Hypoglycemia is a condition that many people may live with without ever recognizing it or understanding that what they are experiencing has a name and a remedy. I happen to know a bit about this disease because I grew up with a mother who has it. Upon her aging and subsequently increasing ability to manage her symptoms, as well as my own growing maturity level, we have both amassed a wealth of knowledge in this area. While hypoglycemia can be a temporary symptom of diabetes, it can also be an ongoing condition that is similar to (but somewhat less serious) than diabetes, as it is in my mother's case.

To truly diagnose hypoglycemia one must undergo a glucose tolerance test. This involves fasting for a period of time, ingesting a liquid glucose, and many measurements of blood sugar levels at specified intervals throughout the process. It is an arduous process that my mother submitted to only after the doctors could not find an explanation for her symptoms. These symptoms included dizziness, nausea, blurred vision, vertigo, depression, feeling shaky and agitated, and hyper-sensitivity (she could be reduced to tears or uncharacteristically start shouting at the drop of a hat). Any or all of these side-effects would appear at least once a day, making her life, as well as the lives of the people close to her (our family), very rocky. It has been through her meticulous and perpetual monitoring of her diet, as well as her lifestyle in general, that a treatment of this disease has begun to emerge. In short, the discipline required to live a symptom-free life is incredibly immense. Not only does one have to think through each morsel he or she ingests, one must also become very aware of all nutrients and their effects on his or her body.

In a nutshell, hypoglycemia can be managed by eating once every two to three hours, limiting sugar consumption (including all foods that turn to sugar in the body), and eating foods in combinations compatible with one another. For example, if my mother were to have an apple as a snack she would always eat it with peanut butter, due to the fact that the apple, if eaten alone, is metabolized as sugar in the body which would cause a very high spike in blood sugar followed closely by a crash, in which all the blood sugar is depleted. The peanut butter, a protein, is slowly metabolized in the body, therefore the combination of the two foods causes the blood sugar to remain more level, this result being the ultimate, ongoing goal for a hypoglycemic.

Necessity propelled my mother to become extremely knowledgeable about food and its effect on the body, as well as the development of a keen understanding of how to recognize the body's 'language' so to speak. These abilities, however, are valuable for anyone looking to lead a healthier, more balanced lifestyle.

Learn more about this author, Morgan Rosinia.
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