Average blood glucose levels?

holyschmoly said:

Hi all,

I've been googling but I haven't been able to find any concrete answers on this topic. What should an average non-diabetic person's blood glucose levels be throughout the day? I know that the blood glucose levels of a non-diabetic person should fit in to specific ranges at specific times throughout the day (for example ... after waking up, before sleeping, after a meal, before a meal, etc), I just don't know what those ranges are.

Does anyone know what these ranges are? I purchased a blood glucose monitor from my local pharmacy to check myself. If my blood glucose levels are out of these ranges, does it mean that I'm at risk for diabetes? I'm an athlete so my diet is fairly well regulated, but I do have some people with diabetes in my family. I eat 6 meals a day at 500 calories per meal. Calories in each meal are split equally across fats/protein/carbohydrates. My daily sugar intake comes out to about 45g.

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I think for most people the fasting BG would be a good place to start, if looking for signs of possible diabetes. But the most reliable way to check for it is to see your doctor.

Fasting somewhere around 3,9-5,5 mmol/L, 2 hours after a meal <7,8 mmol/L. Remember that numbers outside this doesn't necessarily mean you're diabetic (or pre-diabetic). I wouldn't worry about diabetes if I were you.

The diagram in the link below shows:

"idealized curves of human blood glucose and insulin concentrations during the course of a day containing three meals; in addition, effect of sugar-rich meal is highlighted"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Suckale08_fig3_glucose_insulin_day.png

You could also check out the NICE recommendations for normal and diabetic glucose levels, which are available on the main UK Diabetes site.

Robbity

What it considered a proper fasting period?
I have trouble making it past four hours during waking hours and six hours if sleeping.
If I go six hours without food during the active part of the day, I get cranky mad headaches and shakes and blurry vision and confusion.
How do you make through a proper fast?

holyschmoly said:

Thank you for the link.


To anyone who's interested, just opened up my tester and took my first sample. 2 hours after my small meal the reading came back as 4.4, which seems a bit low but I'll start doing these properly starting tomorrow morning and see how the numbers match up against the graph and the NICE chart.

I feel bad for people who have to do this often because it hurt when I pricked my finger Not sure if I put in the needle properly because when I cocked the switch back the needle didn't really move back much at all.


Again, thank you all for the helpful info.

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There should be instructions with the lancet. Choose the lowest setting and prick the side of your finger rather than the pad.

holyschmoly said:

Thank you for the link.


To anyone who's interested, just opened up my tester and took my first sample. 2 hours after my small meal the reading came back as 4.4, which seems a bit low but I'll start doing these properly starting tomorrow morning and see how the numbers match up against the graph and the NICE chart.

I feel bad for people who have to do this often because it hurt when I pricked my finger Not sure if I put in the needle properly because when I cocked the switch back the needle didn't really move back much at all.


Again, thank you all for the helpful info.

Click to expand...

A week ago, in conversation with a Consultant in Endocrinology and Diabetes, I was asking him for references for studies into normo-glaycaemia which, in essence, he was unable to provide, basically because "normal" may be educational, but much less likely to secure research funding. His response was that non-diabetic individuals routinely run in the 3.5 - 6.5 range, although at around an hour after eating a decent meal, even non-diabetics can reach double figures in a finger prick test. Where they then differ from non-diabetics is they snap back into their 3.5 - 6.5 range very quickly, whereas individuals with issues metabolising glucose will often had a delayed return to normal, if it happens at all.

The 3.5 - 6.5 isn't cast iron, in that individual non-diabetics can run slightly lower or marginally higher than this, without being considered diabetic. Aside from all other factors any form of testing will have an acceptable error tolerance built into any measure, so single measures are unlikely to be conclusive of anything.

If you have concerns, it's probably best to have a chat with your Doc, and agree a way forward. Home testing is all very well, but if you are not confident what the results may be saying to you, it could elevate anxiety, which by it's mechanism can elevate blood scores. The fight/flight mechanism and adrenalin rush can lead to a liver dump of glucose into the blood giving otherwise meaningless readings.

Good luck with it all.