Often, sugar is referenced as the root of all health problems. And while processed sugar is certainly best consumed in minimal amounts, your body relies on natural sugars to fuel every cell of your body. This sugar, known as glucose or blood sugar, is essential to the healthy function of your heart, brain, and digestive system. When your blood sugar levels drop below a healthy range, it can have a significant impact on your body's functionality. Keep reading to learn more from a medical health center in Suffolk County, NY.
Symptoms of Hypoglycemia
Low blood sugar, also known as hypoglycemia, often brings on many early symptoms. Typically, these include hunger, headaches, and jitteriness. If you fail to elevate your blood sugar levels, those symptoms can progress to clammy skin, increased heart rate, mood changes, muddled thinking, and, counterintuitively, an aversion to food. This last symptom may surprise you, but it's common once you progress past those earlier feelings of hunger; you may begin to feel slightly nauseous and have no desire to eat or drink as a 
result of your hypoglycemia.
Severe hypoglycemia can eventually lead to sleep issues, blurry vision, loss of balance, and even more severe complications, such as seizures and loss of consciousness. It's incredibly important to address hypoglycemia when the earliest symptoms appear to avoid potentially serious health issues
Causes of Hypoglycemia
Low blood sugar can be brought on by several different health conditions. The most widely known condition that can lead to hypoglycemia is diabetes. However, other potential causes include:
- Kidney disorders
- Adrenal gland disorders
- Hepatitis
- Liver disease
- Eating disorders
- Pancreatic tumors
- Sepsis
In healthy individuals, simply abstaining from food for too long can cause blood sugar levels to drop and lead to the early symptoms mentioned above. However, eating will typically provide quick relief for these symptoms. If you have an underlying health condition, though, simply consuming calories may not be enough to elevate your blood sugar levels properly.
Managing Your Glucose Levels
For healthy individuals, properly managing your glucose levels is a matter of eating a healthy diet and living a healthy lifestyle. Eating regularly will keep blood sugar levels from dropping too low. However, you also want to avoid eating too many foods with high amounts of processed sugars as these can cause blood sugar levels to spike (hyperglycemia), followed by a drastic crash.
For those with diabetes, managing blood sugar levels also means managing levels of insulin in the body. Insulin is produced by your pancreas and is used to distribute glucose throughout the body. Individuals with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes don't produce the correct amount of insulin naturally and need to self-administer insulin injections to distribute glucose to their body's cells properly.
If you frequently suffer from symptoms of hypoglycemia, despite feeling like you eat a regular, healthy diet, consider visiting a family medical center in Suffolk County, NY. Doctors at Peconic Bay Medical Center can work with you to determine if there is an underlying reason for your low blood sugar levels and offer you a plan to help treat the issue. Make an appointment today.