Hypoglycemia: What to Do If You Have It!

I go through so many emotions–confusion, sadness, frustration–when I receive Facebook posts or e-mails like the following ones I am sharing with you today. I wonder… how do I respond? Where do I begin?

“So, I’ve been dealing with Hypoglycemia for 4 or 5 years now and have been a vegetarian for 10 years. I am still having a hard time figuring out what to eat. I’m not healthy at all and have never been! Can someone please help me?”

“I believe I have hypoglycemia. More than three hours without food and my sugar drops fast. But I work full time. I eat glucose tabs. My dad has G6PD enzyme deficiency. I was told it can potentially cause hypoglycemia. I’ve been having trouble getting to a specialist for a complete diagnosis but it’s bad. I was also told I could be pre-diabetic. I just need some answers and ways to control it.”

“I was told I had hypoglycemia many years ago and that I needed to change my eating habits. I have to confess I have done nothing, not out of ignorance but fear. I don’t know where to start. Please help me.”

“Please send me all the information you have on hypoglycemia. I am desperate!”

I decided to respond by telling you… I know exactly how you feel because I’ve been there! I lived through the devastating effects of hypoglycemia that many of you are experiencing right now.

As a young mother, I had no idea of sugar’s consequences when living on sugary cakes, hot fudge sundaes and apple pie. I would swing from not eating meals to eating those that consisted of pasta and bread. No wonder I had chronic fatigue, suffered with insomnia, severe depression and headaches that felt like my head was going to explode.

This lasted 10 years during which time I visited dozens of doctors, endured countless tests, took thousands of pills and was even subjected to the administration of electric shock therapy. But I was still sick. Finally, I found a physician who explained I had a severe case of functional hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and all I needed was a DIET! Yes, a simple glucose tolerance test and a proper diagnosis finally led me on the road to recovery.

But it was not easy! What I hoped would be an “overnight” remedy turned out to take several years of sorting through a mass of confusing and complicated information. Due to unfamiliarity with the stages of recuperation, controversy surrounding its treatment and non-acceptance from many in the medical community, I found myself feeling like I was the only person in the world suffering from this baffling disease.

Eventually, success did come, but alleviating my symptoms was a long, slow process. It would have been quicker if only I had understood the importance of individualizing my diet, the necessity for vitamins and exercise, and the role a positive attitude plays in the healing process. Above all, the road back to health would not have been so rocky if other hypoglycemics had been there to lend support and encouragement. Faith, patience, determination and the boundless love of my family were the cornerstones to my recovery.

You, my dear readers, have what was not available to me some 40 years ago. The internet allows you to access information about hypoglycemia almost in an instant. Type in any topic of interest at Yahoo or Google and you’ll see not one but dozens of responses. My concern though is that by going this route, you’re shortchanging yourself and won’t be receiving a complete course of treatment for controlling hypoglycemia. Instead you will get bits and pieces of information that could lead to more confusion and fear.

So, after years of speaking with thousands of hypoglycemics and personally going through the highs and lows, challenges and successes of this condition… here is what I believe. Hypoglycemia is one of the most confusing, complicated, misunderstood and misdiagnosed conditions today. Therefore, my message is simple:

Your Symptoms May Not Be “All In Your Head.”

If you suffer from fatigue, insomnia, mental confusion, nervousness, mood swings, faintness, headaches, depression, phobias, blurred vision, inner trembling, outbursts of temper, sudden hunger, heart palpitations, cravings for sweets, allergies and crying spells (just to name a few), you may have functional hypoglycemia and it is most likely the result of poor diet, stress and lifestyle.

If you suspect hypoglycemia, first EDUCATE yourself on this condition. Read every book you can get your hands on that discusses the subject. One may contradict another; others will be confusing and difficult to understand. Nevertheless, you will learn something from each of them. Remember, too, you don’t have to read the thick books all at once. You can read them a chapter, a page or a few paragraphs at a time. Learning takes time, energy, patience, and commitment. Don’t give up. Just do it gradually and consistently. Don’t say you don’t have the time or ability–you do! I cannot stress enough that knowledge and understanding of the causes, effects and treatment of this condition are imperative.

Then start keeping a diet/symptom diary–a daily account of everything you eat for one week to ten days. In one column, list every bit of food, drink and medication you take and at what time. In the second column, list your symptoms and the time at which you experience them. Very often you will see a correlation between what you have consumed and your symptoms.

Now make a list of your symptoms and bring it to a healthcare professional along with your diet/symptom diary and the questions and concerns generated from all your reading on hypoglycemia. There is no substitute for a medical diagnosis and treatment plan!

Can’t find a physician? Want to know if you need the glucose tolerance test? Questioning what you should eat? Wondering if you will become diabetic? Worried that your two-year-old might have hypoglycemia? Your questions may seem endless, and it is impossible to answer all of them individually. But the good news is that many of your concerns may be addressed on our website at www.hypoglycemia.org. Visit it today! You will find pages of up-to-date information on hypoglycemia and personal stories that will inspire and uplift you. And don’t miss out on almost four years of HSF blogs…a wealth of information you can’t afford to miss!

Finally, check out the HSF’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/HypoglycemiaSupport  Here you will discover up close and personal news and views on every aspect of hypoglycemia. The best part is that you will meet a “family” of other sufferers brave enough to share their personal stories. Perhaps you will see yourself in some of their experiences. More importantly, perhaps you will find a suggestion or two that work for you.

All of this is easily accessible, but YOU must take the first step. Education, preparation and commitment are key to recovery. Believe me, the rewards will be worth it!

Here’s to your health,

Roberta

Along The Way To Food System Change

I am blessed to have been raised by a mother who loved food and who believed preparing meals for loved ones was a work of the soul – for the soul. Cooking together and eating together was sacred family time, and the kitchens where I grew up were always where the greatest conversations happened. Despite raising three children as a single working mother, my mother always made our meal-time special, and my siblings and I grew up with a sense that sharing good food together was an essential part of what it meant to be family.

I’m sure that it was no coincidence that my lifelong career in nonprofit service began when I was hired by the Los Angeles based Interfaith Hunger Coalition to start the first Certified Farmers’ Markets in California – back in 1979.  That work, which evolved into something called the Hunger Organizing Team, set a fire in me – something that I call “Food System Change”.

Decades later, I am still enamored with the idea that we the people can transform our food system. Along the way, I acquired decades of experience working to develop and support food system solutions like farmers’ markets, urban agriculture, horticulture therapy, school-based gardening. My current work at the Hypoglycemia Support Foundation focuses on education and community building that builds on cutting edge science and patient centered, grass roots advocacy.

I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have had made a living doing this work.  Along the way, some amazing men and women have shaped my thinking and practice in creating social and environmental change. Visionaries such as Mike Fonte, Pat Reif, and Gene Boutilier who led the ecumenical community in Los Angeles to embrace food security and access to healthy food to be primary matters of faith.  Exceptional organizers and change agents like Dolores Carlos, Nancy Berlin, and Vance Corum who, as my colleagues and mentors, helped to shape my thinking and practice of being a community based organizer and agent of real change. 

As I have passed a milestone of 40 years of service in the field, my list of such positive influences is now quite long, so I won’t belabor them here. Roberta Ruggerio, my colleague, Soul-Sister, and Founder of the Hypoglycemia Support Foundation, is now on the top of this list.

I am blessed to have Dr. Robert Lustig on the growing list, who is a pediatric endocrinologist at UCSF, a global champion for public health, and my distinguished co-founder of the Institute for Responsible Nutrition, where I served as Founding Executive Director. Dr. Lustig is well recognized around the world for his remarkable efforts to expose the processed food industry’s role in the global pandemic of metabolic disease, so I’m going to focus on two unsung heroes who are currently on the top of my list of influential people: Cindy Gershen and Dorothy Mullen.

Cindy has an amazing history as a chef and restaurateur. After coming to terms with some of her own diet related health issues, Cindy decided to commit her life to creating food system change from within the schools, founded a nonprofit called the Wellness City Challenge, and has forged an exceptional model that places high school students at the epicenter of creating positive changes in their community located in Contra Costa County, California. Her culinary teaching classroom is legendary, and she champions the idea that if you “change the food, you can change the future” of youth, families, school districts, and cities, even when resources are lacking. To witness Cindy and her small army of supporters is an inspiration, and you can’t help but get pulled into her vortex of food system change – not only because of her passion, but because she is presenting a highly effective model that can be scaled and replicated anywhere in the world.

Like Cindy, Dorothy Mullen is a force of nature with a heart of gold and seemingly unlimited energy for making transformational change possible. There are various models for creating food system change – business models, organizational models, academic models, etc.  Dorothy champions the community model – eschewing approaches that monetize change. Dorothy’s work in central New Jersey, known as the Suppers Programs, thrives on the currency of love and community, relationship building, powerful concepts such as “harm reduction,” and the idea that “logical miracles” are possible when your needs are met for nourishing food, social support, and having a safe place to experiment and self-observe (“how you feel is data”) while you change old habits. Dorothy and her co-founders have forged a powerful learn-by-doing approach for everyday folks who come together to cook, eat, taste, learn, and feel their way to vibrant health using whole, real food. No dietary dogma or bias – there are vegan, vegetarian and omnivore meetings.

Here is a photo of Cindy and Dorothy meeting in Cindy’s classroom at Mt. Diablo High School in Concord.  It is difficult to describe the power and energy of these two women without sounding a little mystical. The love in their hearts, passion for their work, and the intellectual force in their brains is so powerful that you can actually feel the energy. However, the true magic of their work is not ethereal but very real and rooted in years of hard work and practice in community settings, listening deeply, working, cooking, eating, and learning with thousands of everyday folks.

One of the key strategies of the Hypoglycemia Support Foundation is the simple idea to “find the good and praise it”. When it comes to food system change, we don’t need to recreate the wheel, just become part of it.  

We know that there are many more Cindys and Dorothys around the country. I invite you to share your own journey of food, health, and discovery and to highlight some of the influential people in your world of food system change.  

-Wolfram Alderson, CEO, Hypoglycemia Support Foundation