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Hello,

I didn't notice myself but it has been pointed out by a few people that I have developed a slight tremor. When it was pointed out I could see the tremor in my hands but otherwise would not have noticed it.

The tremor has started since I switched to a plant-based diet. I first completed a 28 day water only fast followed by a strict plant-based diet with no oil, flour or sugar. I have used starch as the base for my caloric intake.

I have searched the web and my books (I'm studying biomedicine) and could not find anything that suits my profile.

I am 26 years old
Male
101.5kg (123.5kg before fast)
174cm
Exercise 2-3 times per week (since refeeding)

My recent blood work showed everything in normal range with the exception of;
Urea - 1.4 mmole/L
ALT - 71 U/L
Bilirubin - 22 umol/L
Haematocrit, RBC & Hb all slightly low
Ferritin 366 ug/L
CRP 28 mg/L

Blood work was done after 4 weeks of refeeding post water fast. I have no conditions or family issues that Im aware of with this matter.

Any suggestions that I could look into would be most helpful.

William

It has nothing to do w/ this WOE. More than likely it has to do w/ your starving yourself for 28 days. You aren't going to find much support for fasting here--that's a great way to cause yourself serious damage!

It may also be a sign of something that has been brewing for a while. Ask your doctor.

You checked B-12?

Expensive test but essential fatty acid blood levels can be tested if you don't find answer in some other place.

Deficiencies in B-1, B-6, and E can also cause tremor.

Here's another list I just spotted of possible causes

GeoffreyLevens: Thanks for your reply

Yes B12 was checked and well within normal limits (345 pmol/L).

I did not get EFAs checked. I live in Australia so test costs are irrelevant for the most part, but I didn't think to check them. I'm also unaware of how they are related to tremors. Do you have a link or source I could look at?

I did see that list myself and, with the exception of nutritional deficiencies and nervous system disorders, I can rule the rest out. I'm hoping its a nutritional deficiency that I'm somehow overlooking with my new found diet/lifestyle.

I have actually found that my hands are steadier on fruit and vegetable foods. This is not unusual as meat is a contributing factor to essential tremors.

It is possible that the fasting is the problem. When I was in high school, I went to a basketball camp for a week over the summer. It was very physically intense, but I couldn't stand the food we were served, so I only ate 1 meal the whole week. When I got home, I was shaking horribly from electrolyte depletion. Drinking salt water and vegetable juices and eating a bunch of fruit for several days corrected this for me.

I'd be wondering about your electrolytes?....a 28 day water only fast..??

Hello Kiki,

No I'm very sure the water fast is not the issue, perhaps the agonist but not the cause. The fast and diet was done with my partner in relation to her Crohns Disease after reading material from Dr. Goldhamer, Mcdougall and Fuhrman. She is now in remission and her success story can be found here viewtopic.php?f=13&t=27917. Its also been almost 2 months since breaking the fast and starting the refeeding so any slight changes in electrolyte balance should have settled by now. However, the tremor is intermittent and not acute, so perhaps it also too early to rule out adipose tissue detox.

Actually, the EFA idea was just a wild guess (based on the fact that EFA deficiency can cause neurological symptoms/diseases) and now that I am looking I can't find a single reference to it being a cause.

I would imagine that electrolyte imbalance or just plain exhaustion could cause mild tremor.

Are you sure you are getting enough calories? I know at least 2 people who when starting this WOE somehow could not figure out to eat enough of the more calorie dense foods to keep themselves vertical. They both complained of dizziness, weakness, shakiness, exhaustion until I thought to sit down with them and get a detailed days food intake and run it through CRONoMeter to see what was up. They were just starving themselves. But it does sound like you probably know what you are doing in that regard.

Just brainstorming here...

Thank you I appreciate the brainstorming. I was hoping I was going to get a reply like "Yo dude, my uncles fathers other son had tremors after switching foods and it was due to deficiency in Vitamin Cowabunga coz he forgot to eat purple vegies!"

Unfortunately I think its either going to be short term idiopathic, due to toxins from adipose tissue break down, or insidious in which case its a disorder.

Ill keep an eye on it, cheers for your thoughts

Dr. McDougall certainly never recommended fasting.

I had tremors when my thyroid levels were too high.

"Other doctors" however often do.

Dr. Fuhrman says some patients on very low fat diets come to him with tremors and he feels nuts and seeds help with this. I dismissed this because my mother and grandfather had tremors (both lived to 91) and neither of them was on a low fat diet. However, (I am 68) a while ago I noticed a tremor in my right hand and it was especially shaky when I held a sheet of paper lightly.

I started to eat one walnut with each meal, not because of the tremors but because Jeff said that walnuts actually increased the expansion of the arteries after a brachial artery test. I noticed a few days ago that the tremor seems to have disappeared.

However, if my blood sugar goes to low,especially after exercise I do get shaky. It doesn't happen often, but I carry a small box of raisins with me just in case. If your shakiness is due to low blood sugar, they also sell glucose tabs in the pharmacy. People say it works faster than food.

Didi