1. Why is it Important to Eat "Healthy?"

All throughout your everyday life, you are bombarded with the idea of healthy living. Commercials on TV, the radio, adds on the sides of buses and buildings, even lining the line at the grocery store. You can't escape it: eating healthy = long life.

What does eating healthy mean? It's more then fruits and vegetables. It's not avoiding fats at all costs. Eating healthy means eating foods that give you the nutrients you need for the energy to get through the day.

This isn't to say that fruits and vegetables are bad, or to eat all the fatty foods you want. Everything is ok as long it's in limitation.

The nutrients you need include protein, carbohydrates, fat, water, vitamins, and minerals. Proteins, carbs and fats are the macro-nutrients (the nutrients you need in large amounts) and water, vitamins and minerals are considered micro-nutrients. (nutrients needed in smaller amounts)

Macro-nutrients make up the bulk of our diet. They are the main energy givers. Though they are larger, they are not in any way more important then the micro-nutrients.

Micro-nutrients do not give us energy, but are needed nonetheless to help our bodies function properly. Most micro-nutrients are essential nutrients that our bodies can not make on their own.

This sounds easy enough. The average teenager, with the help of the internet, could easily figure out their "ideal diet." But for some other people, it'd be harder.

Hypoglycemia is one of these unusual cases. Hypoglycemia is a body disorder where your body uses sugar up too fast. Side effects of Hypoglycemia include
- Passing Out
- Hunger
- Headaches
- Double Vision
- Unclear Thinking
- Shaking
- Trouble Sleeping
... and more. http:diabete.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/hypoglycemia/index.htm

There are many causes of hypoglycemia. Excessive amounts of alcohol, previous liver problems, and increase of exercise without increasing the amount of food you eat can all contribute to this disease.

2. The Unfortunate Truth

Unfortunately, hypoglycemia is not reversible in many cases, depending on how it is caused. Some people carry it for the rest of their lives. Also, some people in the world don't even know what hypoglycemia is and that even the people that they work with every day have it. Others mistake hypoglycemia with diabetes. There is a huge border line between the two. Diabetes is divided up into two prime cases:

Type 1: Your body does not have enough insulin in the body to be able to store all the sugar in your body in the muscle and liver in the form of glucagon.

Type 2: Your body produces enough insulin, but the insulin itself does not do anything at all.

Hypoglycemia, however, is when you don't have enough sugar in the body, so technically it is two opposite cases.

The existence of the disease was denied until 1973. Now affects 246 million people world-wide. "Hypoglycemia" means "low blood sugar level," though "unstable blood sugar levels" would be a better name for it. Most doctors believe that, like diabetes, hypoglycemia is due to "insulin resistance."

People who do indeed have hypoglycemia tend to be tired more often and need to eat supplements that make up for this lack. Although hypoglycemia is not normally found in younger children and teens, there are always a couple of exceptions, whether something happened to the parents or something the child did that caused hypoglycemia to appear in the body. The point here is that it's there. It's different than many other diseases. It's a timeless curse that will never go away and that will suck at the life of those that possess it. We should support those with hypoglycemia in any way we can. It's not like it will go away if we ignore it. It's something that we have to deal with, whether we have it or not.

Inside of you there is always a struggle for balance. Each person's body responds differently to different foods. Most foods are digested and absorbed smoothly, letting out a burst of glucose which the breaks down to use. People with hypoglycemia's bodies over react, absorbing more of the glucose then the body needs resulting in low blood sugar. www.gicare.com/diets/hypoglycemia.aspx

3. Hypoglycemia: How to Work Around it

In recent years, scientists have developed the concept called the "gycemic index." Glucose has an index of 100, representing the amount by which food raises blood sugar.


For example, white bread can raise blood sugar almost as much as plain white sugar.

=

You may think that eating sugary foods is enough, but that's actually wrong.


Did your mother ever tell you not to eat lots of sugar for breakfast because you're going to be tired later in the day? That's because she's right.


Candy and such have a high rating on the glycomic index. The higher a number is on the glycomic index, the faster that sugar high will drop. Lower numbers have less glucose in them, however the glucose would take longer to burn off therefore you retain it longer.


According to http://www.glycemicedge.com/glycemic-index-chart/, white bread has the index number of 70 while whole grain bread is only 40. In the long run, whole grain bread is "better" for you.


The only thing a teen with hypoglycemia needs more of then the average teen is carbohydrates. Hypoglycemia does not affect the needed intake of protein or fats.


Protein is an important part of our bodies

The way to determine how to calculate the amount of protein that you need in your diet is your age, body size, and sex.

So a 150 lb person needs 55 grams of protein a day to stay healthy, a 200 lb person 74 grams and a 250 lb person 92 grams and so on.

If you cut off protein intake your body will start to break down your muscle mass to make up for the lack of protein.

You can read more about how protein in our body works at http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/nutrition/a/protein.htm


How much fat should you take in if you have hypoglycemia?

Like protein it depends on you body shape, age and gender. It also depends on if you want to lose weight or not.

A 2000 calorie diet the AHA states that a normal person should take in 20 grams of saturated fat or less and 65 grams of healthy fat a day. But you should always ask your doctor about how much you should take in, this varies as many people are build differently. you should also take into account how active you are in your daily life.



The intake of carbs for an average teen should be 6 to 8 servings or cups per day. But everyone is different like cars if you are more active you need more fuel so talk to you doctor about the ratio on how fit, your activity level, and how long you are active or intervals. a lack of carbs would make use sluggish and slow. its unhealthy not to eat carbs if you do not eat any carbs you would die.

Carbs can also act as a guideline to how much of something you need. for example a teen's protein should account for 20-30% of their total calorie intake.

However, a teen with hypoglycemia would need a little more carbohydrates then the average teen, which is expanded on in our three day meal plan.


www.hypoglycemia-diet.com/hypoglycemiadiet.html

4. Foods To Stay Away From

People who do have hypoglycemia also have to watch their dieting. It isn't as easy as eating two tubs of Haagen-Dazs© ice cream.

Your body requires a nutrient called sugar. Sugar is a major component of carbohydrates and a part of your diet. It can be used as an energy fuel for the body. However, there is a main difference between eating sugar and eating foods that raise your blood sugar amounts.

Eating "straight-up" sugar is not good for you because you can get a massive energy crash at the end of the day. Also note, some cases of hypoglycemia can easily go away if you eat sugar. But at the same time, you would be at risk of getting diabetes.

It's a double-edged sword to eat things with a large amount of sugar. Things that have a large amount of sugar include ice cream, candies, corn syrups, cakes, and even maple syrup. If you do have hypoglycemia and even if you don't, you should still stay away from these foods.

http://www.junkfoodnews.net/Haagen-Daz-Sticky-Toffee.htm
Would you like that lingering in your stomach, all gooey and such?

One way to work with hypoglycemia is to eat a big amount of fiber. Fiber helps delay digestion, usage of glucose, and stomach emptying (using the bathroom).

So in other words, you wouldn't have to increase the amount of sugar you eat if you had a good amount of fiber every morning. Foods with fiber include a variety of plants (oats, wheat bran, grain).

There are numerous and varied diets on which people with hypoglycemia are told to follow, each with evidence to support that their diet works. Which is true, they most likely do work. Each diet should be individual and specific to that person's needs. www.hypoglycemia.org/diet.asp

5. A Three Day Meal Plan

For those of you who are wondering how you would eat if you had hypoglycemia, here is an example of a three-day meal plan (foods may vary depending on the season, the day, and the mood of the consumer):

Day 1: Getting Started
Breakfast
Oatmeal w/th raisins or blueberries (varies by season)
Raw Banana (sliced or diced)
Cinnamon Rice
Milk

Snack 1
Water
Peaches

Lunch
Chili (substitute with soy if vegetarian)
Carrot Juice
Tomato Soup
Bagel and Cream Cheese
Rice

Snack 2
Celery
Ketchup
Water

Dinner
Baked Chicken (or Fish Fillet if vegetarian)
Rice
Milk
Bun
Bread Pudding

Day 2: Feeling Good
Breakfast
Fruit Parfait with Granola
Orange Juice
Eggs
Rice

Snack 1
Toast
Strawberry Jelly, Blueberry Jelly, or Guava Jelly
Water

Lunch
Spaghetti
Meatballs
Tomato Sauce
Tomato Juice

Snack 2
Water
Orange
Nuts

Dinner
Spinach Casserole
Roast Beef
Rice
Mashed Potatoes
Milk
Corn

Day 3: Almost There
Breakfast
Bacon
Eggs
Rice
Milk

Snack 1
Water
Cold Turkey

Lunch
Tofu Salad
Cranberry Juice
Breadsticks
Tomato Sauce

Snack 2
Crackers
Cheese
Milk

Dinner
Pork Chops
Broccoli
Rice
Apple Juice
Dragon Fruit
Fat-Free Sorbet

All pau (if you don't know what this means, it means you're not Hawaiian)!