Exercising With Reactive Hypoglycemia: Diet Is Key!

If you have been recently diagnosed with Reactive Hypoglycemia, or Idiopathic Postprandial Syndrome, I believe your lifestyle has changed or changed dramatically. For those of you who are used to it, you may be disappointed with your exercise (and diet!), I know when I first started having problems with Reactive Hypoglycemia. Aside from trying to figure out what you can and can't eat, the biggest challenge seems to be getting your diet right so you can have enough energy to get you through your workouts and not have hypoglycemic episodes. This will take a while. You need to keep a detailed journal of what you eat, and how much you eat, but maybe I can speed up your learning process.

A little background about me, I am a 4-year-old cancer survivor, and believe or not have been active all my life. I gained weight, trained in martial arts and enjoyed walking. My experience with cancer in the past and all its effects, both short-term and long-term, have helped me get to know my body better than anyone else. Sometimes I think I'm better than my doctor.

When I first had problems with Hypoglycemia Reactions or in my case of Idiopathic Postprandial Syndrome, the doctors first told me I had nothing wrong at all. This is because I have episodes consistent with Idiopathic Postprandial Syndrome, which are slightly different from Reactive Hypoglycemia. In short, after eating carbohydrates, I would have all the same symptoms of someone diagnosed with Reactive Hypoglycemia (low glucose level 1 to 4 hours after eating) such as, tremors, confusion, anxiety, heart palpitations, extremities, etc. , my blood glucose levels will not be medically described as "hypoglycemia" as they will not get below 50.

My journey through the symptoms, figuring out what the problem was and finding a way to solve it was a pure nightmare! It took me nine trips to the emergency room, shock to my heart racing on 160, severe panic attacks, various hospital treatments and doctors just missing the main red flag before I could decide for myself what was going on and what I needed to do to improve my problem ... and in the end, how funny, the doctors agreed that I was right that I was suffering from Idiopathic Postprandial Syndrome and they were surprised that I fixed my own problem with diet and exercise! It's not easy though!

As soon as I became aware of my problem, Idiopathic Postprandial Syndrome, I started doing some basic research. I speak with nutritionists, dietitians, personal trainers and professional bodybuilders. I learned that simple carbohydrates, refined foods, sugars, caffeine and alcohol will cause me episodes. I also learned how and what to eat! This is key and will eventually allow me to enjoy my intensive training again!

Diet is easy! Eat every 2 to 3 hours daily. Eat high in protein, fat (Yes! Fat!) And fiber, avoid the foods I mentioned above and eat complex carbohydrates (raw oatmeal, sweet potato) depending on your physical activity ... and consistent above all!

If you're wondering why you should eat fat, that's why fat slows down your carbohydrate absorption. Remember, this whole problem, Hypoglycemia Reactive and Idiopathic Postprandial Syndrome, comes when your insulin levels are thorny. And what is insulin spikes? A quick spoonful of sugar from a candy bar, white rice, baked potatoes. Also, if you eat low levels of carbohydrates, your body will start burning fat as a source of energy. Right?

So after making all these changes, and fully needing to learn how to eat, I became the subject of my own testing. I guess you could say I ran a clinical trial on myself! I keep a detailed journal of what I eat and how much I eat. At first, I was really tired of losing my carbohydrates, but about a week later, it got easier. Everyday life is easier. The challenge now is to figure out which diet is best for my training.

There I go again, me and the internet go! I was researching how to provide myself with the nutrition I needed to get myself through exercise without blood sugar drops ... and I found it! At that time, the only carbohydrate I had per day was about a quarter cup of raw oats every morning. The rest of my diet consists of meat, cheese and salads. Which is a great diet if you are not planning to work or be physically fit. However, for me, this diet didn't give me enough energy for exercise, and if I did exercise, I would definitely have hypoglycemic episodes.

So now I know I need to increase my complex carbohydrate more. It happened like this, a quarter cup of raw oats in the morning, and then about a quarter of a sweet potato about an hour from my training. Then, immediately before my training, I will take two glucose tablets and two more glucose tablets during my training. My training lasted an hour. Well, it seems to do that trick.

When taken, the glucose tablet will soon be used as energy and never cause my glucose level to rise until my insulin levels rise. In the end, my blood sugar was still high all the time. I will have occasional hypoglycemic episodes, but they are small and easily repaired with 2 to 3 glucose tablets.

Now, I am not a doctor, but I will say that there is a good chance of resolving your problem with Reactive Hypoglycemia or Idiopathic Postprandial Syndrome with diet and exercise. Always consult your doctor before starting any new diet or exercise. Stay focused, determined and hopeful!

------------------