By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

January 17, 2014

• Are these foods making you mean and irritable?
• The vicious cycle that makes you go haywire
• An easy way to restore balance

Today I saw one of my seasonal patients… one who I treat only during the few months he is in Florida for the winter.

He has been experiencing severe mood swings lately, especially when it comes to anger and temper tantrums. After experiencing an episode of “road rage,” his wife insisted that he come in for a visit.

When he walked in the door his hands were shaking and sweat was literally dripping off of him. And when I asked if he had any other symptoms, such as a headache, dizziness or blurred vision, he became increasingly irritable.

Once I got all of the information I needed, I got to the heart of the matter. “Bill, when is the last time you had something to eat… and exactly what was it?”

It turned out he had a couple of bagels at breakfast and had eaten French bread pizza with a soda for lunch.

As I questioned him further, I found out this was a pretty normal diet for him. (It seems he had forgotten all of the things we covered last year!)

The result of Bill’s eating habits is a condition that’s not uncommon today. It’s called hypoglycemia, a disorder that occurs when blood sugar goes too low shortly after eating meals.

Symptoms of hypoglycemia have a very wide range. They include shakiness, brain-fog, heart palpitations, changes in behavior, mood swings and even fainting or seizures. So it’s not something to take lightly.

Unfortunately, these multiple symptoms can often make it very hard to diagnose.

To help you understand if some of the problems you’re experiencing might be linked to hypoglycemia, let’s take a look at the driving force behind it.

Hypoglycemia is a common occurrence in diabetics, especially if they skip meals. It’s also common in diabetic patients who are taking insulin or sulfonylureas, like glyburide and glipizide.

But what happens when someone who isn’t diabetic has a hypoglycemic event?

It all comes back to your diet. Sugar and processed carbs both have a very large role in the condition. You see, these foods will boost the levels of glucose circulating through your body. Basically, they give you a sugar high… but only for a short while.

That’s because your pancreas starts pumping out insulin to counteract the sugar. This results in sugar crashes that leave you feeling tired, irritable, moody and fuzzy-headed.

And do you know what happens then?

Your body automatically craves more sugar to bring it back into balance. It’s a vicious cycle, and may be the driving force behind sugar and carbohydrate addiction.

Now here’s the thing. For millions of years we received all the sugar we need from natural sources. Back in the days of our ancestors there was no such thing as a “refined carbohydrate.”

But these days we are so overburdened by processed foods that our bodies have gone haywire.

These foods cause the overproduction of hormones like cortisol and epinephrine to balance blood sugar levels. (This accounts for the shakiness, pounding heart and sweating that can be seen during a hypoglycemic event.)

Worse, a diet filled with high glycemic carbs can turn on more than 60 genes that are associated with stress and inflammation.

So what should you do?

For starters, mealtimes should take place at regular intervals… say 8 a.m., 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. And snacks should be eaten about halfway between meals. In this example, snack times would be 10:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.

But you don’t want to eat high glycemic carbs like bagels and pizza. They will send your blood sugar through the roof. Instead, choose more complex carbohydrates in the form of non-starchy vegetables as the focal point of your meals.

It’s also important to include a healthy protein. Eggs, fish, avocado, nuts, plain yogurt, beans, cage free turkey or chicken and grass-fed beef will all do the trick. And they won’t send your blood sugar into the stratosphere.

It’s okay to eat fruits, too. Most of them are relatively low glycemic because of the way the fiber in them works with fructose. Berries, peaches, pears, apples, watermelon, kiwi and oranges are all good. The only fruit I really don’t like when it comes to sugar levels is bananas.

And here’s the thing.

Nobody’s perfect. So if you need a little help along the way I have a great suggestion.

There’s a natural compound called chlorogenic acid. It’s found in coffee and tea, so you might already be getting a little bit of it in your diet.

And it’s truly amazing.

Chlorogenic acid helps block the absorption of sugar in your intestines. And it even goes a step further. It also suppresses your liver from producing glucose after a meal.

In the end, it’s a one-two punch that helps control those wild swings from being hyper- to hypo-glycemic from meal to meal.

Now check this out: There’s a green coffee bean extract that contains about 270% higher concentrations of chlorogenic acid than coffee. And it’s an easy way to keep your blood sugar in check… even when you deviate from a healthy lunch by ordering pizza or a sub.

All it takes is 200 mg. twice a day before your heaviest meals to keep your blood sugar in check.

You can also add ½ teaspoon of cinnamon daily and up to 800 mg. of gymnema sylvestre daily. However, I do have a word of caution…

If you are on any medications for blood sugar, blood pressure or cholesterol, be sure to work with your physician and monitor your levels if you decide to try green coffee bean extract – then back off the pharmaceuticals as needed.

Resources:
Hofeldt FD. Reactive hypoglycemia. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am. 1989 Mar;18(1):185-201.

Kallio P, et al. Dietary carbohydrate modification induces alterations in gene expression in abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue in persons with the metabolic syndrome: the FUNGENUT Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 May;85(5):1417-27.

Henry-Vitrac C, Ibarra A, Roller M, Mérillon JM, Vitrac X. Contribution of chlorogenic acids to the inhibition of human hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase activity in vitro by Svetol, a standardized decaffeinated green coffee extract. J Agric Food Chem. 2010 Apr 14;58(7):4141-4.