Many hormones, glands and organs work together to keep blood sugar levels steady. Certain factors, like exercise, can affect this delicate balance. Low blood sugar, termed hypoglycemia, is typically associated with diabetes, but it can affect anyone.
Cause
Your muscles store a form of glucose known as glycogen. During physical activity, your muscles draw on these stores for energy. When you stop exercising, your body sends glucose from your bloodstream into the muscles to replenish their supply. This lowers blood sugar levels. The more intense the exercise, the longer blood sugar levels become affected.
Pre-Exercise Meal
The physician-created U.K.-based website NetDoctor recommends eating starchy carbohydrates before an exercise session to provide your body with a large amount of carbohydrates to fuel your exercise session. Good choices include rice, bread, pasta and potatoes.
Post-Exercise
After you exercise, you can give your blood sugar a quick boost by consuming foods and beverages that your body will rapidly break down and convert to sugar such as a sugar-rich beverage or snack. The University of Maryland Medical Center explains that a quick snack like this can stabilize your blood sugar in a matter of minutes.
Considerations
While exercise will typically lower blood sugar in all individuals, NetDoctor explains that otherwise healthy individuals typically should not suffer hypoglycemic episodes in which more severe symptoms manifest. If you frequently experience dizziness, perspiration, fatigue, confusion or other symptoms of this condition after exercising, you should see a doctor to determine whether you have an underlying condition contributing to low blood sugar. Possible non-diabetic conditions linked to hypoglycemia include but are not limited to problems with the liver or adrenal glands, overproduction of insulin in the pancreas, a tumor and malnutrition.
