How to Avoid the Hurdles of Hypo's and Hyper's After Exercise - Part 3

In the previous blog's How to Avoid the Hurdles of Hypo's and Hyper's Before and During exercise- we talked about how to prepare, avoid for and how to manage hypo's and hyper's during sport. But avoiding high and low blood sugars after sport is important too, because it's one of the most dangerous times (whilst asleep) for blood sugars to misbehave.

The first half an hour after exercise is THE most important and will often set the base for blood sugar levels for the rest of the night. Due to adrenaline produced during exercise, blood sugars will often spike at the end of exercise. But unless there is something wrong (your set if blocked if you're on a pump for example), then they'll usually come down later. Everybody is different but during exercise you create what I like to call "a carbohydrate deficit". Which is basically where you burn off an amount of carbs during activity, that if you carry on eating normally after exercise you won't be able to get back in and this will keep causing you to have hypos. My own deficit is about 20-25 grams of carbohydrate depending on how long I've been exercising for.

This "carbohydrate deficit" is the amount of carbohydrate that you need to get in within the first half hour after exercise to avoid the hypos. You also need to take on protein. Don't panic at the mention of this, and automatically think that you're going to start looking like a body builder with bulging biceps. I was given this advice by Mark at Cardiff Sports Nutrition and it's been invaluable to me ever since. Taking on protein means that the carbs you take on will be slowly released, much like foods with a low glycaemic index behave releasing energy slowly.

I choose to take 'whey' protein- which is a pure form of protein. That it is not mixed with any sugar or carbohydrate. And then take the carbs I need separately. Taking supplements separately is a good practice to have for people with diabetes, because as you know so many things can affect your blood sugars. And the last thing you want is for that to affect your performance. So if you find something is not working for you, you can quickly rule it out of your routine.

So you've had you're protein and carbs within half hour, what comes next? A balanced meal protein, carbohydrate and vegetables is a great way to the end the day. Being on insulin therapy means what ever food you take on after exercise will get processed that much quicker because of your insulin on board. So you want it to be healthy and nutritious!

Image is of the protein that I use (blog article unsponsored )