Reactive Hypoglycemia: Not As Complex As You May Think! – Dr.Berg

I explain reactive hypoglycemia.

Timestamps:
0:00 Why reactive hypoglycemia is important to understand
1:00 You don’t want blood sugar too low or too high
4:07 I agree that the best diet for hypoglycemia emphasizes healthy fats and protein

I explain what reactive hypoglycemia is and why you need to understand it.

There’s a condition called postprandial hypoglycemia which is different; it’s the low blood sugar that happens anywhere from immediately to four hours after a meal, especially a high carb one.

Your body tries to keep your blood sugar tightly controlled; not too high, not too low. Insulin is the hormone that tries to reduce your blood sugar. There are other hormones releasing sugar back into your blood to ensure your blood glucose doesn’t go too low.

Too low and you could experience these symptoms: tiredness, brain fog, dizziness, craving sweets, or even a coma if it goes badly low. With hypoglycemia, the insulin overreacts and pushes the blood sugar down with too much force and/or not enough adrenal support so your cortisol is low.

If you have a liver problem and your body doesn’t have enough of the hormone called IGF to counter the insulin. Or there’s another hormone produced by the pancreas called glucagon which also counters insulin.

Sometimes the medical profession doesn’t acknowledge that hypoglycemia exists. There are levels of hypoglycemia. You can’t just test fasting glucose, you have to test blood sugar at one-hour intervals for four hours after a meal. I don’t even think the test is valid because you drink a glucose mixture.
Ideally your blood sugar is below 70. But even if it’s 75 or 80 and you have hypoglycemia symptoms, you could have severe insulin resistance. Because insulin controls the input of glucose into your cells, your cells could be starving for glucose yet your blood sugar tests at a normal level.

I agree that the best diet for hypoglycemia emphasizes healthy fats and protein. But it’s really as simple as cutting out carbs. I guarantee if you stop eating carbs and adapt to fat burning your blood sugar will come out nicely and you won’t have hypoglycemic symptoms anymore. Our bodies aren’t designed to run off of high carbohydrate diets.

Some experts advise frequent small meals to heal longstanding hypoglycemia. I disagree. Every time you eat you stimulate insulin. If you eat less frequently you’ll keep insulin low. Without high insulin your blood sugar will be level.

Eating sugar and refined carbohydrates triggers excessive reactions by the pancreas, which leads to reactive hypoglycemia.

Dr. Eric Berg DC Bio:
Dr. Berg, age 56, is a chiropractor who specializes in Healthy Ketosis & Intermittent Fasting. He is the author of the best-selling book The Healthy Keto Plan, and is the Director of Dr. Berg Nutritionals. He no longer practices, but focuses on health education through social media.

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Disclaimer:
Dr. Eric Berg received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1988. His use of “doctor” or “Dr.” in relation to himself solely refers to that degree. Dr. Berg is a licensed chiropractor in Virginia, California, and Louisiana, but he no longer practices chiropractic in any state and does not see patients so he can focus on educating people as a full time activity, yet he maintains an active license. This video is for general informational purposes only. It should not be used to self-diagnose and it is not a substitute for a medical exam, cure, treatment, diagnosis, and prescription or recommendation. It does not create a doctor-patient relationship between Dr. Berg and you. You should not make any change in your health regimen or diet before first consulting a physician and obtaining a medical exam, diagnosis, and recommendation. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

Thanks for watching!

[KJT]

If I don't get sleep, am dehydrated, and eat a large amounts of carbs in the morning, within 2-3 hours I shake, lose my legs, and panic looking for an apple or cheese.
Reactive Hypoglycemia feels like a WAVE coming on...where you get anxious and start nervously talking and realize "Uh oh it's here".
Goes away after eating something, but an episode zaps the life out of you. It's like TOO much insulin gets pumped out, the OPPOSITE of Diabetes.

[AliMacDonald]

I was diagnosed with reactive hypo nearly 8 years ago, the hospital nutritionist advised me to eat carbs every 2 hours to prevent it, that was obviously the totally wrong thing to do and sent me on a blood sugar rollercoaster. I struggled on for years trying to keep it under control (not very successfully). 6 months ago I decided to give keto a try and it’s been life changing, blood sugar finally behaving!

[cathy]

I had this problem for years. Constant hunger, fatigue, snacking, could barely make it through the day. I wish I had known about this maddening cycle of carbs exacerbating everything. Healthy keto has given me my life back.

[dancingmandy]

I swear, I’ll type in the most random symptom I’m experiencing and Dr Berg ALWAYS HAS A VIDEO ON IT. How do we deserve all this free content? A

[rozzzr]

The only carbs I eat are veggies and a few berries and I’m suffering with reactive hypoglycemia. No health professionals seem to know what to do about it. I wake up in the morning with RH and it’s with me all day long. I cry a lot 🥺.

[Jeresicle]

For the past year and a half I have suffered from reactive hypoglycemia. I couldn't keep my blood sugar above 70 even after meals. Somethings it would go as low as 20. Recently I started a keto like diet and my blood sugar has flatlined around 100. Before keto 100 was unachievable. Thank you Dr. Berg for all the great content.

[thestefandjokic]

I watched some of your older videos just a few hours ago, and I have to say, you look sooo much better than 6 years ago. Insane! 😂

[videofeen]

I have Insulin Resistance and what I believe to be reactive hypoglycemia as well. I’ve had it for over 15 years I believe. I have the hyper pigmented neck
to show for it. Keto is the best thing I discovered. I would go to the doctor and complain about me being tired all of the time, and sleep tests were recommended but for over 5 years, no doctors visit could explain why I was always so tired no matter how much I slept, etc. It was the high carb and frequent eating. My energy has drastically improved after switching to a low carb diet. It’s a mental struggle but I hope in the years to come I can reverse these conditions.

[cyndianne]

For years I thought I had problems with low blood sugar. Thanks to you Dr B, I have learned it's due to IR. You are spot on! Starting Keto helped alot but once I started one meal a day my blood sugar feels stable. No more shakiness and feeling weak a few hours after eating! You have empowered me to transform my life! 😄❤

[joshtaylor]

I can say that after 4 years of keto (zero blood sugar issues during that time) I’ve came off recently to test it out and I still have reactive hypoglycemia. So I don’t think keto “heals it “. But definitely nutritionally puts it in remission.

[RM.....]

The man is just a wealth of knowledge. Keep up the great work sir. We need more people like you in the medical world ASAP

[jessli]

I've cut carbs waaay back and still have bad dips in blood sugar. It also helped when I stopped eating things I didn't know I was allergic to. Please do more vids on this. This one was very helpful. Thank you!

[Stephanie_rd]

Thank God for this channel. My endocrinologist that I had to pay $167 told me to eat more sugar when I feel lightheaded and to lose weight. He didn’t even tell me what kind of sugar to eat or what kind of food to eat.

[lillypod]

Dr. Berg, yu literally gave us our lives back. My husband and I have been declining rapidly over the last 10 years and didn't know why. With pure Luck I stumbled upon your videos 10 months ago and we went from chronically fatiqued overweight middle-aged housesitters to thin and active extreme weather off-grid campers and kayakers. And this means a lot because with my scoliosis I never thought I'd be able to help pitch a massive 4-season tent with heavy poles without screaming and collapsing in pain. All credit goes to you :)

[KayNJ]

In the late 90s I was diagnosed with reactive hypoglycemia as a freshman in college. The smallest amount of sugar, I'm talking one or two grams, would cause a 3 or 4 hour crash. A 5 hour glucose tolerance test showed my blood sugar crashed before the first hour and taking the rest of the time to bounce back. The fix was almost all protein and then integrating vegetables when I could stop feeling my blood sugar rise.

[DennisT-]

I noticed this when i eat to many fast carbohydrates. When i do my long endurance exercises over 1.75 hours i add carbs. When i add to many i get hypo a few hours after. I am not a diabetic.

18:40
78mg/dl

19-21 Endurance training and 200G Maltodextrin

23:06
72mg/dl

23:18 started feeling tired and weak and a little shaky (my mind feels fine no brainfog). i know i do not need more carbs since my body will raise the blood sugar on its own
53mg/dl

23:23
66mg/dl

23:28
74mg/dl

23:33
77mg/dl

23:38
87mg/dl

23:43
93mg/dl

most of the times if you are not diabetic you will feel bad but it is highly unlikely that anything serious will happen.

[ronachadwick]

I have just eaten a high fat low carb meal. Pre reading was 5.2. After eating i fell asleep for 30 mins. Took reading 2.3! Am taking blood glucose readings 30 60 and 120 mins after eating. Hope i can get on top of this.

[spaghelle]

Please address this for people’s like myself who suffer from this after eating a small cucumber (carbs) with a side of grassfed beef. Not everyone dealing with this eats a high carb diet. I’ve been dealing with this for years and am trying to find out if it’s a food intolerance, it’s from eating high fat keto diet, or maybe peripheral insulin resistance from high intensity exercise.

[paddybear]

Hello Dr Berg I cant thank you enough these videos are
like a breath of fresh air thank you

[howtomedicate]

It is very important to understand the concept of reactive hypoglycemia! This can cause dangerous situations, therefore you should know what is going on.