If you have hypoglycemia, you're familiar with the feeling that means your blood sugar has fallen too low: sudden extreme hunger followed by anxiety and the jitters. . If you go much longer without eating, you'll probably have difficulty concentrating and you may even feel dizzy and faint. A quick snack containing sugar brings you out of it almost immediately, but that starts the cycle over again, leading to renewed symptoms in a few hours. In order to control hypoglycemia so you don't experience symptoms, you need to follow a recommended hypoglycemia diet plan.
Reactive Hypoglycemia vs. Diabetes
Technically, hypoglycemia means "low blood sugar." People with diabetes experience hypoglycemia if they fail to eat regularly or if they take too much medication relative to the food they've eaten. However, people without diabetes experience a type of hypoglycemia called "reactive hypoglycemia," which means your body reacts with hypoglycemia symptoms when your blood sugar falls too low. According to the University of Kansas, between 20 and 30 percent of young women suffer from at least occasional hypoglycemia.
Control Strategies
You may be able to control mild reactive hypoglycemia by eating smaller meals more frequently. If you eat a meal or a snack every couple of hours, you should be able to ward off extreme fluctuations in your blood sugar level. Choose meals and snacks that combine complex carbohydrates and protein, such as some whole-wheat crackers with cheese or nut butter, or a tuna fish sandwich on whole grain bread. Your body digests complex carbohydrates more slowly than it does simple sugars and flour products, and the protein helps slow digestion even more, preventing your blood sugar from rising too quickly and falling too fast.
Glycemic Index
If you find you can't control reactive hypoglycemia through simple measures such as more frequent meals, consider trying a diet based on the glycemic index, according to the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University. Your body digests simple sugars the fastest, and the glycemic index rates foods according to how quickly your body digests them.
Low-Carb Diet
Although there's little research on how low-carb diets influence reactive hypoglycemia, it's possible that following a low-carb diet helps stabilize blood sugar levels and control hypoglycemia. Include healthy carbs, such as whole grains, since they provide needed fiber along with essential vitamins and minerals. Ultimately, you may need to experiment with different hypoglycemia diet approaches -- perhaps combining elements of each -- in order to control your hypoglycemia through diet.
References
- University of Kansas: Hypoglycemia
- Oregon State University Linus Pauling Institute; Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load; Jane Higdon, Ph.D.; April 3, 2010
- NetWellness.com; Ask an Expert - Reactive Hypoglycemia; Jane Korsberg, M.S., R.D.; Nov. 18, 1998
- Harvard School of Public Health: Carbohydrates - Good Carbs Guide the Way
