An abnormally low level of sugar or glucose in the blood is called hypoglycemia. It often occurs as a side effect of treatments for diabetes mellitus. As explained by the National Institutes of Health, taking too much insulin or other diabetes medication may cause hypoglycemia. Symptoms include rapid heartbeat, dizziness and anxiety. A patient who feels such symptoms should check his blood sugar, then try to take in about 15g sugar through food, drink or sugar tablets. Fat-containing foods should be avoided because these take longer to raise the blood sugar level.
Glucose Tablets
As their name suggests, glucose tablets contain the sugar glucose. According to the American Diabetes Association, each tablet contains about 4g or 5g sugar. Health care providers often recommend that their patients with diabetes carry glucose tablets in convenient places such as a purse, the car and at work. By taking the recommended serving size of three or four tablets, patients often find that upon re-checking their blood sugar 20 minutes later, their sugar level is back to normal levels. A person with hypoglycemia should take only three or four tablets and then wait a few minutes for the glucose to work. If, upon re-checking, sugar levels are still below 70mg/dL, he can take another serving of three or four tablets. This approach to raising a low blood sugar can help prevent the opposite effect -- abnormally high blood sugar, called hyperglycemia.
Fruit Juice or Soda
If glucose tablets aren't an option, another way to quickly raise blood sugar levels is to drink half a cup -- 4 oz. -- of fruit juice such as orange juice. This amount has about 15g sugar and doesn't contain fat. This is an important consideration when selecting a way to increase one's blood sugar because foods or drinks that contain fat don't work as well to quickly return blood sugar levels to a normal range. For patients who don't like fruit juice or who find it inconvenient to carry juice boxes with them, 4 oz. of a regular, non-diet soda can be effective..Diet soda cannot be used to raise blood sugar because it doesn't contain sugar, only artificial sweeteners that don't work in cases of hypoglycemia. As in the case of glucose tablets, patients should re-check their blood sugar 15 to 20 minutes after drinking juice or soda. Drinking too much of it can result in hyperglycemia.
Honey
Honey is an excellent source of pure sugar. As described by the National Honey Board, 1 tbsp. of any kind of honey -- clover, orange blossom or other kinds of plants or flowers -- contains 17g carbohydrates, 16 of which are sugar. So for a patient who wants to just take one gulp and get all the sugar he needs to elevate his low sugar, taking one tablespoon of honey may be a faster or easier option than sipping at half a cup of juice or soda. The disadvantage of honey as blood sugar-raising option is that it is not as readily available as soda, and is harder to carry around than a bottle of glucose tablets or a juice box. However, for people who are at home and experiencing a sugar low, this may be an easy and very palatable way to quickly raise abnormally low blood sugar.
