Do You Have Undiagnosed Hypoglycemia? by Cynthia Perkins, M.Ed.

Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) can be culprit of many physical and psychological symptoms. It’s a very common occurrence in our society and often goes undiagnosed. It can mimic most every medical condition and is often misdiagnosed or labeled as hypochondriasis. Hypoglycemia is when your blood glucose levels drop too low and your body and brain can’t function properly. The brain is very sensitive to levels of blood sugar and needs glucose to function adequately. It is fuel for brain. The brain doesn’t have ability to store glucose so it needs a continuous supply from blood. It extracts it from blood as it does oxygen. If brain does not have enough oxygen or glucose it can go into a coma.

Hypoglycemia occurs when body does not metabolize blood glucose properly. Abnormal metabolism can be caused by a variety of factors such as: ~Excess refined sugar and white flour in your diet, ~Pancreatic or adrenal underactivity or overactivity ~Excessive use of alcohol, tobacco, and coffee or other products with caffeine ~Overeating of refined carbohydrates ~Allergies ~Severe emotional stress that doesn’t go away

Probably biggest contributor to hypoglycemia is consumption of excess refined sugar, white flour and other refined carbohydrates. Our bodies were not designed genetically or physiologically equipped to metabolize mass amount of refined food, which is stripped of any nutritional value, found in typical diet of this day and age. This creates a continuous strain and abuse on your bodies’ organs, such as pancreas, liver, adrenals and other endocrine glands. The continuous ingestion of empty refined foods leads to malfunctioning of glandular and metabolic systems.

Cholesterol is found in meat, poultry, seafood and dairy products. In Fact, our bodies produce cholesterol all by itself, all cholesterol we need to live a healthy, happy life. Cholesterol is produced primarily by liver, but small amounts of it are also manufactured by cells in our bodies. This production of cholesterol by our bodies is reason why some individuals, who consume a low cholesterol diet, still experience high cholesterol levels.

While elevated cholesterol levels present no signs or symptoms on their own, elevated levels have been identified as a significant risk factor in health concerns such as arteriosclerosis and heart disease. Clinically, doctors recommend that blood cholesterol levels (the amount of cholesterol circulating in our blood) be no greater than 200mg/dl, with a total level of 180mg/dl being optimal.

Our total cholesterol is broken down into 3 separate components: HDL (high density lipoproteins), LDL (low density lipoproteins) and VLDL (very low density lipoproteins). Our HDL cholesterol is known as “good” cholesterol. It functions to remove cholesterol from blood and blood vessel walls, where it returns it to liver for elimination. Our LDL and VLDL cholesterol are considered to be harmful to body, because it carries cholesterol into bloodstream. Once in bloodstream, it can be deposited on artery walls, which promotes arteriosclerosis.