What Is a Normal Blood Sugar Level?
The aim of diabetes treatment is to bring blood sugar (“glucose”) level as near normal as possible. What are normal levels of blood glucose, and how can you attain them?
Best Blood Glucose Level
First, what is the distinction between “sugar” and “glucose”? Sugar is the general name for sweet carbs that liquify in water. “Carbohydrate” implies a food made just of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen.
There are numerous different kinds of sugars. The one our body uses most is called “glucose.” Other sugars we eat, like fructose from fruit or lactose from milk, are transformed into glucose in our bodies. Then we can use them for energy. Our bodies also break down starches, which are sugars stuck, into glucose.
When individuals discuss “blood sugar,” they imply “blood sugar.” The two terms mean the same thing.
In the United States, blood sugar is normally measured in milligrams of glucose per deciliter of blood (mg/dl). A milligram is very little, about 0.00018 of a teaspoon. A deciliter is about 3 1/3 ounces.
In Canada and the United Kingdom, blood sugar is reported in millimoles/liter (mmol/L). You can convert Canadian or British glucose levels to American numbers if you multiply them by 18. This is useful to understand if you’re reading remarks or research studies from England or Canada. If somebody reports that their fasting blood sugar was 7, you can increase that by 18 and get their U.S. glucose level of 126 mg/dl.
What are normal glucose numbers? They differ throughout the day. For somebody without diabetes, a fasting blood sugar on awakening ought to be under 100 mg/dl. Before-meal normal sugars are 70 — 99 mg/dl. “Postprandial” sugars taken two hours after meals ought to be less than 140 mg/dl.
Those are the normal numbers for someone without diabetes. If you have diabetes, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) encourages keeping your blood sugar levels prior to meals from 80 — 130 mg/dl and your levels 1 — 2 hours after meals under 180. Many individuals with diabetes and physicians shoot for levels closer to those of people without diabetes, due to the fact that they are more protective against complications. Lower numbers require more mindful diet and more frequent monitoring to prevent lows, but they are workable for lots of people.
There is also a long-term glucose test called a hemoglobin A1c, HbA1c, or simply A1C. This test gives your typical reading over the last 2 — 3 months. HbA1c is revealed as a portion. Normal for an individual without diabetes is below 5.7%. Targets for an individual with diabetes advised by the ADA are 7.0% or lower if you desire tight control.
When glucose levels get greater than normal, they start to cause swelling in capillary and nerves. This is where all the complications of diabetes originated from. So you don’t want high blood sugar levels.
In individuals without diabetes, normal insulin function keeps sugars in a normal range. When you have diabetes, insulin function is harmed. You have to offer your body mindful help, by eating right, exercising, taking medications or herbs, and lowering stress.
Low blood glucose are also a possible problem. If you take insulin or a sulfonylurea or meglitinide drug, there is a risk of your blood sugar going too low. Low blood sugar level (“hypoglycemia,” pronounced high-po-gleye-SEEM-e-uh) can cause lightheadedness, confusion, or fainting.
Normal blood glucose numbers
| Time of Check | Goal plasma blood glucose ranges for people without diabetes |
Goal plasma blood glucose ranges for people with diabetes |
| Before breakfast (fasting) | < 100 |
70 – 130 |
| Before lunch, supper and snack | < 110 |
70 – 130 |
| Two hours after meals | < 140 |
< 180 |
| Bedtime |
< 120 |
90- 150 |
| A1C (also called glycosylated hemoglobin A1c, HbA1c or glycohemoglobin A1c) |
< 6% |
< 7% |
< = less than
> = greater than
> = greater than or equal to
< = less than or equal to
Information obtained from Joslin Diabetes Center’s Guidelines for Pharmacological Management of Type 2 Diabetes.
Testing your blood sugar level
You can learn what your blood glucose is at an offered moment with a fingerstick blood test, using any readily available glucose meter. It hurts a little, and the test strips cost cash, however you can get excellent info. You can minimize the pain and the hassle of needle sticks and get more details with a continuous glucose monitor or CGM. CGMs measure from a sensing unit inserted under the skin, typically on the abdominal area. (Currently, CGMs have to be calibrated roughly twice a day with a standard blood sugar level screen.)
For people taking rapid-acting or intermediate-acting insulin, blood glucose testing should be regular. You wish to take the right amount and not have your blood glucose go too low.
For individuals with Type 2 diabetes who are not on insulin, how much to test depends on you. If you’re pursuing tight control, you can test after consuming different foods and doing different activities to see how they affect your glucose. Keep cautious records of your results and possibly log what you were eating and doing before your test.
It doesn’t assist much to test at the very same time every day, typically on waking and before dinner. Test with a plan; when you alter something like a new medicine dosage or an herb, then test in the days afterward. Lots of monitors keep your outcome records for you or send them to your computer system or your doctor.
Also read: Why is My Blood Sugar Level High at Night?
