Normal Blood Sugar Levels Chart
Maintaining normal blood sugar levels is essential to your mental and physical health. The normal blood sugar levels chart below shows the range to shoot for and the diabetes blood sugar levels chart shows levels to avoid. What is blood sugar? It’s the glucose (sugar) in your bloodstream that your body uses to produce energy. For most people, normal blood sugar levels range from 80 up to 140 – naturally fluctuating throughout the day. A healthy body has effective ways of regulating normal blood sugar levels. For example, if your blood sugar falls too low, extra glucose stored in your liver is absorbed into your bloodstream to make up the difference. Range of Normal Blood Sugar Levels Chart Blood sugar is the fuel your body needs for energy. Insulin, a hormone made by your pancreas, helps you maintain normal blood sugar levels. This blood sugar levels chart below shows a normal blood sugar range. Range of Normal Blood Sugar Levels Chart TIMING OF BLOOD SUGAR NORMAL RANGE (mg/dl) When you wake (before eating) 80 to 120 Before eating a meal 80 to 120 Taken 2 hours after eating Less than 140 Bedtime blood sugar range 100 to 140 Eating high glycemic carbohydrates is the main cause of higher than normal blood sugar levels and can lead to heart disease, diabetes, blindness, kidney disease and limb amputation from gangrene. Very high blood sugar can even lead to a diabetic coma. The chart below compares diabetes blood sugar levels to normal blood sugar levels. Diabetes Blood Sugar Levels vs Normal Blood Sugar Levels BLOOD SUGAR CLASSIFICATION FASTING MINIMUM FASTING MAXIMUM 2 HOURS AFTER EATING Normal Blood Sugar 70 120 Less than 140 Early Diabetes 100 125 140 to 200 Established Diabetes Over 125 Over 125 More than 200 *All numbers are mg/dl. How to Use Your Blood Sugar Lev Continue reading >>
The Bedtime Snack Unraveled
Despite what you may have heard, it is not only “okay,” but actually VERY IMPORTANT to eat a bedtime snack! The common response to this is, “But I thought we weren’t supposed to eat after (insert time here)?” Let’s unravel this myth, by looking at the following three arguments: 1) Bedtime snacks provide unnecessary calories. If it were all about calories, then this argument may be legit, but…it’s not. So much more goes into metabolism than just calories; food quality and the type of macronutrients (P, F and C) consumed, timing of when you’re eating, hormone regulation, sleep, and the list goes on! The reason it’s important to eat a bedtime snack is because, in order to support your metabolism and therefore maintain your weight/promote weight loss, you need stable blood sugar levels. The reasoning for the combination of carbohydrate and fat before bed is because the carbs bring your blood sugar levels back up slightly (they’ve been falling since dinner or the time you last ate) and the fat slows the assimilation of the carbs into your blood stream, promoting nice stable blood sugar levels all night long. When blood sugar levels are stable, your fat BURNING hormone, glucagon, can do it’s awesome job (not to mention, the other sweet benefits of balanced blood sugar levels, including consistent energy levels, focus, stable moods, and no cravings just to name a few). If you take your blood sugar levels for a daily—maybe hourly—rollercoaster ride, you are creating an enviroment that your fat STORING hormone, insulin, THRIVES in! By following the Three-Three Rule that I outline in my article, Back to the Basics, you’re setting yourself up for success by promoting stable blood sugar levels all day long. Who wouldn’t want to create this same type Continue reading >>
How Sleep Affects Your Blood Sugar
Your sleep habits can affect many things about your health -- your weight, your immune system, even how well your brain works. But it also plays a key role in controlling your blood sugar (or glucose), which affects your chances of getting diabetes. It’s tied to whether the hormone insulin, which removes glucose from the blood, is working the way it’s supposed to. Blood sugar levels surge while you’re sleeping, usually around 4 to 8 a.m. for someone with a normal sleep schedule. (It’s called the dawn effect.) In a healthy person, insulin can handle the surge by telling muscle, fat, and liver cells to absorb the glucose from the blood, which keeps your levels stable. For people who have diabetes or who are likely to get it, insulin can’t do that job very well, so blood sugar levels will rise higher. While diet and obesity are big contributors to your odds of having diabetes, studies have found that sleep habits are, too, probably because over time, they can affect how well your cells respond to insulin. In one study, more than 4,000 people reported the amount of sleep they got each night. Those who got less than 6 hours were twice as likely to have cells that were less sensitive to insulin or to have full-blown diabetes. This was true even after the researchers took other lifestyle habits into account. Other sleep disruptions and disorders, such as sleep apnea, also seem to raise a person’s odds of having diabetes. But the risk goes up at the other end of the spectrum, too. For reasons that aren’t clear, people who sleep too much -- more than 9 hours a night -- might also have higher chances of getting diabetes. It’s hard to know for certain. Many studies have suggested that short sleepers (those who get less than 6 hours per night) have irregular eating Continue reading >>
Managing Your Blood Sugar
Know the basic steps for managing your diabetes. Poorly managed diabetes can lead to many health problems. Know how to: Monitor your blood sugar (glucose) Find, buy, and store diabetes supplies If you take insulin, you should also know how to: Give yourself insulin Adjust your insulin doses and the foods you eat to manage your blood sugar during exercise and on sick days You should also live a healthy lifestyle. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Do muscle strengthening exercises 2 or more days a week. Avoid sitting for more than 30 minutes at a time. Try speed walking, swimming, or dancing. Pick an activity you enjoy. Always check with your doctor before starting any new exercise plans. Follow your meal plan. Take your medicines the way your health care provider recommends. Checking your blood sugar levels often and writing down the results will tell you how well you are managing your diabetes. Talk to your doctor and diabetes educator about how often you should check your blood sugar. Not everyone with diabetes needs to check their blood sugar every day. But some people may need to check it many times a day. If you have type 1 diabetes, check your blood sugar at least 4 times a day. Usually, you will test your blood sugar before meals and at bedtime. You may also check your blood sugar: After you eat out, especially if you have eaten foods you don't normally eat If you feel sick Before and after you exercise If you have a lot of stress If you eat too much If you are taking new medicines Keep a record for yourself and your provider. This will be a big help if you are having problems managing your diabetes. It will also tell you what works and what doesn't work, to keep your blood sugar under control. Write down: The time of day Your blood sugar level Th Continue reading >>
Sleep Safe & Sound: Avoiding Overnight Low Blood Sugars
An Essential Blood Glucose Reading Sleep should be restful, yet for people with diabetes it can be stressful. Many factors can affect glucose levels when you sleep. For starters: your body's varied need for insulin, how much glucose the liver produces, what and when you eat before bed, and how much and what type of exercise you've done during the day and near bedtime. It's essential to check blood glucose an hour or so before bedtime. "This is the most important reading of the day," says Gary Scheiner, M.S., CDE, owner and director of Integrated Diabetes Services in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. "If you take insulin and you check at least three or four hours after dinner, you'll learn how well your dinnertime insulin covered the rise of your blood glucose from dinner." If you eat late, this bedtime reading may really reflect your after-meal level. If your bedtime glucose reading is low, treat the low. If you use insulin as part of your regular blood glucose control, and your blood sugar is high three or more hours after your dinner, you may need to take a few units of rapid-acting insulin. {C} How to Prevent Going Low In addition to monitoring glucose levels right before bedtime, other steps can prevent low blood glucose while you sleep. Snack Smart: If you typically eat a snack before bed to prevent hypoglycemia and keep your blood glucose on an even keel, experiment with different types of snacks. Get a feel for which ones help your blood glucose readings stay within target goals during sleep. Spencer Bond, an active teen PWD type 1, usually eats peanut butter with apple slices or crackers. Because peanut butter contains both protein and fat, it's absorbed and metabolized more slowly than carbohydrate, so it helps to keep his blood glucose stable overnight. "Sometimes I ha Continue reading >>
My Experience With Gestational Diabetes
Explanation of gestational diabetes & personal reflection of what to expect if you are diagnosed during your pregnancy. Not to worry, it’s can be managed! When you’re pregnant many people love to say “Now you can eat for two!” or “Your pregnant, this is the time you can eat what you want!” Unfortunately, these words of wisdom are not entirely accurate. Every mom-to-be dreads the glucose tolerance test, which involves ingesting a high concentration of glucose (a form of sugar) mixed with water to see if you have gestational diabetes. It’s a grueling test because you have to sit in a doctor’s office or clinic for a few hours while they take blood samples before and 2-3 times after you drink the solution. Before the test, you have to fast for 8 hours and this alone makes mamas pretty aggravated but then with the drink solution you have to deal with a sugar high! Waiting for the results, you cross your fingers and hope that the last 24-28 weeks you’ve had a balanced, healthy diet. I knew that I had increased my carbohydrate and sweet intake more than before I was pregnant, but I was hoping the test would still be negative. Unfortunately, when I got the call from my doctor who then said I had gestational diabetes, my first reaction was guilt. How could I have done this to my baby? Gestational Diabetes 101 I want to make sure I disclose this up front, I am not a doctor, I’m just sharing my experience with gestational diabetes. My daily pregnancy routine consisted of exercising five times a week and eating healthy on most days. However, I knew I could have eaten healthier in the last trimester, but I didn’t (those darn cravings and ravishing bouts of hunger!). As I learned more about gestational diabetes, I realized that our bodies change so much during p Continue reading >>
Overnight Glucose Testing: Who Does It And Why?
Do you wake up during the witching hour to test your blood sugar? If you're raising your hand, you're probably the parent of a child with diabetes. But the odds are pretty slim that you'll find an adult who willingly sets an alarm to test their blood sugar in the middle of the night, breaking peaceful dreams for a dose of reality. Sleep is supposed to be our break, our meager vacation from the struggles and stress of managing diabetes. Right...? I'll be the first to admit that I don't test my blood sugar in the middle of the night. If I happen to be awake and I feel low, guess what? I'm low! I don't need to fiddle around with a glucose meter to prove it. (Although it might help with that erroneous 30-day average.) I've heard so many stories on Facebook and at diabetes conferences of parents who faithfully wake up every night — sometimes twice or more! — to check their child's blood sugar, and beat themselves up if they happen to forget. I think, those poor moms and dads! All that lost sleep! It will be great when their child is old enough to wake up on their own and manage their own blood sugars, which is what I did once I reached middle school age. I always wake up from my low blood sugars now, I think happily. No need for alarm clocks here! Or is there...? The fact is, about 75% of the time, you're going to sleep through a nocturnal low rather than waking up. Surprising, huh? Most of us probably think that if we don't wake up, we didn't go low. But the feeling of being low — caused by the release of epinephrine — is blunted when we're sleeping, though sometimes it'll kick in strong enough that it'll jolt us awake. In a totally unofficial survey of PWDs on Facebook, the majority of folks responding to my query said they don't test their blood sugar at night bec Continue reading >>
Blood Sugar: What Causes High Blood Sugar Levels In The Morning
There are two reasons why your blood sugar levels may be high in the morning – the dawn phenomenon and the Somogyi effect. The dawn phenomenon is the end result of a combination of natural body changes that occur during the sleep cycle and can be explained as follows: Your body has little need for insulin between about midnight and about 3:00 a.m. (a time when your body is sleeping most soundly). Any insulin taken in the evening causes blood sugar levels to drop sharply during this time. Then, between 3:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., your body starts churning out stored glucose (sugar) to prepare for the upcoming day as well as releases hormones that reduce the body's sensitivity to insulin. All of these events happen as your bedtime insulin dose is also wearing off. These events, taken together, cause your body's blood sugar levels to rise in the morning (at "dawn"). A second cause of high blood sugar levels in the morning might be due to the Somogyi effect (named after the doctor who first wrote about it). This condition is also called "rebound hyperglycemia." Although the cascade of events and end result – high blood sugar levels in the morning – is the same as in the dawn phenomenon, the cause is more "man-made" (a result of poor diabetes management) in the Somogyi effect. There are two potential causes. In one scenario, your blood sugar may drop too low in the middle of the night and then your body releases hormones to raise the sugar levels. This could happen if you took too much insulin earlier or if you did not have enough of a bedtime snack. The other scenario is when your dose of long-acting insulin at bedtime is not enough and you wake up with a high morning blood sugar. How is it determined if the dawn phenomenon or Somogyi effect is causing the high blood sug Continue reading >>
What Should My Blood Glucose Levels Be?
Everybody is different, and everybody's blood glucose management will be different, so it's important to check with your doctor about the levels you should aim for. But, there are general blood glucose ranges that you can use as guidelines. Blood-glucose levels are measured in units called mmol/L (pronounced milli-moles-per-litre). The ideal ranges are: Before meals: 4-7 mmol/L Two hours after meals: 8-9 mmol/L At bedtime: 6-10 mmol/L You may need to consult your doctor and change your treatment plan if: Blood glucose is consistently lower than 4 mmol/L or higher than 10 mmol/L before meals Blood glucose is consistently lower than 6 mmol/L or higher than 12 mmol/L at bedtime Blood glucose goals may be modified for children and others who are at greater risk of hypoglycaemia In the US blood glucose levels are measured in mg/dl (milligrams per deciliter). That’s why you’ll occasionally read about blood glucose readings that seem very high, like 140 or 220. To convert the American scores back to mmol/L, just divide the number by 18. How often should I be checking my blood glucose levels? Checking the level of glucose in your blood and keeping a record of the levels is an important part of taking care of your type 1 diabetes. This allows you to identify the patterns of high or low blood glucose levels. The information will also help you and your doctor or diabetes team to balance food, exercise and insulin doses. Ideally you should aim to do at least four blood glucose checks a day, although some people do many more. To get the most out of monitoring, your healthcare team may advise you to check your blood glucose levels before and then two to three hours after food. It’s also a good idea to monitor before, during and after exercise. If your blood glucose level is hig Continue reading >>
4 December 2012why Is My Blood Glucose So High When I Wake Up?
It doesn't seem fair, does it? You haven't eaten anything all night and you still wake up with high blood glucose! What is going on and how can you lower it? For those of you with diabetes, this post is for you! Basics Your body strives to keep blood glucose (BG) within a safe range, but with diabetes the balance is disturbed. The insulin your pancreas produces might not be sufficient to cover your BG lowering needs. As well, the insulin it does produce might not be handled properly by target body cells. And to make matters worse, your liver might be on glucose production overdrive. All of this results in your body's failure to control BG overnight as well as after meals or snacks. For more basic information about diabetes, please be sure to read my article, Diabetes Basics at MyNetDiary's library. Dawn Phenomenon Due to normal daily changes in our body's release of hormones during sleep and wake cycles, BG typically starts to rise in the very early morning – starting about 3 AM - and continues to rise as the morning progresses. For folks without diabetes, insulin production simply increases and takes care of the rising BG. However, for folks with diabetes, unless there is medication on board to cover this early morning rise, BG will eventually rise out of target range by the time they wake up. The classic pattern is to see BG within target range at both bedtime and during the middle of the night, and then see a high fasting BG. If you have noticed that your fasting BG is creeping up over time and is no longer within target range despite sticking to a carb controlled eating plan and taking your diabetes medication as prescribed, then it might be time to talk with your doctor about your diabetes medication. The type, dose, and/or timing might need to be adjusted to bet Continue reading >>
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10 Things To Consider If Your Blood Sugar Is High
I just read Catherine’s piece about a series of pump and insulin failures (It’s great! Read it!), and I had to shake my head in that oh-I-so-feel-you way. I’m going on nearly two decades as a diabetic now, but Friday night was a first for me, and one of the worst blood sugar nights I have ever had. I had been trending insulin resistant for a few days — requiring on average about 22 units of insulin per day rather than the standard 14 or 15. This was not too surprising, as — well, I suppose I meant to write a piece announcing this, but it hasn’t happened yet, so here goes nothing– I’m pregnant, and the hormonal ups and downs lead to periodic changes in insulin requirements. Still, heading into Friday night, my insulin behaved like water, and I was just pumping it in with relatively little return on investment. By the evening, I had used some 25 units for the day. Now, being pregnant, hyperglycemia is my bogeyman. Hyperglycemia is bad bad bad. And not just standard, over 200 hyperglycemia. I now begin to panic when I hit 130 mg/dL. So before bed, when I began to climb to 120, 130, I bolused excessively and walked in circles, trying to bring myself back down. I stayed up for an extra hour, waiting, walking, bolusing. Finally I was closer to 100 mg/dL, and went to bed, annoyed to have had to stay awake longer than desired. To my chagrin, not an hour later, my CGM woke me up with its buzzing: HIGH. I cursed, got out of bed, measured myself. 139 mg/dL. Damn you, diabetes. Under normal, non-pregnant circumstances, I would bolus and go back to bed. Now, the risk of going up is too high, and I want to make sure I go down first. I left the bedroom, and proceeded to walk and bolus and wait and walk and bolus and wait and watch lame Netflix movies. Cursing diabetes Continue reading >>
Diabetes And Sleep: How High Blood Sugar Steals Sleep Time
It’s probably far from obvious, but your diabetes could be the reason that you’re having trouble sleeping. Type 2 diabetes affects nearly 30 million Americans—and the numbers are growing. Though most of us are aware that the disease has a serious impact on a person’s diet and blood sugar, fewer are familiar with the many related health woes that diabetes can cause—and how they can negatively impact sleep. Take a closer look at the surprisingly intricate relationship between diabetes and sleep—plus how people with the condition can get a better night’s rest. Diabetes and Sleep: A Vicious Cycle? The relationship between diabetes and sleep is complicated, and experts still have a lot to learn about how the whole thing works. What they do know? How much sleep you get could play a role in whether you develop type 2 diabetes in the first place. First, there’s the growing connection between sleep and obesity. Being overweight is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes. (Believe it or not, up to 90% of people who are diagnosed with the disease are also obese.) What’s more, evidence shows that there are several ways that skimping on sleep could lead to weight gain: When you’re zonked, you don’t have the energy to exercise. Research suggests that people who stay up late spend more time sitting than people who wake up early. Feeling tired means you’re less likely to make healthy food choices, too. When you’re exhausted, pizza or takeout just feel easier (and more tempting) than a big kale salad. Staying up late means more time to eat. People who stay up into the wee hours at night have been found to eat 550 more calories than those who go to bed early. Lack of sleep messes with your hormones. Sleep deprivation causes your body to pump out more of the stre Continue reading >>
Sleep Hacks To Lower Your Blood Sugar
As a diabetic, you probably already know how important it is to eat right, exercise, and take your meds. Here’s something you may not know about controlling blood sugar: Sleep plays a vital role in maintaining normal blood sugar levels. Get less than six hours on most nights and you're three times more likely to have elevated blood sugar levels, according to research published in the Annals of Epidemiology. Even just one sleepless night can interfere with your body's ability to use insulin (and therefore regulate glucose), according to Dutch researchers. Too little sleep also leads to more weight gain: In a national survey of 87,000 people, one-third of participants who slept less than six hours were obese. And when researchers at Columbia University analyzed 20 years' worth of data on more than 68,000 women, they found that those who got five hours or less weighed about five pounds more and were 15% more likely to become obese than those who slept seven hours. Most adults need between seven and nine hours a night, yet one in five Americans regularly sleeps less than six hours, and nearly 70% of women report frequent sleep troubles, according to national polls. The best strategy to improve sleep, according to experts: Hit the sack and set your morning alarm for the same time every day (even on weekends)—maintaining a consistent sleep schedule keeps your biological clock in sync so you rest better. Here are 9 more tips to help you sleep well and stay healthy: Skip afternoon coffee breaks The caffeine from your favorite latte can stay in your system for about eight hours; even if you can fall asleep, you may not be resting soundly. Alcohol has the same effect: Though sipping a glass or two of red wine may make you drowsy, a few hours later, the alcohol levels in your Continue reading >>
Why Blood Sugar Levels Rise Overnight
get the scoop When you go to bed, your blood sugar reading is 110, but when you wake up in the morning, it has shot up to 150. Why does this happen? To understand how blood sugar levels can rise overnight without your eating anything, we have to look at where glucose comes from — and where it goes — while we sleep. During the day, the carbohydrates we eat are digested into glucose and absorbed into the bloodstream. Some of this glucose goes to the liver, where it is stored for later use. At night, while we are asleep, the liver releases glucose into the bloodstream. The liver acts as our glucose warehouse and keeps us supplied until we eat breakfast. The amount of glucose being used is matched by the amount of glucose being released by the liver, so blood sugar levels should remain constant. what is the dawn phenomenon? A rise in blood sugar level between approximately 3 A.M. and the time you wake up is called the “dawn phenomenon.” The liver is supposed to release just enough glucose to replace what is being used, and insulin works as the messenger to tell the liver how much is enough. But if there's not enough insulin (as with type 1 diabetes), or if there's enough insulin but it cannot communicate its message to the liver (as with type 2 diabetes), the liver starts to release glucose much too quickly. In addition, levels of hormones such as cortisol begin to increase in the early morning hours, which can contribute to altered insulin sensitivity. The result? Blood sugar levels rise. This is why blood sugar levels can go up between the time you go to bed and the time you wake up. what can you do about it? You might be able to make changes in the timing of your meals, medications, or insulin injections to help prevent dawn phenomenon. First, keep a detailed rec Continue reading >>
6 Ways To Prevent Low Blood Sugar At Night
Nighttime dips in blood sugar levels are common among people with diabetes. Authors of a study published in June 2013 in Quality of Life Research noted that people with diabetes — type 1 or type 2 — experience low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) during sleep more frequently than many doctors realize. Nighttime hypoglycemia can be caused by a number of different factors, from exercising too close to bedtime to drinking alcohol in the evening. If untreated, low overnight blood sugar levels can lead to headaches and loss of sleep — and in extreme cases, seizures or even death. The good news is that preventing low blood sugar while you sleep can be achieved with a few simple steps: 1. Check Your Blood Sugar Before Bed “For everybody with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, it’s absolutely critical that they check their blood sugar before going to bed to make sure they’re not going to have an episode of low blood sugar during the night,” says Helena W. Rodbard, MD, medical director of Endocrine and Metabolic Consultants, a private practice in Rockville, Maryland, and past president of the American College of Endocrinology. If your blood sugar levels are low at bedtime, eat a healthy snack before going to sleep. The size of the snack should be in proportion to the dip in blood sugar. For instance, a small drop in blood sugar requires only a small snack. If you use an insulin pump, consider temporarily reducing the active dose of insulin. 2. Know the Signs of Low Overnight Blood Sugar Symptoms of hypoglycemia usually develop when blood sugar levels drop below 70 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl). They include shakiness, sweating, confusion, erratic behavior, headache, and lightheadedness. With nighttime hypoglycemia, you may wake up with these symptoms or with a higher blood su Continue reading >>
