Diabetes Blog Week: Day Two - Making the Low Go

Howdy

This week I am playing along with Diabetes Blog Week - a series of daily blog posts about life with type one diabetes. Folks around the world with diabetes blogs are chipping in. You can see some of these here.

Day Two is all about making the low go - favourite hypo cures.

Yes there are many options that do a much greater job than the old school remedy of 'a glass of orange juice'. I have probably tried most of these.

When I was first diagnosed I would keep all sorts of nice lollies hanging around. But when bored, or without money for lunch while a poor uni student, I would eat these. Not good for the unnecessary sharp spikes in blood glucose, and not great for when I was actually hypo and in real need of something to make my blood glucose rise quickly.

I wisely adopted crap tasting hypo fixes. This usually consisted of a cycling gel - they last forever and you wouldn't find yourself snacking on that without thinking.

A few years later, life improved with the accessibility of Dex 4 products, which work amazingly well and also never, ever tempt me to snack on them.

However, when it comes to the ultimate preference there can only be one. And old school is also apt in describing these.

Basically, anything made by The Natural Confectionery Co range is my preferred hypo fix.

If I had to narrow it down, it would be dinosaurs. Then snakes, and followed closely by jelly babies and jungle jellies.

I also have become quite obssessed with sour squirms. I love them.

But dinosaurs are the best. Why? They have a slightly larger and more rotund shape, making them perfect to grab from your back cycling pocket when time away from the handlebars is limited (such as in a crit). They come in five flavours and all of them taste great.

I do feel bad for countries which do not stock these products. The US is particularly bereft of great tasting glucose-jelly type treats. For the past three years I have always brought over bag after bag of TNCC goodies. However, US citizens who are unaware of what they are missing out on do not realise just how good the product is and often comment, 'tastes a bit like Swedish fish'. Which would have to be the biggest insult to a TNCC fan.

Fortunately, the UK has a great range of glucose jellies - in particular dusted jelly babies rock. And there are plenty of options in the many Asia-surprise stores around Melbourne.