Low Blood Sugar: The Nutritional Plan to Overcome Hypoglycaemia, with 60 Recipes. Martin Budd, N.D., D.O.

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:

      

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

      

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

      

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

      

‘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?’

      

‘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:

      

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

      

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

      

Imbalance and subsequent deficiency of the thyroid.

      

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

      

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

      

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

      

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

      

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.

      

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