Blood sugar levels depend on what, when and how much you eat, as well as how effectively your body produces and uses insulin. Your blood sugar levels are an excellent indicator of your risk of developing diabetes; the higher your blood sugar, the greater your risk. Chronic high blood sugar can be a wake-up call, telling you that it's time to lose weight and make healthier food choices.
Normal Blood Sugar Ranges before Eating
Target blood sugar levels depend on the time of day and if you already have diabetes or prediabetes. Before you eat, called a fasting or preprandial glucose level, a non-diabetic should have a glucose level between 70 and 95 mg/dL. If your reading is higher than 96 mg/dL but lower than 125 mg/dL, you have insulin resistance, or prediabetes. Glucose readings above 126 mg/dL indicate you have diabetes. The American Diabetes Association states that ideally, someone with type 2 diabetes has a fasting glucose level between 70 and 130 mg/dL, when the diabetes is under control due to a combination of diet, exercise and medication if needed.
Normal Blood Sugar Ranges After Eating
Your blood sugar starts to rise soon after you start to eat and is at its highest 1 to 2 hours after your meal. Normal postprandial, which means "after eating," glucose levels are 120 mg/dL and below for non-diabetics, 159 mg/dL and below for those with prediabetes and 180 mg/dL for diabetics. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease suggests that two hours after eating, diabetics should have a blood sugar reading of 180 mg/dL or less. If your blood sugar is higher than 180 mg/dL two hours after eating, you may need to adjust your diabetes treatment plan.
Causes of High Blood Sugar
Illness, infection, stress, emotional trauma, not exercising enough, taking too much insulin or other diabetes medication, eating too many simple carbohydrates or simply overeating can cause high blood sugar levels, also called hyperglycemia. If an underlying illness or trauma is causing your elevated glucose level, you'll need to resolve that problem before expecting blood sugar to return to normal. Changes to your routine can also play havoc with your blood sugar; going back to your normal schedule should help regulate blood sugar.
Preventing High Blood Sugar
Once your blood sugar level is high, you'll need to exercise to use the extra glucose in your blood or take additional insulin. Prevention is the best treatment for high blood sugar. Choose high-fiber carbohydrates, such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans, instead of sugary carbs such as cookies, cakes and candy or starchy carbs such pasta, bread or potatoes. Limit carb intake to between 45 and 60 g per meal, eat a variety of foods and don't overeat -- even too many healthy carbs affect your blood sugar.
References
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney DIseases: What Diabetes Is
- "Clinical Diabetes" Is Postprandial Glucose Control Important? Is It Practical In Primary Care Settings? by Christopher Grainger Parkin; April 2002
- MayoClinic.com; Hyperglycemia; March 2010
- Virginia Mason Medical Center: What are Normal Blood Glucose Levels?
