Hi chaps,

I’ve always had problems with sugar, and do my best to avoid simple carbs. It’s just really annoying.

If I eat anything with simple carbs, about 15 minutes after I’ll have a massive sugar crash, and then need more carbs to get back to normal, which works ok, until I end up crashing again from the further carbs!

I went on a low-GI, and carb elimination diet last year, which worked great for stopping the crashes – but I had no energy at all. I added complex carbs, like brown rice, pasta, sweet potatoes, but I’m struggling to find the balance.

Who else suffers from Reactive Hypoglycemia, and what do you do to keep it under control?

Cheers

Ricks

My sister went over to a carb free diet about 18 months ago. I’m convinced that it can’t be doing her any good but she swears by it! Basically she reports that after a period of struggling with low energy (not sure how long, weeks or maybe a couple of months) she now claims she has more energy than before and feels great on the bike. So maybe worth a try! 🙂

I’m guessing you’ve already had a peep at this?

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/reactive-hypoglycemia.html

“Reduce carbohydrate intake and/or eat frequent small meals – the first step of treatment is to split your daily diet into several small meals and snacks, no more than 3 hours apart., which are less carb-heavy.
Eat a well-balanced diet, including meat, poultry, fish, nonmeat sources of protein, dairy products and fibre-rich foods such as whole grains, fruit and vegetables.
Avoid or limit sugary foods and drinks, especially soft drinks rich in glucose or sucrose.
Exercise regularly – physical activity increases sugar uptake which, in turn, decreases excessive insulin release.
Eat food when drinking alcohol and avoid using sugary soft drinks as mixers”

Thanks Shermer, that’s pretty much what I do. It just annoys me on rides, I’ll get hungry or start to bonk a little, so eat a Trek bar with protein, but that puts me into a spiral of needing more carbs as my sugar dips too low, because I’ve released too much insulin. Grrr.

Maybe I need to eat some meat or cheese at the same time…