Licorice Root: A Sweet Choice

Licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra) is a wonderful herb that is sweet to the taste and that helps balance the blood sugar level. This herb also has been called “The Great Harmonizer” and tends to live up to its name: It has helped me steady my hypoglycemia, and I have seen it work the same for many others. Take a couple of capsules between each meal to keep the blood sugar balanced and your energy level even keel.
Licorice root is considered a tonic for the adrenal glands and will help produce adrenal hormones such as cortisone when your body calls for it. Hypoglycemia can be brought on by adrenal stress which, in turn, is brought on by poor nutrition, vigorous physical work, and mental and emotional stress. Licorice’s harmonizing effects eliminate that three o’clock down-time—sometimes called the “afternoon blahs”—that you may experience, whether hypoglycemic or not. Licorice root also soothes mucus membranes, making it a good cough remedy. It helps lower allergic responses and is also useful to bring down high cholesterol levels. By supporting the adrenal glands, licorice also provides energy—so revered an herb it is that it was buried alongside King Tut in his Egyptian tomb! In addition, licorice root is used commercially as an additive to chewing tobacco and is added as a flavoring in Guinness beer. This does not give the hypoglycemic an excuse to drink beer, however; alcohol is detrimental for low blood sugar. (Go ahead, call me a party pooper.)

Dieting for the Hypoglycemic

With hypoglycemia, it’s important to manage your diet well and always make sure that you have some type of food source handy.
Avoid caffeine, which will lower your blood sugar. Also avoid sugar, which can put your own blood sugar (glucose) on a roller coaster ride and make you crash harder and faster than if you didn’t eat it in the first place. If you must eat sweets, do not eat them on an empty stomach; eat sweets after a regular meal.
Other tips to manage hypoglycemia:

• Eat a high-fiber diet to slow digestion of foods.
• Eat small meals frequently to maintain blood sugar.
• Watch out for fruits and fruit juices. These are high in sugar content and can cause a crash just like refined sugar can.
• If you tend to wake up in the middle of the night, this could be an indication of your blood sugar dipping. To correct this, try a handful of cashews or other protein just before bed. Protein digests slowly through the system and will help keep you steady through the night.
• Eat some protein every morning—some examples for breakfast can be yogurt, a protein smoothie, or peanut butter on an apple. You can also take three capsules of the herb spirulina, which is rich in protein. It will help carry you through the day.
• Watch what you eat, and note any food allergies that may be triggering a problem.
• Take your supplements. The following have all been helpful in the correction or management of hypoglycemia: GTF chromium (GTF stands for “glucose tolerance factor”) is a mineral that helps steady your blood sugar.

L-glutamine is an amino acid useful in sugar metabolism. A combination of licorice root, safflowers, dandelion, and horseradish is helpful to the glands and digestion. Spirulina taken between meals is a rich source of protein that can help keep you nourished.

Hypoglycemia: A Sweet Solution

Hypoglycemia is a condition in which a person has low blood sugar. The opposite of low blood sugar is hyperglycemia, otherwise known as diabetes. Our pancreas and adrenal glands are mostly responsible for helping the blood sugar level stay balanced. When our blood sugar drops, it signals our hunger button and prompts us to eat. Almost every symptom you can think of can be related to hypoglycemia, which is what makes it difficult to pinpoint. Large fluctuations in blood sugar can make us feel depressed, anxious, and fatigued. Since hypoglycemia affects your brain, muscles, digestion, and glands, symptoms may also include: sleepiness, lack of concentration, memory problems, mood swings, irritability, insomnia, nightmares, blurred vision, and heart palpitations.
If a hypoglycemic gets hungry and ignores the signal to eat right away, he may experience these symptoms:
➤ Grumpiness
➤ Headaches
➤ Nausea
➤ Shakiness
➤ Sweating
➤ A spaced-out feeling
➤ Shortness of breath
Because blood sugar is the primary food for the brain, severe hypoglycemic attacks can cause a person to pass out. In some cases, an attack may even be damaging to the brain.
Hypoglycemia can usually be controlled by diet. I have managed to overcome my own systemic hypoglycemia after being properly diagnosed. I then was able to investigate the disorder thoroughly and understood what exactly was happening. As with many physical problems, hypoglycemia forces you to become more aware of your body’s communication with you.
Blood sugar fluctuates with the foods we eat. Learning to become conscious of the process will become routine once you understand some simple things you can do to manage the problem. Diet and herbs helped free me from attacks, and I am now able to recognize the symptoms associated with this ailment, which I’ll share with you here.