Final answer:
Patients should eat within 15 to 30 minutes after receiving short acting insulin to prevent hypoglycemia, as insulin rapidly decreases blood glucose levels by enhancing glucose transport and storage in cells.
Step-by-step explanation:
Patients receiving short acting insulin should typically eat within 15 to 30 minutes after the injection. This timing is crucial because short acting insulin starts to work rapidly by facilitating the transport and storage of glucose in the cells, which decreases the blood glucose levels. It's important to match the peak action of the insulin with the rise in blood glucose levels after a meal to prevent hypoglycemia.
From the provided information, we note that after the injection of insulin in normal or insulin-responsive diabetes mellitus (IDDM) persons, the blood glucose level falls within one hour and slowly rises above the fasting level due to the secretion of glucagon. It then returns to baseline in about 2½ hours. This shows that insulin injections allow only storage of glucose to decrease blood glucose levels after consuming a meal, hence needing timely food intake post-injection.