Meats
sausage              28
fish sticks          38

Dairy Products
yogurt               36
whole milk           34
skim milk            32

Remember, the pancreas has another major service to perform for the body:  secreting digestive enzymes to aid in the digestion of proteins.  When the diet contains either too much protein or too much sugar and/or high-glycemic index starch foods, the overworked pancreas begins to be less and less efficient at maintaining both of these functions.

Sometimes a stressed-out pancreas gets overactive and does too good a job lowering the blood sugar, producing hypoglycemia.  Hypoglycemia is generally accompanied by unpleasant symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, blurred vision, irritability, confusion, headache, etc.  This condition is typically alleviated by yet another hit of sugar which builds an addiction not only to sugar, but to food in general.  If the hypoglycemic then keeps on eating sugar to relieve the symptoms of sugar ingestion, eventually the pancreas becomes exhausted, producing an insulin deficiency, called diabetes.  Medical doctors treat diabetes with insulin supplements either oral or intramuscular plus a careful diet with very low and measured amounts of sugar and starch for the remainder of the persons inevitably shortened and far less pleasant life.  However, sometimes diabetes can be controlled with diet alone, though medical doctors have not had nearly as much success with this approach as talented naturopaths.  Sometimes, long fasting can regenerate a pancreas.  It is far better to avoid creating this disease!

The dietary management of hypoglycemia requires that not only refined but also unrefined sugars and starches with a high glycemic index be removed from the diet. (The glycemic index measures the ease with which the starch is converted into glucose in the body, and estimates the amount of insulin needed to balance it out.) This means no sugar, no honey, no white flour, no whole grains sweetened with honey, no sweet fruits such as watermelons, bananas, raisins, dates or figs.  Potatoes are too readily converted into sugar.  Jerusalem artichokes are a good substitute.

People with hypoglycemia can often control their symptoms with frequent small meals containing vegetable protein every two hours.  When a non-sweet fruit is eaten such as an apple, it should be eaten with some almonds or other nut or seed that slows the absorption of fruit sugar.  Hypoglycemics can improve their condition with vitamins and food supplements.  See the next chapter.

Allergies to foods and environmental irritants are frequently triggered by low blood sugar.  Mental conditions are also triggered by low blood sugar levels, frequently contributing to or causing a cycle of acting out behavior accompanied by destruction of property and interpersonal violence, as well as psychosis and bouts of depression.  It is not possible to easily deal with the resulting behavior problems unless the hypoglycemia is controlled.  Unfortunately most institutions such as mental hospitals and jails serve large amounts of sugar and starch and usually caffeinated beverages, with a high availability of soda pop, candy, and cigarettes at concessions.  If the diet were drastically improved, the drugs given to control behavior in mental hospitals would be much more effective at a lower dose, or unnecessary.