Low Blood Sugar - Hypoglycemia

Low Blood Sugar, or to give it its proper name, hypoglycaemia is an exceptionally common condition. The estimates of how many people it affects vary, but it could be well over 10% of the population and some say up to 50%.

Unfortunately the symptoms of low blood sugar are often not clear cut, they will vary from person to person, however in most cases there is either a sugar addiction or an alcohol addiction, or both. Often the symptoms could be symptoms of many things and can often be put down to a bad day, bit of a cold, stress etc.

Low blood sugar is caused by the body trying to stabilise the amount of sugar in the blood stream. If a lot of sugar is eaten the pancreas pushes out large quantities of insulin to try to stabilise the levels. As it continues to do this blood sugar levels drop particularly low and the individual starts having symptoms. In severe cases this can lead to diabetes as the pancreas gets worn out forever producing insulin to stabilise levels.

The more common symptoms of low blood sugar are stress, tiredness, PMT and behavioural problems, although I have heard of a very wide range of conditions being related including gout, manic depression, schizophrenia and hyperactivity. Many people have stated that there is a relationship between epilepsy and low blood sugar and also those with low blood sugar are also more prone to allergies and, of course, allergies can lead to all sorts of symptoms. I used to suffer from this problem myself and used to get frequent panic attacks.

In his book, Low Blood Sugar, Martin L Budd says

"In hypoglycaemia the nervous system is deprived of essential fuel (ie glucose) and the brain is subsequently affected. Changes of mood, depression, anxiety, irritability, poor concentration, feelings of panic and suicidal tendencies are just a few of the symptoms that can be produced by this so often misdiagnosed problem. Recent research in the US suggests that even psychiatric and schizoid tendencies may, in part, be due to low blood sugar."

The best treatment for this is complete avoidance of sugar in the diet, and in order to do this it is necessary to check the contents of everything you eat, and the consumption of whole grains rather than white bread and processed foods to increase your intake of the natural nutrients which help to balance blood sugar levels. Also, you should eat every three hours during the day, and if necessary on waking at night, I would recommend something like nuts which is easy to carry around and just eat when necessary.. Also it may be worth taking a supplement named GTF Chromium (GTF stands for Glucose Tolerance Factor) which seems to be very helpful in stabilising blood sugar levels. In severe cases it would probably be a good idea to speak to a nutritional therapist.

The most popular book on the subject is Low Blood Sugar by Martin L Budd. Another book which is very interesting, if you can get your hands on it, is Natural Health, Sugar and the Criminal Mind by J I Rodale, published by Pyramid books in USA.