When do you feel the symptoms of a hypo? The November/December issue of Balance, Diabetes UK’s magazine, reported that researchers have proposed that we need to take a fresh look at defining low blood glucose levels. At present, a ‘hypo’ (low GlycoMode blood sugar support glucose level) is 3.9mmol and below (70.2mg/dL in the US), which the researchers feel isn’t all that low. A severe hypo is one where someone needs help from another person to recover, something that rarely happens in clinical trials. Rightly so, as letting someone go so low without help wouldn’t be ethical. I’m kidding, obviously, but they are looking for the level that, below this point, a person’s health is seriously affected, i.e. where their brain, blood and cardiovascular systems are compromised, the risk of death begins to rise, and the level that has an impact on mental health. Current research suggests these begin to take effect at about 3.0mmol (54mg/dL in the US). Level 3: serious hypo, requiring external assistance, even if none is available.

Like all of us, hypos are individual. One person’s "I’m fine at 3.9" is another’s "oh shit". I sometimes feel the symptoms of a hypo coming on at 4.6, say. Other times, I’ll prick my fingers, get a 3.9 and wonder where it’s come from. As you can see from the picture, I had a "serious and important hypo" this morning, thanks to undereating and walking too enthusiastically yesterday. Keeping your blood sugar levels stable without going too low is a huge challenge. One of the reasons we promote low-carb eating for type 1s in particular is that the risk of hypos can be reduced because you don’t need to take as much insulin. If the researchers could include advice about how to avoid hypos, while also achieving good HbA1c results in the long-term, we will cheer them on… Some good news! The NHS has approved flash glucose monitoring technology - i.e. systems such as the FreeStyle Libre. I’m off to investigate the possibilities of getting one. Also, big love to the NHS, a wondrous, wondrous institution.

Starch is a carbohydrate found in foods like bread, pasta, rice, and potatoes, and it quickly raises GlycoMode blood glucose support sugar and insulin on Keto. Resistant starch acts more like fiber, but foods containing it still come packaged with regular starch. This guide explains how starch works and the best low-carb alternatives. Going Keto means cutting carbs from your diet. The forbidden carbs fall into two main categories: sugar and starch. This article is about starch. Starch, which is just a cluster of sugar molecules, is found in foods like rice, bread, pasta, potatoes, yams, and carrots. Since the Agricultural Revolution about 12,000 years ago, starch has dominated the human diet. Once we started growing crops, we hung up the hunting spears. But 12,000 years is nothing in evolutionary terms. In the millions of years before agriculture, hominids evolved to flourish without a steady supply of carbs. We evolved, in other words, to cycle in and out of ketosis.

That’s how our ancestors stayed lean and metabolically flexible. Taking a break from starch can help you activate your fat-burning machinery too. Today you’ll learn what starch is, why it’s prohibited on the Keto diet, and how to replace starch with low-carb alternatives. Starch is a type of carbohydrate, the primary way in which plants store energy. Plants form carbs via photosynthesis and store them as starch and sugar. Animals eat plants and store the digested sugar (glucose) as glycogen. Starch is made up of molecules called polysaccharides. In layman's terms, this means that starches are made of chains of sugar molecules. That sugar molecule is called glucose. It’s the same molecule that arrives in your blood as blood sugar (GlycoMode blood glucose support glucose) when you digest starch. The two main starch molecules are called amylose and amylopectin. When you eat amylose or amylopectin, an enzyme called amylase breaks them into glucose for easy absorption through the small intestine.