Liquid sugar hit

Can anybody help - spent a good two hours this evening googling this

I am looking for something to drink/ingest immediately upon waking up that will raise my blood sugar quickly and allow me to get up without feeling so weak and shakeup and allow me to think enough to get dressed and eat.

I need pre packaged single portion options, like regular juice boxes
Ideally to be able to store under my bed, so the second I wake up I can grab it without thinking at all, drink it through a straw without sitting up.

Can't be very acidic or it will counteract medication, so most fruit juices are out, as are anything with added lemon juice, acids etc.

Must be decent sugar/carbs content ie not low sugar or sweetner instead of sugar.

Definitely not with tons of flavourings (e.g. that wierd synthetic strawberry milkshake flavouring!) because they taste like plastic and I dont believe are good for us.

Not ginger shots turmeric or aloe vera.

I've found two possibles so far which are Crawfords beetroot juice cartons and honey energy gel tubes but I think I will need to try a few things.

The acid issue might be too hard to overcome and I may end up needing to wake up 2 hours early drink the drink and then go back to sleep and wake up/take my medication 2 hrs later when my stomach isn't as acidic.

 

Could you dissolve sugar or honey in bottles of water? They might need a shake before you put the straw in, but there's no other additives and it'd be very cheap.

It might need some trial and error to discover how much you need to add, but if you fill some sports-type water bottles with sugar and hot water from the tap, it should dissolve okay and it'll then just cool to the ambient temperature.

 

How about a sweetened coconut water?

 

Just out of curiosity...

How do you know you have low sugar in the morning? Do you have some means of testing it, perhaps the way a diabetic would?

I use rehydration salts if I feel terrible when I wake up. Products like this : https://www.boots.com/dioralyte-blackcurrent-6-sachets-10020148

Sometimes I also add a small dose of magnesium citrate to a sachet. I've never added a zinc supplement but apparently some people find that helps as well.

In my opinion, Dioralyte is palatable but expensive for what it is.

Oral rehydration salts can be made at home with cheap ingredients [Edit : but tastes quite unpleasant] :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_rehydration_therapy

If your problem could be caused by low cortisol then an adrenal cocktail is another thing that can be made at home very cheaply.

How to Make an Adrenal Cocktail - The Restorative Table

https://therootcauseprotocol.com/faq-adrenal-cocktail-recipes/

The Adrenal Cocktail - Stop The Thyroid Madness

 

In Sweden there's a product called Dextro Energy. I don't know if there's something similar available where you are? They are tablets that contain 89% dextrose ("a simple sugar made from corn or wheat that's chemically identical to glucose, or blood sugar"), and are used to quickly raise your blood sugar level. They look like sweets, and are sold in both supermarkets and pharmacies.



I always have some Dextro Energy in my "crash survival kit". I find that they do help in situations such as the ones you mention.

I prefer oral rehydration solutions (Resorb in particular) over these, but Dextro Energy is great to have on hand in situations when Resorb is not an option.

Lots of people use them for many different reason, for example for increased stamina during exercise/sports or when doing long distance drives, pulling all nighters, when they are hung over etc.

ETA: You chew these tablets or let them melt in your mouth, no need to add water or anything.

 

Another (Swedish) product I always keep in my "crash survival kit" is Risenta Sesame Seed Biscuits. I like the ones with almonds or peanuts added too.

There are 3 biscuits in each packet (40 grams), and they contain sesame seeds, glucose and sugar. Can be stored for many months.

 

Was going to suggest rehydration tablets, glucose tablets or relevant sweets too but some have already got those.

I used to have a bottle of oasis years ago but I think the sugar tax has affected these types of options, it has 10g of sugar for 250ml. I'm even sceptical a lot of the 'squashes' if you buy to dilute are low sugar vs before.

If as @Trish suggested it could be made up the night before and ...hopefully shake through... Would the French 'sirop' type things like Tessiere and things like Monin or sirops sold for coffee flavours or cocktails maybe add options flavour-wise that might walk the line between acid and offensive for other reasons? Tessiere peach is saying if diluted 1 part to 12 parts water (which is normally v weak) then 200ml = 12g sugar.

Or maybe the odd 'old-fashioned cordial' although I admit lots of those have things like elderflower or ginger added, I've found 'Rocks' so far but they only have orange, blackcurrant and summer fruits.

 

Wow so many excellent suggestions, thank you! I will read and consider one by one

 

yes actually it might be simple to go back to basics with honey (for example), funny how easy it is to over complicate things!

A child's cup might do the trick, I bought a bladder bag with tube (for cyclists) but wouldn't want anything much other than water getting into the tube and creating a cleaning chore.

 

I do indeed also need rehydration, I have some ORS but a) hate the taste now after having used them over the years and b) not sugary enough and c) too much volume to consume first thing. I like the idea of coconut water + honey (or similar) as some brands of coconut water have lots of nutrition and fewer additives. Thanks also for the other suggestions of cordial/other flavours and sources, I think variation will be useful or I'll get bored!

Funny you mention adrenals, I did a Salivary cortisol test about two years ago which showed a delayed morning rise in cortisol, it was a pointless exercise because I didn't know how to act on the results but I was recently reading that morning hypo could be linked (makes sense, all about hormones).

I know that I have "lows" because I've been using a glucose monitor and come out with readings from 2.8 and upwards, this has been happening since 2018 and often coupled with migraines and many other hypo symptoms, which are especially marked following a large portion of "fast" carbs (e.g. white rice/potato) at lunch (having not eaten a lot for breakfast) and slightly less marked but definitely problematic (limit my ability to function) upon waking, and after waking up drenched with sweat in a soaking wet bed. Sometimes I get the symptoms but have a more normal reading e.g. 4.5, usually takes a few hours and sweets then other carb foods to right myself after a post meal episode, and the mornings take an hour or two following some oats to feel more 'normal'. I've finally, after multiple attempts over the years and a few normal blood tests, been given a referral to endochronology with a view to doing a proper fasting test over some days, which will be hell but I'm very keen to fix it and have made all the dietary mods I can already. I had to decline a procedure that required bowel prep due to the effect it will have (although now I'll have to fast for this test anyway!), and can't drive or do stairs safely when I get the episodes, which was how I finally made my case for further investigation.

That was probably more than you asked for, sorry

 

Glad you've got some suggestions that might be workable @Haveyoutriedyoga. I hope they work out, it can make such a difference.

You seem to have the opposite of what I experience. In my case, simple sugars reduce my muscles to jelly so that I stagger about as if I'm drunk, and also induces pain and profound 'empty tank' fatigue. It's been the cause of all the falls I've had that resulted in injury.

No-one else reports it, so I doubt it's ME. The nearest I've got is a potential ion channel disorder, and the best way round it seems to be behaving as if I have hypokalaemic periodic paralysis. Avoiding simple carbs, alcohol, salt, and asthma meds (where possible) improves my function and pain levels by a good 30%; it's never going to get any higher because of the ME, but it's still worth having. It can be hard to stay on the wagon, though, if you enjoy a slice of cake or a biscuit!

Anyway, hopefully finding ways around yours will improve things for you too.

 

Several years ago I did a saliva cortisol test. I had problems not knowing what time to do the spit samples. My waking up and going to sleep times are very erratic and have been for years.

Ideally the first sample produced for the saliva cortisol test should catch the daily peak of cortisol output. Society seems to work on the assumption that peak alertness will occur at about the time that people start working i.e. about 8am - 9am which is when cortisol should be at its peak. But all sorts of people - well or ill - will have a peak at the "wrong" time - people with erratic sleeping hours like me, those with chronic insomnia, people who work shifts, are pretty much guaranteed to have their daily peak at the "wrong" time. It probably wouldn't be nice to have your maximum cortisol output occurring when you are asleep - it would wake you up when you don't want to be awake. What I remember about my own results is that I had a result way over the range for the "bedtime" cortisol, which probably explains my issues with insomnia.

For people with low cortisol some people do well with adrenal glandulars. But I don't know much about them.

 

(Kitty) That experience sounds wierd!

I also wonder whether something is making me more sensitive to fluctuations. It's not that 'normal' people tend to dip to lows in the high 2's, so that's somewhat abnormal, but it may be that a small proportion of 'normal' people get lows without symptoms and its fine so my question is then what's the difference. After many years of migraines I know for sure my symptoms are l linker to the blood sugar but that is pretty much all I know.

 

Is that the stuff Dr Myhill promotes? I've never been inclined to try the 'glandulars' type things as they seem a bit too...er..whacky for my taste, but I gather her patients/followers find them useful.

 

I have no idea. I don't follow Dr Myhill.

This link gives some info on adrenal glandulars.

https://www.restartmed.com/adrenal-glandulars/

I always think of adrenal glandulars as being the adrenal equivalent of products for the thyroid like Armour or ERFA OR Thyroid-S, and they are popular enough. One major difference though is that Armour and other products like it are prescribed and follow the rules about precision of dosing and other ingredients. Adrenal glandulars aren't prescribed so are no doubt more risky in terms of precision of dose.

The only adrenal glandular I know of is described in these links :

https://www.procepts.co.uk/adrenavive-metavive-hepavive-supplement-product-range/

https://www.the-natural-choice.co.uk/documents/Procepts-Metavive-&-Adrenavive-Leaflet.pdf

Both the above links are about the same product.

 

Ah yes that's the stuff, I was once very tempted, then I thought maybe not for me as there is no monitoring / management from the GP and it feels like tinkering with a car engine when I have no idea how any of it really works

 

I took that stuff for a while in the late 1980's prescribed by my naturopath. Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately my gut was in so bad shape at the time I doubt much was absorbed.