If you or somebody you know suffers from hypoglycemia, you know that boiled down, it’s basically just not having enough sugar in your blood to run things properly. Really, being hypoglycemic is one of the least threatening side effects of diabetes, Type 1 or Type 2, because all you have to do is monitor your blood sugar levels, and eat some (but only a little) sweet things when it begins to drift downwards.

Hypoglycemia, also known as low blood sugar, occurs when your blood glucose falls below normal levels. So this begs the question that if your blood sugar is too low, can’t you just eat a lot of sugar and reset things? The sad fact is, very few things in life are ever that simple. And there are actually two reasons for this, which we’ll get into now.

First off, hypoglycemia is a condition in which sugar drifts too low because of metabolic reasons. Your diet may be no different from millions of other people in the world who look completely the same as you. Members of your own family may eat exactly as you do, and have perfectly normal blood sugar. Sometimes in life, you are just dealt a bad hand, and you have to play it to the best of your ability. In the case of hypoglycemia, you have to grin and bear the fact that your blood sugar is going to drop faster and less predictably than other people’s. However, all hope isn’t lost at all.

The second reason why you can’t just eat lots and lots of sugar is because sugar isn’t stored that way. It can be stored as fat, but only before it reaches your blood stream. Once it’s in your blood, sugar becomes a wrecking crew tearing through your system causing damage that you might not see in the short term, but that can have dire consequences in the long term. If you ate large amounts of sugar, you wouldn’t be “socking it away” for a later time… you would just be causing yourself damage, and increasing your short term need for insulin. This need would basically negate your attempts to fix the problem, which would put you back at square one.

How to beat hypoglycemia: As frustrating as it is, your only hope to beat hypoglycemia or low blood sugar, is to moderate your sugar intake, and to keep up to date (sometimes down to the hour) with your blood sugar levels. Eating low GI foods in moderate quantities (such as a small meal every 2 hours or so), is the best anyone has been able to find for keeping hypoglycemic blood sugar levels stable and healthy. Whatever you do, don’t OD on sugar!