Alternative to Lucozade...

[mattpenn]

During a day at work (teaching) whilst I am dieting, I quite often need a top up of sugar levels. At the moment, I swig Lucozade which is good because it acts so quickly, but are there any better alternatives?

There's no fat in it which is obviously good but can anyone suggest a more practical, healthy substitute?

 

[l0vaduck]

During a day at work (teaching) whilst I am dieting, I quite often need a top up of sugar levels. At the moment, I swig Lucozade which is good because it acts so quickly, but are there any better alternatives?

There's no fat in it which is obviously good but can anyone suggest a more practical, healthy substitute?

I was very surprised to learn that small cartons of fruit juice are often used to treat hypos. This surprised me because I always thought that fructose was more slowly absorbed than other sugars, but having tried it, it seems to work and gives the added benefit of vitamins.

Ribena is good if you can get it - seems to act faster than anything on me. I don't like fizzy drinks so I can't compare with lucozade.

I also carry Dextrosol tablets as they are lighter and less likely to leak when I'm out and about. In a way a hypo cure can't really be what you might consider "healthy" as what you need is fast acting sugar, but for a person with a hypo, it's the healthiest thing we can have!

 

[phoenix]

Are you actually hypo when you obviously need glucose because it's fast acting , or is it just a bit on the low side and you're trying to avoid BG falling further ?

If you are going hypo, its better to try to avoid it than have to remedy it. (I know a bit optimistic!)
Your weight loss, coupled with less food probably means you need to reduce your insulin.
If you're using Basal/bolus and you're going low within 2-3 hours after your rapid injection then you should be reducing your insulin with meals.
You may also need to adjust your basal, but only alter one type of insulin at a time.

If its the latter then the fast action of glucose isn't necessarily the right thing. You might be better using something else that has a lower GI; the healthiest is probably fruit though not easy in the classroom .
When I've been on courses at my hospital (not in the UK) they tend to pass the fruit bowl if someone is lowish rather than hypo. (they distinguish between low and hypo. They define hypo at a slightly lower level than in the UK)

 

[l0vaduck]

Are you actually hypo when you obviously need glucose because it's fast acting , or is it just a bit on the low side and you're trying to avoid BG falling further ?

If you are going hypo, its better to try to avoid it than have to remedy it. (I know a bit optimistic!)
Your weight loss, coupled with less food probably means you need to reduce your insulin.
If you're using Basal/bolus and you're going low within 2-3 hours after your rapid injection then you should be reducing your insulin with meals.
You may also need to adjust your basal, but only alter one type of insulin at a time.

If its the latter then the fast action of glucose isn't necessarily the right thing. You might be better using something else that has a lower GI; the healthiest is probably fruit though not easy in the classroom .
When I've been on courses at my hospital (not in the UK) they tend to pass the fruit bowl if someone is lowish rather than hypo. (they distinguish between low and hypo. They define hypo at a slightly lower level than in the UK)

That's an interesting distinction, not one you often hear mentioned. Personally whether I treat something as hypo depends not just on the level, but also on the speed. For example if I was at 4.0 2 hours after a meal and about to go and teach, I would treat that as a hypo because I want to be absolutely certain I'm not going to go lower before the hypofix works. On the other hand if it's the weekend and I'm just sitting around relaxing I wouldn't treat 4.0 at all unless I felt as if I was dropping.

Completely agree that if just a bit low then a lower GI snack's healthier. Going to bed if I have a reading less than 5 I eat an organic digestive biscuit (slightly lower carb and a bit nicer than the normal kind). I find that most fruit raises my blood sugar quite quickly, so I wouldn't consider it low GI.

 

[Daibell]

Hi, assuming you are on insulin then I agree with Phoenix that a lower-GI approach might be better unless you are rapidly going hypo? If you need too much Lucozade then perhaps your insulin might need re-balancing? If you aren't on insulin or Gliclazide then I'm surprised you are having Lucozade at all

 

[l0vaduck]

Hi, assuming you are on insulin then I agree with Phoenix that a lower-GI approach might be better unless you are rapidly going hypo? If you need too much Lucozade then perhaps your insulin might need re-balancing? If you aren't on insulin or Gliclazide then I'm surprised you are having Lucozade at all

Yes, I was assuming type 1 as well, sorry.

 

[phoenix]

Me to assuming T1

L0vaduck, I might be wrong but I get the impression that DAFNE also makes that distinction.
This is from a presentation about DAFNE myths the previous slide has a 4s the floor title and a dotted line at 4 with a question mark The second slide suggests eating at 3.5 and above and treating below that level.

http://www.dafne.uk.com/uploads/224/doc ... ptions.pdf

 

[AMBrennan]

Are you sure you're allowed to link to that document? Surely there is serious risk of harm if we should glance at it without a DAFNE instructor in the room.

I was very surprised to learn that small cartons of fruit juice are often used to treat hypos. This surprised me because I always thought that fructose was more slowly absorbed than other sugars, but having tried it, it seems to work and gives the added benefit of vitamins.

Well, it's a bit more complicated than that. Not all sugar from fruit is fructose (in fact, one of the alternative names for glucose is "grape sugar"). According to Wikipedia, most fruit contains equal amounts of fructose and glucose (notable exceptions)

Orange juice is a favourite, and 200ml contains: 7.9g sucrose (table sugar), 4.6g glucose and 5g fructose.
[sucrose is simply linked glucose-fructose pairs which can be split easily]

Lucozade, too, is about half fructose and half glucose (water+Glucose Fructose Syrup), so there is virtually no difference between this and fruit juice.

However, there is a healthier option: Glucotabs. Since you only really need the glucose to treat hypos, this would allow you to treat hypos with half the calories. Alternatively, you could buy pure glucose (sold, for reasons I don't understand, only with added vitamin C at Boots or Holland and Barret) and mix your own.

 

[shop]

Peanuts are good for just topping you up and dont take you too high. Would have to test to see how many you would need.

Lucy xxx

 

[l0vaduck]

Are you sure you're allowed to link to that document? Surely there is serious risk of harm if we should glance at it without a DAFNE instructor in the room.

I was very surprised to learn that small cartons of fruit juice are often used to treat hypos. This surprised me because I always thought that fructose was more slowly absorbed than other sugars, but having tried it, it seems to work and gives the added benefit of vitamins.

Well, it's a bit more complicated than that. Not all sugar from fruit is fructose (in fact, one of the alternative names for glucose is "grape sugar"). According to Wikipedia, most fruit contains equal amounts of fructose and glucose (notable exceptions)

Orange juice is a favourite, and 200ml contains: 7.9g sucrose (table sugar), 4.6g glucose and 5g fructose.
[sucrose is simply linked glucose-fructose pairs which can be split easily]

Lucozade, too, is about half fructose and half glucose (water+Glucose Fructose Syrup), so there is virtually no difference between this and fruit juice.

However, there is a healthier option: Glucotabs. Since you only really need the glucose to treat hypos, this would allow you to treat hypos with half the calories. Alternatively, you could buy pure glucose (sold, for reasons I don't understand, only with added vitamin C at Boots or Holland and Barret) and mix your own.

I use Dextrosol a lot to treat hypos as they're handier to carry than cartons of fruit juice, but I find that juice works quicker. I don't think I take more calories when using juice, except for the fact that the cartons are usually 20g carbs instead of the 15g I would take with Dextrosol. I would have thought juice was healthier as it has not just vitamin C (naturally occurring) but other vits as well?

 

[AMBrennan]

As you have pointed out correctly, fructose is metabolised differently. For this reason, it was used quite a lot as a table sugar substitute for diabetics since it doesn't affect BG nearly as much. This also makes fructose unsuitable for treating hypos [You can buy pure fructose too.]

Since orange juice is about 50% fructose, you'd expect that one pack (20g sugar total, 10g of which is glucose) will raise your BG by the same amount as 10g of pure glucose (10g sugar total, all of which is glucose).
That doesn't necessarily say anything about the speed of action though - do you have the tablets with water? I mostly use this for exercise (20min of swimming can drop my BG by 10mmol/l :shock, and I was able to cut total carbs (as well as save a lot of money) by switching to pure glucose mixed with water.

 

[phoenix]

AMBrennan wrote:
Are you sure you're allowed to link to that document? Surely there is serious risk of harm if we should glance at it without a DAFNE instructor in the room

Probably not with all the secrecy that sometimes surrounds DAFNE
Rather than bring the wrath of the goddess down upon us (copyright?) I've removed the graph, as it's served it's purpose and it was a bit big in any case and left in the link to the document, which surprisingly isn't behind a password.

 

[l0vaduck]

As you have pointed out correctly, fructose is metabolised differently. For this reason, it was used quite a lot as a table sugar substitute for diabetics since it doesn't affect BG nearly as much. This also makes fructose unsuitable for treating hypos [You can buy pure fructose too.]

Since orange juice is about 50% fructose, you'd expect that one pack (20g sugar total, 10g of which is glucose) will raise your BG by the same amount as 10g of pure glucose (10g sugar total, all of which is glucose).
That doesn't necessarily say anything about the speed of action though - do you have the tablets with water? I mostly use this for exercise (20min of swimming can drop my BG by 10mmol/l :shock, and I was able to cut total carbs (as well as save a lot of money) by switching to pure glucose mixed with water.

I see what you mean, but in all honesty I've found that a carton of orange juice (20g) works quicker than 5 Dextrosol tablets (15g), maybe I'm swallowing it quicker. I will have water with the Dextrosol if it's available but often it's not, because of the reasons why I am using Dextrosol (ie easier to carry in a pocket!). Glucose mixed with water isn't terribly convenient to carry when out and about, although it would be fine for home use - how long does it keep mixed up? That's the other thing - hypo fixes need to be quite long lived as (hopefully!) I will go for days without needing them!

 

[AMBrennan]

Glucose mixed with water isn't terribly convenient to carry when out and about, although it would be fine for home use - how long does it keep mixed up?

No idea - I use that mostly for sports (i.e. immediately) and use Glucotabs/Dextrosol for treating hypos.

 

[Clikill02]

Does anyone else find a glass of milk a quick or handy solution?
If at home and and I am going low ie 3.5 to 4 if find this tides me over
Am I alone on the milk front? I have never really used glucose drinks in 26 years also find the small cartons of juice very good