Eating After a Low

Fast sugar lifts a low quickly. Without food, it can drop again. Once your number is above 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L), eat a small snack.

A small snack may help cover the time until your next meal. Your doctor sets your own target.

Carbs are foods like bread, fruit or rice. They turn into fuel. Protein, like eggs or beans, slows how fast sugar enters your blood.

Together, they help keep the rise gradual. A small snack with both carbs and protein is the pairing to aim for.

A snack plate beside a small blood sugar chart. Crackers alone send the line up fast and then down again. When cheese and egg, or carrot and cucumber sticks, join the crackers, the line rises more gently than the faint spike. The paired snack keeps the gentle line.

After a low, write down what may have caused it. Common examples are a late meal, extra activity or a skipped snack. Also note the time and the treatment you used. Keep the notes factual, without blame.

If lows keep happening, the plan usually needs a review. Bring your notes to your care team so they can see the pattern.

Key takeaways

• A small snack with carbs and protein may help keep blood sugar steady after a low.
• Lows that keep happening usually mean the plan needs a review.
• A written note of time, food, activity and treatment shows the pattern.

Try it

Today, start a simple note with the time, last meal and treatment, so you have one ready.