What Is a Good Sugar Reading 2 Hours After a Meal

What is a normal blood sugar level?

The answer to the question what is a normal claret sugar level is as follows:

Fasting normal blood sugar
Normal for person without diabetes: 70–99 mg/dl (3.9–5.five mmol/L)
Official ADA recommendation for someone with diabetes: 80–130 mg/dl (iv.4–7.2 mmol/L)

Normal blood sugar ii hours after meals
Normal for person without diabetes: Less than 140 mg/dl (7.8 mmol/Fifty)
Official ADA recommendation for someone with diabetes: Less than 180 mg/dl (10.0 mmol/L)

HbA1c
Normal for person without diabetes: Less than 5.vii%
Official ADA recommendation for someone with diabetes: Less than vii.0%

Source: American Diabetes Association

Claret sugar levels and diabetes

If you have diabetes, you may be wondering (or, take wondered at some indicate) what your claret glucose (sugar) "should" exist. Hopefully your dr., nurse practitioner, physician's assistant or whoever diagnosed yous has given you answers to that question. Unfortunately, though, not everyone is given glucose goals. Or in some cases, it may have been a long time ago, and they've since been forgotten. No worries — we'll go over all that!

What is blood glucose, anyway?

Blood glucose, or saccharide, is sugar that is in your blood (like shooting fish in a barrel enough!). It comes from the food that you consume — foods that contain carbohydrate, such as bread, pasta and fruit are the main contributors to blood glucose. The cells in our bodies need glucose for energy — and we all need free energy to movement, recollect, learn and breathe. The brain, which is the command center, uses near half of all the energy from glucose in the body.

When things go awry

When nosotros eat nutrient, the pancreas (an organ that sits between the stomach and the spine) goes to work, releasing enzymes that help to break downwardly food and hormones that assistance the body handle the influx of glucose. One of these hormones is insulin, and it plays a central part in managing glucose levels in the claret.

And hither is where things tin can go wrong. If the pancreas doesn't make enough insulin — or stops making it altogether, in the instance of type i diabetes — glucose levels in the blood can ascension too high. Another scenario is that the pancreas makes enough insulin but the cells take trouble using it properly, causing blood glucose levels to rise. This is chosen insulin resistance and is the authentication of blazon 2 diabetes.

In the curt term, high blood glucose levels tin can brand yous experience downright bad. Thirst, frequent trips to the bath, fatigue and weight loss are all symptoms of high blood glucose (hyperglycemia). If non treated, more serious issues can occur, such equally diabetic ketoacidosis. Chronic high claret glucose levels can lead to complications such every bit heart, kidney and centre illness, as well equally nerve harm. So, information technology'south all near the claret glucose.

How do y'all know what your blood glucose level is?

For the near office, you tin can't "feel" what your blood glucose level is — unless information technology's fairly high or it's low. Y'all may not even always have symptoms of either high or low blood glucose; in fact, many people with type two diabetes don't have the usual symptoms of high blood glucose, and for this reason, it'southward not uncommon for people to go undiagnosed for many years.

The all-time way to know your blood glucose level is to check it with a glucose meter. This means doing a fingerstick with a lancet and getting a drop of blood onto a examination strip, so inserting the strip into the meter for a reading. Your doc may be able to requite yous a meter free of charge, but you'll likely need to pay for test strips and lancets. Simply check with your health plan, as at that place are likely 1 or two "preferred" meters that they want y'all to use.

Another way to know what your glucose levels are upward to is to utilise a continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, which reads glucose in the interstitial fluid (the fluid between cells) well-nigh every v minutes. Continuous glucose monitoring is expensive and may or may not be covered by your health plan.

Now that you're checking your claret glucose, what do the numbers mean?

Depending on your diabetes treatment program, your doctor or diabetes educator may propose yous to check in one case a week, once a day or up to ten times a day (hint: if they don't tell y'all, inquire!). But what does it hateful when y'all see a 67, 101 or 350 on your meter? And what is a "normal" blood carbohydrate, anyhow? Smashing questions! After all, if you don't know what the numbers on your meter mean, it'southward hard to know how you're doing.

(Here'south where the term "normal" comes in. According to the Merriam-Webster lexicon, one definition of normal is "befitting to a blazon, standard, or regular design." Information technology's a term that not everyone takes kindly to, considering if you're non "normal," yous might exist considered "abnormal," which means, "unusual in an unwelcome or problematic way." Rather than thinking of your blood sugars equally being normal or abnormal, you might remember of them as existence "in range," "in target" or "at goal.")

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) provides guidelines (not mandates) for blood glucose goals for people with diabetes, and the goals vary depending on when yous're checking your glucose:

• Fasting (before eating the outset meal of the mean solar day) and before meals: 80–130 mg/dl (4.4–7.2 mmol/L)

• Postprandial (1 to 2 hours after a meal): Less than 180 mg/dl (x.0 mmol/L)

By the way, these guidelines are for non-pregnant adults with type ane or type two diabetes. Children, adolescents and pregnant women may take unlike goals.

Your blood glucose goals may be different, however. If you're younger, take had diabetes for a shorter amount of fourth dimension or are non taking whatsoever medicine for your diabetes, your glucose goals might be a little "tighter," or lower. Too, your blood glucose goals may be higher than what ADA recommends if you're older, have diabetes complications, or don't go symptoms when your claret glucose is low.

Bottom line: talk with your health-care provider nearly the following:

• When to check your blood glucose
• How often to check your blood glucose
• What your blood glucose goals are (don't forget to ask nearly your A1C goal, as well)

Know your numbers

Consider keeping a log of your glucose levels. Y'all can use good old-fashioned pencil and paper, a spreadsheet, a logbook or a smartphone app to track your levels. If you lot're not inclined to do this, your meter will capture up to a certain number of glucose values and allow you download them to a reckoner for your viewing pleasure.

It'south of import to look at all of your glucose values to get the large picture — not just a single indicate in time. Past doing so, you lot tin can spot trends (for example, your fasting blood glucose levels are consistently above target or you lot tend to go depression every afternoon effectually 4pm). Your numbers are information for both you and your health-intendance team to learn how your diabetes treatment plan (medication, food intake, physical activity) are working for you. Bring your logs or, at to the lowest degree, your meter to all of your regular provider visits and make sure your provider looks at your numbers.

Remember: If your claret glucose levels aren't at goal, ask your provider or diabetes educator what you can do to tweak your diabetes treatment programme. Not every blood sugar that you check needs to be at target, simply the closer you keep them within your target range, the lower the chance of complications. And the more oftentimes you cheque your blood glucose, the more data you accept at your fingertips (literally) to do a course correction, if needed.

***
Learn blood sugar basics with our free guide!

***
Interested in learning more about claret sugar? Check out our claret carbohydrate nautical chart and acquire about using blood sugar monitoring to manage diabetes in "Managing Your Claret Glucose Ups and Downs."

En Español: ¿Qué es Un Nivel Normal de Azúcar en Sangre?

Originally Published January 13, 2016

What Is a Good Sugar Reading 2 Hours After a Meal

Source: https://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/blog/what-is-a-normal-blood-sugar-level/

Share this post