Hypoglycemia Diet

If you believe you are suffering from reactive hypoglycemia or low blood sugar problems, you need to change a few of your daily habits. Following a specific hypoglycemia diet is the most important one.

Basically you should be eating up to 5-6 small meals throughout the day, and each meal should not be spaced more than 3 hours apart. This ensures that your sugar levels remain stable and do not fall drastically.

Diets that avoid foods with lots of sugar in it is also a must, this prevents the sugar in your body from going too high or too low, and causing a lot of spikes. Some foods which are most avoidable are ice creams, candies and sweets. Avoiding any form of breads and soups is also a good idea as they too contain high quantities of sugar in them.

An instant way of returning your sugar level back to normal is by using a specific hypoglycemic diet that can include the following food types. Carbohydrates are known to raise your sugar levels to normal within a few minutes of taking them and a small amount of carbs (10-20gm) can do this instantly. A number of dietary food sources contain this amount of carbohydrates, they are apples, oranges, grape juice, regular non-diet soda, bread, crackers and almost all kinds of starchy foods.

Starch in your diet has been know to convert instantly to glucose in your blood, so take this as much as you can. Also use starch and carbs alone, without taking any fats or proteins, as they hamper digestion. The time taken to get your glucose levels back to normal should be very quick-5 to 15 minutes maximum, but do not overeat as they will have a reverse effect on your hypoglycemia. Use small portions about the size of your palm for maximum effectiveness.

If the person is unconscious or is having seizures and cannot be given anything to eat, then glucose can be fed intravenously or through a injection of glucagon. Normally this should be done only when the person is suffering from an extreme form of reactive hypoglycemia.

Another situation where providing starch can prove to be ineffective, is when the person is taking acrabose. A person using medications like acarbose and alpha-glucosidase inhibitors have difficulty in breaking down starch in there body, and it usually gets absorbed without any effect. Such people should use an alternative hypoglycemia diet comprising of honey, juices or tablets of glucose to help them return to normal.

Quick Tip #1

Treatment of hypoglycemia is an ongoing process, remember to have a good diet with evenly spaced out meals every 2-3 hours apart. Also exercising can really help in keeping this condition under check.

Quick Tip #2

A lot of symptoms of low blood sugar have common signs very similar to other diseases. If you exeperience any of the hypoglycemia symptoms, do consult your doctor for treatment and if diagnosed properly, they will recommend a diet plan and possibly a dietician to help control your condition.

Emergency Foods:

Cup of Fat Free Milk

Tablespoon of honey or corn syrup

Fruit juice or Regular soda

2 tablespoons of jam and raisins,

7 small gumdrops

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