Hypoglycemia
Dear Colin:
My mother found out she had diabetes some eight years ago, so, in order to
explain her her condition I had to learn it myself. There is indeed a
dicotomy: hyploglycemia is the first level to further become a diabetic (high
blood sugar).
Forgive me if there are any mistakes, English is not my native language.
Hypoglycemia:
It means low blood sugar.
Your body uses a very simple form of sugar called glucose as its basic fuel.
During digestion, all the carbohydrates you ingest are converted into
glucose. The blood is in charge of carring this glucose to he cells to be
used as energy as needed. Every single cell of the body needs glucose at all
times, specially the brain cells. When the body has the right levels of
sugar or glucose in the blood, the person is energetic, has a good memory, is
relaxed and even-tempered. In sum, the person feels great.
On the other hand, when the sugar level in the blood it too low, (we all get
low blood sugar from time to time, when we skip a meal or work extra hard)
the cells, deprived of their fuel, start sending signals: the person feels
tired for no reason, restless, it has trouble remembering things and
concentrating and more edgy than normal, etc. All these symptoms of a low
blood sugar level are what we know as hypoglycemia.
The levels of sugar in the blood change depending on the activity. For
example when you eat, it goes up. When you excercise, it goes down.
Now, people with normal chemestries can eat sweet foods for example, without
experiencing drastic changes in the blood sugar level. When a person with
hypoglycemia eats something sweet, instead of feeling the uplifting pleasant
charge of energy that a little increase in blood sugar level should produce,
he/she has all the negative, unpleasant feelings caused by a sharp decrease
in blood sugar.
(It is important to note also that when the body runs out of food for energy,
there is an amount of sugar stored in the liver.)
For the average person the best source of sugar is carbohydrates, because
they require the least amount of work to be converted into glucose.
Carbohydrates can be simple (sugar, sodas, white flour, beer) or complex
(whole grains, potaotes, etc.)
To get the perfect level of glucose, the body first gets it from the blood
and it does this by releasing from the pancreas a hormone called insulin,
which “tells’ the cells to open up and “eat” the sugar from the blood and
pull it into themselves, where it can be burned for fuel.
When the level of sugar in your body goes up, the body releases more insulin,
getting more sugar into the cells.
If the level of sugar drops, the body then gets the glucose from the sugar
stored in the liver. Once this stored sugar is used up then it gives you
the signals that it needs more. It tells you to eat!
This is what usually happens to most people. But when you are sugar
sensitive, the reaction is different. When you eat sugar, the body
exagerates the release of insuline and the cells get too much glucose from
the blood. Since the cells “ate” too much sugar, the level of sugar in the
blood it too low and negative symptoms appear.
So, when you eat sweets (if you are hypoglycemic), the blood sugar rises more
quickly and at higher levels than other people’s, causing your body to
release more insulin than needed. As as result of sharp insuline raise you
experience a deep drop in your blood sugar level. Then, to fix this you
could eat a piece of candy, or cake for example and sugar is absorbed so
quickly into the blood that the pacreas over-reacts to balance the glucose
level. This causes again a drop in blood sugar, which could result in mood
swings with depression or anger.
I use a small book called The Glucose Revolution . I think there are several
of these pocket books (the one I have is Sugar and Energy). It has the
Glycemic Index Table. Carbohydrates that turn into sugar quickly during
digestion have the Highest GI values. That is why you have to choose
carbohydrates with LOW GI so your blood sugar doesn’t raise sharply but in a
slow curve.
I hope this was of some help. You can also go to www.askjeeves.com and
enter your quetion and it will give you a lot more information. Good luck!
Teresa
November 25th, 2003 at 6:18 pm
Two comments… 1. all food not just carbohydrates are converted (or partially
converted) to glucose. And 2. not all hypoglycemics become hyperglycemics
(diabetic).
Crystal.
November 26th, 2003 at 9:40 am
Dear Sherry:
If you want to take somebody’s advice, specially if you have a health
condition, you must understand it thoroughly. I gave the name of the book
where the Circadian Diet is (The Circadian Prescription by Sidney MacDonald
Baker MD). For breakfast you were eating way too many carbohydrates when you
ate millet and apples. You had to ingest proteins instead. For snaks: more
proteins: almonds for example…
I can’t agree with you more on the fact that each individual is different.
Something that works for one human being can have very bad reactions in
another one. We have to take into account our cultural backgrounds, our
inheritance, the environment, the levels of stress, our vitamin deficiencies
and the parasite issue to name just a few.
About treatments, there are so many schools of thought hard to enumerate. As
for myself, I lean towards non invasive therapies, natural remedies, oriental
and ayurvedic medicine; I found homeopathy, acupuncture, reiki, reflexology,
massage, aromatherapy, etc., of great help to prevent and treat disease. I
have great respect for western medicine and the amazing advances in many
different fields but in the field of preventing maladies I think they are way
behind other ancient medicines.
Dr. Andrew Weil, MD says in his book Natural Health, Natural Medicine on page
303:
“Health practitioners who like to diagnose hypoglycemia usually recommend
dietary changes that are quite unhealthy: minimizing consumption of
carbohydrate and eating mostly protein, for example. They also urge people
to take all sorts of vitamins and supplements that are unlikely to be of any
value.
If you think you have unstable blood sugar, follow the recommendations I have
given you about diet (Chapters 1 and 2), exercise (Chapter 5), and relaxation
(Chapter 6).”
Paavo Airola PhD in his book How to Get well says on page 112:
“The commonly recommended diet for hypoglycemia - high animal protein - is
not advisable for this condition. Although it may help in controlling the
condition, it is so harmful in many other aspects that using it would merely
mean replacing one illness with a host of others.”
“Hypoglycemics should eat 6 to 8 small meals a day, instead of only 2 or 3.
In addition to regular breakfast, lunch and dinner, take snacks in between
meals consisting of raw nuts, seeds…Even any of the fresh sweet fruits can
be eaten if you eat only one, and no more, at one time…”
Dr. D. on the other hand says on page 145 of ER4YT:
“My patients with hypoglycemia often ask me if they should follow the
standard advice of eating several small meals a day in order to keep their
blood sugar levels from dropping. I discourage this practice. I find that
the major problem is not when they eat, but what they eat…The problem with
“grazing”…is that interferes with your body’s natural hunger signals…”
A book I find of great help on sugar matters is “Potatoes not Prozac” by
Kathleen DesMaisons, PhD and still another one titled “The Carbohydrate
Addict’s Diet”.
I am glad you have a Glycemic Index Table; that will be of good help to make
your choices.
Have a great day!
Teresa
November 27th, 2003 at 6:52 pm
okay a little clarification Juvenile diabetics (or Type I or IDD Insulin
Dependent Diabetes)
diabetes is from an insufficient production of insulin - Adult on-set or Type II
or NIDD -
Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes can be caused by several factors amoung which is
you
do produce enough insulin however your receptors don’t “uptake” it properly (and
then
you usually have excess insulin floating around) = (this is basically it)
Crystal.
November 28th, 2003 at 7:13 am
Hypoglycemia is a measurable thing you don’t “just make it up” as an “excuse”
for tiredness.
sheesh.
November 28th, 2003 at 3:52 pm
Both my parents suffer from hypoglycemia (one is now diabetic). I have
always assumed I have it since I definately used to have to keep food in my
system or had the typical nasty side effects. Since starting ER4YT I have
found that I haven’t had the need to snack all day and haven’t been having
symptoms. I do much better if I avoid carbs in the a.m.
As for my weight I’ve lost only 3 lbs. but my clothes are fitting much
looser and my wedding ring has been loose. Of course volleyball and agility
have started again so I may have some muscle weight conversion going on.
gin
PS- I tried the good old fashioned Nestle Toll House cookie recipe, subbed
spelt and raw sugar and added extra walnuts and was happy happy happy.
November 30th, 2003 at 12:08 am
Sorry group!
I did not mean to scare you!!! I should have said in some cases.
Teresa
PS.
Thanks Sherry!
November 30th, 2003 at 4:15 am
Hi Sherry!
Yes, I do eat meat but I enjoy mainly white meats and love sea food. I have
some joint trouble, so fish for me is perfect. I check once in a while my pH
also and since it has the tendency to be on the acidic side I try to eat
besides meat and veg. protein, more alkaline foods. I grew up eating a lot
of wheat (my father not only owned a wheat mill but also a French Bread
bakery). In Ecuador our main nuriture is based on corn and potatoes. I
guess the fact that we ate non processed foods (my mother even made gelatin
from bones of beef) lots of cereals (Quinoa comes from Ecuador) and herbs and
natural remedies only, balances the fact that we ate the wrong blood type
foods.
Bye for now and have a wonderful evening!
Teresa
December 1st, 2003 at 9:12 pm
partially
become hyperglycemics (diabetic).
Thanks for that Crystal.
I was beginning to worry about becoming diabetic there. I think I’ll head
for the doctors none the less and have this monitored a bit closer.
Love and light
Colin