the "low-down" on LEVEL Life!!

I've been meaning to get around to this topic for a while now.  

A few weeks back, I received an email from Ethan Lewis, founder of Level Foods.  I know that some of you already know Ethan, but for those that don't, 
he is a Type 1 Diabetic who has developed a delicious, easy way to treat those nasty lows that we all encounter from time to time.  

Ethan was diagnosed with Type 1 at 12 years of age and struggled (like all of us) with balancing blood sugars.  The scariest and toughest part of Diabetes for Ethan, was the nasty lows.

His company has developed  the new 15g LEVEL Life glucose gel.  He offered
to send me a sample pack, and promised that they would "work quickly" and taste "amazing!".

As I waited for my sample pack to arrive, I began to think about the ways that I have treated lows over the years.  

Way back when, my mom gave me orange juice to drink whenever I was low.

Lifesavers were a constant companion when I was at school or out playing with  my friends.

 

As the years passed, and I moved away from home, my methods for treating lows changed.  As newlyweds, my husband and I had not really discussed this part of my diabetes, mainly because my lows always seemed to happen in the early morning and so he was rarely around when one happened.  Keeping the sugar bowl beside the bed became the norm around our house.  Not always the easiest way to treat a low, especially when the person experiencing the low can barely comprehend what is being asked of them.  Sugar is reaalllly messy!!  There were quite a few nights when there were sugar crystals covering the sheets and pillows after a morning struggle with low blood sugar.

 Then there were the horrible glucose tabs.  You remember the ugly, tastless white ones?  They were hard as a rock,  took forever to dissolve and you had to eat like 4 of them before they did anything.  YUCK!

Juice boxes worked better for the middle of the night/early morning lows. Especially if you poked the straw through before you went to bed!  Less mess (unless you squeezed the box in your hurry to slurp through that straw!)

These days, I have been using a few different methods for treating my lows.  For quite a while i was munching on SweeTarts.  They are yummy but you have to eat 15 of them to get 15gr of carbs.  That can take some time.  Then I found giant Rockets!  There was a time when they were my favourite Halloween candy!  But again, you have to eat 5 of them to equal that magic number 15!

Dex4 is great for me when I remember they're in my purse!  The taste is not bad (my favourite is either grape or watermelon!), but they are a little chalky and still it takes me a while to get 4 of them into me!

 

So along comes LEVEL Life fast acting glucose gel.  Let me just say that these are by far, the best tasting treatment I've ever had!  They come in four flavours.  Strawberry Banana, Mandarin Orange, Vanilla and Caramel.  The pouch is a funky looking little thing.  It looks flimsy, but again, let me tell you I carry this sucker around in my purse and it has not broken or leaked or been punctured by pens or anything!!  It is fairly easy to open when low-brain is at work.  Like a juice box, just be careful not to squeeze too hard though!!

The flavours are bang on!  Even the Strawberry Banana, which I wasn't sure I'd like, was good.  They are easy going down, and they really do work fast.

 

They are packaged in three's and priced  the same as 1 of the "other" gels.  The only problem is that they aren't available in Canada  =(
That makes me sad, because I really enjoyed using them.  Not that I enjoyed having the lows that enable me to try them, but.....I would definitely recommend them!   

all of my handy low treatments!!