Hypoglycemia

After my incident the other morning, where I nearly passed out in a meeting, I started doing some research on hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is a condition where your blood sugar is really low, usually below 70mg/dL. I've suspected for a long time that I was hypoglycemic, but have never been officially diagnosed. (This is something I'm going to take up with my doctor). I often find that if I go a couple hours without eating I get lethargic and cranky, and sometimes it gets to the point where I feel like I'm going to pass out, like the other day. I start to get really hot, and clammy, and then my vision gets blurry.

 The worst it has ever gotten was when I was 16. I was a cheerleader for our highschool football team. It was our first home game of the season. I remember eating breakfast around 9 or so. I had to be at practice at 10, for a game that started at 1. During that time I had nothing to eat. The weather was beautiful, but hot. It was like 90 degrees out. We were standing on the sidelines, which is what we did when we weren't cheering. We just stood there in formation, watching the boys. I felt myself starting to get really hot, and clammy, and then my vision started getting blurry. I wanted to sit down, but we weren't allowed to sit, so I tried to just push through. Next thing I knew, I couldn't see anything. My vision went completely black. I turned to my friend Cat and said, "Cat, I can't see anything". She chuckled and was like "yeah right", but then she looked into my eyes and could see that something was wrong. She immediately got someones attention. They carefully guided me over to the bleachers and helped me sit in the shade. Someone brought me some water, and some food. Within a few minutes I started to feel better, but I was so embarrassed. I didn't want to make a big scene, and I didn't like all the attention. So now whenever I start to get that feeling, I try to sit down.

So back to hypoglycemia. I've been doing some research, and a lot of what I've found is that the type of lifestyle I've switched to is actually recommended for hypoglycemics. The reason is that a person with hypoglycemia actually crashes after having a lot of sugar. Sugar is the biggest thing that I have cut out since I started my clean eating. Research also recommends eating plenty of fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, and getting plenty of protein. It also recommends eating on a regular basis (every 2-3 hours) so my blood sugar doesn't drop. All of which I'm trying to do. Granted, I did have that spell the other day, but that was just a result of not eating enough. But the foods I'm eating should actually make me feel better. I've always wondered why I was always so tired, and felt the need to sleep for 12 hours a night, and lacked so much motivation. I think that sugar may be the culprit. It was making me crash, more-so than it might a normal person.

The more I learn about the lifestyle change that I'm making, the more I realize what a good decision it is. There are SO many benefits to choosing a clean eating lifestyle. Our bodies crave it. It helps our bodies function the way they are supposed to. I'm starting to believe that so many of the health problems we have in this country derive from not just a poor diet, but from not eating things from nature, the way nature intended.