Normal Range Blood Sugar Level

Answer 1

What is a Blood Sugar Level?

The blood sugar level refers to the amount of glucose in a person's blood. Glucose is a type of sugar that comes from carbohydrate foods. A certain amount of glucose in a person's blood is healthy because it is the body's source of energy. When a person eats, his blood sugar level increases, but his pancreas releases insulin so that the blood sugar level does not spike too high, causing damage to his kidneys, nerves and other body parts and functions.

What is the Normal Range Blood Sugar Level?

There are a few different types of tests to determine a person's blood sugar level. A fasting blood glucose test is performed after the person has fasted for eight hours. A healthy individual's blood sugar level should be less than 100 mg/dl. A diabetic person's blood sugar level will be 126 mg/dl or higher.

A random blood glucose test, which can be performed at any time, should fall between 70 and 140 mg/dl. A person with a random blood glucose test of between 140 and 200 mg/dl is considered pre-diabetic, and a person with a measurement of more than 200 mg/dl is considered diabetic.

An oral glucose tolerance test is another popular method of testing a person's blood sugar level. To perform this test, the person fasts overnight and then drinks a sugary solution. The blood sugar levels are tested over a few hours to determine how quickly the person's blood sugar rises and falls after consuming sugar. A healthy person's blood sugar level will not rise above 200 mg/dl and will be less than 140 mg/dl after two hours. A diabetic's blood sugar levels will rise to 200 mg/dl or higher throughout the test.

What are Low-Glycemic Foods?

A person who is worried about his blood sugar level should consider eating low-glycemic foods. Low-glycemic foods release glucose more slowly and steadily than foods that fall higher on the glycemic index. Some excellent low-glycemic foods are most fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains and nuts.