Low Blood Sugars & Emotional Eating
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The episode, word for word
There's a very specific moment a lot of us know too well.
You're low. You grab Glucose Tabs like a responsible adult. And then five seconds later your brain says, "While we're here, this would also be a great time for a frosted strawberry Pop-Tart, two Nutty Buddy bars, and a 'small' bowl of Froot Loops the size of a salad."
Today we're going to separate what you crave from what you actually need in that moment, using real numbers, not just "try harder."
I'm Neil Greathouse, and this is Your Best T1D Year.
Welcome to Week 6 of the Low Blood Sugar Challenge.
Monday we talked about guilt, how you can be doing objectively better and still feel like food is complicated. This episode is the next step: treating lows as medical while still leaving room for actual, guilt-free enjoyment of food.
If you're just jumping in now, that's fine. You do not need the whole eight-week backstory to use this filter:
Low = glucose.
Craving = food.
They are different jobs.
Here's the filter you can run anytime your brain starts negotiating in front of the pantry.
Question 1: Am I low?
Meter or CGM says you're genuinely below your low threshold.
You've got the usual suspects: shaky, sweaty, foggy, maybe irritable enough to fight a traffic cone.
That is a medical problem. The treatment is fast-acting glucose, measured on purpose.
Most lows only need about 8 to 15 grams of carbohydrate, according to standard teaching and Ginger's guidelines. Some outliers need more, but the majority do not need a full dessert menu.
Question 2: Am I hungry or craving?
You're in range or close, maybe trending down, but not actually low.
You saw a commercial for Domino's, or you walked by a sleeve of Oreos, or your brain whispered, "Remember that toaster strudel with the extra icing packet?"
That's hunger or craving, not a medical emergency. That belongs in the food category, not "low treatment."
You're allowed to want colorful, ridiculous cereal. You're allowed to want an Oatmeal Creme Pie or a glazed donut with sprinkles. You're just not required to use 62 mg/dL as your excuse to go get it.
Let's zoom out from that one moment.
From your research and Ginger's math:
A typical low-binge can easily hit 500 calories; some go over 1,000.
At 500 extra calories per binge, one binge per week adds up to about 24,000 extra calories per year, or roughly 7 pounds of weight gain.
Two binges a week? Now you're at about 14 pounds per year. Three a week? Around 20 pounds.
And that's on top of the insulin reality:
About 60 percent of people with T1D are overweight, in part because insulin is a storage hormone and people with T1D often need more of it just to stay afloat.
Add frequent low-binges to that, and you're stacking more stored fat, more total daily insulin, and more frustration on top of an already uphill climb.
On the blood sugar side, studies on hypoglycemia and rebound highs keep showing the same pattern:
Over-treating lows and bouncing into high glucose makes variability worse, increases oxidative stress, and is linked to lower time-in-range and more diabetes distress.
So when you treat a 60 with Glucose Tabs and then pile on a big bowl of Trix "for safety," it's not just tonight's graph that changes, it's A1C, weight, and mental load over months and years.
Not to shame you. To give your future self a reason to try the smaller, more intentional choice.
Here's how you turn that filter and those stats into something you can use at 2am without a spreadsheet.
Step 1: Call it what it is.
Quietly, in your own head or under your breath:
"This is a low. This is medical. I need Glucose Tabs."
Or, "I'm just craving sugar right now. That's food, not low medicine."
Labeling it buys you a second before your hands grab everything in reach.
Step 2: Treat the low with glucose, not candy.
For this challenge, lows get one category only:
Glucose Tabs
Glucose gel
Glow Glucose Gummies (or another true glucose gummy)
That's it.
No Smarties. No Skittles. No Sour Patch Kids. No "but it's just a few gummy bears." Those all have sugar, but they're not pure glucose, and they live way too close to the "fun food" line we're trying to separate.
You and your care team can decide the exact amount, but for most people, that's in the 8, 15 gram range for a typical low. Take the dose you've chosen, set a 15, 20 minute timer, and give the glucose a chance to do its job before you negotiate with the pantry.
Step 3: If you still want something after you're safe, that's a craving. Treat it like food.
Dose for it.
Sit down.
Eat the birthday cake, the frozen yogurt piled with toppings, or the giant bowl of Fruity Pebbles on purpose, when you're back in range, instead of stapling it onto your low treatment.
That small separation between "glucose is medicine" and "food is food" is where you start to break the cycle the research talks about: fewer giant binges, fewer rage-boluses, less slow weight creep, and less emotional fallout after every episode.
Think about every heist movie ever.
There's the plan... and then there's the moment someone says, "What if we just grab one more thing?" That's the part where everything explodes.
That second voice is what shows up during lows.
"I know I took Glucose Tabs, but what if I also grab a giant slice of funfetti cake with extra frosting... just to be safe?"
The mission was: get your brain enough glucose to function. Everything after that is the "one more thing" that blows up your graph and your mood.
Here's your question for this week:
"When was the last time my low treatment turned into an 'I deserve this' craving?"
Was it a late-night cereal situation?
A drive-thru run that started as "I'm low" and turned into a full combo meal?
A low that "needed" ice cream plus toppings because the day was hard?
No judgment. Just notice one example. That's the crack in the wall where this new filter can slide in next time.
If you're just joining us, this is Week 6 of the Low Blood Sugar Challenge. You are not late to the party.
Here's how it works:
Go to yourbestt1dyear.com.
Sign up, you'll get one short weekly email, no spam, just one tool and one bit of encouragement.
This week's focus: low = glucose, craving = food. You don't have to change everything, just that one line.
You'll get a digital badge at the end because adults deserve stickers for doing quietly brutal work like this. And yes, this is the same work happening on this side of the mic too.
If all of this has you thinking, "I should not be trying to untangle food, guilt, and lows completely on my own," that's exactly where Blue Circle Health comes in.
Blue Circle Health is a free virtual care program for adults with type 1. You get real endocrinologists, diabetes educators, social workers, and tech support to help with CGMs, insulin changes, the emotional load, and insurance mess. They've already helped hundreds of people improve time-in-range and reduce diabetes distress.
They're now in 23 states plus Washington DC, including newer additions like Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois. This isn't a gimmick. It's actually free. There is no catch. Go to bluecirclehealth.org, see if your state is on the list, and sign up for free.
Type 1 diabetes is relentless, but managing it doesn't have to be. New episodes drop every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
You're learning to give your body what it medically needs without letting every low become a loophole. That's not small. That's you quietly re-writing the story those statistics are telling. You're building something stronger than you realize. Keep going.
// Year 33 Day 318 #YourBestT1DYear
Feb 13 - 157
This is the script as read on the mic, lightly tidied for reading. Education, not medical advice. Talk to your care team before you change anything about your insulin.