Need advice about Blood Sugar control

[mommyofshmoo]

Hi,

DD has blood sugar problems and becomes totally hysterical if her blood sugar gets low. Recently I let her have pancakes for breakfast- bad idea to start with, then we didn't have time to eat a meal for three hours. By the time she ate she was hysterically crying and literally shaking.

I know I saw at least one momma who's mentioned that their child has similar blood sugar issues. I'd really like some advice on how to manage this. I feel like I'm at the mercy of her diet and since this problem only crept up recently (after a very bad stomach bug) I'm having a hard time adjusting.

I know that lots of protein is good, and refined sugar is bad. The thing is the only protein sources I can easily get her to eat are meat and eggs. These are things that must be cooked, and it's a hassle to clean pans 4 times a day, and even be home four times a day. Plus I tend towards the veggie side of things so I hate having to prepare so much meat.

DD hates beans- even though she's been exposed to them lots. I'm starting to slip almond and walnut meal into baked stuff and pancakes, and now that I think of it she did go three hours without eating yesterday and didn't become psychotic, so maybe it's helping.

The hardest part is that I don't feel like I can trust her to eat what she needs. When she plays with friends she gets distracted and bottoms out. play groups often feature cookies too, so maybe that's part of the problem. Also she doesn't drink any milk, and mine is drying up due to pregnancy.

Anyway, looking forward to hearing ideas. Like, anyone know a good way to disguise beans?

Also- what is more important, keeping protein up or avoiding sugar?

Thanks!

[4evermom]

Reading up on low glycemic index diets would be helpful. The Good Calorie Diet by Philip Lipetz comes to mind. It's a lot more complicated than avoiding sugars. You should also avoid foods that are digested easily, anything wheat raises your blood sugar the same as sugar. Rice and corn are also too easily digested. Good choices are rye and oatmeal (not quick oats). The combination of foods is very important. You can lower the glycemic index (how high the meal raises blood sugar) of wheat bread by having it with peanut butter or olive oil. Animal protein (meat, cheese, butter) combined with starches (bread, potatoes) raises the glycemic index. No wonder so many Americans are overweight. Even though there is a lot of sugar in ice cream, the glycemic index isn't as high as you would think because the fat lowers it and keeps the sugar in check. If you eat the ice cream with a bunch of pretzels, you'll increase the glycemic index.

The goal is to eat primarily low glycemic index foods so the blood sugar remains constant. Seperate animal protein from starches. Generally, the less processed the food, the better. Although potatoes have a high glycemic index, sweet potatoes have a low one. Ripe bananas have a higher one than green ones. All natural sugars (honey, maple syrup, etc) are as bad as white sugar. Dried fruit is higher than fresh.

I do things like make muffins with rye flour. Make PB&J on Ryvita crackers (yes the Jam is high index but I figure its balanced by the rye and peanut butter. This makes good travel food). I even make oatmeal cookies using rye flour and olive oil. I cut the sugar by about a third (using 1 cup instead of 1 1/2). I use a potato starch egg substitute to remove the animal protein from the recipe. This is also nice because my ds isn't handling raw egg if he helps me. Now I'm NOT saying these cookies have a low glycemic index. It's just my attempt to make them less bad.

You probably ought to try posting under the nutrition forum as well.

[mommyofshmoo]

Anyone know how to move a thread? I forgot there was a nutrition thread. I'll go do a search on this topic, I bet there's been discussion already.

[srain]

Our experience is protein is the important part. If my son has plenty of protein, he can eat pretty much whatever afterwards; if he doesn't, we're doomed. But everyone's different. We insist that he eat a protein course before he can have anything else; perhaps it's sacrilege to admit this to the "children need to choose their own foods because they know what their bodies need and you're generating control issues with food" crowd, but for him, it's necessary. He doesn't like most protein sources either, but we've found some he accepts: tofu (either stir-fried or, weirdly, dipped in graham cracker crumbs); beans (whole or refried; especially likes chick peas) with melted cheese; at times peanut butter (usually on a spoon with a couple raisins hidden in it); at times spiced nuts. (We don't eat dead animals and he doesn't like eggs.) You can reduce your cookign by planning for leftovers, and saving hard-boiled eggs.

[ShannonCC]

Hi! Welcome to the club. Now how do I resign my membership? :LOL

My six year old dd can't go longer than 2 hours without eating. It doesn't matter much what she eats - she will have effects sooner if she only eats fruit or something like that, but even with a big meal of all the "right" foods, she still has to eat again in about 2 hours or we'll have trouble. It starts small with her being touchy and argumentative and quickly escalates to screaming and "freaking out" melt downs. What fun! She also can't eat soy because that will trigger the same reaction within the hour. I have to stay on top of both issues, but with almost 4 years of practice I'm finally getting the hang of it

I *try* to make sure she has protein and healthy fats at each meal. Fiber also helps to slow digestion but I tend to forget that. She eats a pretty healthy diet anyway so she probably gets a lot of fiber.

Actually, the hardest thing about this was having to re-think what I thought a healthy diet was. My kids both love veggies and fruit. Now I have a daughter who will have a meltdown if all she eats is an apple and some broccoli for a snack so I have to encourage her to eat something more than that. I also do believe that we shouldn't force kids to eat or be overly controlling and at times it's hard reconciling that with the fact that if I remain as hands off as I'd like, we all suffer from it (ALL - it's not like meltdowns are fun for her either). So it definitely is a fine line to walk between "creating control issues with food" and helping the child to deal with the physical food issues their body already has. Does that make sense or am I rambling?

DD likes eggs too but luckily will eat them hard boiled so those are easy to carry around for snacks. Also peanut butter and jelly (no added sugar for either) on whole wheat bread. Nuts are good too - her favorites are cashews and almonds. She also likes cheese which is good for snack bags. She likes beans too. How about veggie burgers made with beans? Amy's makes this delicious burger made with beans and walnuts that dd and I both enjoy. You can also make your own (we are not veggie but she doesn't eat much meat). She also used to eat tofu dogs before we figured out the soy connection

One thing that worked great for playdates was a kid's watch with a timer on it. I bought one in pink and it's really "neat" and gadgety looking. I think I got it when she was 4. She wears the watch and when it beeps, she comes to eat. I re-set it again for an hour (an hour because she uses more energy at playdates and the meltdowns will happen sooner) and she's off again. Before we got the watch she would simply refuse to eat and eventually melt down, but I guess the watch is cooler than mom because she listens to it

The good news is that it does get easier as they get older and can understand more. At six, she really is a lot easier to reason with than she was at 3 or 4. Heck, even five