Why do people with low blood sugar avoid eating sugar? My Neurobiology professor, Shawn Murphy, M.D., PhD, offered a really simple explanation in today’s lecture:
It’s all about how insulin (a hormone produced at the pancreas) responds to sugar. Typically, cells in your muscle, liver, etc. will try to consume as much sugar as they can – without depriving your brain of the sugar it needs. (Your mitochondria uses sugar/glucose to generate ATP – which, to keep things simple, gives your brain energy to do what it needs to do.) Insulin production is triggered by ingesting sugar. Your body’s cells use this production as a signal to start grabbing up as much sugar as they can. So, when you eat a lot of (simple) sugars, your body produces a lot of insulin – signaling to cells in your muscle, liver, etc. that there’s a ton of sugar ripe for the picking. However, this doesn’t leave enough sugar for your brain (and remember, your brain needs ATP – which uses sugar/glucose for fuel). So you actually end up having low blood sugar, even though you just ate a bunch of it.
This is why it’s important to eat complex carbs (such as whole wheat bread) instead of simple carbs (like white bread or candy). Complex carbs take a lot longer to break down, which helps pace the body’s release of insulin, so that enough sugar gets saved for your brain.
Mystery solved!
References:
Murphy, S. (2011, September 28). Lecture given in Neurobiology, BIOS E-50, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
How to lower blood sugar without medications is the beginning of a new way of living. Most diet programs available today could be adapted to keeping your blood sugar in control. However, you must plan your calorie intake each day to match what your caregiver has prescribed for you whether it is 1200 calories or even 2000 calories depending on your body size, gender and activity level. So to get started let’s discuss implementing your sugar control diet.Meal plan or meal planning is necessary to successfully control blood sugar while becoming healthy from what you eat. The first step is to plan your schedule for Meals. Optimal results are obtained by eating: Breakfast, a mid-morning snack, Lunch, an afternoon snack, Dinner and a “just before bedtime snack”. In other words 6 “meals” each day.-
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