what is a good blood sugar level

What is a Safe Blood Sugar Level?

Understanding blood sugar level ranges is extremely important when it comes to diabetes self-management. After being diagnosed with diabetes, most people wonder what normal, high, or low blood sugar levels actually mean.

Due to the differences in our health history and the way our bodies function, it may also affect factors that influence blood sugar levels such as medication and food.

Blood sugar levels in people without diabetes are different from the target levels recommended for diabetes patients. Therefore, if you are diagnosed with diabetes, your doctor will work with you to determine personalized safe blood sugar levels that meet your specific health needs.

Therefore, recommended blood sugar levels may vary for every individual and it is important to discuss this with your physician or healthcare provider.

What are safe blood sugar levels?

Health organizations like the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) and ADA (American Diabetes Association) have provided the following guiding principles on safe glucose levels for people who have not been diagnosed with diabetes:

Fasting plasma glucose level

This measurement is taken at least 8 hours after your last meal (when you’re fasting) such as in the morning. According to ADA recommendation, fasting plasma glucose for people who don’t have diabetes should be below 100 mg/dL.

2 hour/ after meal plasma glucose level

This measurement is typically taken 2 hours after your last meal. According to ADA recommendation, after-meal plasma glucose should be below 140 mg/dL for healthy individuals.

A1C

This test is usually taken regardless of when you last ate. It measures the amount of blood sugar bonded with hemoglobin, which typically accumulates over a period of 3 months. CDC recommends that A1C levels should be below 5.7%.

Safe blood sugar levels for diabetes patients

Diabetes patients have difficulty using or creating enough insulin, the hormone responsible for converting blood sugar into energy. There’s no standard blood glucose chart for all diabetes patients. However, organizations such as the AACE (American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists) and the ADA offer recommendations on target blood glucose levels as a baseline.

Physicians usually tailor target blood glucose levels to an individual by considering factors such as lifestyle, age, other health conditions, mental state, years since diagnosis, risk of extremely low blood sugar levels, and availability of economic resources needed to reach target blood sugar goals.

Safe blood sugar levels for diabetes patients (non-pregnant)

	AACE	ADA
Before meals	Below 110 mg/dL	70 to 130 mg/dL
2 hours after meals	Below 140mg/dL	Below 180 mg/dL
HbA1c (A1C)	Below 6.5%	Below 7.0%

Safe blood sugar levels for pregnant women with diabetes

Target blood sugar levels during pregnancy are usually lower largely as a result of hormonal influences. The AACE and ADA guidelines for safe blood glucose levels for pregnant women with diabetes differ slightly. However, it is essential for pregnant women with diabetes to follow individual recommendations provided by their physicians.

According to the ADA, pregnant women should maintain blood glucose levels of between 95 and 140 mg/dL. However, some organizations recommend even tighter goals of less than 89 mg/dL before meals and below 120 mg/dL after meals.

To monitor their levels, diabetes specialists recommend that pregnant women with diabetes check their blood glucose levels:

First thing after waking up (fasting)
At bedtime
Before meals
1 hour after meals

Factors that affect blood glucose levels

If you have been diagnosed with diabetes or prediabetes, your body may have difficulty producing insulin or you may have resistance to insulin. As a result, your body is unable to regulate blood glucose on its own. Therefore, it’s important to familiarize yourself with factors that may cause blood glucose levels to rise or fall below the recommended levels.

Factors that cause blood sugar to rise

According to ADA recommendations, if blood glucose level rises above 180 mg/dL 2 hours after your last meal, it is generally considered above the safe range. Some of the main factors that may cause your blood glucose level to rise above the normal range include:

Consuming larger meals or more carbs than usual
Reduced physical activity
Menstrual periods
Pain, stress, and illness (both long-term and short-term)
Not taking oral diabetes medication or insulin based on activity levels or carbohydrates intake
Side effects from a wide range of medications including antipsychotics or steroids
Dehydration

Factors that cause blood sugar levels to drop

If your blood sugar level is less than 70 mg/dL, it is considered below normal levels. Some of the factors that can cause low blood sugar levels include:

Reducing the number of carbs you normally eat
Missing snacks or meals
Not eating enough
Alcohol consumption (especially on an empty stomach)
Increased physical activity
Taking too much oral diabetes medication or insulin based on activity levels or carbohydrates intake
Side effects from some medications (other than antipsychotics or steroids)

Everyone responds differently to various factors, which is the main reason why it’s essential to have custom target blood sugar levels. To maintain safe blood sugar levels, work with your physician to discuss adjustments to your medications, physical activity, or diet, and be sure to alert them of other essential factors like recent stressful events or illnesses.

Check the article on diabetic watches HERE!

What is a good blood sugar level? This is the kind of question that most people never ask. Most people could care less about blood glucose levels and live blissfully unaware of how glucose levels can affect health, unless they suddenly find themselves diagnosed with diabetes. Heart disease, cancer, and stroke rates are all on the decline, but diabetes rates are rising at a staggering rate and an increasing number of people find themselves concerned with the question of, “What is a good blood sugar level?”

In order to answer the question, “what is a good blood sugar level?” one should first understand what glucose is and how it works. Glucose is basically what fuels every cell in the body. When we ingest sugars and carbohydrates the body metabolizes them into glucose which is actually a type of simple sugar.

The glucose goes into the bloodstream where insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, causes the cells to “open up” so that the glucose can enter the cell and be used for fuel. Without glucose the body would cease to function as surely as trying to run a car without gas, and higher than normal levels of glucose can damage many different body systems, causing kidney damage, heart problems, neuropathies, glaucoma, or even coma and death. Like most everything in medicine the answer to the question, “what is a good blood sugar level?” may vary from patient to patient based on factors such as age, weight, other health conditions, and even exercise levels. Because of this, there are no hard and fast answers, but in most cases if you asked a doctor “what is a good blood sugar level?” he would answer that normal glucose levels are usually between 60 and 110 in a normal person.

If you check your sugar regularly and find that it is running higher than 110 or lower than 60 it is probably a good idea to stop asking “what is a good blood sugar level?” and go see your doctor to find out if your body is metabolizing glucose correctly.

What is a Good Blood Sugar Level?

What is a good blood sugar level? This is becoming a question that is being asked more and more often in doctor’s offices and other healthcare facilities all across the globe. In most places heart disease, stroke, and cancer rates are on the decline, but the numbers of new cases of diabetes continue to rise each year. Not long ago, very few people would have ever thought to ask such a question as “what is a good blood sugar level?” but nowadays the question may be the answer to the difference between a long and happy life and a shorter life plagued with diabetes associates health problems.

Diabetes occurs when the body either does not produce enough insulin or the cells of the body have become resistant to the action of the insulin that is produced. In either case the lack of insulin action will not allow the glucose in the blood to pass into the cells to be used up for energy.

This results in a build-up of insulin in the bloodstream. Glucose, a simple sugar, is usually used by every cell in the body as fuel, but when glucose levels get too high the glucose can cause damage to nearly every system in the body. This damage may manifest itself as heart disease, kidney failure, hypertension, peripheral neuropathy, or even coma and death. So, “what is a good blood sugar level?” is a very important question.

“What is a good blood sugar level?” can be a difficult question to answer due to the fact that everyone is different, but generally speaking a blood glucose level between 60 and 110 is considered normal. If you or anyone you know begin to develop the symptoms of sudden increased thirst, increased appetite, and increased urination it may be time to visit the doctor and ask the question, “what is a good blood sugar level for me?”