These 9 rules are covered in my e-book, “Heal Your Hypoglycemia”. Here they are in summary. You will probably be surprised but I’m not just rehashing the same old advice you’ve probably read many times before.
I hesitate to call them ‘rules’ because life should not be lived under strict rules and regulations. I prefer to call them guidelines, which you should follow 95% of the time.
1. Eat 3 balanced meals a day: How boring, I know. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sit down and eat them in a relaxed and unhurried manner.
2. Don’t Eat Between Meals: I know this contradicts everything you have probably been told by the so-called experts on hypoglycemia. But how many of them have actually suffered from hypoglycemia and tested their theories on themselves? You might prefer to have one small snack in the late afternoon if your energy is low then. If so, make it part of your routine, sit down, relax and have a proper snack with a cup of tea. Don’t just grab food on the run.
3. Don’t Eat Before Bed: I recommend you finish dinner no later than 8pm and don’t eat anything else. This might be difficult at first if you’ve been used to eating a bedtime snack. But once you try it and see how much better you feel, you’ll be convinced.
4. Eat enough protein at each meal: I don’t advocate a high protein diet but I do believe it’s necessary to eat adequate protein – otherwise you will feel hungry all the time and be snacking on sugary foods.
5. Eat enough healthy fats: By “healthy” fats I don’t mean margarine, low-fat spreads and other synthetic products. I mean natural fats like butter, olive oil and other natural foods that contain fats and oils. Don’t follow a low-fat diet. It’s the worst thing you can do if you have hypoglycemia . Fat will not make you fat. (Too much sugar will.) In fact, fat is essential for the health of your brain. Fat digests slowly and gives you steady energy for several hours. It slows down the absorption of carbohydrates into your bloodstream, preventing spikes in your insulin. Low-fat diets lead to constant hunger cravings and snacking.
6. Be careful with starchy food: If you eat too much starchy food like bread, pasta, potatoes etc it will cause your body to over-react with too much insulin. I’m not saying you should eat a “low carb” diet. I believe in moderation in everything, including carbohydrates. Eat enough carbohydrates to keep you feeling satisfied – but don’t overeat them.
7. Eat plenty of fresh vegetables, herbs and salads, plus small amounts of fruit if you can tolerate it: You need these for a wide range of nutrients. They don’t directly affect your blood sugar levels but they’re important for your overall health.
8. Allow 4 to 5 hours between each meal before eating again: This contradicts the conventional wisdom for hypoglycemics but it’s important for the health of your liver. If you can’t go 4 or 5 hours without eating, it’s a sign your liver is in a very bad state. Your liver should release its stored glucose to keep your blood sugar stable between meals, without you needing to snack.
9. Don’t become fanatical about these rules: Eating is one of life’s pleasures and we should enjoy it. Occasionally, treat yourself to something sweet in a small quantity. Follow these guidelines 90 percent of the time and your health will improve dramatically. If you want to be a fanatic about your diet, that’s your choice. But it’s not necessary.
I explain the reason for these rules in my ebook, which you can find at “Heal Your Hypoglycemia”.
I have Reactive Hypoglycemia so have to eat up to 8 times per day Ive been told…
🙁
Hi Deena,
This is one thing that I disagree with most of the experts. I don’t believe it’s necessary to eat up to 8 times a day. I explain the reasons why in my e-book.
If you eat the kind of low-fat diet that most experts recommend, then you will feel hungry all the time and will need to eat snacks between meals. This is nonsense and it’s not good for your health either.
Eating 8 times a day has you thinking about food all day long. Do you want to live that that for the rest of your life?
I recommend 3 meals a day, with maybe a small snack in the late afternoon if you feel the need. As I explain in my e-book, I believe hypoglycemia is related to the liver not doing it’s job properly. The liver is designed to release sugar into your blood stream between meals. If you keep snacking, the liver can’t do it’s job. Also, there’s a tendency to overeat if you are always snacking.
I recommend you eat 3 balanced meals a day. By balanced, I mean with a combination of protein, fat and carbohydrate. I’ve seen meal plans for hypoglycemics where the breakfast includes low-fat unsweetened yogurt and toast with low-fat margarine, or cereal with low fat milk. No wonder you need snack after a breakfast like that.
You should eat something substantial, like eggs on toast with butter, or cereal (no sugar) with whole milk plus toast and butter. This will give you steady energy throughout the morning because the fat slows down the absorption of the carbohydrate – keeping your blood sugar stable, so you shouldn’t need to eat again until lunchtime.
If the liver is the problem, then what do we do to heal the liver?
Hi Robin,
First, let me say what I believe causes the liver to be damaged in the first place.
1. All kinds of drugs that you take repeatedly, like antibiotics, painkillers, medications for things like asthma, heart, blood pressure, arthritis etc.
2. Addiction to (over-eating of) sugar, caffeine and alcohol. If you’re addicted to sugar and eat a lot of it, this will hurt your liver. Too much alcohol, of course, goes without saying. Too much sugar is pretty much the same.
3. Over-eating in general. Even over-eating of “healthy” foods on a long term basis will harm your liver.
So, to heal your liver you need to stop doing the things that cause the damage. If you are taking medications regularly, of course, that could be difficult. I’m not a qualified doctor so I can’t recommend that you stop them. But I do believe if you take any kind of medications on a long term basis it will damage your liver and you are likely to have hypoglycemia. I stress this is my personal opinion (and based on my own experience because I took antibiotics for seven years for acne between the ages of 15 and 22 and that’s when my hypoglycemia started.)
But you can stop eating sugar and that will work wonders for your liver. Likewise for caffeine and alcohol if you are addicted to them. And eat only as much as you really need. No bingeing on sweet foods. That’s bad news for your liver.
Also, you need to eat just 3 to 4 times a day – not 6 to 8 times a day like most experts recommend for hypoglycemia. Eating 6 to 8 times a day is likely to cause you to over-eat (unless the meals are very small) and this will not give your liver time to rest between meals.
Ideally, you should eat a balanced meal and then eat nothing more for at least 4 to 5 hours. There’s a very interesting website called Liver Snacking – http://liversnacking.com/ that explains about this. I found their insights very helpful.
my mom has type-1 insulin dependent diabetes and she is facing the problem of low blood sugar and hypoglaycemia often?she is a housewife and does all home work at herself so tell me about balanced diet plan and ways from overcoming this problem….
What whole grain bread is good for Hypoglycemia.
I have been told it should be wholemeal,and some say wholegrain.
So what one would you recommend please.
I find it very confusing.
Also how much carbs should i be eating a day,as I have gained over 15kgs.
Many thanks
Any kind of whole grain bread should be OK. Try different ones and see which makes you feel best after eating. Make sure to have butter on your bread or you will get low blood sugar even with whole grain bread.
If you are gaining weight you should eat fewer carbohydrates. I can’t tell you how much because everyone is different. But make your meals balanced with some protein, fat and carbohydrate. Also, cut down on fruit or avoid it altogether because too much fruit and juices will make you gain weight.
Very interesting and none mainstream advise
Regarding bread, I have issues even with regular whole wheat bread…anything “fluffy” digests too fast for me causing me to spike and then plummet. A doctor suggested I switch to whole wheat tortillas, which similar to pasta, is lower glycemic as it’s compacted/dense and digests slower. I have not tried the Ezekial type sprouted “flourless” breads yet but should.