Hypoglycemia May Not Be As Scary As You Think

If you’ve been looking into the ketogenic diet, you probably know how it works. The goal is to lower carbs to the point where your body fuels itself on ketones instead of glucose.

Changing your diet to fat and protein rather than carbohydrates seems to be a great therapy for anyone. Especially people with Type 2 (and even Type 1) diabetes.

We’ve seen the results in our homes. I can think of at least half a dozen residents off the top of my head that have greatly reduced or eliminated their insulin injections just by changing their diets.

Changing their diet brings up a new fear. Eliminating carbs while still receiving insulin injections can drive people’s blood glucose down to scary levels.

Normal blood glucose readings are in the 70-100mg/dL range. Above 100 and you’re starting to enter into diabetes. Below 70 and people are starting to freak out.

If you wear a Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitor, there’s an auto-alarm that you can’t turn off if your blood glucose drops below 55 mg/dL. There are adjustable alarms for glucose levels between 60 and 100

However, there is some little-known research that shows that low blood glucose, a condition known as hypoglycemia, may be mitigated by having ketones in your body.

The definition of hypoglycemia is blood sugar below 70mg/dL. People who suffer from it often see symptoms of shaking, sweating, dizziness and confusion.  It can lead to seizures, convulsions and unconsciousness.

Most often diabetics experience hypoglycemia by taking too much insulin. The insulin pushes glucose into the cells and lowers blood sugar way too much.

Normally the treatment is to eat a bunch of carbs and/or sugar to raise the insulin levels.

It always bothered me that carbs and sugar could be the right answer to any medical condition. Especially to someone who is suffering from a disease of too much carbs and sugar.

Turns out there may be an alternative.

There was a study conducted by Dr George Cahill in 1966 that showed an alternative. The study took eight obese men and had them fast for over a week. Some of them were diabetic.

The fasting drove their blood glucose way down (40-60 mg/dL range) and their blood ketone levels way up (up to 4.2 mmol/L).

And guess what? They were asymptomatic for hypoglycemia.

Further fasting research had people drive their blood glucose down to 20-25 mg/dL with no symptoms of hypoglycemia. WAAAAYYY below normally scary levels.

The reason? Their bodies had switched over to burning fat - especially ketones - instead of glucose. And there was no problem.

By no means am I saying you have a glucose-lowering, hypoglycemia-inducing competition with your family and friends tonight. Especially if you’re diabetic.

What this research does suggest, however, is that if you are trying to treat your diabetes through diet, there’s another way. And if you’re worried about hypoglycemia, consider buying a ketone monitor. If you do find your blood sugar going down significantly with your dietary changes, consider consuming exogenous ketones if you’re not in a ketogenic state already through diet or fasting.

Seems like a lot better idea than orange juice and candy bars.

Remember though, this is not medical advice. Consult with your doctor. I don’t want to get in trouble.