Dates for low blood sugars

I've been curious if dates are one of the best things to have for a low blood sugar, for it to rapidly rise. The glycemic index of dates are 103 (where glucose tabs are 102)! A question that is occurring for me is could a lower glycemic drink (such as gatorade, or juice) raise your blood sugar faster, because it is a liquid and could be more easily absorbed into your blood stream? If a food is high on the glycemic index, can a liquid with a lower index raise it faster? Or not? What do you think?

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Permalink Reply by Gerri on August 16, 2011 at 9:23pm

The best way to correct lows is with fast acting glucose, basically anything that's pure sugar. Fruit, like dates, has fiber & fiber slows down absorption. I think glycemic index is useless for T1s. Glycemic index is determined using non-diabetics. If you want to be precise about raising a low, it's better to use something with a known amount of glucose. Difficult to be exact with dates because they're not a uniform size. Also hard to do with liquids unless you want to carefully measure. When I'm low, it's easier to pop jelly beans (1 gr per) than start figuring out combos of food or drink. Jelly beans, or other candy, are portable.

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Permalink Reply by greenclouds on August 19, 2011 at 9:25pm

Ah fiber, I didn't think about that. Thanks for informing me, I appreciate it. Yeah that's a good point about also being precise -- I tend to guestimate which doesn't always level out well. Do you think though, if a liquid has the same GI or sugar as a jellybean (with no fiber), would it raise your blood sugar faster?

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Permalink Reply by Gerri on August 20, 2011 at 9:51pm

Guesstimating is a crap shoot. It's hard to be precise with liquid. What I was told to do is let the sugar slowly dissolve in my mouth for the quickest effect. Hard to do this with liquid, but you can experiment to see what's the fastest route for you.

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Permalink Reply by still_young_at_heart on August 21, 2011 at 10:06am

I'm a T1 and I use foods with a lower glycemic index to smooth my post meal curve. I don't think it is useless at all. On the question at hand, I just use glucose tabs.

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Permalink Reply by Jag1 on August 22, 2011 at 1:26am

I agree with young-at-heart, I find fruits very useful in my diet and eat a lot of them.

As to the question about whether liquids are faster, the answer would be that they're slightly faster since you don't need to wait for them to dissolve before swallowing. But glucose tabs dissolve in your mouth (if chewed) in seconds so it would be hard to measure the difference. Note that glucose can't get into your blood until it is dissolved and swallowed - it passes into your blood from your intestines and not before.

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Permalink Reply by still_young_at_heart on August 22, 2011 at 3:36pm

+1 on fruit. I try to eat some at every meal

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Permalink Reply by Randy on August 22, 2011 at 9:31am

I agree. Tabs are great for lows because I know how much I am getting and what to expect. Low glycemic foods help to keep my bg level. Especially for snacks and exercise.

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Permalink Reply by Jan on September 12, 2011 at 11:04pm

Glycemic index was researched specifically for diabetics; you probably mistyped. A carb is not a carb, etc. Same gram of one type of carb can raise you faster than another. Glycemic Index of great import to Type 1 diabetics. To raise a low blood sugar, dextrose, soda or juice. For lows in the 60s we give grapes which are as fast as juice. I'll bet the dates would work but not for a severe low.

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Permalink Reply by Jag1 on August 22, 2011 at 1:18am

The fastest way to treat a low BG is pure glucose, and not just any "sugar". Glucose tabs or gel, glucose candy (smarties, etc) are therefore the best.

I looked up the glycemic index of dates at glycemicindex.com, and dates were only about 50 on a scale of 100 for glucose. Sugar (sucrose) is about 60 on this scale. So clearly dates are not as fast as pure glucose but similar to table sugar.

But that said, I have found dates to be one of the faster fruits to bring BG up if it isn't so low that it feels like an emergency (when my BG is in the 50's to 70's). I routinely eat fruits of all kinds to balance BG. Dates are convenient since they don't spoil and the sugar is more concentrated than other fruits. I always keep a container of them around. Each of the dates I buy are about 6 g of carb per date, so they're pretty easy to measure. Raisins are similar in glycemic index and also good to bring BG up, but are a bit harder to measure - about a dozen raisins is around 5 g of carb.

If I'm going hiking or exploring in a new city where I'll be walking for a very long but unpredictable amount of time, I have made it a habit to carry raisins or dates with me, in addition to the emergency glucose I carry. Great to munch on if you feel your BG going low because of the unpredictable extra exercise.

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Permalink Reply by Sylvia on August 24, 2011 at 5:52pm

Did you know that Corn Syrup (Karo Syrup) is primarily glucose suspended in water?

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Permalink Reply by Jag1 on August 31, 2011 at 1:43pm

Yes, in fact I bought some recently out of curiousity. Unfortunately corn syrup is inconvenient to carry around so I still carry glucose candy instead. Also you need to be careful when you buy it that you aren't getting the corn syrup which has a high percentage of HFCS (high fructose corn syrup). Check the ingredient label if you're buying it for that reason.

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Permalink Reply by Lila on August 22, 2011 at 2:55am

I think this is YMMV issue.

If it's a mild hypo, I correct using whole fruit. Strawberries, cherries, oranges, raspberries, blueberries. I once even used a punnet of cherry tomatoes - and it worked too.

It's a continuing source of contention between me and my diabetic team. They insist I shouldn't use cherries to treat a low. But my glucose meter tells me cherries work fast enough, so the meter wins.

I don't really like dates so I don't use them, but have on occasion used figs to treat a mild hypo.

But when it's a serious low then I reach straight for sugary liquids. Like this morning when I woke up so sweaty I almost slipped down the stairs. BG was only 24!