Hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia is a medical condition occurring in people with Type 1 diabetes who have administered too much insulin. The situation is generally corrected by eating food in the form of simple sugars to correct the glucose level in the body.

More commonly occurring in the general population is Reactive Hypoglycemia. You may regularly experience any or all of the following:

" feel shaky, fatigued or drowsy
" have problems with memory or concentration
" suffer with mood swings
" irritability after a few hours without food
" have cold sweats
" suffer with the '3pm crash'
" experience sugar cravings
" weight gain, or inability to lose weight
" always hungry

Blood sugar cycle

In normal circumstances your blood should contain about two teaspoons of glucose. After a period of time without eating this level will dip and you will become hungry; upon eating carbohydrates, the bodys main source of fuel, this level will rise. The pancreas then releases insulin in order to 'mop up' the excess sugar, thereby returning the blood glucose level to normal. Some glucose will be used for the bodys energy needs. Any excess glucose is taken to the liver where it is converted into glucogen and stored as fat.

That's how it's meant to work anyway. In reality, in this age of processed foods and high sugar snacks we often spend a lot of time eating foods that contain a high level of refined carbohydrates. These foods release their glucose very quickly into the blood stream causing a huge leap in blood glucose levels. The pancreas then produces a massive amount of insulin to try and deal with the onslaught, the end result of this is that the supply of insulin is greater than the sugar needing to be removed, causing a crash in your blood sugar levels, which makes you feel hungry (see symptoms list above), and off you go again. This crash, and its resulting symptoms are what is referred to as reactive hypoglycaemia or a blood sugar imbalance. It is easy to get caught into a high-low cycle as you lurch from one snack to another.

Insulin resistance

Insulin resistance is a state of pre-diabetes. It is the extreme of the high-low blood sugar cycle described above. Over a long period of time your cells eventually become resistant to the effects of the insulin and they are unable to use it effectively, leading to constantly high levels of blood sugar. It can often be accompanied by a feeling of unquenchable thirst as the body tries to use water to dilute the concentration of sugar in the blood. Insulin resistance and elevated blood sugar levels can lead to many serious health issues, such as diabetes, nerve damage, kidney & liver damage, eyesight deterioration and obesity, which in turn causes its own set of problems.

The glycemic factor

The glycemic index was developed in 1981 by David Jenkins to demonstrate the rise of blood sugar after eating a particular carbohydrate. It compares all foods against the effects of pure glucose with a rating of 100 down to 0. The index then classifies foods in 3 groups; high, medium and low. Essentially if you stick to low GI foods they will have less of a dramatic effect on your blood sugar levels, thereby producing less insulin and avoiding that post snack crash.

Examples of foods rated under the GI system:

HIGH MEDIUM LOW
White bread 96 Wholewheat pittas 58 All bran 42
Rice Crispies 90 Shredded wheat 69 Yogurt (with sugar) 33
Watermelon 72 Low fat ice cream 50 Apple 35
Soft drinks 70 Mango 55 Kidney beans 27
Canned baked beans68 New potatoes 62 Soya beans 18

Fats, proteins and fibre count as zero on the GI scale as they have a negligible effect on blood sugar. Combining a high GI food with a low GI food has the net result of a medium GI food. This is why introducing an element of protein into your snacks and meals can help to balance your blood sugar.

Generally low GI foods are complex carbohydrates and wholefoods, so as well as achieving a balanced blood sugar you also increasing your intake of beneficial nutrients and fibre.

Interestingly, on a scale that goes up to 100, there are several ingredients used by food manufacturers now, that are actually rated at over 100, such as maltose at 105, often found in high amounts in soft drinks and processed meals/snacks. These are compounds isolated from nature to make sweet things even sweeter. Your body has not evolved to be able to cope with these so teaming them with fats, proteins, or any other low GI food is not going to help, and it really is best to leave them well alone.

Walk it off

As well as all the other benefits of exercise, it also assists in the uptake of glucose into muscles. The more glucose used up, the less there is to be stored as fat.

Load it up

The next step from the glycemic index is the glycemic load of foods. Glycemic load takes into account the amount of food you eat as well as its index number. After all, apples are fairly low at 35, but this doesn't mean you can feast on them; eat enough of them in one go and it's still going to cause a surge in blood sugar.

Glycemic load rates food according to the effect on blood sugar of a normal portion. Watermelon is high on the GI scale at 72, however watermelon is not an entirely carbohydrate food, it is mainly made of water. Only 6 out of every 120g is actually carbohydrate. So using the formula (GI score % 100 x 6 (available carbs) = GL) we can see that watermelon has a glycemic load of 4.

Under this system foods that are rated high have a GL of 20 or more, and low is 10 or less.

Examples and comparisons to GI ratings:

Food Weight GI Rating GL Rating
Carrots 72g 47 2
Brown rice 195g 55 23
Watermelon 154g 72 8
Bananas 136g 52 14
Macaroni & cheese 166g 64 30

In conclusion

Following a diet rich in unprocessed, natural wholefoods in sensible portion sizes and incorporating some daily exercise will help to balance blood sugar and control weight. Initially people who are very affected may wish to supplement Chromuim three times daily, which forms part of the glucose tolerance factor, but once into the swing of a new way of eating should not need to continue with this. Using the factors of GI and GL you can ensure that you are selecting foods which are nutritious and beneficial.