Your Brain and Chronic Illness

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What is Hypoglycemia?

Literally speaking hypoglycemia means low blood sugar. The body tries at all times to maintain a nearly constant blood sugar level. This is especially important for the brain and the nervous system. The only fuel the brain can use is glucose. If the blood sugar level for some reason is depressed below normal, or if blood sugar levels drop too rapidly, the brain is unable to function appropriately. This can lead to a wide variety of symptoms associated with abnormal nervous system function. As we see later, in response to low blood sugar the adrenal glands release adrenaline into the blood stream. Adrenaline produces symptoms of anxiety, trembling and/or panic attacks.

Symptoms Associated with Hypoglycemia

• Alcoholism (craving for alcohol, which is fermented sugar)
• Allergies
• Asthma
• Binge eating
• Blurred vision
• Constant worrying, unprovoked anxieties
• Convulsions
• Crying spells
• Depression
• Digestive disturbances
• Drowsiness Exhaustion
• Faintness, dizziness, tremor, cold sweats, weak spells
• Food cravings
• Forgetfulness
• Headaches
• Impotence (males)
• Incoordination
• Indecisiveness
• Insomnia (awakening and inability to return to sleep)
• Internal trembling
• Irritability
• Itching and crawling sensations on skin
• Lack of sex drive (females)
• Lack of concentration
• Leg cramps
• Lump in throat
• Mental confusion
• Muscle pains
• Nervous breakdown
• Nervousness
• Nightmares
• Numbness
• Palpitation of heart, rapid pulse
• Panic Attacks
• Phobias
• Fears
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Staggering Suicidal intent
• Twitching and jerking of muscles
• Unsocial, asocial, antisocial behavior
• Vertigo, dizziness

Dietary Consumption of Sugar

They are three types of foods: carbohydrates, fats and proteins.

Carbohydrate foods include sugar, breads, potatoes, cakes, candies, popcorn, fruits, vegetables and grains.

Fats include animal fat, butter and vegetable oils.

Proteins include meats, chicken, turkey and fish, and such vegetable sources as soybean and other beans.

The sugar consumption in the United States of America has climbed steadily over the last two centuries. 200 years ago, the average person in America consumed less than ten pounds of sugar per year.

In the 1890 is the cola craze swept the nation. These drinks were essentially water and sugar.

By 1975 the average sugar consumption in America had increased to 120 pounds of sugar per year. In 1990 the sugar consumption had increased by nearly 20 pounds to 138 pounds a year. This equals 170 grams of sugar per day. In addition, modern food processing such as milling, leads to nutritionally empty foods.

Even though the French eat plenty of butter, cheese, liver pate and other fatty foods, the incidence of heart disease is 60 percent lower than in United States. The solution to this seeming paradox lies in fact that Americans consume 5 to 7 times more sugar than the French. So, what is wrong with the typical American diet?

The American Diet

The average person in America consumes approximately 425 grams of carbohydrates(starches and simple sugars), 105 grams of protein(amino acids), and 168 grams of fat(glycerol and fatty acids) per day.

Of the carbohydrate, about 60 percent is starch (polysaccharide), 30 percent sucrose, a disaccharide(a combination of two simple sugars) of glucose and fructose, and most of the remainder lactose(milk sugar), a disaccharide of glucose and galactose. Carbohydrate taken in the diet is broken down(hydrolyzed) in the gastrointestinal tract to give the monosaccharides(one simple sugar) glucose (80%), fructose (15%), and galactose (5%). Glucose and galactose are actively transported into the blood directly by the intestinal cells. Low levels of fructose will be converted by the intestinal cells into glucose, whereas high levels of fructose ingested result in fructose being directly absorbed.

Simple sugars represent 40 percent of the total carbohydrate intake among Americans. This means that the sugar intake of the average American amounts to 25 percent of the total daily food by weight. Sugar holds no nutritional value, it is actually harmful to your health. If we do not consume sugar straight in the form of candy, tea spoons of white powder for coffee and tea etc., it is inserted in thousands of foods. Just read the labels!

• It should be noted here that the normal adult, under most circumstances, is fully able to synthesize all of the carbohydrates that are needed from non-carbohydrate sources.

Because all of the necessary carbohydrates can be synthesized in sufficient amounts, there is no dietary requirement for carbohydrate and, typically, humans can exist with little or no carbohydrate being provided in the diet.

You can also go to Dr. Z's Self Evaluation for a more in depth review of your symptoms!

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