Hypoglycemia - Need Fresh Advice

[CarlaB]

Peanuttbutter I like.. but UGH rice cakes? I swear even paper have better flavor!

Then eat some peanut butter and some paper for breakfast!!

[VydorScope]

Not processed! Processed foods are just that much worse for blood sugar issues. Brown rice, beans, wild rice, quinoa... I know you can get all of those at Wild Oats.

heh, sure, and the 40 min drive one way to Wild Oats is somthing I cna do every day.. epsly with $3/gallon gas... Great fun that is!!!

Okay, seriuosly... I can not afford that. Unless you get the word out and ALOT of ppl start buying my books, and I mean ALOT.

[Sweetfudge]

What about putting in an online order?

[penguin]

OK, fruit is NOT the enemy.

You've been avoiding fruit?!!? Bad Vincent! There are some fruits that you might want to limit for their high sugar, like grapes, but fruits like oranges, apples, bananas, mangos, pineapple... Those are all quite good for you, and it's really the refined crap sugar you want to avoid. Fruit has vitamins, and fiber...they're good snacks, even for hypoglycemics. Apples and oranges, especially, because of the higher fiber content.

As long as your fruits aren't injected with high fructose corn syrup, I think you're ok

[Nancym]

You need fat, protein and fewer carbs, especially refined carbs. Everyone in my family gets low blood sugar if we eat a lot of starchy/sugary stuff. I've found a breakfast of eggs or meat will keep me going for 3-4 hours or more. If I'm going to have something starchy (which I'm trying not to because of other issues, including weight) then I'll have it with a good serving of protein. If you eat starchy/sugary carbs it makes your blood sugar rise quickly, which causes a big insulin release (that shuttles all that extra glucose off into your fat cells) but then your blood sugar falls swiftly which causes all those nasty low blood sugar symptoms and makes you hungry, so you restart the cycle all over again.

Your body is perfectly capable of creating all the glucose it needs from protein.

I follow a diet that is close to paleo with a big focus on protein and veggies. I try not to eat fruit or veggies that are too starchy. I avoid sugar except for very rare splurges. My blood sugar is rock solid.

[VydorScope]

OK, fruit is NOT the enemy.

You've been avoiding fruit?!!? Bad Vincent! There are some fruits that you might want to limit for their high sugar, like grapes, but fruits like oranges, apples, bananas, mangos, pineapple... Those are all quite good for you, and it's really the refined crap sugar you want to avoid. Fruit has vitamins, and fiber...they're good snacks, even for hypoglycemics. Apples and oranges, especially, because of the higher fiber content.

As long as your fruits aren't injected with high fructose corn syrup, I think you're ok

And I gess that includes Juciey Juice?

NancyM, thanks for your comment, but no my body is NOT cable of such. I am hypoglycemic, I HAVE to have carbs. I have tried it your way, and I will NOT do that again. That is dangerous for a hypoglycemic.

[CarlaB]

With juice you're missing the fiber ... and the sugar is more concentrated.

[tarnalberry]

NancyM, thanks for your comment, but no my body is NOT cable of such. I am hypoglycemic, I HAVE to have carbs. I have tried it your way, and I will NOT do that again. That is dangerous for a hypoglycemic.

My experience has been much the same. I tried doing four eggs for breakfast once. Nuh-uh. Throw in a 12oz glass of orange juice, and it's ok, but serve it with a bowl of brown rice instead , and now you're talking about something that'll see me through four or five hours. (Mmmm... add a little Bragg's Amino Acid for flavor... Yum!)

[cornbread]

I have spent the last few months getting to grips with hypoglycemia (am also gluten/casein/soy intolerant, so I know how hard this can be on top of everything else!) I've read a LOT of books and done a LOT of research. The end result is I now have an eating plan that has removed all of my symptoms. If you want to feel better, please read on.

To start with, I have to agree with Nancy - treating hypoglycemia, much like diabetes, requires eating fewer overall carbs,in particular, restricting your friends starch, sugar and grains. Your carbs should come mainly from non-starchy vegetables. Low GI fruit (berries, kiwis, etc.) should be ok too in moderation, but you may have better results cutting them out also for a week until your levels have stabalised. If you don't want to, at least try and consume them with a protein/fat source (ie: 1 T almond butter to 1 oz berries) to lessen the impact they have.

We're not talking zero carb, and maybe not even counting carbs - simply making better carb choices (ie: replacing most starches and grains with vegetables) will automatically lower your over all carbs and restrict the amount of sugar in your blood stream. And if there's less sugar there, there's less need for your body to over-react to it and lower your blood sugar.

Your comment on having to have carbs terrified me. First of all, it's a fact that human beings need protein, they need fat, but they do not need any carbs. Zero. Nada. Carbs are an easy, fast source of fuel precisely because the body sees them as sugar. Even complex carbs are sugar, they're just sugars that break down more slowly. Giving a hypoglycemic sugar (of any kind - a sugar cube, a banana or a bowl of rice) just perpetuates the problem. The sugar raises your blood glucose (giving temporary relief from hypoglycemia), but that signals your body to pump out insulin to bring it back down and, as a hypoglycemic, the issue is that your body over-corrects - pumps out too much insulin. So eating sugar just leads to another low blood sugar episode. And each time you do this you are stressing your body and are one step close to becoming totally insulin resistant. Next stop, Type 2 Diabetes. No thank you.

However, if you eat those sugars properly combined with protein or fat you lower the glycemic load of that meal, which lessens the insulin response, and keeps the blood sugar more stable. The stabler you keep it, the better you feel. So it makes sense that getting your carbs from non-starchy veggies, nuts, etc. is a more sensible plan.

It's also VERY important to eat every 2-3 hours. This keeps a steady stream of fuel and keeps you in your healthy blood sugar range. It's better to have 6 small meals/snacks throughout the day than 3 bigger ones. I haven't just read this as a theory, I am living it right now, and eating this way has stopped all of my hypoglycemic symptoms. If I miss a snack or eat too many carbs in one go, they return.

Ok, but what to eat?

Usually I have a 2-egg omelette (with spinach, tomato, red pepper, onion) for breakfast, with a few slices of bacon. Green tea. Coffee is a no-no for those with blood sugar issues - it spikes the blood sugar (adrenalin). Sure green tea has a little caffeine, but not enough to affect blood sugar for me.

If I don't have time to cook bacon or make an omelette/scramble some eggs, I throw a couple of turkey breakfast patties on the grill (or sausages, whatever your quick breakfast protein of choice is) and chop an avocado in half - I just eat it with a spoon, scooping straight from the skin. Very satiating and excellent source of good fats.

For my snacks I either have some berries with almond butter or nuts, maybe some sliced turkey or some canned tuna. Sometimes a hard-boiled egg. Jerky! If I'm travelling I take a bag of baby spinach, a pack of baby tomatoes and cans of tuna in olive oil. It makes a really delicious, quick, nutritious, balanced and blood sugar friendly meal.

Dinner is usually a portion of meat or fish with non-starchy veggies or a salad. Remember I'm talking 5 or 6 meals a day, so it's breakfast [2 hrs] snack [2 hrs] lunch [2 hrs] snack [2 hrs] snack [2 hrs] dinner [2 hrs] snack... Make sure you have a small protein snack right before bedtime too. Most of us find a lower carb breakfast is best, and then spread your carbs evenly throughout the day (limit for pre-bed snack).

Eating this way gives me stable blood sugar levels throughout the day and night.

To start with, just try making the smart carb choices and remember your body sees all carbs as sugar, and your body sees all sugar as something it needs to counteract with insulin - in your case as a hypoglycemic, too much insulin, which gives you low blood sugar.

Hope that helped!

[VydorScope]

Your comment on having to have carbs terrified me. First of all, it's a fact that human beings need protein, they need fat, but they do not need any carbs. Zero. Nada....

Cornbread,

As I siad before, I tried that route, and crashed VERY HARD. My wife wanted to call 911, but I refused. Took me a couple days to recover. It was VERY bad. There is with out question a min level of carbs I must mantian. I have not found any exact number yet, but its there.

Carbs are an easy, fast source of fuel precisely because the body sees them as sugar. Even complex carbs are sugar, they're just sugars that break down more slowly.

Minor correction, they are not seen as sugar the ARE sugar. Picky I know.

[VydorScope]

To start with, I have to agree with Nancy - treating hypoglycemia, much like diabetes,

My niegbhor is diabetic, controled with shots and oarl meds and she HAS TO have carbs to.

I do know there is more then one kind of hypogyclemia, so preahps you and Nancy are thinking of somthing else.

Eating even couple hours I agree with, and so does eveyone. Making good food choices of course. Dramiticly lowering my carbs? No, but your problably assuming I am eating 400-600 cabs a day like a normal American, I am well below that, with almost all of them in the AM. I 9have not couned but I would say I am in the 80 ball park.

I had pengiun PM me her daily menu and I am working on adapting that to try. But I did not buy ovaltine... could not find one that was lower sugar.

[cornbread]

I think Nancy and I are talking about reactive hypoglycemia. But what I'm saying holds true for all blood sugar disturbances, whether you're too high or too low, or all over the map, the solution is to stablise your levels, and the best way to do that is to remove all forms of sugar, and anything that has a big effect on your blood sugar levels (ie: caffeine, smoking, food intolerances, medications).

Like I said, it's the TYPE of carbs you're consuming that you need to look at, not the total number particularly. You could eat 100g carbs a day of non-starchy vegetables and still have stable blood sugar. Or you could eat a 10g carb rice cake and have a hypoglycemic episode. A 'low-carb diet' in this context is about eating only low-carb foods, not necessarily obsessing over a low carb gram count at the end of each day. Do you see the difference? (The easiest and healthiest way to achieve this is to follow a Paleolithic style diet).

Eliminate grains and sugar and yes of course you will feel rotten initially, if you've been used to eating them (however few). Your body will throw a tantrum - sugar is the easiest fuel to utilise (after alcohol). But just try and ride it out for a few days. I dare you! Take your blood glucose levels too, so even if you don't feel like it's working you will see that it is.

Clearly eating the way you are isn't working for you, so why not try another way? I mean really try it, ride out past the sugar jones of 'it's not working!' and come out the other side, running on the fuel your body was designed to use (protein and fat), with incredible energy and blood sugar stable as a rock. If hypoglycemia is already making you feel bad, what have you got to lose except your pride?

If you need to hear it from more official sources, just google 'treating hypoglycemia low carb' and get your reading head on...

[VydorScope]

(NOTE: caps for empahsis only not shouting)

Take your blood glucose levels too, so even if you don't feel like it's working you will see that it is.

I did, and do. And the numbers back me up, completely. One of my degrees is in statistics, I understand testing methodogly far better then most. If I do not get ENOUGH carbs, I crash, black out, puke, migranes, and other fun things, and the score on the gulcose meter confirms it, with glucose levels well below safe limits.

and the best way to do that is to remove all forms of sugar,

Again, zero carb is VERY BAD for hypoglycemics and diebetics. Such advice will put hypo's and diabetics in the hosiptal or worse. We are not talking about "feeling" bad, its far more serious then that.

. A 'low-carb diet' in this context is about eating only low-carb foods, not necessarily obsessing over a low carb gram count at the end of each day. Do you see the difference?

Yes, I do, but I do not think YOU do. Zero carb and low carb are not the same. Zero carb is bad, CONTROLED carbs is the way you treat BOTH diabeties and hypoglycemia. Better scores on the GI index are definitly right, and eating with protien it right, but removing all carbs is extremly bad.

Eliminate grains and sugar and yes of course you will feel rotten initially

Agian you jump back to zero carb. Zero carb is not an option. I feel very sorry for anyone that reads this thread and tries what you state, it could be a huge disaster for them.

Humans are biologiclay engineered as omivors, not carnavors. While there are plenty of things we eat today that are not good or natural for us, we as humans DO need some carbs, just a heck of a lot less then the typical Amercian diet for sure. Prbly 70-80% less.

treating hypoglycemia low carb

Agian LOW CARB and ZERO CARB are not the same. "Low Carb" is typicaly 50-100 carbs (lower for older woman, higher for younger men). THat number is very person dependent of course, but most of the poeple I know of fall in that range.

Reactive Hypoglycemia is what I am offical DX'd with, and some ppl react differently to diferent foods (for example Tanarlberry does well with plant based protein, but Penguin does not).

I get the impression we are having a complete lack of connection or understanding between us. From my point of view you keep interchanging ZERO CARB and LOW CARB when they can not be interchanged and trying to makes your post make no sense. Even the "Paleolithic " has carbs in it, yet you site it as an example. Odviously somthing your saying is getting lost in transaltion to the web forums.

[Looking for answers]

Hi,

I suggest reading the book "Diet Cure" by Julia Ross (I think). This book changed my life. Best of luck!

[Ann1231]

This is a topic near and ..not so dear.. to my heart. My son went into convulsions when he was 7 after eating a school lunch of high carbs. He spent a couple days in the hospital. That was 9 years ago. He recently saw the dietitian after another horrible blood sugar crash (big growth spurt combined with too many carbs for a couple of days). I also was diagnosed in 1997 with hypoglycemia. The dietitian and dr. said paleo is very good for us. My Mom and Grandmother are/were diabetic and they were both told to eat more paleo like. It helped my Grandmother tremendously, my Mom doesn't really follow it too well and so has problems and lots of meds for her diabetes. Son is allowed 2 - 3 carb servings per meal, that includes the vegetables and fruits. He is 6'6" and 210. I am allowed 1 - 2 carbs per meal, again, including fruits and vegetables. I am 5'4". After my diagnosis, we were able to look back even into my jr. high years and see symptoms that were low blood sugar, it was diagnosed once but we weren't told to do anything and we didn't have access to info like now. Son and I are really careful with our diet now and we're doing very well.

[penguin]

Reactive hypoglycemia does NOT do well on no carb. I've been a reactive hypoglycemic for about 10 years now, and sorry, that doesn't work. Aside from being absolute hell on your kidneys, the body needs both protein and carbs. Hypoglycemics just need to be careful about the TYPES of carbs they consume. An omlette and a bag of skittles is a bad choice, but an omlette and a piece of higher fiber fruit like oranges or apples are a good choice. They also need to eat smaller meals more often.

[VydorScope]

Reactive hypoglycemia does NOT do well on no carb. I've been a reactive hypoglycemic for about 10 years now, and sorry, that doesn't work. Aside from being absolute hell on your kidneys, the body needs both protein and carbs. Hypoglycemics just need to be careful about the TYPES of carbs they consume. An omlette and a bag of skittles is a bad choice, but an omlette and a piece of higher fiber fruit like oranges or apples are a good choice. They also need to eat smaller meals more often.

Exactly. (Although skittles ARE tasty!)

[Ann1231]

unless you eat meat and cheese exlusively, there's no way to eat "no carb". Every fruit, every vegetable has carbs. I don't know of anyone who would recommend or eat a meat and cheese only diet.

[bluejeangirl]

Breakfast (between 4 and 5am usally) - Vans+Maple Syrup, my morning decaf coffee (add cininamon to grounds maybe?), umm needd a protien... um bunless cheese burger I guess. Or could use the waffles as the bun...

2nd Breakfast (around 8-30am usally)- Umm Banana? they travel well at least, maybe some dry cearal?? Maybe some string cheese? Or maybe a peanut/rasin mix?

Lunch (around 11 usally) Some oscar mayer lunchmeat , Lite Yoplait Yogurt, and a jucicy juice box for lucnh?

2nd lucnch (around 1-130) Umm String Cheese?

I get home around 2-230... and usally if Im not in control by them I am messed up for the day pretty much no matter what.

[VydorScope]

Gail,

Thank you for your reply, and I will have to read it closer but I have a few commnets...

Danon yogurt is not gluten free so I will not bring it in my house.

Oats are too shaky of an area for me to risk my house to at this stage.

Eggs, since my son is allergic we tend to not have around, but I do not panic about them like gluten I love cadanon bacon (or at least what we Americans calim is candain bacon, I been told by Candians that its not at all Candian... heheh)

Peanutbutter and apples is good and I have that some times.

NOt seen rice crackers at my store to try

What do you do to the chicken to eat it after its frozen? Nuke? Fry? blend with applesauce?

Skim milk ? LOL Only whole milk here Yes dairy truned otutoe be a falselead. PRAISE THE LORD!!!! (Cant live with out Ice Cream!)

The Yoplait is 19g total carbs, no where near as bad as most brands.

Olive oil is darn expensive by me, so would be very tough to use that regularly But I do like it

As for cheese yes... just on a string cheese kick right now for now good reason

As for simple vs complex ... yea.. I am still pulling a big fat ZERO on that one. I have a bit of a rough time detriming them....choosing the right carbs I thnk is my big stumnbling block.

Im not a picky eater, I just get in a rut....

I think I hit all the highlights, I realy apreaciate your post!!

[CarlaB]

Here is a very simple chicken recipe that my mom has made for years. She takes a piece of foil for each person, she places on it a piece of bone-in, skin-on (cheaper than boneless skinless) chicken for each person. You may use any cut you like and as many pieces as that person would like. Then she adds carrots and potatoes. A little salt, pepper and basil. Drizzle with olive oil. Back at 350 for about one hour - 1 hour 15 minutes (I have to cook longer since I have 8 people in our household!). It takes little time to prepare and is very tasty.

You can vary this as you like with more veggies, different meat, etc.

[cornbread]

I get the impression we are having a complete lack of connection or understanding between us. From my point of view you keep interchanging ZERO CARB and LOW CARB when they can not be interchanged and trying to makes your post make no sense. Even the "Paleolithic " has carbs in it, yet you site it as an example. Odviously somthing your saying is getting lost in transaltion to the web forums.

Hi Vydor,

I think perhaps the lengths of my posts meant you didn't read them properly (not an attack just a theory - I know I typed a lot...) I just wanted to give a very thorough and articulate reply because you sounded like you needed some advice, and I like to explain WHY stuff works, not just give people rules to follow. Also, had I found such a detailed post on this stuff when I was first struggling with hypoglycemia I would have been delighted, so I wanted to make sure the next person who is looking has as much info as possible on this particular approach.

Anyway, if you have 5 mins, please re-read my original post. I am DEFINITELY not recommending a zero carb diet (third paragraph of first reply: "We're not talking zero carb..."). I eat vegetables, nuts and berries and have never advised anyone against doing so. What I actually said was we do not NEED any carbs to live; we can actually survive on zero. That is a fact, and one I only mentioned in direct response to you saying "I HAVE to have carbs", because that rang alarm bells for me, and because I take every opportunity to debunk that myth.

Of COURSE it's advisable to eat sources of food (veggies, nuts, fruit) that happen to contain some carbs - I never said otherwise - but the fact is humans CAN survive without them, unlike protein and fat. I know that once I was aware of this fact it was a lot easier to make smart food choices and no longer be afraid of fats or convinced for some reason I should have x grams of carbs per day for 'energy'.

Ok, glad that's cleared up. I genuinely wish you good luck with whatever route you take. Hypoglycemia is hell, and I posted to help, not fight (quite obviously - what a long-winded way it would've been to start a fight! )

[VydorScope]

Hi Vydor,

I think perhaps the lengths of my posts meant you didn't read them properly (not an attack just a theory - I know I typed a lot...) I just wanted to give a very thorough and articulate reply because you sounded like you needed some advice, and I like to explain WHY stuff works, not just give people rules to follow. Also, had I found such a detailed post on this stuff when I was first struggling with hypoglycemia I would have been delighted, so I wanted to make sure the next person who is looking has as much info as possible on this particular approach.

Anyway, if you have 5 mins, please re-read my original post. I am DEFINITELY not recommending a zero carb diet (third paragraph of first reply: "We're not talking zero carb..."). I eat vegetables, nuts and berries and have never advised anyone against doing so. What I actually said was we do not NEED any carbs to live; we can actually survive on zero. That is a fact, and one I only mentioned in direct response to you saying "I HAVE to have carbs", because that rang alarm bells for me, and because I take every opportunity to debunk that myth.

Of COURSE it's advisable to eat sources of food (veggies, nuts, fruit) that happen to contain some carbs - I never said otherwise - but the fact is humans CAN survive without them, unlike protein and fat. I know that once I was aware of this fact it was a lot easier to make smart food choices and no longer be afraid of fats or convinced for some reason I should have x grams of carbs per day for 'energy'.

Ok, glad that's cleared up. I genuinely wish you good luck with whatever route you take. Hypoglycemia is hell, and I posted to help, not fight (quite obviously - what a long-winded way it would've been to start a fight! )

Corn,

I never though you were tyring to start a fight, if I did I would simply not reply. I do not waste my time with the kind of person that posts only to fight.

I did read every word in every post you made, but the advice you gave sounded contradicotry to other things you said, hence my attempts to get better understanding.