To understand how the symptoms of hypoglycemia develop, you need to know how our glucose metabolism works. Our bodies convert all foods to glucose, but the change from refined sugars and white flours (starches) is at a much faster rate. Ideally, when too much sugar floods the bloodstream, our pancreas pumps out just the right amount of extra insulin to counteract the overload.
But if you have frequent, excessive meals or snacks of refined sugars/starches, your oversensitive pancreas gets trigger-happy, and pours too much insulin, too fast. That insulin removes far too much glucose causing your blood sugar levels to fall far below normal. Count on your brain to do poorly on reduced glucose (fuel). You may develop headaches; feel anxious, irritable, tired, dizzy, confused, forgetful, uncoordinated and unable to concentrate. You may even feel and act antisocial.
Eventually, as glucose levels drift downward, your body has to stop the fall. Otherwise you will plunge into deep shock and if this drop continues with no interruption, you will die! Fortunately, the physical stress being produced will eventually release the adrenal hormone, epinephrine, which signals the liver to pour its emergency sugar, glycogen into your blood.
This sugar stops further insulin shock and protects your brain by providing emergency glucose. But the epinephrine (adrenalin) release brings its own unpleasant reactions. You may suddenly feel shaky, sweaty, and weak and you may be aware of a rapid heartbeat. Caffeine produces these same symptoms by stimulating the adrenals to release stored glycogen in the same way, and temporarily raise blood sugar levels.
The lift you demand every A.M.
If you eat a meal high in refined carbohydrates, you may experience a so-called postprandial fed-state hypoglycemia that sets off an intense craving for more sweets and/or coffee. This condition is described in the New York Academy of Sciences, 1976. If, when you finish a meal, you are still looking in the refrigerator for more, you are probably seeking something sweet because your hi-pasta or hi-carbo meal has set off a hypoglycemic drop in your blood sugar.
This same postprandial hypoglycemia often triggers psychological symptoms. A report in Biological Psychiatry, 1982 of 67 subjects given a glucose tolerance test and measured throughout, produced measurable psychological symptoms as a result of the loss of glucose in the nerve cells. "Their mental stability, clarity and agility were seriously affected when glucose levels fells below sixty mg per deciliter.”
Researcher Hale concluded, "Mental confusion does occur with postprandial hypoglycemia" and suggested "those complaining of fatigue or depression one to four hours after meals have their blood sugar evaluated with a five hour glucose test.”
Psychological Syndromes = Masked Hypoglycemia
Mental health professionals often fail to recognize hypoglycemic symptoms. They attempt to explain them as psychological phenomenons. If you have puzzled over noticeable changes in your moods, thoughts and feelings don't be so quick to accept them as psychological disorders.
Now you know that hypoglycemia can cause severe metabolic changes in your brain and nervous system, creating altered moods, emotional instability and behavior changes. The Health Recovery Center Hypoglycemic Symptometer will help you evaluate your symptoms and decide if you want to seek verification with a lab test.
©This short article comes to you through the courtesy of Joan Mathews-Larson whose best-selling books Seven Weeks to Sobriety and followup, Depression Free, Naturally lay out many physical anomalies rooted in chemistry, and correctable with proper nutrition and orthomolecular medicine. More information on Dr. Joan Mathews-Larson, her clinic Health Recovery Center and the supplements/formulas she uses to address the addictions and mental health issues can be found in her books.