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    Low Blood Sugar: The Nutritional Plan to Overcome Hypoglycaemia, with 60 Recipes
    Low Blood Sugar: The Nutritional Plan to Overcome Hypoglycaemia, with 60 Recipes
    Low Blood Sugar: The Nutritional Plan to Overcome Hypoglycaemia, with 60 Recipes
    Ebook252 pages2 hours

    Low Blood Sugar: The Nutritional Plan to Overcome Hypoglycaemia, with 60 Recipes

    By Martin Budd, N.D., D.O. and Maggie Budd

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    About this ebook

    A comprehensive and accessible handbook providing vital information for sufferers of low blood sugar, this is an ideal reference guide and essential first step for those who want to understand and treat their symptoms naturally. Includes 60 delicious recipes to prove that sufferers don’t have to miss out!

    An increasing number of people are being diagnosed with low blood sugar due to today’s high-pressure lifestyles and the predominance of over-processed foods in our diet- and the number of sufferers is set to rise.

    This is an essential up-to-date reference guide to low blood sugar, detailing everything that sufferers need to know about their condition and how to treat it. A complete guide to how to treat low blood sugar, this book reviews all the latest research on subjects such as insulin resistance, syndrome X and the role of the adrenal and thyroid hormones, as well as providing information about all the complementary and orthodox treatments available.

    The book explains what low blood sugar is and what causes it, and lists the symptoms of the condition making it easy to spot.

    The easy-to-follow nutritional plan is accompanied by 60 delicious recipes that prove sufferers can still enjoy their food while keeping low blood sugar under control.

    A comprehensive resources section reviews appropriate supplements, websites and suppliers.

    Ideal for anyone who wants to prevent low blood sugar, as well as for anyone already suffering from this condition.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins UK
    Release dateJun 20, 2013
    ISBN9780007483396
    Low Blood Sugar: The Nutritional Plan to Overcome Hypoglycaemia, with 60 Recipes
    Author

    Martin Budd, N.D., D.O.

    Martin Budd is an osteopath, naturopath and acupuncturist with a special interest in blood sugar problems and nutritional therapy.

    Read more from Martin Budd, N.D., D.O.

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      Book preview

      Low Blood Sugar - Martin Budd, N.D., D.O.

      Introduction

      Since the publication of my first book, Low Blood Sugar, in 1981, the established medical attitude to the diagnosis and treatment of low blood sugar has radically changed. For many years doctors viewed sudden falls in the blood sugar as a relatively harmless cause of the sort of transient symptoms that we can all at times experience. The recommended treatment at the time was usually sugar cubes or a bar of chocolate.

      These days, low blood sugar, or hypoglycaemia to give it its proper name, is seen by many doctors, naturopaths and researchers as an important clue that indicates a general inefficiency in our sugar regulation system. This faulty control has been termed dysglycaemia.

      A host of symptoms and health problems are now known to develop as a result of poor blood sugar regulation. These include obesity, high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, fatigue, late onset diabetes, gout, heart disease, thyroid and adrenal deficiency and a recently defined group of abnormalities known as Syndrome X, or the metabolic syndrome.

      While some of the technical aspects of the diagnosis and treatment of low blood sugar will be briefly discussed, this book essentially offers dietary advice to readers with low blood sugar to enable them to help themselves. Correct eating to minimize the adverse effects of dysglycaemia can reduce the distressing symptoms of low blood sugar, and lessen the risk of the many health problems associated with a high sugar diet that can develop in later life.

      Part One looks at what low blood sugar means, its causes and symptoms. Part Two concerns itself with diet, providing guidance on what you should and should not be eating and the importance of timing meals well, as well as an easy-to-follow low blood sugar diet. Low blood sugar can cause a wide range of problems and the solution is not always the same. For this reason, a range of case histories is provided to illustrate some of the problems and solutions involved.

      Part Three is where we get practical with the Eat to Beat Low Blood Sugar recipes. Here you will find a selection of recipes appropriate for a low blood sugar diet - both in terms of their content and when they are designed to be eaten. Part Four, entitled Taking it Further, outlines the value of specific nutritional supplements used to treat low blood sugar.

      Towards the end of the book you will also find a glossary that explains the terminology currently in use in the field of blood sugar imbalances - for instance, Syndrome X, insulin resistance, glycaemic index and dysglycaemia. Please note, low blood sugar, low blood glucose and hypoglycaemia are one and the same, so in order to avoid confusion I describe the condition as low blood sugar throughout this book.

      PART ONE

      Low Blood Sugar – Facts and Figures

      CHAPTER 1

      So what exactly is low blood sugar?

      Low blood ‘sugar’ refers to a low level of glucose in the blood. There are no rigid criteria for diagnosing low blood sugar, as considerable individual variations can exist. However, a blood glucose level of below 3.5mmol/litre will usually cause the typical symptoms of low blood sugar. This is not a rare condition – everyone reading this book will have experienced the symptoms of low blood sugar at some time in their lives.

      However, for such a widespread problem, it is surprisingly misunderstood. Indeed for many people almost every aspect of the low blood sugar condition is either contradictory or confusing. This is well demonstrated by the questions that I am frequently asked, examples being:

      imghua   ‘If diabetics with high blood sugar need to avoid sugar, why do those with low blood sugar also need to avoid sugar?’

      imghua   ‘Why are the symptoms and causes of low blood sugar on the increase, yet most of us eat too much sugar?’

      imghua   ‘Why do many people with low blood sugar develop high blood sugar [type II diabetes] in later life?’

      imghua   ‘My doctor has advised me to suck a sugar cube whenever I feel shaky or dizzy between meals [low blood sugar symptoms]. You advise me to avoid sugar, who is correct and why?’

      imghua   ‘We are told that all the carbohydrates in our diet end up as glucose in the blood. Do I therefore need to avoid all forms of carbohydrate for the remainder of my life?’

      The answers to these and other questions will become apparent as you read this book.

      The beginning – the discovery of low blood sugar

      Perhaps low blood sugar should be termed ‘Seale Harris Syndrome’ after the American GP who first defined its symptoms in 1924. Dr Harris – a contemporary of Banting and Best, the co-discoverers of the role of insulin in diabetes – noticed that many diabetic patients attending the new insulin clinics developed symptoms of low blood sugar. Given that diabetes is characterized by a high blood sugar level, caused by the lack of insulin (a hormone that controls the level of glucose in the blood), this observation was surprising. The reason, however, was simple – many diabetics have difficulty in accurately judging their insulin requirements and often overdose themselves, producing a condition known as hyperinsulinism, which consequently causes low blood sugar (or hypo).

      Crucially, Dr Harris noted that he also had several patients in his regular practice who exhibited symptoms of the ‘hypo’ reaction on a regular basis, but who were not diabetic and were therefore not taking insulin. He accurately concluded that these patients probably experienced the unpleasant symptoms of hypoglycaemia as a result of an inefficiency or imbalance in their sugar-regulating apparatus. This complex mechanism involves the islet glands of the pancreas that release insulin, the liver, to some extent the pituitary, thyroid and adrenal glands and other functions that play a part in sugar metabolism.

      Dr Harris discussed his ideas with Dr Banting, who agreed that the role of insulin in non-diabetic low blood sugar offered a new aspect to the study of blood sugar balance. No papers on the topic had appeared in medical literature prior to Seale Harris’s work, but his discoveries led to numerous similar papers appearing in journals all over the world.

      CHAPTER 2

      The causes of low blood sugar

      You may ask why many people who eat and drink excessive amounts of sugar-rich foods do not suffer from low blood sugar, while others who follow a near-perfect low sugar diet experience low blood sugar symptoms. The answer appears to lie in the many background health influences that can predispose an individual to dysglycaemia and low blood sugar.

      This is a very complex subject but a brief list will serve to highlight the chief causative factors:

      imghua   Excessive sugar intake, leading to pancreatic overstimulation, hyperinsulinism and insulin resistance.

      imghua   Adrenal under-production, leading to adrenal deficiency or hypoadrenalism.

      imghua   Imbalance and subsequent deficiency of the thyroid.

      imghua   Excessive use of tobacco (each cigarette smoked raises the blood sugar equivalent to 2½ teaspoons of sugar).

      imghua   Excessive use of alcohol and caffeine – both serve to stress the adrenal mechanism.

      imghua   Inability to handle prolonged or excessive stress, leading to adrenal debility and inefficiency (known in the US as adrenal exhaustion or adrenal fatigue).

      imghua   Food allergies or intolerances, which can be caused by, but also aggravated by, low blood sugar.

      imghua   Mineral deficiencies. These include chromium, which is now deficient in the soil of Western nations. The minerals zinc, vanadium, magnesium, manganese and potassium are also essential for optimum blood sugar control.

      imghua   Hereditary factors, in particular a family history of diabetes, hypothyroidism, asthma, epilepsy, clinical depression or chronic fatigue.

      When attempting to treat blood sugar disorders one key question that must always be considered is whether the patient’s low blood sugar is only a symptom, or is itself a cause of symptoms.

      Fasting hypoglycaemia

      When low blood sugar is simply a symptom, it is generally the result of fasting, or transient, hypoglycaemia – low blood sugar that is caused by a delayed or missed meal. This is something we have all experienced; the symptoms include shakiness or dizziness and fatigue, perhaps a mild headache or a feeling of ill temper. Usually the symptoms are coupled with a strong urge for chocolate or something sweet.

      Those who experience such symptoms on waking each morning usually have a background health problem. However, there are very few health problems that can cause us to feel worse on rising than we feel upon retiring. The list includes adrenal exhaustion, hypothyroidism, drug addiction and alcoholism. Those with severe food intolerances can also feel tired, thickheaded and irritable on waking – the reason for this is thought to be the early onset of withdrawal symptoms resulting from the night fast.

      Reactive, or functional, hypoglycaemia

      This problem is the main subject of this book. It defines a type of chronic low blood sugar that usually requires an appropriate dietary strategy and supplement use. The symptoms can occur at any time and, for many unfortunate sufferers, can be virtually continuous.

      WHAT HAPPENS TO THE BLOOD?

      The symptoms of low blood sugar can develop as a result of two principle changes in the blood sugar. These changes can involve either the actual low level of the blood sugar or the speed of fall in the blood sugar. Unfortunately the human brain cannot store glucose, so even a five per cent fall in the available glucose supply to the brain and nervous system can produce an adrenal response with subsequent symptoms.

      WHAT ARE THE IDEAL GLUCOSE LEVELS?

      The normal level of our fasting blood sugar (fasting refers to food avoidance for 12 hours) is 4–7mmol/L. Many diabetic clinics define a patient’s symptoms as ‘hypo’ if a patient’s blood falls below 4mmol/L. However, I have frequently seen great symptom variations in a patient’s response to low blood sugar levels, although generally I have found that a blood sugar level below 3.5mmol/L can predictably cause symptoms to surface.

      The American doctor and nutritionist Carlton Fredericks, a renowned authority on low blood sugar, stated "when blood sugar drops as little as 0.25mmol/L below the normal for the patient, a profound glandular compensation may start’. However, as mentioned above, a low level of blood sugar is not the only cause of low blood sugar symptoms – an inappropriately rapid fall in the blood glucose can also give rise to symptoms.

      SPEED OF FALL IN BLOOD SUGAR

      A rapid

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