If your blood sugar drops below 70 mg/dL, you need 15 grams of fast-acting carbohydrates right away. That means something sugary, simple, and easy to swallow: half a cup of fruit juice, 3 to 4 glucose tablets, a tablespoon of honey, or 3 hard candies. The goal is to get pure sugar into your bloodstream as quickly as possible, then follow up with a balanced snack once you’ve stabilized.
The 15-15 Rule
The standard approach recommended by both the CDC and the American Diabetes Association is called the 15-15 rule. Eat or drink 15 grams of fast-acting carbohydrates, wait 15 minutes, then check your blood sugar again. If it’s still below 70 mg/dL, repeat the process. Keep going until your levels are back in your target range.
This sounds simple, but the hard part is resisting the urge to overeat. When your blood sugar is low, your body floods you with hunger signals and adrenaline. Many people grab whatever they can find and eat far more than 15 grams, which can send blood sugar rocketing in the other direction. Stick to a measured amount and give it 15 minutes to work.
Best Foods for a Quick Fix
You want something that’s almost pure sugar with minimal fat, fiber, or protein. These all deliver roughly 15 grams of fast-acting carbohydrates:
- Glucose tablets: 3 to 4 tablets (check the label, as brands vary)
- Fruit juice: half a cup (4 oz) of orange or apple juice
- Regular soda: half a cup (not diet)
- Honey: 1 tablespoon
- Hard candy: 3 pieces
- Table sugar: 1 tablespoon dissolved in water
Glucose tablets are the most precise option because each tablet contains a known amount of sugar. Juice and honey work nearly as well and are easier to find in most kitchens. Liquids tend to hit your bloodstream in a slightly different pattern than solids, but both raise blood sugar within roughly the same timeframe. The most important thing is speed, so grab whatever is closest.
What Not to Eat During an Acute Low
Chocolate bars, ice cream, peanut butter, and pizza are poor choices for treating a low, even though they contain sugar. Fat slows down how fast your stomach empties its contents into your intestines, which delays glucose absorption right when you need it most. Protein has a similar effect. A candy bar coated in chocolate or a glass of whole milk will take significantly longer to raise your blood sugar compared to the same amount of sugar from juice or glucose tablets.
The American Diabetes Association specifically recommends avoiding foods high in fat or protein for initial treatment. Save those for the follow-up snack once your numbers are back up.
What to Eat After You Stabilize
Once your blood sugar is back above 70 mg/dL, you’re not done. The fast-acting sugar you just consumed will burn through quickly, and without a follow-up snack, your levels can drop again. Eat a small meal or snack that pairs about 15 grams of complex carbohydrates with some protein. Good combinations include:
- Half a sandwich with meat, cheese, or peanut butter
- Crackers with cheese: about 6 saltine crackers with an ounce of cheese
- Apple or banana with peanut butter: one small fruit with a tablespoon or two
- Rice cakes with peanut butter: 2 rice cakes with 2 tablespoons
- Tortilla chips with beans: 15 to 20 baked chips with a couple tablespoons of refried beans
The protein and complex carbs digest more slowly, providing a sustained source of energy that keeps your blood sugar from crashing again over the next few hours. If your next full meal is within 30 minutes, you can skip the snack and eat the meal instead.
Recognizing the Symptoms
Knowing what to eat only helps if you catch the low in time. Early symptoms are driven by adrenaline: shakiness, sweating, a fast heartbeat, sudden hunger, and feeling anxious or irritable. These typically appear when blood sugar drops to around 55 mg/dL, though people with diabetes who run high regularly may feel symptoms at higher levels because their body has adjusted to a different baseline.
If blood sugar keeps falling, the brain starts running short on fuel. That’s when confusion, difficulty concentrating, blurred vision, slurred speech, and dizziness set in. At this stage, you can still treat yourself, but you need to act immediately. Below 54 mg/dL is considered severe, and the risk of losing consciousness increases.
If Someone Can’t Eat or Drink
When a person is too confused, drowsy, or unconscious to swallow safely, do not try to put food or liquid in their mouth. They could choke or inhale it into their lungs. This is when glucagon becomes essential. Glucagon is a hormone that signals the liver to release stored sugar into the bloodstream, and it comes in injectable kits or nasal spray forms that don’t require the person to swallow anything.
If you or someone you live with is at risk for severe lows, keep a glucagon kit accessible and make sure household members know where it is and how to use it. Turn an unconscious person on their side while waiting for the glucagon to take effect or for emergency help to arrive.
Adjustments for Children
Children don’t need the full 15 grams that adults do. The recommended dose is about 0.3 grams of glucose per kilogram of body weight. For a 65-pound child, that works out to roughly 9 grams of fast-acting carbs, or about half a juice box instead of a full serving. A child over 110 pounds can follow the standard 15-gram recommendation. Overtreating in kids is especially common because parents understandably panic, but giving too much sugar leads to a rebound spike that makes blood sugar harder to manage for the rest of the day.
If You Use an Insulin Pump
People using automated insulin delivery systems (sometimes called closed-loop pumps) often need less sugar to correct a low. The 2026 American Diabetes Association guidelines suggest 5 to 10 grams of carbohydrates is typically enough, because the pump is already reducing or stopping insulin delivery in response to falling glucose. The exceptions are lows that happen during exercise or after accidentally entering too large a meal dose, which may still require the full 15 grams. Check your device’s specific guidance, but don’t assume you need the same amount as someone injecting insulin manually.