What Are The Ideal Levels Of Blood Sugar?
A blood sugar or blood glucose chart identifies ideal blood sugar levels throughout the day, including before and after meals. Doctors use blood sugar charts to set target goals and monitor diabetes treatment plans. Blood sugar charts also help those with diabetes assess and self-monitor blood sugar test results. What is a blood sugar chart? Blood sugar charts act as a reference guide for blood sugar test results. As such, blood sugar charts are important tools for diabetes management. Most diabetes treatment plans involve keeping blood sugar levels as close to normal or target goals as possible. This requires frequent at-home and doctor-ordered testing, along with an understanding of how results compare to target levels. To help interpret and assess blood sugar results, the charts outline normal and abnormal blood sugar levels for those with and without diabetes. In the United States, blood sugar charts typically report sugar levels in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL). In the United Kingdom and many other countries, blood sugar is reported in millimoles per liter (mmol/L). A1C blood sugar recommendations are frequently included in blood sugar charts. A1C results are often described as both a percentage and an average blood sugar level in mg/dL. An A1C test measures the average sugar levels over a 3-month period, which gives a wider insight into a person's overall management of their blood sugar levels. Blood sugar chart guidelines Appropriate blood sugar levels vary throughout the day and from person to person. Blood sugars are often lowest before breakfast and in the lead up to meals. Blood sugars are often highest in the hours following meals. People with diabetes will often have higher blood sugar targets or acceptable ranges than those without the condition. These Continue reading >>
Gestational Diabetes - Risks, Causes, Prevention!
Gestational Diabetes What is Gestational Diabetes? Gestational Diabetes is diabetes that is found for the first time when a woman is pregnant. The expecting mother develops large amount of sugar in her blood which generally resolves itself after baby's birth - unlike other types of diabetes which are lifelong conditions. How does Gestational Diabetes develop? Gestational diabetes develops when the body cannot produce enough insulin - a substance produced by pancreas which regulates the amount of sugar available in the blood for energy and enables any sugar that isn't immediately required to be stored. The pregnant women has to produce extra insulin to meet baby's needs, if her body can't manage this, she may develop gestational diabetes. Blood sugar levels may also rise because the hormonal changes of pregnancy interfere with insulin function. Gestational diabetes usually develops during the last half of pregnancy. Risk Factors • Women who are obese. • Women with high blood pressure • Women listed positive for sugar in urine during antenatal checkup. • Women who are above 25yrs of age. • Women with family history of type 2 diabetes. How is Gestational Diabetes Treated? Gestational Diabetes can be treated by keeping blood glucose level in a target range. Proper diet, physical activity and insulin if required plays important role in maintaining blood glucose levels. • Dietary Tips 1. Have small frequent meals i.e. six small meals in a day. 2. Limit sweets. 3. Include more and more fiber in your diet in form of fruits, vegetables, whole grain bread and cereals. 4. Carbohydrates should be 40%-45% of the total calories with breakfast and a bedtime snack containing 15-30 grams of carbohydrates. 5. Drink 8-10 glasses of liquids/day. 6. Avoid Trans fats, fried foods Continue reading >>
14 Amazing Herbs That Lower Blood Sugar
We live in a world where prescription medicine is getting more and more expensive as well as controversial. Alternative medicine is gaining momentum and with good reason! The same is true for treatments for diabetes type 2. You have therapies that can reverse diabetes through lifestyle and diet changes, natural supplements that can help stabilize blood sugar levels, and also herbs that lower blood sugar. Not only are these alternative therapies safer, but they are also easier on your pocket, on your body and mind. Maintaining normal blood sugar levels is necessary for the body’s overall health. Erratic blood sugar levels can affect the body’s ability to function normally and even lead to complications if left unchecked. Some herbs and spices found in nature do a tremendous job of naturally lowering blood sugar levels, making them a boon for diabetics and pre-diabetics. What’s more, being nature’s multi-taskers, herbs and spices also produce overall health benefits beyond just helping balance blood sugar. We want to clarify one thing right away – not everything on our list can be classified as ‘herbs’. However, they are all from natural sources. Herbs come from the leafy and green part of the plant. Spices are parts of the plant other than the leafy bit, such as the root, stem, bulb, bark or seeds. RELATED: Decoding The Dawn Phenomenon (High Morning Blood Sugar) With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the best herbs that lower blood sugar, along with a few spices thrown in, to give you a more comprehensive list. Please note that while we normally do not use animal studies to support any dietary supplement, several herbs like garlic and ginger are considered ‘food’ and so, are used traditionally by cultures across the world in their daily diet Continue reading >>
Gestational Diabetes: The Numbers Game
Copyright 1998 [email protected] All rightsreserved. DISCLAIMER: The information on this website is notintended and should not be construed as medical advice. Consultyour health provider. This particular web section isdesigned to present more than one view of a controversialsubject, pro and con. It should be re-emphasizedthat nothing herein should be considered medical advice. One thing that is especially confusing in gd is the variousnumbers that are tossed around all the time. It is very common toget confused! For example, 140 mg/dl is a numberyou see a lot, but it means different things in differentcontexts. It is the cutoff for the one-hour glucose challengetest in pregnancy, it used to be the number for diagnosing 'true'diabetes outside of pregnancy, and it is the cutoff for desirableblood glucose levels one hour after a meal in many programs. Whenthe levels for diagnosing diabetes outside pregnancy wererecently revised to lower levels (126 mg/dl), it confused manypregnant women, who wondered if the cutoff for the one-hour testin pregnancy was also going to be lowered or if their target bGfor one hour after eating was going to be lowered too. The answeris that one has nothing to do with the others. They all refer to differentmeasurements; it is just coincidence that they use the samenumber as a cutoff. But even among those who have studied the basics of gd, thevarious reference numbers commonly used in gd discussions can bevery confusing. Kmom knows from experience that when gd comes upfor discussion on mailing lists, people often mix up theirreferences, compare numbers incorrectly, and generally make thediscussion even more confusing. This websection is an attempt toclarify this very confusing issue and discuss thevarious guidelines that gd women are often given. Continue reading >>
Understanding Fasting Blood Sugar
Among the most common questions people have about Type 2 diabetes is this: how can they lower their fasting blood sugar? To answer this question in a way that will help you lower your blood sugar we are going to have to first explain why doctors measure fasting blood sugar and what it does--and does not--tell us about our blood sugar health. WHAT IS FASTING BLOOD SUGAR? Traditionally, fasting blood sugar is the value you get when you test your blood sugar after an 8 hour long fast--which is usually immediately upon waking. In a normal person this fasting blood sugar would also be the "baseline" blood sugar--the level to which blood sugar returns a few hours after every meal all day long. However, for reasons we will discuss later on, this is often NOT the case for people with Type 2 diabetes, whose morning blood sugars may be much higher than the baseline level they achieve after meals for the rest of the day. Doctors have for decades relied on the FPG (fasting plasma glucose) test which measures fasting blood sugar to diagnose diabetes. The reason for this is NOT that FPG test results predict diabetic complications. They don't. Post-meal blood sugar tests are a much better indicator of whether a person will get the classic diabetic complications, and the A1c test is a better indicator of potential heart disease. But the FPG test is cheap and easy to administer, hence its popularity. The value most of us would find much more helpful in assessing our health is not fasting blood sugar but something else: the number of hours a day our blood sugar spends elevated over the level known to cause complications, which is roughly 140 mg/dl (7.7 mmol/L). A person can wake up with a FPG of 130 mg/dl (7.2 mmol/L), but if it drops after breakfast and most hours of the day are spent w Continue reading >>
How To Calculate Your A1c
The Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c or simply A1c for short) test is a blood test used to measure the average blood glucose concentration in your body in the past 1-3 months. For diabetics, this is the standard way of determining how well the diabetes is controlled. An A1c of less than 7% is considered good. Getting the test every 3 months (usually during a doctor visit) is usually enough. But sometimes you may want to just estimate your A1c level based on the data from your regular self-tests. The formula below could help in this case. Accuracy, of course, could vary depending on how often and when you check your blood sugar. I found it pretty accurate last time I used it. My calculation was off only by 0.1%. This is the same formula GlucoseTracker uses in the app's dashboard. Glucose in mg/dL: A1c = (46.7 + average_blood_glucose) / 28.7 Glucose in mmol/L: A1c = (2.59 + average_blood_glucose) / 1.59 So, for example, if your average blood glucose level in the past 3 months is 130 mg/dL (7.2 mmol/L) , your estimated A1c is 6.15%. There are also cheaper devices you can buy that will allow you to do the actual A1c tests yourself, like this one. If you need to do these tests more often, say every month, then it could save you money in the long run as lab tests could get expensive. It may not be as accurate as the lab tests, but my guess is it's probably good enough. Continue reading >>
When “normal” Blood Sugar Isn’t Normal (part 2)
In the last article I explained the three primary markers we use to track blood sugar: fasting blood glucose (FBG), oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and hemoglobin A1c (A1c). We also looked at what the medical establishment considers as normal for these markers. The table below summarizes those values. In this article, we’re going to look at just how “normal” those normal levels are — according to the scientific literature. We’ll also consider which of these three markers is most important in preventing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Marker Normal Pre-diabetes Diabetes Fasting blood glucose (mg/dL) <99 100-125 >126 OGGT / post-meal (mg/dL after 2 hours) <140 140-199 >200 Hemoglobin A1c (%) <6 6-6.4 >6.4 But before we do that, I’d like to make an important point: context is everything. In my work with patients, I never use any single marker alone to determine whether someone has a blood sugar issue. I run a full blood panel that includes fasting glucose, A1c, fructosamine, uric acid and triglycerides (along with other lipids), and I also have them do post-meal testing at home over a period of 3 days with a range of foods. If they have a few post-meal spikes and all other markers or normal, I’m not concerned. If their fasting BG, A1c and fructosamine are all elevated, and they’re having spikes, then I’m concerned and I will investigate further. On a similar note, I’ve written that A1c is not a reliable marker for individuals because of context: there are many non-blood sugar-related conditions that can make A1c appear high or low. So if someone is normal on all of the other blood sugar markers, but has high A1c, I’m usually not concerned. With all of that said, let’s take a look at some of the research. Fasting blood sugar According to cont Continue reading >>
Blood Chemistry: What You Need To Know
Patients now have direct access to web based portals containing information from their doctor’s offices. Do you ever wonder what those blood chemical tests mean? One of the most basic laboratory tests done in a physician’s office is the Basic Metabolic Profile (BMP). This test measures the sodium, potassium, chloride, carbon dioxide content, glucose (sugar), creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) found in blood. Creatinine & BUN. These two chemicals reflect your kidney function. By using these two chemicals, you can calculate your estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), which is roughly a percentage of normal kidney function. The eGFR does decline with aging, so we rarely have 100% normal kidney function. Glucose. This is the level of sugar in blood. This test is used to screen for diabetes and low blood sugar. The 8-hour fasting blood sugar should be less than 100 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl). If the blood sugar is elevated, this could be concerning for diabetes or pre-diabetes. If the blood sugar is more than 200 two hours after eating, this could also be concerning for diabetes. Sodium. The sodium concentration in blood should be between 135 and 145 milliequivalents per liter (mEq/L). The sodium concentration is determined by the kidneys and commonly reflects the amount of water in blood. If there is an excess of water in the blood, then the sodium concentration will be lower. If there is a deficit of water in the blood, then the sodium concentration will be high. Your physician must then determine why you have a water problem and this requires further testing. Potassium. The potassium concentration in blood is regulated by many processes including kidney function, acid in blood, glucose, insulin, and adrenalin in blood. The normal concentration of pot Continue reading >>
Atorvastatin Lowers Cholesterol But Raises Blood Sugar
As many as 40 million people may be taking statin-type cholesterol-lowering drugs daily in the U.S. Although medications like atorvastatin, lovastatin, simvastatin, pravastatin, and rosuvastatin can bring cholesterol levels down dramatically they can also raise blood glucose levels or make diabetes harder to control as this reader relates: Q. I used to have good blood sugar readings when I was on glyburide. Since I was put on atorvastatin to lower cholesterol I have had trouble with high blood sugar. I read in your Guide to Managing Diabetes that statins can affect blood glucose but the clinical pharmacist at the VA said you are wrong. She insisted that atorvastatin does not affect HbA1c or blood sugar. They now have me on both glipizide and Onglyza and the clinical pharmacist admitted that my HbA1c will not come down. She still insists I have to keep taking these medicines even if they are not working to control my diabetes. A. We are puzzled that your pharmacist was not aware of the official prescribing information for atorvastatin (Lipitor): “Increases in HbA1c and fasting serum glucose levels have been reported with HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors [statins], including LIPITOR.” HbA1c is a measure of how high blood sugar levels have been over the past three months. Clinical trials and other studies have shown that statins can indeed raise blood sugar levels, making it harder to control diabetes. Blood Sugar and Statins: There is general agreement that statin therapy increases the risk of developing diabetes (Current Atherosclerosis Reports, Jan. 2015). Research has shown that there is a 10 to 12 percent increased incidence of new-onset type 2 diabetes in statin takers. The higher the dose and the more potent the statin the greater the risk. Investigators believe tha Continue reading >>
Understanding Diabetes: All About Glucose
Understanding Diabetes: All About Glucose Introduction Understanding all the terms, and specific functions of the body aren't always easy. Neither is understanding the process of diabetes. However, any diabetic should understand the basic definition of glucose; what it does, and how it affects the body. With this knowledge, you can understand and manage your diabetic condition much easier. While we'll try not to get too terribly technical with terminology and definitions in this article, we will strive to educate you on the basics of glucose and its most important function in regulating your body functions. What Is Glucose and Why Is It Important? The scientific definition of glucose is a monosaccharide or simple sugar. This simple sugar is very important to your body and its biology. Glucose is the source of energy for your body and serves to regulate and mediate metabolism. In other words, your levels of glucose determine how your body utilizes energy for fuel. The word glucose originally comes from the Greek word "glykys" which means sweet. The "ose" ending designates a sugar. For example, many sugars are found in the body and come from the foods we eat including glucose, fructose, sucrose, and so forth. The endings on these words designate that they're a type of sugar. Glucose is not only used as fuel for your body, helping you to perform an exercise workout, walk up a flight of stairs, or carry groceries into the house, but serve as a source of fuel for chemical reactions and interactions between cells, tissues and organs in the body. The amount of glucose in your blood determines how efficiently (or not) your body is able to utilize these sugars. The main source of glucose is carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are generally known as starchy foods. Glucose must be paired Continue reading >>
I Have Type Ii Diabetes.now My Blood Sugar In Fasting Is 160 And After 2 Hrs It Is 240. Inside I Feel Shaking Heart Beat Raising What To Do
Your sugar levels are indeed high but you should not worry too much about it because you can bring it down to normal levels.I hope you have already consulted a good diabetologist. As a long term diabetic I am offering some general suggestions which you may consider. Diabetes is a metabolic disorder which is a result of the pancreatic gland in our body either produces little or no insulin or the body has developed resistance to insulin. In both cases,the body cells do not receive the glucose needed for production of energy because insulin is essential for glucose to enter the cells. This results in the blood sugar levels to increase beyond acceptable levels,though your body cells are starved for glucose. This condition is very bad for our well being and over long term may result in severe complications. Controlling blood sugar levels is a tough job but it is not impossible if you realize that every thing is in your own hands. This is so,because though you may get good advise from doctors and dieticians,it is ultimately Y O U that will have to take all the necessary steps to successfully control diabetes.I am giving certain general suggestions based on my personal experience which you may consider and adopt based on your personal choice. Diet plays a very important role in managing diabetes. You should reduce intake of foods that are rich in carbohydrates like sweets, rice,wheat,other grains ,potato,beet and other root vegetables rich in starch. You should eat more of vegetables,sprouts,greens and salads that give you lot of fiber,vitamins and minerals. Each meal you take should be smaller but you may have 5 or 6 meals instead 3 meals a day. Exercise is very important to control diabetes. Daily brisk walking or jogging for at least 40 to 60 minutes is ideal. Such exercise Continue reading >>
![Diabetes Blood Sugar Levels Chart [printable]](https://diabetestalk.net/images/GAVKLrbDLZZFDvZc.jpg)
Diabetes Blood Sugar Levels Chart [printable]
JUMP TO: Intro | Blood sugar vs blood glucose | Diagnostic levels | Blood sugar goals for people with type 2 diabetes | Visual chart | Commonly asked questions about blood sugar Before Getting Started I was talking to one of my clients recently about the importance of getting blood sugar levels under control. So before sharing the diabetes blood sugar levels chart, I want to OVER EMPHASIZE the importance of you gaining the best control of your blood sugar levels as you possibly can. Just taking medication and doing nothing else is really not enough. You see, I just don’t think many people are fully informed about why it is so crucial to do, because if you already have a diabetes diagnosis then you are already at high risk for heart disease and other vascular problems. Maybe you've been better informed by your doctor but many people I come across haven't. So if that's you, it's important to know that during your pre-diabetic period, there is a lot of damage that is already done to the vascular system. This occurs due to the higher-than-normal blood sugar, that's what causes the damage. So now that you have type 2 diabetes, you want to prevent any of the nasty complications by gaining good control over your levels. Truly, ask anyone having to live with diabetes complications and they’ll tell you it’s the pits! You DO NOT want it to happen to you if you can avoid it. While medications may be needed, just taking medication alone and doing nothing is really not enough! Why is it not enough even if your blood sugars seem reasonably under control? Well, one common research observation in people with diabetes, is there is a slow and declining progression of blood sugar control and symptoms. Meaning, over time your ability to regulate sugars and keep healthy gets harder. I Continue reading >>
From A 581 Blood Sugar To 115
Yesterday was not a fun day. Basically, it went like this. Sat in my office chair almost all day, didn’t eat lunch because I completely forgot all about it, before dinner had a 581 blood sugar and before I went to bed it was 115. So what happened in between? I honestly don’t know. Around 2 o’clock I tested and the meter read 145 and I went right back to work and didn’t even eat anything. I did forget to take my Levemir in the morning, but I didn’t want to take the morning dose so late and then would need to adjust the night time dosage of it as well. I am taking half my Levemir at night and half in the morning. After a quick trip to Target, which everyday is either a trip to Target, Walmart or the Dollar Store when you are married to a teacher. Our spaghetti and meatballs were almost done so I decided to test again….581. Wait, what did the meter just say? I tested again, now it just said HI, like it was playing with me. I told Amanda that it was crazy high, so I would not be eating dinner with her and I would eat later. After taking a massive amount of insulin for a correction and drinking a lot of water it was beginning to come down. That wasn’t my only issue at this time. I also have a caffeine addiction, a really bad one. If I don’t drink an energy drink or a large coffee after lunch, I begin to get nauseous and light headed around dinner time. If I don’t have that caffeine, I have to take a nap or lay down for a bit and then I feel all better, that is until I drink a soda with my dinner. With that little side story, I didn’t have an energy drink yesterday, so mixed with the high blood sugar was also the caffeine withdrawal I was dealing with it, so it was time to take a nap while Amanda ate and hope that my sugar came down enough to be able to ea Continue reading >>
My Blood Sugar Is 109 Is It Ok?
The blood sugar concentration or blood glucose level is the amount of glucose (sugar) present in the blood of a human or an animal. The body naturally tightly regulates blood glucose levels (with the help of insulin that is secreted by pancreas) as a part of metabolic homeostasis. If blood sugar levels are either increased or decreased by a greater margin than expected this might indicate a medical condition. What Is Blood Sugar? What does it mean when someone refers to blood sugar level in your body? Blood sugar level (or blood sugar concentration) is the amount of glucose (a source of energy) present in your blood at any given time. A normal blood glucose level for a healthy person is somewhere between 72 mg/dL (3.8 to 4 mmol/L) and 108 mg/dL (5.8 to 6 mmol/L). It, of course, depends on every individual alone. Typically blood sugar level in humans is around 72 mg/dL (or 4 mmol/L). After a meal the blood sugar level may increase temporarily up to 140 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L). This is normal. A blood sugar level between 72 mg/dL (4 mmol/L) and 108 mg/dL (6 mmol/L) is considered normal for a healthy adult. What Is Normal Blood Sugar Level? Adults A normal blood sugar level is between 72 mg/dL and 108 mg/dL (4 to 6 mmol/L) for a healthy person. The concentration of glucose in the blood of a healthy person in the morning on an empty stomach is between 68 mg/dL and 108 mg/dL (3.8 and 6.0 mmol/L). Two hours after consuming foods or drinks rich in carbohydrates, the values are usually between 120 and 140 mg/dL (6.7 and 7.8 mmol/L). Children For children up to 6 years of age desired blood sugar level before eating is between 100 mg/dL (5.5 mmol/L) and 180 mg/dL (10 mmol/L). Before sleep values should be between 110 mg/dL (6.1 mmol/L) and 200 mg/dL (11.1 mmol/L). For children between Continue reading >>
Why Your “normal” Blood Sugar Isn’t Normal (part 2)
Hi, I just found this site and would like to participate. I will give my numbers, etc. First, my last A1c was 6.1, the doc said it was Pre-diabetes in January of 2014, OK, I get it that part, but what confuses me is that at home, on my glucometer, all my fastings were “Normal” however, back then, I had not checked after meals, so maybe they were the culprits. Now, I am checking all the time and driving myself crazy. In the morning sometimes fasting is 95 and other times 85, it varies day to day. Usually, after a low carb meal, it drops to the 80’s the first hour and lower the second. On some days, when I am naughty and eat wrong, my b/s sugar is still low, and on other days, I can eat the same thing, and it goes sky high, again, not consistent. Normally, however, since February, my fbs is 90, 1 hour after, 120, 2nd hour, back to 90, but, that changes as well. In February, of 2014, on the 5th, it was horrible. I think I had eaten Lasagne, well, before, my sugars did not change much, but that night, WHAM-O I started at 80 before the meal, I forgot to take it at the one and two hour mark, but did at the 3 hour mark, it was 175, then at four hours, down to 160, then at 5 hours, back to 175. I went to bed, because by that time, it was 2 AM, but when I woke up at 8:00 and took it, it was back to 89!!!! This horrible ordeal has only happened once, but, I have gone up to 178 since, but come down to normal in 2 hours. I don’t know if I was extra stressed that day or what, I am under tons of it, my marriage is not good, my dear dad died 2 years ago and my very best friend died 7 months ago, I live in a strange country, I am from America, but moved to New Zealand last year, and I am soooo unhappy. Anyway, what does confuse me is why the daily differences, even though I may Continue reading >>
