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Low blood sugar


klk25

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I have reactive hypoglycemia. I have been able to maintain it with a healthy diet without any medication. However, when it gets too low, I need to drink some OJ or eat a couple gluecose tablets.

I am on day 5 of Whole30 and I have been doing well until today when my blood sugar is low and I am not suppose to have the above. Should I stop the program? Suggestions?

I have been following the Whole30 food prescription very well with no cheats.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I was wondering this too. I'm also a reactive hypoglycemic but my doc says the best cure for it is eating low-carb and eating 5-6 times a day instead of 3 meals a day. So I'm going to start Whole 30 in October but try it 5 meals and eat fruit if I get woozy.

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  • 7 months later...

Honestly, my reactive hypoglycemia pretty much dissapeared when I switched to a primal diet. I have no issues eating just 3 meals a day.

how long did it take you to adjust? Did you just go cold turkey to 3 meals and fight through the low blood sugar episodes?

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My non-expert opinion:

Note: I am hypoglycemic but never have taken glucose tablets. I am on Day 19 and have been doing well. Only a couple of minor episodes, and then I just had a compliant snack and felt much better.

My tips: Make sure you get enough fat and protein at each meal, and definitely start off with multiple meals until you feel well enough to switch to 3 meals over time. Even increase your fat portion above the meal template at first. Try adding sweet potatoes, fruit, or nuts with meals to help, and then try slowing eliminiating those over time and see how you feel. I generally feel better if I pair something with sugar (aka fruit) with protein. I also keep a little ziploc baggie of raw almonds in my purse in case I feel an episode coming on (or an attack of the sugar dragon).

There are a number of old forum posts about hypoglycemia and lots of tips. Good luck!

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Thanks! I'm on day 5 and have just kind of been dealing with the hypoglycemia. I went from 7 mini meals to 4 normal meals with about 4 hours in between and my body is like WHAT!! I'm hoping it adjusts within the next few days- I really want to avoid snacking so I can get rid of this once and for all. *note- I've never fainted or anything from low blood sugar or taken tablets, I will obviously snack if I feel it's an emergency*

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I have struggled with Hypoglycemia my whole adult life, and my lows can take HOURS to recover from. I made up snack bags when I started the plan, which include raw shredded coconut, raisins, sunflower seeds. In the beginning, I had a few episodes, and eating some snack helped a LOT. I hide them everywhere! I am now on Day 18 of my Whole30, and I definitely do NOT need to snack every day anymore. It is incredible! I do not put myself in the danger zone, but attempting to fight through the sick feeling of a low...that is not safe.But, those sick and dizzy feelings are less and less! I did some heavy gardening yesterday, and when I came back inside, I had a few bites of turkey (plain) with a few bites of cucumber. I then had the strength to make a Whole30 compliant dinner without getting sick! That NEVER happens! I end up eating before my husband comes home because I am so woozy. I usually struggle in the mornings BIG time...now, I just spread my breakfast out over a few hours, rather than all at once, and it helps a LOT. I also eat slower. My system definitely likes this way of eating much more than previous.

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  • 4 years later...

I am not officially diagnosed with reactive hypoglycemia, but I am on Day 6 today, and I just felt off all day long. I thought it was some of my adrenal fatigue symptoms acting up (which they may have been, but it felt like something more!) I found an orange in my bag after school. It struck me that my issue could be low blood sugar. (I have tried keto in the past, but I never felt like my body could get smoothly into fat burning mode. Whole 30 also depends a lot on burning fat for energy which I just don't seem to be able to do very easily! Previously, on keto, I started losing hair and had other unhealthy symptoms, so I had to increase my carbs to between 50-100/day.) I ate the orange and felt slightly better, but the weird feeling all hung around. I snacked on some veggies and a Zora bar while I was making dinner. By after dinner, I felt worse again. The best way to describe what happens is that my face feels numb, I feel like I have to squint to see, and I get really tired. I also get a weird headache, and I feel like I can't think straight or carry on a conversation. Because I had been snacking before dinner, I ate a large portion of very yummy cauliflower fried rice for dinner itself. A friend asked me to go exercise, but it was a very minimal output session. Afterwards, I felt almost as bad as I had earlier in the day, so I ate a banana and some compliant almond crackers (which I know are probably a violation of the "recreating junk food" rule, but I was pretty desperate at this point and trying not to go off plan). I started to notice an improvement, so I added a fruit cup in 100% fruit juice. That really worked! For the first time all day, I felt clear-headed, like I could see clearly, and did not have a headache. Has anyone else battled this feeling and found a way to beat it without a fruit binge? 

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4 hours ago, jlbladow4304 said:

I am not officially diagnosed with reactive hypoglycemia, but I am on Day 6 today, and I just felt off all day long. I thought it was some of my adrenal fatigue symptoms acting up (which they may have been, but it felt like something more!) I found an orange in my bag after school. It struck me that my issue could be low blood sugar. (I have tried keto in the past, but I never felt like my body could get smoothly into fat burning mode. Whole 30 also depends a lot on burning fat for energy which I just don't seem to be able to do very easily! Previously, on keto, I started losing hair and had other unhealthy symptoms, so I had to increase my carbs to between 50-100/day.) I ate the orange and felt slightly better, but the weird feeling all hung around. I snacked on some veggies and a Zora bar while I was making dinner. By after dinner, I felt worse again. The best way to describe what happens is that my face feels numb, I feel like I have to squint to see, and I get really tired. I also get a weird headache, and I feel like I can't think straight or carry on a conversation. Because I had been snacking before dinner, I ate a large portion of very yummy cauliflower fried rice for dinner itself. A friend asked me to go exercise, but it was a very minimal output session. Afterwards, I felt almost as bad as I had earlier in the day, so I ate a banana and some compliant almond crackers (which I know are probably a violation of the "recreating junk food" rule, but I was pretty desperate at this point and trying not to go off plan). I started to notice an improvement, so I added a fruit cup in 100% fruit juice. That really worked! For the first time all day, I felt clear-headed, like I could see clearly, and did not have a headache. Has anyone else battled this feeling and found a way to beat it without a fruit binge? 

Maybe someone with more personal experience will weigh in,  but in the meantime, could you list a day or two of typical meals, including approximate portion sizes and specific vegetables? Maybe something will stand out that could help.

In general, most people do best with a fist-sized serving of starchy vegetable each day (like potato, sweet potato, other root veggies like turnips, beets, carrots, parsnips, or winter squashes like acorn or butternut squash). Some people do need more, and that's fine -- Whole30 doesn't have any rules about how much or how little carbs to have, it's something everyone has to figure out for themselves.

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If you don't do well with low-carb, your goal is not ketosis, and you have figured out in the past that you feel best with 50-100 grams of carbohydrate daily -- then you beat it without a fruit binge by being *proactive* instead of reactive.  

Plan your carbs with each meal throughout the day.  Include various potatoes, carrots, squash, plantains, etc.  Don't wait until you feel like crap and then scramble to try to fix it.  

The goal is to keep your blood sugar steady throughout the day, to keep your energy level and mood consistent throughout the day.  You do this by combining the right amount of carbohydrate WITH your protein and fat.  It takes longer to be digested & absorbed, and is less likely to cause the blood sugar spike and subsequent crash you are experiencing by eating carbohydrate alone.  

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