blood sugar

[svenson]

so I've been realizing I play poorly after I drink juices and poorly if I don't eat. I'm trying to find some resources to help me balance my blood sugar but google only seems to give me information about diabetics. Anyone have suggestions? thanks.

[entertainme]

Basically you'd follow the same type of diet a diabetic would, reduced carb, (sugar is just a type of carb.)

Think South Beach diet.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

I'd venture to guess that if your blood sugar varies enough to affect your thought processes, you are to some degree diabetic and should seek a medical opinion.

Disclaimer: I am not a physician, nor do I play one on TV.

[goodgrief]

Of course you should have your blood sugar tested by a medical professional, but it is not even remotely true that you "must" have diabetes and that's why your thoughts are being affected. I got all paranoid and got tested, and I'm fine. There are lots of "stuff" that can cause you to react to sugar long before you develop Type 2 diabetes. Hypoglycemia and pre-diabetes/metabolic syndrome stand out. You can control both of them on an Atkins-like diet. Also your mood swings that seem to be related to sugar could actually be a complicated interaction between your hormones or another drug you are taking. As a first step, I agree -- stop drinking juice. If nothing else, it rots your teeth. It is liquid sugar. Very bad. No sugary soft drinks either. Do you remember Fox Mulder? One thing he did was very smart -- he always carried sunflower seeds for a quick way to get calories without taking in any carbs or sugars. If you have a slim waistline, you probably don't have metabolic syndrome, yet you can still get a little ditzy when you don't eat. Been there, done that. Have a few nuts and seeds, and go on with your life.

[svenson]

yeah I was test for diabetes and got the negative. I'm pretty skinny and I get a lot of excersize, but I seem to metabolize food super fast. Does anyone have any good suggestions for books to read or websites to visit. Again, google only gives me ads to herbal vitamins.

[TomCowley]

Google "reactive hypoglycemia". If you want the readers digest version, eating too much simple sugar (or food metabolized quickly into it) causes an insulin spike. Insulin spike causes blood sugar to drop disproportionately. Your brain gets fuzzy. And it's bad for you for other reasons.

Greatly reducing simple sugars in what you eat is like an instant fix for this. Atkins/South Beach nail all carbs to make sure you don't insulin spike, but in reality, you can still eat pastas and other complex carbs, even as your primary calorie source, and be fine because complex carbs metabolize too slowly to make you insulin spike (google "glycemic index"). Just look at the "Sugars" line on everything you eat, and if it's over 10/serving (I'm personally capped at 6), don't eat it. You'll be amazed how fast you notice the difference.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

Do you remember Fox Mulder?

While the rest of your post may be accurate, and I said I wasn't an MD, I believe you may want to re-aquaint your self with the concept known as *fiction*