Dysglycaemia/Hypoglycaemia
Common Symptoms:
These include the following, of which one or more may be present:
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Physical Causes:
Excessive refined sugar consumption causes repeated rapid rises in blood glucose levels to levels well above normal. This causes the pancreas to over-react, by pouring excessive amounts of insulin into the bloodstream. This reduces blood sugar levels to far below normal, and drops the sugar level too fast. Coffee and tea have a similar effect by stimulating the adrenal glands, which in turn encourages the liver to release more sugar into the blood. Cola type drinks can have an even worse effect than coffee, because they contain both caffeine and sugar.
A summary of the nutritional treatment for fluctuating blood sugar levels is:
- Avoid sugar, tea, coffee, chocolate, nicotine, alcohol, soft drinks, refined carbohydrates such as white bread, cakes and lollies.
- Include High Protein snacks every 3 hours or sooner if necessary to provide a slow release of glucose and thereby minimise the peaks and troughs in blood sugar levels. A high protein breakfast must be considered the most important meal of the day.
- Grains are an excellent food for dysglycemics. They should be cooked, or in the form of cereals—cooked grains digest twice as slowly as raw grains—and they should be selected from millet, buckwheat, wheat or oats. These foods will digest much more slowly than animal protein and release steadily into the bloodstream over as much as 6-8 hours.
A good rule of thumb is "is the food I'm about to eat nature-made or man-made?". Nature foods are usually made up of complex carbohydrates and proteins that break down slowly into glucose. Exceptions to this rule are sugary fruits such as melons, honey, dates, and bananas. These can be reintroduced to the diet in moderation once blood sugar levels have been stabilised. Man-made foods usually contain added quantities of sugar and salt to tempt our tastebuds. When you change your diet suddenly you may be left with lower blood sugar levels, without any of the highs, thereby causing depression, fatigue and an initial worsening of the symptoms and should not last more than about a week. If you are unsure about this aspect, then ALWAYS contact the clinic for verification and reassurance.
What's in a Name?
As described above, dysglycemia or hypoglycemia means low blood sugar. Unfortunately, this term causes immediate confusion for many who understand this to occur in diabetes (a disease). The condition you have been diagnosed with is NOT diabetes. It is not a serious condition and it can be rectified relatively easily by judicious choice of food and complying with the instructions of your practitioner.