Diabetes is a condition in which the body does not produce enough insulin or is unable to use the insulin that is available. This allows blood glucose, or blood sugar, levels to rise to unhealthy levels. Uncontrolled high blood sugar can lead to blindness, heart disease, kidney disease, amputations and other serious complications. If there are risk factors for diabetes present, a physician might test blood sugar levels after the patient eats a meal. This can help to diagnose pre-diabetes or catch diabetes in the early stages, when it is easier to treat.
Identification
After eating a meal, the food is converted into glucose, or blood sugar, to provide the body with energy, and the hormone insulin must be present to facilitate the transfer of glucose from the blood to tissues. If there is an excess of glucose, it is stored in the liver and muscles in a form called glycogen, or else the extra glucose can be converted to fat and stored in fat cells. Both sources can be used for energy in between meals.
Normal Levels
Even those without diabetes can experience high and low blood sugar levels. Occasional spikes and drops in blood glucose levels can occur due to skipping meals, eating a high amount of carbohydrates in the form of sugary foods or refined grains, stress, heavy physical activity and consuming too much alcohol. Testing blood sugar levels can help to identify if high blood sugar levels are due to diabetes or another cause. Non-diabetics generally have a blood sugar level between 70 and 140 mg/dL after a meal. A normal fasting blood sugar level is 70 to 99 mg/dL.
Diagnosing Diabetes
High blood sugar levels and diabetes in the early stages can exist without causing any symptoms, or else the symptoms might be very subtle. This means in some cases, testing blood sugar levels might be the only way to diagnose diabetes early on. For a diagnosis of diabetes to be made, two fasting plasma glucose levels of 126 mg per dL or higher must occur. Diabetes might also be diagnosed if two glucose readings reach 200 mg per dL or higher after consuming 75 g of glucose. Having a blood glucose level of 140 mg per dL or higher two hours after a meal indicates a higher risk of developing diabetes and might be diagnosed as pre-diabetes.
Diabetic Levels
After being diagnosed with diabetes, it is important to test blood sugar regularly to see how the body responds to food. To prevent complications, the American Diabetes Association recommends that diabetics keep blood sugar levels at less than 180 mg/dl two hours after a meal. Because other factors such as stress and exercise can affect blood glucose levels, it is important to test every day, as levels can fluctuate. A certain meal might not affect blood sugar levels one day, then on another day, the same meal can shoot levels too high.
