I have severe blood sugar issues but dont currently have diabetes. I say severe as I can get hypoglycemia to the level in which many would go unconscious and the mood swings it causes me are bad enough that I get violent with it. Ive got in trouble with the police from it. Im fortunate as Im now under two specialists (one is a nutritionist and the other one an allergist who specialises in sugar and insulin issues) for this.
Many people have hypoglycemia due to hyperinsulinemia. One eats carbs which then triggers ones insulin. In some its triggered too high.. this can cause a sudden drop in sugar.
Someone replied back here that complex carbs are fine.. I'd like to say that isnt always true with this issue.
50-55g carbs is enough to make me smash car windows .. I go off about 15 mins!! (it happens quite fast) after having a fresh salad (no sugar added) of chickpeas which are that amount of carbs (I didnt know they were high in carbs till I had them and got that extreme reaction).
Having just a normal roast with normal veg most eat.. can set me into mood swing. Diabetic diets contain far far too many carbs for me. (in my own case due to also having MCS.. I wonder if that is why Im so sensitive to insulin mood wise).
The low carb diet my specialists first put me onto for this issue was so strict it contained
- no cereal/bread/rice/noodles
- only 10 nuts per day
- no root veg as most are higher in carb then the other veg, no corn
- watching how many carbs I had in dairy..milk has carbs so I wasnt having more then one glass per day of dairy
- only one small piece of fruit per day and trying to stick with the lower carb fruits when it came to having that one small piece (bananas are quite high in carbs), no juices (as the sugar concentrates in juice
- nothing with added sugar in it of cause.
(I spent 4-6 weeks on that diet before some things were slowly relaxed to find out just how many carbs I could have before symptoms came in again).
Other rules they gave me were
1/ Eat protein EVERY MEAL (I was told to eat it some before having anything else), protein helps to balance the sugar.
2/ Do not have low fat milk only full cream milk (the fat in the milk causes less carbs to be absorbed I think was their explaination).
Id previously tried to control the hypoglycemia with frequent meals without luck but the issue had actually been my body producing too much insulin from carbs causing then sugar drop issues rather then hypoglycemia from not eatting frequency enough. So keep this all in mind if eatting frequently dont help.
I recommend those who have ME/CFS to avoid artifical sweeteners. I use a natural product called xylitol.
Also be aware that these kind of issues can also cause people to be wrongly diagnosed with CFS as they can cause not just mood swings but many other symptoms too. The specialist I see has completely fixed (as long as they stay on very low carb diet) many who had previously been diagnosed with CFS.
I find when I arent being careful enough with my diet as far as carbs go.. it makes other ME symptoms worst eg I get more sore throats.
The low carb breakfast for me (my diet has been loosened slightly) consists of 2 eggs, a couple of slices of corn beef (I like all the salt .. one could have bacon instead), a packet of cheese chunks and 3 crackers which contains 7g carb. So this whole breakfast is a 7g carb breakfast which I can highly salt for the POTS.
If I eat takeaway.. I go for chicken or just yiros meat without the yiros bread with greek salad on the side (to which the tomato has been taken out. shops tend to do that if one asks.. that way I can have something else for my one small piece of fruit per day). Greek salad (combo of olives, feta cheese, a touch of salad onion, cucumber and tomato) is the lowest carb salad Ive been able to find in some takeaway places, most salads are quite high in carbs as far as my low carb diet goes.
You'd be shocked to see how many carbs are in a tiny one persons serve tub of KFC coldslaw
Instead of making something like baked potatoes ((baked potatoes have a lot of carbs), try stuffed baked pumpkins. I use butternut pumpkins hollowed out more but one can use other kinds.. one can boil them for 5 mins first before stuffing them). I stuff them with mince, add a few pine nuts, an egg, herbs/salt/pepper and whatever else one wants which is low carb, Im nowdays got small amount of carrot included in my diet so I usually grate some along with some chopped onion and put in mince stuffing too) and then top them with cheese.
I also like to do things like herbed patties and bake them on the top of large mushrooms.
Sauces often have quite a few carbs in them. I make my own sweet and sour sauce to dip chicken Kababs I make in (kabab of hicken/capsicum/mushroom/onion).
Sweet and sour sauce ... mix of 8Tbs of rice vinegar, 4 Tbs of xylitol, 2 tsp of soy sauce (some tomato sauce or canned tomatoes can be added to taste).. mix all together and heat in pan.
I make my own no carb limeaide (good lemon aide substitute from a product called "True Lime" which has under 1g carb per serve. (No added sugar and is natural made of lime oil and lime juice but is a dry sprinkle product which one can mix with things). I mix this product with soda water and will take it with me to add to a jug of soda water if I eat out at a resturant.
www.truelemon.com (I dont recommend their orange one thou as it made me not well and I think had sugar or something added to it).
Pizza and pancakes are the only two things I used to eat which I havent been able to find good low carb substitutes for and do miss.
My specialists have said that over time as long as I stay very low carb, my body will heal from the issues it has with the sugar and insulin issue thou to expect it is going to take years.