Hypoglycemia (or low blood sugar) nearly always causes tiredness. Other indicators that you may have hypoglycemia include:

• feel tired and unrefreshed after waking in the morning
• energy levels fluctuate throughout the day, with your tiredness becoming worse around mid-morning and/or mid-afternoon
• find it difficult to lose weight
• sugar cravings and candida
• sleeping problems, depression
• need to eat every 2-3 hours or you experience faintness, headaches, trembling, irritability, mood swings or poor concentration and fogginess

How does Hypoglycemia contribute to tiredness?

Hypoglycemia literally means 'low blood sugar'. If your blood sugar becomes low, this is when you experience the symptoms of faintness, trembling, irritability, mood swings or poor concentration and fogginess. Low blood sugar is normally prevented by actions of the pancreas and liver and hormones they secrete.

The syndrome of hypoglycemia (also called 'reactive hypoglycemia') occurs in certain people who have poor control of their blood glucose level. This can be because of genetics, poor diet, medications and/or stress.

This is what happens:
- You eat a carbohydrate-rich food that has a high glycaemic index (white flour product, sweets, candy, biscuits, cakes, most breakfast cereals).The sugar enters the blood stream rapidly and quickly raises your blood glucose levels.
- This stimulates the pancreas to secrete insulin.
- Insulin takes the sugar and tries to drive it into the cell so that it can be used for energy.
- If you don't need the glucose for energy (you aren't exercising or active) or the cell is resistant to the insulin (referred to as 'insulin resistance'), the insulin is unable to drive the glucose into the cell.
- The pancreas then increases its secretion of insulin, as it must reduce the level of glucose in the blood.
- Now that the levels of insulin are too high, the glucose is removed too rapidly from the blood and the blood glucose levels plummet.
- It's at this point that you feel sugar cravings, dizziness, fatigue, irritability, fogginess and/or poor concentration.
- To alleviate these symptoms you eat more food that contains carbohydrates/sugar and the cycle begins all over again.

Carbohydrates are a group of foods that convert to glucose once they are eaten. Depending on the type of carbohydrate, this conversion can either be fast or slow. Simple carbohydrates have a faster conversion rate (high glycemic index) causing the blood glucose levels to rise quickly and more insulin to be released. For this reason, simple carbohydrates are much more likely to cause hypoglycemia.

So, the main reason that hypoglycemia causes tiredness, especially mental fatigue is because the brain relies on a steady flow of glucose to function properly. If glucose levels dip too low throughout the day, there won't be enough sugar for the brain to function evenly. Mid-morning and mid-afternoon are the typical times that the blood glucose level plummets due to hypoglycemia which is why many people report that this is the time they are most tired.

Now you know a bit more about hypoglycemia, as well as the role it may be playing in the tiredness that you are experiencing.

So what can you do about it?

• Did you know that there are many simple dietary choices we can make to reduce the incidence of hypoglycemia?

• Did you know that we can easily change the glycemic index of carbohydrate-rich foods and therefore slow down the rate at which our blood glucose levels rise?

• Did you know that by correcting hypoglycemia, you are also likely to have fewer skin breakouts, lose weight (if you need to), stabilise your moods and sleep better.

• Did you know that by correcting hypoglycemia, you will help prevent developing type II diabetes?
  
  

You can find out all about these tests and remedies as well as a full list of the symptoms linked to hypoglycemia in our e-book Why Do I Feel Tired?

Written by naturopath/nutritionist Alison Cassar and professional health writer Michelle Fahy, this e-book examines over 16 conditions (including hypoglycemia) that may be contributing to your tiredness. The book explores each topic in detail and helps you to discover the underlying causes of your tiredness so you can reclaim your energy and live the life you were meant to live.

Most people are unaware of how good they are capable of feeling. There's no need for you to be one of these people. Find out what may be behind your tiredness and get off the merry-go-round of chronic tiredness.

Click here to learn more about this comprehensive e-book and to order your copy.