells in cooling easier, despite the heat generated. It seems that this isn't the case when the cells are metabolizing lipids (as they are hydrophobic)... prob a good idea not to exercise too much on a diet like this, or if I do, I prob need to drink water till it's coming out of my ears.

Strange, I've had no problems on a low carb diet for the last couple of years. I've even increased my running speed and distance. I guess there is no cookie cutter regime for the low carb diet, I tend to emphasize veggies, fruit and meat in that order. What is your low carb diet like?

tonyj wrote:Strange, I've had no problems on a low carb diet for the last couple of years. I've even increased my running speed and distance.  I guess there is no cookie cutter regime for the low carb diet, I tend to emphasize veggies, fruit and meat in that order. What is your low carb diet like?

I should have been more specific; I haven't eaten any carbs!

Thanks for feedback.