The glucose level after eating should be the chief concern of anyone with diabetes, and should be one of the most important tests associated with the disease.
In the world of medicine, the things that are considered normal are generally what are to be desired, however, upon close examination of the usual manner of establishing a fasting glucose to determine baseline blood glucose levels there is something decidedly abnormal in the test itself.
Normally the fasting blood glucose test is used to diagnose diabetes, but the manner in which the test is administered makes it abnormal when attempting to ascertain the glucose level after eating.
When a patient, or their physician thinks they may have some sort of glucose related abnormality the physician usually instructs the patient to fast from anything but water from midnight of the night before the fasting glucose test is to me administered. The patient arrives at the physician’s office and is given a solution containing a known amount of glucose to drink. The patient’s blood glucose level is then checked at intervals after the solution is taken to determine how well the body is metabolizing the glucose.
This is odd because in most cases the optimum amount of time that must pass between the last food intake is a full 8 hours, yet very few people go a full 8 hours without eating in their normal day to day life. Perhaps a better way to determine how well the body metabolizes glucose is to take the blood glucose reading around two hours after a meal. In a normal person the blood glucose level 2 hours after a meal should be no more than 140, and that normal glucose level after eating should be the target of the diabetic patient, regardless of what their “fasting” glucose level is.
Maintaining the normal glucose level in blood has become more important than ever for a growing number of people. Even as heart disease, stroke, and stroke levels continue to decline the number of people affected by diabetes is rising by leaps and bounds. Diabetes, if not properly treated, can result in kidney failure, heart disease, liver problems, glaucoma, peripheral neuropathy, wounds that won’t heal, and an entire host of other health problems. Though there is, as yet, no cure for diabetes the key to managing the disease and stopping the worst effects is maintaining a normal glucose level in blood.
Understanding what is normal glucose level will give you a target to aim for when you are checking your blood sugar levels.
Depending on if you live in Canada or the United States, the Diabetes Associations in each country reports the blood sugar numbers slightly different because of the differences in imperial and metric measurement systems.
American and Canadian Diabetes Associations
Normal Glucose Levels Chart
Association
Fasting Glucose
2 Hours After Eating
A1C**
American Diabetes Association (mg/dl)
< 100
< 140
< 6%
Canadian Diabetes Association (mmol/L)
< 6.1
< 7.8
< 6%
**A1C is the major component that makes up your blood sugar and the A1C measurement is an average of your blood sugar levels over the past 120 days. Please also note that the numbers for pregnant women and children age 12 and under are different than those listed in the char.
A normal blood sugar level is anywhere between 80 mg/dl to 140mg/dl. The sugar amounts that diabetics have are often way above the normal 140 mg/dl. At this point damage is permanently suffered, so it is very important that steps are taken to regulate these levels through diet, exercise and medication.
Working with a Health Professional
The guides listed above on this page are just guides. In order to obtain a more precise Normal Gluclose Level range, you will need to work with a health care professional. There are several factors that can influence your normal range including:
Age
Medical Condition
Other Factors
By working with a professional you will get a better picture of what your normal glucose level will be, and then from there you can start to design your life around staying within that range.
While it may sound bad, what you’re more likely to find is that your improved lifestyle that focuses on keeping your blood sugar at bay will actually have a lot of hidden benefits. There’s no time like the present to take control of your life, and even thought you could look at getting diabetes as a negative situation, if you look on the bright side, this is a good wake up call to start living a more healthy, active life.
An Explanation of the Different
Glucose Level Measurements
what is normal glucose level
It’s important to understand what each of these different blood sugar measurements actually means and why they are important:
Fasting Glucose
2 Hours After Eating
A1C
The reason why this is important, especially if you are a new diabetic, is that during your fasting glucose test you may not show signs of diabetes.
The problem arises however when you measure your blood 2 hours after eating you may clearly see that you are out of the recommended range.
Fasting Glucose
The fasting glucose measurement is taken after you haven’t eaten or drank anything for 8 hours. This gives you a base measurement of how your body is handling the blood sugar when it is ‘at rest.’
Normal Range:
< 100 mg/dl – American Diabetes Association,
< 6.1 mmol/L – Canadian Diabetes Association
2 Hours After Eating
This test is important because it helps you to see how certain meals are affecting your blood sugar, so that you can deal with the situation accordingly. The two hour marker is also important because after 2 hours, the blood sugar of non-diabetics will have returned to its normal state.
Normal Range:
< 140 mg/dl – American Diabetes Association,
< 7.8 mmol/L – Canadian Diabetes Association
A1C
This test shows if your treatment is working over time, which is important to see how you are progressing and if any adjustments need to be made.
We hear all the time from our doctor’s to watch our weight, watch what we eat, but why? Doctor’s want us to watch everything we do because they want us to maintain the average glucose level in order to stay healthy.
The average glucose level plays an important role on our health, how we feel, the length of our life and many other important factors. There is a standard average glucose level that is used widely for almost everyone no matter of race, age, heredity or any other factors. The average blood glucose level is used to calculate many other numbers throughout our body such as the mean glucose level, range glucose level and what the normal glucose level should be for you according to what time of day it is.
When it come to the normal glucose level range, there are no hard and fast rules since like everything else in life each person’s individual case is different, but as a general rule the normal glucose level range is between 60 and 120. Of course these numbers can be influenced by any number of factors including weight, age and other health conditions and there is no real way to say that this is or isn’t normal without the advice of a physician and long term tracking and trending of blood glucose levels. Nobody is better at maintaining their normal glucose level range than diabetics.
