How to treat low blood sugar

Low blood sugar is also known as hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is a condition that causes an abnormally low level of blood sugar, or blood glucose. This is the body's main source of energy. People with diabetes get hypoglycemia when their bodies do not have enough sugar to use as energy. There are a number of things that can cause people to develop hypoglycemia. Some people may develop it as a result of their diet, exercise regimen, or as a result of being on certain medications. The symptoms of hypoglycemia usually begin when people’s blood sugar drops to 70 milligrams per deciliter or lower.

You are at risk of having a low blood sugar reaction if you:

Skip or delay a meal or snack

Take too much insulin or eat too few carbohydrates

Exercise

Drink alcohol, especially without eating carbohydrates

Check your blood sugar if you have any of these symptoms:

Weakness and/or fatigue

Headache

Sweating

Anxiety

Dizziness

Shaking

Increased heartbeat

If your blood sugar is less than 70 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl):

Eat 15 to 30 grams of carbohydrate

Wait 15 minutes and then recheck your blood sugar

If your blood sugar is still less than 100 mg/dl, take another 15 grams of carbohydrate and retest your blood sugar in another 15 minutes. Repeat if necessary.

Healthy tips for Halloween

Set limits:

Put a limit on the amount of candy you will indulge in this Halloween.  Do this before Halloween even starts and you have 5 bags of mini candies floating around your hour.  You want to enjoy the holiday, but not overindulge in the sweet stuff.  Giving yourself a limit to the amount of candy you can have can help you stick to a healthier candy regiment.  The truth is, only a small amount of candy is required to satisfy a sweet tooth.

Eat before trick or treating:

Some people may think it is best to skip lunch or dinner to save their appetite and calories for candy. But this is the wrong way to go about it. Eat a good meal before they go trick-or-treating.  This can help curve cravings, and limit the amount of candy they will want as they are out. You need to eat a healthy, hearty meal before going out on Halloween. Make sure to eat a healthy, high-fiber meal that includes protein. This way, you are less likely to sneak Halloween candy later.

Count candy calories:

Not all candy is the same.  (Trust us, we wish it was too!) The type of candy you eat on Halloween can make a big difference in your total calorie intake.  Depending on the kind of candy you are more likely to eat, you need to limit your intake accordingly.  If you have the will power, try to choose candy that will reduce your total calorie and fat impact.  This can keep you from feeling guilty about sneaking that extra piece of candy.

Use trick-or-treating as a way to burn calories:

If you have kids, nieces, nephews, or close neighbors, forget about the candy and go trick-or-treating.  Take the time to plan out a route and hit a lot of houses, making the adventure fun for you and the kids. Leave the car at home and walk instead.  Look for hills and stairs to get the most of your night out.

Burn calories at home:

Even if you are staying in for Halloween, it doesn’t mean you need to sit around waiting for trick or treaters.  You can still keep active between candy runs to the door. It can be tempting to sit in front of the TV with a bowl of candy, but try to stay keep busy. The best way to make use of that time is to work out in your home.

How To Avoid Getting Sick This Season

We all know how annoying getting sick can be, and if you avoided the snot, sniffles and coughs well into the fall season you may think you are in the clear.  But cold and flu season is just around the corner, so here are some tips on how to avoid getting sick this upcoming season:

Increase your zinc intake:The mineral, zinc, works to help to strengthen the immune system.  In fact, immune cells like white blood cells need this mineral to function.  The most well-known place to get zinc is unquestionably oysters, which are rich in the mineral.  However, meats like calf’s liver, beef and lamb, are also abundant in zinc. 

Eat more yogurt:Probiotics found in yogurt, are good bacteria that keep the gut and intestines healthy.  Research has found that yogurt, owing to these probiotic properties, stimulates the production of white blood cells, fending off colds.

Remember to wash your hands and avoid touching your face: We touch everything around us with our hands, and a side effect of this is carrying around germs and bacteria that can get us sick.  According to some studies, people touch their eyes and nose are more likely to get sick than those that don’t.  Take the time – at least 20 seconds of scrubbing – to wash your hands with soap and water.  It takes almost half a minute to scrub away viruses that can cause the flu.

Avoid excessive drinking: Alcohol suppresses your immune system at a rate that is proportional to the amount you consume.  This means the more drinks you have, the bigger blow to your immune system.  Alcohol triggers a flood of cytokine proteins that induce fever and inflammation.  Alcohol also suppresses the ability for white blood cells to multiply and subsequently fend off a cold.

Get more Sleep: Lack of sleep can increase inflammation and inhibit the immune response by altering the way your genes function.  Not getting enough sleep increases your chances of catching colds and the flu.  Sleep also helps the body induce a better fever response to kill infection, when we don’t sleep the body has a hard time fighting infection this way.

Quit smoking: According to scientific studies, smoking cigarettes makes you more than five times more vulnerable to different strains of the flu.  The chemicals, additives and carcinogens that are contained in cigarettes decrease the ability of the immune system to do its job.  Even if you don’t smoke, you should also avoid people who do or areas where you can easily inhale cigarette smoke. The small hairs in the nose, called cilia, which work to block out harmful particles from the lungs are forced to work in overdrive to clear harmful particles.  This increases the chances of respiratory infections.

Add Cinnamon: This spice is a known antiviral, antifungal and antibacterial powerhouse.  This great addition to you coffee, oatmeal and dessert, has the ability to strengthen the immune system and fight off pathogens that cause illness.