Diabetic Survival Skills

As a very young teen I moved in with my biological father because he found out he was a critical diabetic. The family decided he shouldn’t live alone.  As a 14 year old girl acting as a caregiver I learned a lot.  The human body is a magical system of survival strategies that keep us safe, loved and protected.

We all have heard the funny term “hangry”  becoming irritable when we haven’t eaten.  This is actually the brain shutting down from lack of glucose.  The last part of the brain to shut down is the reptilian center at the lower part of the brain.  Interestingly, it is also where our fight response is stored.  If you have ever been around a diabetic when they are dangerously low in their blood sugar you would have seen them become hostile, violent or insulting before the moment before they drift into a coma.  This is the body’s last bit of consciousness and all that remains is fight.  The magic of the human body is designed specifically to fight for life to the end.

Whether you are diabetic, hypo or hyper glycemic or have well balanced sugar response you will notice that when you haven’t eaten you are more irritable or urgent.  This is just how our body keeps us alive.  Sugar and starches go into our bodies fast giving us a short lived rush of energy and clarity only to drop again causing the craving for sweets or starches to come back.  Obviously for a diabetic having a reaction the direct sugar will keep them alive long enough to get the healthy foods to balance the body; vegetables, fruit, lean meats.  However, as a normal person trying to stay calm, energetic and healthy getting on the sugar/starch roller coaster can be a frustrating and out of control struggle.  It takes about three days completely absent of sugar or starch to run the course and eliminate the rush and crash cycle just like any allergy.  If you are allergic to strawberries and you eat them you must be completely free of them for the itchy spots to go away and it takes about 3 days for your body to process it out of your system.   Think of sugar and starch the same way.  “If I have the rolls at dinner I’m going to crave sugar or starch for three days.”  When you think of foods this way it’s much easier to make smart choices.  

A critical type 1 diabetic has to eat regardless of hunger to maintain their pancreas function.  This is a big easy to see example of what all of us are going through on a less critical scale.  Consider your lifestyle if you were as mature about food as a healthy diabetic?  You would see starches, sugar and processed food as danger rather than entertainment or comfort.  To learn more about how to use hypnosis to change your views on food call Lake Hypnosis 352-223-9444 to schedule a free 45 minute screening to find out if you can be accepted as a client.