Alissa's Fitness Blog

Alissa's Diabetes and Fitness Blog

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Discussion of Diet and Fitness as a tool to manage Diabetes

Alissa: A question I’ve been asked, and it’s a problem both myself and my diabetic daughter - when your blood sugar drops low, what do you suggest eating to stop cravings and hunger - because I know for myself and my daughter, that’s we go on a binge and it’s so hard to avoid, what do you suggest for that?

Dr Blevins:  You’re talking about a craving, and when you get low, your body is saying , protect me, I want to survive.  Somehow all of the hunger mechanisms go haywire.  You can talk yourself through it, but logic doesn’t always win out when it comes to craving. 10-15 grams of simple carbs is the advisable amount to take for a low.  The best approach, generally speaking, is to use a finite amount of carb for example three glucose tabs.  Then you can tell yourself I just took in more or less 15 grams and I know that’s going to work.  That’s probably the best approach.  There’s no particular food that’s going to help a craving .  I tell people you can have half a glass of juice which is about 15 grams or you can have a barrel of juice which is a huge amount of carbs, but your sugar’s not going to go up any faster.  And you’re going to end up with this mega high sugar afterwards if you have a lot to drink or eat.  But the trouble is that it is hard because people notice that they’re very hungry and their body is telling them to eat and drink more of that juice.  So if you can be disciplined to use a finite amount like 15 grams, and be confident that it’s going to work, then you just have to talk yourself through it.  There’s no perfect food that raises it and satisfies cravings immediately

Alissa: I see

Dr. Blevins: I do think that using rapidly absorbed carbs is absolutely what you want to do.  Athletes can use gels sometimes when get low when they’re working out. A common one is hammer gel.  That’s a particular brand, there are tons of them. The glucose tablets you get at the regular pharmacy are good for routine use. 


I'd love to hear how you handle cravings when your blood sugar is low.  Please scroll down and make a comment


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[Pingback] 9 years ago

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Amanda 9 years ago

It can be really hard at times to stay in control of your intake when you have a low. For me it just depends on the low. Sometimes you can feel it coming on and that seems to be when I stay in the best control and not over do it. Other times it comes on fast, I feel super hungry and I go all out and end up with a high. I usually do glucose tabs or drink one juice box and go lay down or sit down until I feel better.



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