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 Low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, causes fatigue, and in extreme cases, loss of consciousness. I’ll never forget the day I learned that lesson. Fortunately, it wasn’t from personal experience. In this incident in a hotel, waking down the hallway, when I chanced upon a young chambermaid washing the windows. I saw her falter, her eyes roll back, and then she slumped down, fainting at my feet. She quickly recovered, but her face was a white as a sheet, her lips pale. I asked her if I could help, and she replied that it was her first day on the job and she had eaten nothing since a hotdog the day before at lunch. It was apparent that the relatively taxing job of washing the windows required more energy reserves than she had left. I explained the situation to her supervisor then escorted her to the cafeteria for an early lunch of bean soup and whole grain sprout bread, warning her never to work on an empty tank. It’s not sugar that you need A friend of mine incorrectly assumed that since she had low blood sugar, she needed more sugar. She couldn’t have been more wrong! Another way to describe hypoglycemia is hyperinsulinism, or too much insulin. Your body creates too much insulin in response to too much simple carbohydrates, like sugar and white flour. To summarize, simple sugars such as white sugar, honey, syrups and milk sugar are absorbed into the system quickly through the mouth or stomach. The complex carbohydrates found in grains, root vegetables, legumes, and fruits are slowly broken down into absorbable sugar (glucose), which is absorbed slowly through the wall of the small intestine. You want the foods that are absorbed slowly so our body isn’t fooled into believing it needs insulin. Glucose, or blood sugar, is carried to the liver where it is converted into glycogen and stored. When the body needs sugar for muscle, brain, or nerve function, the stored glycogen is reconverted to glucose and transported by the blood to where it is needed. The pancreas must secrete the hormone insulin and the adrenal glands secrete adrenaline to permit the metabolism and utilization of glucose. Other endocrine glands are also involved. When you eat too much simple sugars/carbohydrates, the pancreas reacts by producing too much insulin, which causes the blood-sugar level to drop too low-hence, hypoglycemia. This sudden drop in blood sugar will reduce blood oxygen, which wreaks havoc with the liver and brain. The first symptom may only be sudden fatigue but in time the symptoms may become very severe with mood swings, quick temper, heart rhythm problems, allergies, insomnia, etc. Unless hypoglycemia is controlled, the overworked pancreas may lose its ability to produce insulin; then the diagnosis will be diabetes. Other symptoms of low blood sugar include heart palpitations, headaches or migraines, confusion and sweating occurring before breakfast, after exertion, or two to four hours after eating. Low blood sugar is serious enough to be blamed for temporary cases of senility, clumsiness and even low intelligence.
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