Living with diabetes is a lifestyle on its own, with ups and downs, trial and error. But most of all its learning more and more about how you can control your diabetes and enjoy your life to the fullest. Dealing with low blood sugar levels can however spoil the fun and might cause some unpleasant situations. Feeling shaky, getting moody or sweaty? Sounds like you need a snack! That is why we have gathered the best diabetic snacks for low blood sugar for you.
When you’re prepared, you can let go of your worries and anxiety regarding your diabetes. So let’s get your snack game on point, cause no one likes to be hangry right?
According to Diabetes.co.uk blood glucose levels below 4.0 mmol/L, or below 70 mg/dL according to the American Diabetes Association are too low and are referred to as hypoglycemia. To get more insights into how the body works when having a hypo, you can read more about What happens when blood sugar is low. Too much insulin, increased insulin sensitivity and eating too little can all be causing your blood sugar levels to drop. But there are also other reasons, which you can read about on What Causes Blood Sugar to drop Rapidly?.
By using a blood glucose monitor (BGM) or a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), you are able to check your blood sugar levels regularly to measure and control to be within your personal target ranges.
Hedia can be linked to your NFC or Bluetooth Glucose Meter, so your blood sugar level data gets updated wirelessly! Download the app for free from Google Play or the App Store and give it a try.
Furthermore, it is just as crucial to pay attention to your body and the signs it’s giving you. When your blood sugar level gets too low, your body can show a variety of symptoms. Let’s have a look!
The Symptoms
It is important to recognize the symptoms of hypoglycemia, however subtle, in order to treat these early signs immediately. In doing so, you can prevent dealing with the problems that hypoglycemia brings. Be aware of things that feel off and write possible symptoms down if necessary. Learning to understand your body is key in order to control your diabetes and enjoy life. Every individual can experience hypoglycemia (or a hypo) differently, but there are certainly a few common symptoms:
- nausea and/or dizziness
- fatigue
- hunger
- feeling shaky
- feeling upset or irritable
- lack of concentration
- sweating
- blurred vision
- weakness of the body
- fast heartbeat
- headache
- confusion
- problems with movement and coordination
Hypoglycemia symptoms such as hunger, feeling shaky and sweating are the results of the effect of adrenaline that is released. By doing so, the body is telling you that it wants you to ingest more carbohydrates, so that it can have more energy. Symptoms such as headaches, confusion and difficulty concentrating are the results of the brain not having the amount of energy from glucose it needs. If hypoglycemia is left untreated, the body will begin to shut down, leading to a coma. Luckily it is easily and swiftly treated – even in more serious situations.
Some more insights about low blood sugar
Be aware that a hypo can also occur when you are sleeping: you might wake up with some of the symptoms mentioned above, such as confusion, sweating, or fatigue. Do you want to get more insights about this, then take a look at our article about diabetes and sleep.
Once you have become skilled in learning to recognize the early warning signs that you experience personally, you are able to prevent a hypoglycemic attack with a rapid treatment yourself. In this way you can avoid having to get a treatment from a medical professional and have the power to control your diabetes.
We understand that this however, can be difficult at times. Keeping a close eye on your blood glucose levels and planning ahead can be tiring and take up quite a lot of time. Therefore, Hedia can help remind you to keep track of your different readings, such as active insulin on board, blood sugar level and more. Try our diabetes tracker and let go of some of the work and thoughts.
When you do have a low blood sugar level, or if Hedia can see that you have too much insulin on board – Hedia will recommend carb intake to keep your blood sugar level in range. Try it yourself for free at the App Store or Google Play!
The best diabetic snacks for low blood sugar
In general, when looking for good snacks for diabetes, we would recommend eating something that is high on fibers and low on sugar. By doing so, you prevent an unstable blood glucose level. But when you are having a hypo, you do want to ingest something to make your blood sugar go up. Firstly, we would recommend you to drink something with sugar and then have a snack. Since liquids will increase the blood sugar faster. You can of course also take rapid sugar in the form of the appropriate amount of glucose tablets (the rule of 15), but you might be craving for something else.
We have gathered some nice low blood sugar snacks for you! Ranging from pure sugary snacks, to snacks rich in fiber to stabilize the blood sugar and snacks rich in antioxidants to help regulate insulin. Because we want to avoid a high peak and reach a more stable blood sugar level throughout the day. Let’s have a snack, uhm look!
Now, we have seen that you can take hands-on action to treat your low blood sugar levels with some good snacks. And that being aware of your body’s behaviour, patterns and functionality can give a huge relief. Therefore, you also want to be on top of your psychological health. If you are looking for more info and tips about dealing with hypo anxiety and reducing stress, then take at Stress and Diabetes.
See how Hedia can help you manage this with its carb and insulin recommendations (and much more). Download Hedia at the App Store or Google Play!
Related post: How to fix low blood sugar
