Problem with Larabars?

[sahmomto2]

I took my daughter to the state fair for two days (where she took the blue ribbon in showmanship with her standard poodle puppy! Yay!!). I packed a cooler with everything whole30 compliant and I only ate what I took. The only food that was new to me was that I ate one Larabar each day. I was careful to choose flavors that were compliant - in looking at the ingredients, there were a couple flavors I wasn't sure about so I avoided those. I was hoping not to need snacks, but her competition schedule was uncertain so I wanted to be prepared, and I felt that I did need them because of having to go too long between meals.

Normally when I'm reacting to something, I'll get a migraine the day after I eat it. I had a migraine the second day of the fair and the day after (yesterday and today). The only thing I ate the day before each migraine that I hadn't had earlier in my whole30 was the Larabars. One was cashew cookie and the other was coconut cream pie. The only ingredient in either that I haven't had during my whole30 was the dates.

So I'm wondering whether anyone else has reacted to Larabars or dates? I'm wondering whether it might have been too much sugar? I have not been eating dried fruit or anything else that sugary. The only thing that comes close is bananas. Or is it possible that the dates are sulphered or something?

I'm thinking of buying a package of unsulphered dates and trying them by themselves, but wondering if anyone else is reacting to dates?

I will also say that this is my second go at whole30. The first time, I got a migraine after eating raw honey during my reintro. I thought that was a fluke at the time. I do also sometimes get migraines that are triggered by stress.

Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions.

[sahmomto2]

Just to give more info, my first whole30 was mid-May to mid-June. Started again on July 7th because I messed up the reintro by adding too many things back too quickly because dh was too anxious to starting eating out again and insisted on places that didn't have anything compliant. I'm on day 24 of my second, and won't make that mistake again :-(

[Elizabeth!]

I had a simalar issue with Lara Bars.  I ate two one night while I was at a rock concert, amd I woke with a headache (not migrane, but I dont get those) the next day.  I think it was the high fructose content for me.

[Emily T]

Compliant or not, they have a lot of sugar! It might have just been a bit too much for your system! Perhaps next time you need an emergency/on the go snack you could try the smaller versions of Larabars (like half sized) and some jerky or carrot sticks or something to cut down on the sugar!

 

You could also make your own larabars and see if it was something about the packaged kind. A billion recipes are on google - experiment with what feels good to you!

[Renee Lee]

Yeah, it was probably the sugar. Especially if you're eating on the low-carb side of things, full sized Lara Bars are nothing but sugar bombs. (sugar gives me headaches as well when I overdo it) 

 

This is why we call Lara Bars emergency food ONLY

[bakerina]

The one time I ever ate a whole Larabar at one sitting, I ended up with a terrible headache for two days. Generally a single Larabar will last me about four days. I treat it the way I used to treat baklava, or fudge, or Greek spoon fruit preserves: very, very tiny amounts, and never on an empty stomach.

[sahmomto2]

Okay, thanks! That answers a lot of questions, but raises one more: if I'm that sensitive to fructose, does it mean I'm diabetic or pre-diabetic? I haven't had my blood sugar checked since my last pregnancy 13 years ago. I remember getting a serious migraine afterward, but they said my sugar was fine. Wondering whether I should have it checked again.

[Renee Lee]

probably not. my blood sugar's always been perfect, but when I was really low carb for a while, i'd gotten auditory and visual hallucinations from a piece of cheesecake at lunch while I was at work.

 

Check in with your doc if you're concerned, but it comes with the territory of eating super low carb for a long period of time. eat more sweet potatoes!

[sahmomto2]

Almost every day I eat a sweet potato for one meal and either a plantain or banana at another meal. I eat beets fairly often as well. The rest of my carbs tend to be greens. But I don't do dried fruit hardly ever. Occasionally a few stewed prunes if I feel the need :-)

[Heatherw]

Just another idea (from a former migraine sufferer - but mine were only hormonal). You can make your own Larabars as someone mentioned, but only use a few dates. One recipe I found called for 11 dates and it was plenty sweet for me with 5. You can wrap them in wax paper and they travel pretty well. They are also wasaaay cheaper as you might expect. On the migraines, I would trust your gut on what the cause might have been. Different people have different triggers but it sound like you have a good hunch what yours was. Wishing you many more migraine-free days!