Normal Blood Glucose Levels - What Are Normal Blood Sugar Levels?

What are normal blood glucose levels is a concern for those who might have a blood sugar issue or have been diagnosed with Pre-Diabetes or Type 2 Diabetes. Hopefully, you are lucky enough to have your blood sugar levels under control. If you or someone you know is having problems in this area, read on. We will explore what normal blood sugar levels are.

What is glucose? Glucose is a form of sugar that travels through the human blood stream. It usually enters your body in the form of foods high in carbohydrates. You can regulate glucose levels through the body's use of insulin and glucagon hormones which are produced by the pancreas. The problem arises if the pancreas is unable to generate the proper amount of glucose to keep your body in check.

Normal blood glucose levels typically register between 70 and 150 mg. The level in someone's body will change during the day and is affected by many factors including what time of day it is as well as what your most recent meal was (or was not). There is danger associated with levels either below or above the range. If your level is below 70, you most likely have a condition called hypoglycemia or more commonly called low blood sugar. Other symptoms of hypoglycemia include lack of energy, focus and irritability. You can even lose consciousness if your glucose is too low.

If the level of sugar in your blood is over 150 mg, then you are considered to be hyperglycemic, also more commonly known as having high blood sugar. If you have persistent high sugar, then you are at risk for diabetes which can result in serious organ damage to your eyes, kidneys and other organs. If you do not have normal blood glucose levels, you should take all necessary steps to reverse the condition.

There are a variety of tests available to check for glucose levels.

1) The "fasting blood sugar" test evaluates glucose levels after a fast - typically 8 hours long. This is why most people take this test the first thing in the morning (where their blood sugar would not be impacted by eating, drinking). If the test results for the blood fall between 70 and 99, the patient is considered to be at a normal range.

2) The "2 hour postprandial" blood glucose test evaluates sugar levels exactly two hours after eating. If the results for this blood test are between 70 and 99, the patient is considered to have normal glucose levels.

3) Random blood glucose testing tests sugar levels all through the entire day - regardless of food consumption, activity, exercise or sleep. For this test, the blood glucose result level should fall between 70 and 135.

4) The glucose tolerance test is performed where the patient drinks a liquid that is mostly made up of glucose. The purpose of the test is to see the blood's reaction immediately after a high amount of sugar is consumed and then released into the blood.

Acceptable Blood Glucose Levels May Vary, Understand Them and Stay in Control

We have often heard doctors advising diabetics to ensure that blood glucose levels are normal. In other words it is very important to maintain acceptable blood glucose levels. The concentration of blood sugar in a mammal's blood is the blood glucose level, which is usually expected to be in a reference range between 4mmol/L and 6mmol/L. Levels higher than that range are a cause of concern and need medication as per doctor's advice. Failure to maintain normal levels leads to hyperglycemia (higher level) or hypoglycemia (lower level). Acceptable blood sugar levels cannot be specific values, and your doctor would be the best person to answer what is safe for you depending upon your health status.

Normal values of blood glucose level

The blood glucose level varies at different times of the day. In most humans you would normally find the levels within a range of 80mg/dL to 110mg/dl i.e. 3.9 to 6.0mmol/L. The level goes up temporarily shortly after eating up to maybe 140mg/dL. The level is on a lower side in the early morning before you have your first meal.

Blood sugar tests and their normally acceptable blood glucose levels

* Fasting blood sugar test: The fasting blood sugar test is conducted after you fast for at least eight hours. The normal range for this test is 70 to 100mg/dL or 3.9 to 5.6mmol/L.
* Random blood sugar test: This test is conducted to measure blood sugar at any point in time of the day. Though there is no specific level defined, the sugar level should not be acceptable if higher than 200mg/dL i.e. 11.1mmol/L.
* Oral glucose tolerance test: This test measures the response of your body to sugar intake. First the fasting blood sugar level is measured. Then you are given a sugary solution and your blood sugar level is measured after 1 hour and then after 2 hours after you have the solution. This test is often used to screen pregnant women for gestational diabetes. The normal sugar level for this test is lower than 141mg/dL i.e. 7.8mmol/L.
* A1C test (glycated hemoglobin): This test is used to gauge how well you are managing your diabetes. This test is used to measure your average blood sugar for the past two to three months. It shows what percentage of hemoglobin is sugar coated (glycated). The acceptable level for non diabetics is 4 to 6 percent. For the diabetics the normal acceptable level is lower than 7 percent. Doctors may recommend it to be 6% during pregnancy. The level more than 7 may indicate a change to your diabetes treatment plan.

It is very important to know the higher values as well. There can be different reasons for higher levels other than diabetes, like severe stress, heart attack, stroke, medicines like corticosteroids or excess production of growth hormone. Doctors may advice you to take different tests to find if you have diabetes. Usually the criteria is fasting blood glucose level of 126 mg/dL i.e. 7.0mmol/L or higher, for oral glucose tolerance test of 200 mg/dL i.e. 11.1mmol/L and other symptoms of diabetes like frequent urination, unexplained weight loss and increase in appetite, fatigue etc.

The acceptable blood glucose levels may vary depending upon your diabetes and other health conditions. Your doctor would be the best person to express the most acceptable levels. Ensure that you regularly test your sugar level and take due care, medication, exercises, and diet control to keep it within the acceptable range.

Drink lots of water because it is calorie free and helps to flush away the toxins. Flavored water, an excellent healthy drink for diabetics! Did you know that flavored carbonated water has no calories, sugar, body, sweetener, color or preservatives? Read more about flavored and carbonated water at carbonatedseltzerwater

Food That Lowers Blood Glucose

Glucose present in the blood is the result of ingesting foods that release glucose from the gastrointestinal tract to the circulation. During starvation, the body -mainly the liver- released amounts of glucose are just sufficient to keep glucose levels in the blood within the normal range.

Physiologically under normal conditions, Insulin is secreted in response to glucose stimulation of the beta-cells of the pancreas. To lower blood glucose, we have to either reduce the intake of high glucose releasing foods, or stimulate the pancreas to secrete more insulin.

Sometimes the pancreas B-cells ability to secrete Insulin is partially or completely devastated leading to none insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) -type 2-, or Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus(IDDM) -type l-, respectively.

The other condition that may elevate blood glucose is what is known as insulin-resistance, iea reduced response of the body cells to the effects of insulin resulting in reduced cell uptake of glucose and causing the level of glucose in the blood to rise.

Since insulin effect is mediated through cell receptors, hence any agent that modulate receptors so that their response to insulin is enhanced, will result in enhancing glucose uptake by the cells and lowering its blood level (actually this the way many oral hypo-glycemic drugs act).

Many plants act this way of modulating cell receptors,consequently the traditionally used herbs or foods by diabetics are candidates for modulating insulin receptors.

There are foods that affect the blood glucose loading capacity of some other foods that release glucose into circulation quickly ie these foods reduce the Glycemic Index of some other foods by either:

1- Slowing the gastric emptying (decreased motility of the gastro- intestinal tract) and thus slowing the rate at which glucose is delivered to the circulation.

2- Holding the glucose(with other molecules) within a gel consistency these foods form with water and also slow the rate of glucose delivery to the circulation.

To summarise, foods that lower blood glucose may act through:

1- Increasing the ability of pancreas cells to secrete insulin in response to glucose stimulation.

2- Modulating the body cell receptors of insulin. Onions, garlic,mustard and other S containing plants probably act here.

3- Decreasing insulin inactivation. Onions, garlic probably act here.

4- Reducing the Glycemic Index of some foods. Fenugreek may act here.

Fasting Blood Sugar and Other Glucose Tests

Fasting blood sugar or FBS is a test for the levels of glucose in blood. Glucose is the major monosaccharide in blood. Its measurement is vital to the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. Fasting, because the patient has to fast for 8-12 hours before testing. Fasting is crucial to come up with reliable laboratory results and consequently - diagnosis.

How is Fasting Blood Sugar performed?

1. When the test is ordered, the patient should contact the health worker responsible in the collection of the specimen.

2. Proper instructions are given. Instructions may vary, if there are other tests simultaneously done with FBS. Examples are: If it is done with triglyceride test, fasting would be 12-14 hours. If electrolyte is performed, water may not be permitted.

3. Fasting usually starts after the evening meal. 7 pm to 7 am. Nothing is eaten; not even candy, coffee, tea or any beverage.

4. Before 7 am, the patient should already be in the laboratory.

5. Blood then is extracted and properly labeled and encoded.

6. The patient can eat after the blood extraction.

7. The fasting hours should not be shortened or prolonged.

Other tests that can be performed with glucose in the diagnosis of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) are:
1. 2 -hour post prandial test (2-HPPT)

This is the most sensitive parameter in diagnosing diabetes mellitus. It is because two hours after a meal (post prandially), glucose levels in normal persons will go back to normal.

Normal blood glucose levels in adult:

Orthotoulidine method = 60-110 mg/dL
Nelson-Somogyi method = 80-120 mg/dL

2. Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT)

The patient ingests a glucose load/challenge or solution. Then timed specimens are collected at 30 minutes or one-hour intervals. The results are compared to standard results for normal patients.

3. Intravenous Glucose Tolerance Test (IGTT)

This is the same as OGTT. The difference is that the glucose load is injected intravenously. Persons who have gastrointestinal problems employ IGTT. Obtained results are interpreted just like OGTT.

4. HbA1C test (Hemoglobin A1C).

This test is a measure of the patient's compliance to his drug treatment. If the patient is dutifully taking in his medicine, the obtained result would be normal. If the patient is not complying with his medications, then the result is elevated.

It is good that people become aware of these different tests, so that they would be able to monitor their glucose levels or that of diabetic relatives and friends.

High Blood Sugar - What Are Considered Normal Blood Glucose Levels?

The normal blood sugar level for a person depends upon when the test for blood glucose is performed as well as whether an individual is diabetic or not. When performed in the morning before the first meal - fasting blood sugar - the normal range is from 70 to 100 milligrams per deciliter. This test is performed without food for the six to eight hours previous and should not be confused with either the preprandial test. A preprandial test, one performed two hours before a meal, will have a range from 80 to 110 milligrams per deciliter. A postprandial test is performed after a meal, typically two hours after eating, and should not exceed 145 milligrams per deciliter.

However, these levels are not those recommended by the American Diabetes association for diabetics. Preprandial (including fasting), the blood sugar is expected to be from 70 to 130 milligrams per deciliter. The postprandial glucose level should be below 180 milligrams per deciliter. Diabetics, either because of insulin resistance or reduced insulin production, are unable to metabolize glucose as well as non0diabetics, hence the higher normal levels.

The blood glucose level, even for diabetics, is actually a rather narrow range, however levels out of range can be harmful and even life-threatening. A blood sugar level below 70 milligrams per deciliter is termed hypoglycemia, and below 60 to 65 milligrams per deciliter, an individual will begin to feel and show symptoms - shakiness, hunger, and racing of the heart among others. As blood sugar drops below 50 and further, mental function is affected and progressively deteriorates leading to unconsciousness and seizures.

At the other extreme is hyperglycemia, a glucose blood level above 180 milligrams per deciliter. However, symptoms - especially frequent or excessive hunger, thirst, or urination - often aren't experienced until the level reaches 270 to 360 milligrams per deciliter. It should be noted that a chronic, sustained blood glucose level of just 125 milligrams per deciliter can lead to organ damage.

Combined Wrist Blood Pressure & Blood Glucose Meter Vs Food Monitoring Blood Glucose Meter

What Is A Combined Wrist Blood Pressure And Blood Glucose Meter?

A Combined Wrist Blood Pressure And Blood Glucose Meter is fundamentally a 2-in-1 product that eliminates the need to purchase a Blood Sugar Meter and Blood Pressure Monitor separately. It is most ideal for people with both diabetes (hyperglycemia) and high blood pressure (hypertension) for home use.

It is typically compact, light-weight, comfortable, designed for ease of use and accurate measurements. Use your wrist to take your blood pressure using the oscillometric BP method with wrist cuff technology. When testing your blood for glucose, it works almost the same like a Blood Sugar Meter except that now you place your blood sample on the same device too. Stores results for both blood glucose and blood pressure tests.

Price Range : Slightly cheaper than you get both devices separately. Around $50 - $56 per unit.

Note : This device does not measure your blood glucose using the wrist function (you need a Wrist-Watch Blood Glucose Meter for this). The wrist function is solely for blood pressure monitoring only. Blood test for this still requires traditional blood sampling and testing with a lancet device.

What Is A Food Monitoring Blood Glucose Meter?

A Food Monitoring Blood Glucose Meter allows you to manage your blood glucose before and after each meal so that you can be aware of the effects of your food and portion choices, thus make necessary adjustment to continue to enjoy the food you like yet maintaining your body glucose level everyday.

How It Works Actually?

Add a meal flag - You can simply flag your blood glucose results as before or after meal. This will help to remind you of the impact of your food choices. Over time, the meter can also provide you with the meal averages too.

Add a comment - After each test, you can store your result and attach a simple comment to it to note why your glucose level for that test was particularly high or low eg. "Mild Exercise".

Benefits:

This meter can typically store results and show either the average of all results, the average of all before-meal results, or the average of all after-meal results. It can also show average results for 7 days, 14 days or 30 days.

It will usually include a free diabetes educational material (user manual, DVD and a booklet) to help you manage your diabetes around meals.

About The Site :

My-Blood-Glucose-Meter.com is a Blood Glucose Meter Essential Guide that shares everything you need to know about one.

Lowering Blood Sugar Naturally - Homemade Remedies to Lower Blood Glucose Level

Lowering blood sugar naturally is the best way to cure diabetes. Due to high blood glucose in our body, people suffer from this deadly disorder. The growing trend of diabetics is a real cause of worry. When our body fails to produce insulin or produces ineffective insulin then it cause diabetes by raising the blood glucose levels. In order to avoid this problem, we should try to avoid sugar. There are many ways to lower blood glucose level.

Home Made Remedies To Lower Blood Glucose Level

. Exercising regularly is the best medicine for a diabetic for lowering blood sugar. Running thrice in a week in your neighborhood park or by just taking some strolls you can get rid of this disorder. The metabolism in your body increases due to these exercises. It supplies more oxygen to your blood and make your blood circulation more effective. It can also reduce your weight and by loosing those extra pounds, you can be free from this deadly disease. Enough water intakes are also necessary for your body in order to keep your body hydrated. The whole process can improve your overall health.

. Proper diets can also help your body in lowering blood sugar naturally. Your nutrition should contain less sugar and more proteins. You can also prepare sumptuous diabetic snacks like apple pudding, oatmeal snacks and pumpkin cakes etc. There are many sugar free recipes available. You can consume these products in order to get rid of diabetes. Eat additional richly colored vegetables and fruits containing less sugar.

. Preparing a blood glucose chart is another way to keep a check in your health. This chart is maintained by diabetics to know about their progress. The track record guides you to lead a healthy life.

Blood Glucose Testing - 6 Tips to Make Testing Pain Free

Did you know there are 6 simple steps that you can take to make testing your blood glucose a lot less painful?

At the moment, to accurately check our blood glucose the only way to do this, is to prick our fingers and check the resulting blood for glucose.

Pain is caused by the penetration of the lancet into the skin. The deeper the lancet penetrates the skin the more painful the testing but the more blood is provided for testing. If you need more blood for testing then the lancet will need to penetrate deeper.

The tips below focus on ways to get more blood out when you prick your finger with a lancet so that it does not need to penetrate the skin deeply and thus makes it a lot less painful!

1) Wash your hands with soap and warm water - this will help keep the testing site clean and help dilate the blood vessels in the fingers to increase blood flow.

2) Massage your finger downwards to the tip of your finger - this will help push blood towards the tip of your finger so that when it is pricked there is plenty of blood there ready to come out.

3) Have your testing hand pointing downwards below your waist - blood will flow more easily when following gravity downwards.

4) Set your lancing device - lancing devices have different settings to pierce the skin at different depths. If you use the tips in this article you should find that you will be able to use a lower setting but still have enough blood for testing. Try changing the settings to find the right level.

5) Select the right meter - different blood glucose meters require different amounts of blood to carry out a blood glucose testing. The less blood needed the less painful testing will be. Choose a meter that requires only a small testing sample such as the Accu-chek Aviva which needs only 0.6 microliter

6) Alternate your fingers - don't use the same finger over and over again. You have 8 fingers distribute the testing evenly. You'll find your fingers will recover much faster and blood flow will be better.

The Blood Sugar Level Chart - A Crucial Tool in Maintaining a Normal Blood Glucose Level

Contrary to common belief, understanding the body's sugar levels through a blood sugar level chart is not only for people who have diabetes. As the matter of fact, it can be as an early warning if the body will develop diabetes and in some instances be the key to preventing diabetes. However, even with blood sugar chart, maintaining a healthy blood sugar level can still be a difficult task for some, depending on how their body utilizes and responds to glucose.

In normal cases, blood sugar or glucose, which is the main means of transporting energy to all of the body's cells, is maintained through insulin - which in turn, is the chemical that injects blood sugar to the various cells of the body. Whenever food that contains more than normal sugar level enters the body, extra insulin is produced to lower the blood stream's sugar ratio so that it can accommodate the extra amount of sugar going in. Experts agree that this makes the body a little bit more hyperactive as the body cells receive a sudden boost of energy.

This ability to maintain the body's sugar ratio diminishes when one develops diabetes - when, due to some reasons, the pancreas stops or reduces its insulin production. In these cases, having a blood sugar level chart gains a paramount importance as the body stops automatically using up "extra" sugar in the bloodstream. Too much blood sugar damages small blood vessels, the usual victim is the eyes since there are a lot of small blood vessels lining your eyes. Hence, keeping a blood sugar level chart is important to further prevent damages to blood vessels.

A normal person's body sugar ratio normally ranges in between 4 to 8 mmol/l. This unit measures how much glucose is present per liter of blood plasma. As said, your body adjusts to the many factors affecting the blood sugar in the body. Hence, your levels may vary depending on how far you are from your meals or what your mood is. Your normal body sugar level before meals is anywhere between 4 to 7 mmol/l. 90 minutes after a meal as your body begins to intake digested food, it goes up to just below 10 mmol/l. Before and during your sleep, as your body prepares to rest, your body sugar stabilizes at 8 mmol/l.

Going below these levels are harmful too. This condition known as hypoglycemia can lead to coma or fainting. Mildly, this causes clumsiness. Severely, it can lead to death. If asleep, hypoglycemia can cause nightmares and feeling tired or confused after waking up. In normal people, whenever the body's sugar level goes dangerously low, it triggers hunger, thus prompting the person to eat and have an early glucose intake. The body still responds and prevents this condition. However, there are instances when the body can't especially when the person has a habit of skipping meals, the body would not have enough glucose stored in the liver and in the muscles, thus causing weakness or sleepiness.

In the end, maintaining good sugar levels in the body is important not only to maintain good health but in keeping the body in optimum shape and the mind in optimum attention.

Blood Glucose Meters

A blood glucose meter such as those produced by Bayer Diagnostics including the Ascencia Breeze and Ascensia Contour are a tool which helps a person with diabetes to meter their blood glucose (sugar) levels themselves. They may also sometimes be referred to as SMBG's.

Each one of the devices is about the size of an MP3 player and most run on batteries. There are even some models which come with a carry case also. These then allow you to store other essential pieces of equipment that you will need to carry with you so that you test your blood sugar levels at anytime and anywhere.

Most of the models today operate using two different systems. The first is known as reflectance photometer devices and these blast a small beam of light at the blood sample and will then measure the changes to the light as it bounces back at it. The other devices are known as electrochemical meters (the more modern of the two devices). It works by measuring the electrical currents produced by the glucose found in the blood sample provided. But which ever one you use will then produce a number which indicates just what level of glucose there is in your blood.

We have explained a little bit about what glucose meters do, but just how much does one cost? Certainly they are not as expensive as you may think and if you were to look for one you may find that there are some being offered to people for free. Certainly in the USA you may discover that your health insurance will cover the cost of you getting your diabetes supplies. However if they do not or you do not in fact have insurance then a lot of pharmacies and clinics will provide these meters for people to use at no charge whatsoever. Unfortunately although you may actually get the meter for free you may well discover that you will need to buy the test strips yourself for them. The problem being that the test strips available today can not be used between various different models and makes. So you will only be able to use the ones that are actually designed for the model you have. However the Ascensia Breeze helps to alleviate the situation because this uses a disc that contains strips so no longer do you need to worry about fiddling around with individual strips every time you need to carry out a test.

Foods to Lower Blood Glucose - Top Three Foods to Control Glucose Levels

The level of blood sugar in the body is closely related to healthy functioning of the human system. Imbalances in the blood sugar can lead to many problems such as obesity, diabetes or binge eating. A good way to treat this imbalance is to adopt foods to control blood glucose levels. These foods help to lower blood glucose and maintain it at a healthy rate.

Oatmeal:

Oatmeal is one of those carbohydrates that are high in fiber. The high fiber content helps to slow down the speed of digestion. This is because the digestive system takes more time to process the nutrients and carbohydrate from the fiber content. As a result there is a slow and constant release of glucose from the oatmeal. This keeps the blood sugar level constant, and keeps you full for a longer time. Consequently you will eat less and will be able to lose weight as well. Other high fiber whole grains such as barley are also effective which helps in controlling the level of blood glucose.

Non starchy vegetables:

Vegetables like broccoli, beans, peas and spinach which have little or no starch are also a good choice to lower blood sugar level as they are high in fiber and low in carbohydrates. These are especially good for people with diabetes. And they help to supply a good amount of nutrition and fiber without adding too many carbohydrates.

Strawberries:

Strawberries are an ideal snack compared to candy or chocolate because they contain fructose, but at the same time they are rich in fiber and have a lot of water as well. Their overall carbohydrate and calorie content is low. They are also fare low on the Glycemic chart due to high fiber content. So the release of sugar is not sudden but slow and controlled.

Lean meat:

Lean meats such as turkey, skinned chicken breast and fatless cuts of meat are high in protein. They do not have a significant effect on the blood sugar level. They also rate low on the Glycemic index which means that they take time to digest. This will ensure that you will feel full for longer.

Cinnamon:

Recent research has found that cinnamon may be very useful in controlling blood sugar levels because it has works like insulin to digest sugar. Experiments have proved that a regular intake of cinnamon extract has a moderate effect in reducing blood sugar levels.