Has anyone used anything odd to get their blood sugar level up in an emergency while in the middle of nowhere? If so, what did you use? I know about wild berries and all, but any suggestions on sugar sources in the wild that are easy and quick to find?

I guess I'm a redneck because::

Levi Garrett actually saved my life one day. Out away from anywhere camoflauging a duck blind on the TN River, my blood sugar went down and I started shaking real bad. We were miles away from our boat launch ramp and the truck and then miles away from anywhere to get anything. I only had a pouch of chewing tobacco on me. I took a chew and the licorice boosted me up and we finished the job. That was the turning point for me about 8 years ago and I started looking into being equipped and prepared from then on.

I watched a survival video produced in Sweden in which the host purposefully goes without food for most of the trip. At one point he tests his blood sugar, then brews some spruce tea, and tests his glucose levels once more. The results were surprising... To me at least. His blood glucose levels improved.

You can find the videos at The Swedish Wilderness Survival Project Site

On a side note, I believe all of the videos are worth watching, even when you have to read the subtitles. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Glucose pills or gel works great. Orange juice is probably the best. There is an injection called Glucagon which releases glucose stored in the liver (assuming that you are not malnutirioned and your liver still has some).

You've got insuline and glucagon that can make glucose from glycogen and the other way around, right? I never keep that straight! <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Alpha and Beta cells with Alpha producing Glucagon and Betha Producing Insulin...

Insulin is a carrier that brings sugar into the cell while Glucagon "makes" liver release/convert fat into simple sugar. In case of low blood sugar (most cases) there is pleanty of insulin to carry sugar intot he cell but there is not enough sugar. So shooting insulin would be wrong (unless you have pleanty of sugar in your blood but no insulin - diabetes). Glucagon delivers sugar so does simple IV with dextorse or glass of OJ.

ANd to answer your question directly: glycogen stores glucose which would be released by administration (artificial: injection or natural: pancreas) of glucagon.

We're talking low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). Your pancreas in this case produce too much insulin to regulate blood sugar as I understand. Not enough people take it seriously and wear their pancreas out by not regulating their diet and end up with diabetes.

I am just looking for info on natural or emergency sources of glucose or fructose or sugar or any tricks to know, in the case I don't have anything with me like glucose tablets or gel. The licorice in chewing tobacco was an example. Any more ideas? Just equipping what little brains I have to survive if this happens again.

You could check edible plant books for common plants that are high in sugar. Some are obvious, for example berries or perhaps starchy roots like cattail. Others might be surprising, such as wild onions, which like all onions have more sugar than you would expect from the taste. I'd be interested in what you find out!

Steve

Honey.

I used to carry a small vial of honey in my kit when I went day hiking, just in case.

I guess you could find it in the wild(if you don't mind the bee stings). <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Thanks Steve and Porkchop, I'll have to make this a research project, that's a good idea.

That's an iidea. Sometimes you can find it in packets from Heinz, like ketchup. Ignore the use by date, honey never goes bad.

White and purple clover, if you can find it (generally if you see it, civilization is nearby). Pick the individual flowerlets and suck the sugar out of them. Just need a lot of it.

DO NOT use yellow clover, that isn't so good for humans.

But realistically, other than fruit and maple and birch sap during the sping, there isn't a huge amount of sugar in naturally occuring plants. Thats why tooth decay was relatively uncommon to most pre-technological peoples.

Starches turn to sugar, right? What about the starches that tubers would provide?

They do. But it takes a while. One of the initial parameters had to do with low blood sugar for a diabetic or hypoglycemic, or so I understood the question, were getting sugars into the blood immediately and in controlled amounts is key.

KFC has them. GREAT call. I'll be grabbing 2-3 extra next time I get bisquits. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Hopefully it's real honey, and not honeyesque like I've seen before (but that was in small foil-sealed tubs for dipping I think)

If it is the Heinz packets, its the real deal. And if it is, I think I need to pick up some KFC even if I have a better recipie than the Colonel. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Okay, I found out that KFC packets are indeed honeyesque. They are cornsyrup based and flavored. Gakh!

I found some and expect you can too. Just go to your neighborhood expensive coffee shop. I went to the one at Borders and they had packs of real honey. I figure at $5 for a 24oz latte, that I can take 2 for my drink and a 2 for my pocket. YMMV, but the KFC ones are definitely not good. Same likely goes for most of the chicken dipping sauces. McDonald's used to carry pure honey packets, and may still. I'll have to look...

Denny's restaurant has honey packets for the hot tea, I will be there tonight and I will see if they are real honey.

When I drank coffee (years ago) the honey was real. Much nicer mellow flavor than ugghh white sugar.

Just a mention that someone that's hypoglycemic (like myself) probably doesn't want to take in a large amount of sugar in hopes of bringing their blood sugar up quickly. The way they diagnosed my condition at the hospital was by giving me a pint of some syrupy-sweet orange drink and saying: "Here, drink this is fast as you can without throwing up." Then they measured the glucose level over the next 4 hours. It went slowly uphill for around an hour then took a nose-dive. The large amount of sugar in a short period causes an overproduction in insulin, resulting in an even lower glucose level than before.

Good point, BreathingMeat. I need just enough sugar to stop the tremors that occur until I can get a meal down. A meal with plenty of protein, that is. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I didn't know tremors were a symptom, my problem was I just blacked out, several times. Fortunately, never while driving.


Waitress: So how do you want your steak cooked?
Customer: Just knock the horns off the cow and walk it through the kitchen. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

The way I understand it honey can go bad (breed bacteria) if it has been heated during processing. If you heat it too much, that is above 40 degrees celcius, then the antibacterial and curative properties are compromised and bacteria may grow.

So if you are wanting to keep some in your PSK I would make sure that it was raw (ununheated) honey from your local apiarist.

And don't leave it in a car on a hot day!

Yep, some like me will shake like a leaf if their glucose level gets low enough.

Speaking of rare steak, dang, make me jealous. I have to eat everything medium well now -- having had an appendectomy at age 5 seems to have started taking its toll.