Stop The Diabetic Binge

By Eliot LeBow LCSW, CDCES

Trying to stop a diabetic binge is like trying to keep your hand on a hot stove—it’s very difficult and against your natural instinct. Our body’s natural instinct is to withdraw the hand when we feel the heat; your body’s natural instinct, when your blood sugar is low, is to eat. Therefore, if your blood sugars remain low even after you eat the brain gets hijacked.

Even when you know you have counteracted the hypoglycemic reaction (with food, a glucose tablet, or juice, for example), it is difficult to make yourself stop eating. Difficulty stopping happens because your brain is still receiving that “hungry” message. Your body and brain remain on high alert while raising blood glucose levels, pushing you to eat in the same way that the brain tells the hand to pull away from the hot stove.

Diabetic Binge Prevention

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The first way to reduce a diabetic binge and hypoglycemic reactions, is to maintain well-controlled blood glucose levels. The more your blood glucose levels fluctuate, the greater the impact reactions will have on the body’s natural process to keep it fueled—and the higher the risk of hypoglycemia.

To prevent binge eating during a hypoglycemic reaction, you should realize what a difficult task this is, and that willpower will be a major part of the equation. There will most likely be times that one will end up binging, despite having a strong will.

The Plan…

You need to have a plan for when it occurs. For example, take care of your reaction as you normally would, then if you feel yourself wanting to eat more, have a low carbohydrate snack that you can follow-up with and eat slowly. Be creative and individualize it for your lifestyle.

Harm Reduction

When you end up binging, now what? Now you have...

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