Hypoglycemia-ish reaction to artificial sweetener?

#1

So for the past three days I have been experiencing what felt like hypoglycemic reactions (shaky, weak, light-headed, etc.) after eating a keto dessert my wife made. The dessert contained monk fruit, erythritol, and sugar free chocolate chips (which I think contained maltitol).

Here’s more info: I usually do an intermittent fast for about 18–20 hours every day during the week. I work out in the morning (lifting; ~30 minutes) and hit the heavy bag in the afternoon (~one hour). About 15 minutes before the heavy bag workout I take a tablespoon of maple syrup. Afterwards, I’ll usually eat a high fat, high calorie dinner, which is my one meal of the day.

Oh, and I’m in good shape. Healthy metabolism, etc. I’ve been doing keto for about a year now just for general health benefits.

More recently (the last three days) I’ve been experiencing what I can only describe as hypoglycemia. I get super shaky and feel very weak. I originally thought it might be related to the maple syrup (which I’ve been doing the TKD thing for a few weeks now without negative any effects), but it appears to be related to the above-mentioned dessert. At the very least that’s the only thing that is consistent in the last three days of experiencing the shakiness, etc. Also, I consume a lot of salt during the day and before and after working out (along with a small supplement of magnesium and potassium). So I’m pretty sure it’s not electrolyte-related. I did my two workouts today and so far have been fine. I’m pretty sure it’s that dessert.

In any case, does anyone have any insight as to what’s going on? It’s really bugging me. Thanks so much!

(Allie) #2

Malitiol. Shudder.

#3

As I suspected… Is that what it is???

(Allie) #4

Quite possible. Have a read of the link I just posted above.

#5

Thanks so much, Shortstuff!

Here’s a pertinent quote from the article you posted: “Other types of sugar alcohols are Sorbitol, Maltitol, Lactitol, etc. Almost all of these affect blood sugar levels. Be careful with any “low-carb” or “zero-carb” products. All these commonly use Maltitol that affects blood sugar but is omitted from the net carbs count. It’s a good marketing strategy, so don’t be fooled! To read more about sugar alcohols, have a look at this great article at MarksDailyApple.com, a website devoted to paleo life-style.”

Those damn chocolate chips. I don’t have a sweet tooth typically so I don’t eat a lot of ‘keto desserts,’ but my wife made really bomb Reese’s peanut butter cup like dessert and I ate the whole bowl. We’ll have to watch out for that in the future.

I’m curious to know what it means that I reacted so strongly to it. Could it possibly suggest something about my insulin sensitivity?

(Central Florida Bob ) #6

If you’re really having a hypoglycemia response then, yeah, it indicates whatever it was prompted an insulin response, which drove your sugar down.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #7

Bear in mind also that everyone’s reaction to these non-caloric sweeteners is unique, so one that doesn’t affect me might still affect you, and vice versa. You might try the same dessert made with a different sweetener and see if it has the same effect. (Do it for science, bro!)

Also, it’s very important to check the ingredients list, because you never know what they’ve put in the blend just from reading the front copy. And U.S. labeling laws let them get away with fudging the nutritional data if they pick the right portion size, so you have to read the actual list of ingredients. For example, there are several products on the shelves of my local supermarket that say “STEVIA” and “ZERO CALORIES” in big letters on the front, but if you read the ingredients you find that they are blends with sugar (sucrose) in them. Gotta be really careful!

(Trish) #8

If you have a Glucometer you can test the theory. Take your blood sugar reading then drink a small amount to water with the offending sweetener in it. Retest your blood at 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes. If your blood sugar dropped then it means the sweetener elicited an insulin reaction but since you didn’t actually ingest any actual sugars it drove your existing blood sugar down. If this happens the best course would be to simply avoid the sweetener.

(Central Florida Bob ) #9

Do you need to do this on an empty stomach, like a few hours after your last meal, to get a baseline?

It seems like it would be less possible to have an error if you have nothing before or after the sweetener for a few hours either side?

(Trish) #10

Yes, it should be independent of other intake so as not to have other variables.

(Omar) #11

yes it hapens

stevia reduce my bg

my brain think I eat sugar that is why I have avoided sugar alternatives.