Blood Sugar: When Should You Be Worried?

Exercise
August 19, 2021

Read time: 3 mins

If you’ve ever wondered how your body reacts to what you eat and your level of physical activity, then one of the best indicators is your blood glucose (or blood sugar) levels.

In this article, you’ll discover which blood sugar level is considered normal.

A normal blood glucose level is vital to maintaining optimal metabolic health. If it’s too low (hypoglycaemia), you may become unconscious. And if it gets too high, you may develop diabetes.

So, it’s all about maintaining that delicate balance in between. But first, you have to know what’s considered normal.

What is Normal?

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), a fasting plasma glucose of less than 100 mg/dl is normal and generally considered healthy. 100 mg/dl to 125 mg/dl indicates Pre-diabetes – which means it’s time to see your doctor. And in most cases, 126 mg/dl or higher indicates diabetes. While trying to keep your blood sugar low to avoid diabetes, it’s easy to go too low and slip into hypoglycaemia – which is usually indicated by a blood sugar level below 70 mg/dL. This can get tricky because many people with blood sugar readings below the normal level feel no symptoms. This is called hypoglycaemia unawareness. And because these people can’t tell when their blood sugar gets low, they don’t know they need to treat it. Again, this could be dangerous because severe hypoglycaemia is a medical emergency and could be life-threatening in some cases.

How to maintain a normal blood sugar level

The American Diabetes Association recommends that you practice good blood sugar level management, and learn to detect hypoglycaemia so you can treat it before it becomes an emergency. In fact, a recent study published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine proves that self-monitoring of blood glucose could help minimize the risk of hypoglycaemia and thereby prevent long-term complications. And studies consistently indicate that the more you check your blood sugar, the lower your risk of hypoglycaemia. You can do this either with the conventional blood sugar testing kit – which involves pricking your finger with a needle every time you want to check your blood sugar. Or you can do it the new way; by using a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) – which monitors your blood sugar level continuously.

This is more efficient because…

It’s easy to see when your blood sugar level drops or rises abnormally.
With a continuous glucose monitor, you know which foods/snacks are causing random spikes in your blood glucose levels. This will help you make well-informed decisions around your diet.

Conclusion

If you’re looking to optimize your metabolic healths, tracking your blood sugar level should be a priority. You can check out this brief article on how to use a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM).

Sources:

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