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Glucose for Hypoglycemia

By Hope Warshaw, MMSc, RD, CDE, diabetes educator, consultant, and member of the CanAm Care advisory board; and Riva Greenberg, diabetes patient-expert, author, speaker, and Huffington Post columnist.

You may find that controlling blood sugar levels, to prevent and/or minimize both low and high blood sugar, is like walking a tightrope, and an ongoing daily challenge. Also, the closer you try to keep your blood sugar levels in target ranges, the more episodes of hypoglycemia may occur.

Why glucose products are recommended to correct mild and moderate lows

For mild or moderate lows, healthcare professionals, diabetes educators and organizations like the American Diabetes Association recommend products specially formulated with pure glucose over other carbohydrate to get your blood sugar level back into a normal range quickly. These products are available in tablets, liquids and gels and can be found at pharmacies and major retailers nationwide. In clinical studies* over the past 25 years, pure glucose products have been proven to work faster than other glucose-raising foods and drinks. They also offer many other pluses.

Glucose tablets, liquids and gels are:

1.Especially formulated to be fast-acting
2.Packaged for fast and easy access
3.Pre-measured so you always know the exact amount of glucose you’re consuming
4.Available in small-sized containers that are easy to carry and store
5.Easy to keep anywhere and need no refrigeration
6.Made without fat or caffeine and, unlike candies, cola or juice, they have just a few calories
7.Available in a variety of flavors to suit individual tastes

Fruit juice and hard candies are a good second choice for raising blood sugar. They are made from two types of sugars: glucose and fructose (more formally called monosaccharides). Glucose raises blood sugar more quickly than fructose, so pure glucose products may raise your blood glucose faster than a food that contains a mix of glucose and fructose.