When your blood sugar drops below 70 mg/dL, you need fast-acting carbohydrates that your body can absorb quickly, like glucose tablets, juice, or regular soda. The goal is to get about 15 grams of simple sugar into your system as fast as possible, then recheck your levels after 15 minutes. What you eat matters just as much as how quickly you eat it, because the wrong foods can actually delay your recovery.
The Best Fast-Acting Foods for a Low
Speed is the priority. Your body needs glucose it can absorb in minutes, not foods it has to break down first. Any of the following provides roughly 15 grams of fast-acting carbohydrates:
- Glucose tablets: 3 to 4 tablets (check the package for exact dosing)
- Fruit juice: 4 ounces (half a cup) of orange or apple juice
- Regular soda: 4 ounces (not diet)
- Hard candy: about 4 to 5 pieces of something like Lifesavers
- Table sugar or honey: 1 tablespoon dissolved in water
Glucose tablets are the most reliable option because they’re pre-measured and absorb predictably. Swallowed glucose (tablets, juice, soda) raises blood sugar more effectively than glucose gels applied to the inside of the cheek. In one comparison, swallowed glucose produced blood sugar readings about 15 mg/dL higher at the 20-minute mark than buccal gel. If you can swallow safely, drinking juice or chewing glucose tablets is the better choice.
What Not to Eat During a Low
This is where people make a common mistake. Reaching for chocolate, ice cream, or a peanut butter sandwich feels intuitive because those foods contain sugar, but fat slows your body’s absorption of carbohydrates. That means chocolate won’t raise your blood sugar fast enough when you’re shaky, confused, or sweating. Harvard Health specifically warns against eating foods containing chocolate, peanut butter, nuts, or other fats as your first response to a low.
High-fiber foods like whole fruit, beans, and lentils also slow sugar absorption. These are great foods in general, but they’re the wrong choice when you need your blood sugar to come up quickly. Save them for after you’ve stabilized.
The 15-15 Rule
The standard approach works in two steps. First, eat or drink 15 grams of fast-acting carbohydrates. Then wait 15 minutes and recheck your blood sugar. If it’s still below 70 mg/dL, repeat with another 15 grams. Keep cycling through this process until your numbers come up.
This method prevents overcorrecting, which is a real risk. When you feel terrible from a low, the instinct is to eat everything in sight. But consuming too much sugar at once can send your blood sugar rocketing in the other direction, creating a spike-and-crash cycle that leaves you feeling awful for hours.
Follow Up With a Stabilizing Snack
Once your blood sugar is back above 70 mg/dL, you’re not done. Fast-acting sugar burns through your system quickly, and without a follow-up snack, your levels can drop again. If your next meal is more than an hour away, eat a small snack that combines about 15 grams of carbohydrates with some protein. Good options include:
- Crackers with cheese: 6 saltine crackers with an ounce of cheese
- Peanut butter on rice cakes: 2 rice cakes with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter
- Half a sandwich: meat, cheese, or peanut butter on one slice of bread
- Fruit with cheese: 1 small apple or pear with an ounce of cheese
- Crackers with tuna: 6 saltines with a quarter cup of tuna salad
The protein and fat in these snacks slow digestion, giving you a longer, more stable energy release that bridges you to your next real meal.
What to Eat for Children
Kids need less sugar than adults to correct a low. The general guideline is about 0.3 grams of fast-acting carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight. In practical terms, a 65-pound child needs roughly 9 grams of glucose, while a 110-pound child needs the full 15 grams. Glucose tablets are especially useful for children because you can easily break them to adjust the dose. Juice boxes also work well since they come in pre-measured portions.
Research on pediatric lows shows that the right dose raises blood sugar by about 55 to 70 mg/dL total, with noticeable improvement within 10 to 15 minutes. Giving too much can cause a rebound spike before their next meal, so matching the dose to the child’s weight matters.
Severe Lows: When You Can’t Eat
Blood sugar below 54 mg/dL is considered a severe low. At this level, confusion, loss of coordination, or even unconsciousness can make it impossible to eat or drink safely. This is when glucagon becomes necessary. Glucagon is a prescription medication that signals the liver to release its stored sugar into the bloodstream, raising levels rapidly without requiring the person to swallow anything.
Glucagon now comes in two forms: a nasal spray that someone else can administer by spraying it into one nostril (no inhalation required), and a pre-filled injectable pen. Both are designed so that a family member, coworker, or friend with minimal training can use them in an emergency. If you take insulin or medications that can cause lows, having glucagon accessible and making sure the people around you know where it is and how to use it can be lifesaving.
Preventing Lows With Everyday Eating Habits
Some people experience low blood sugar not from diabetes medications but from a pattern called reactive hypoglycemia, where blood sugar drops a few hours after eating. The dietary strategy for prevention looks very different from the strategy for treating an active low. Instead of simple sugars, the goal is to keep blood sugar steady throughout the day by choosing foods that digest slowly.
Complex carbohydrates are the foundation: brown rice, quinoa, oatmeal, sweet potatoes with the skin on, barley, and sprouted grain breads. These foods create a gradual rise and gradual drop in blood sugar rather than the sharp spikes that lead to crashes. Pairing carbohydrates with protein and healthy fat slows digestion even further. Think eggs with oatmeal instead of oatmeal alone, or chicken with quinoa instead of plain rice.
Non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower are high in fiber and can be eaten freely. Starchy vegetables like potatoes, corn, and peas should be kept to smaller portions. For cooking, olive oil, avocado oil, or nut-based oils provide healthy fats that help moderate blood sugar responses.
Eating smaller meals every two to four hours, rather than three large meals, helps prevent the gaps that allow blood sugar to dip. Simple carbohydrates like white bread, white rice, pastries, candy, and sweetened drinks should be limited because your body converts them to sugar almost immediately, triggering the spike-and-crash pattern. If you drink alcohol, having it with food rather than on an empty stomach reduces the risk of a drop.