Normal Range Blood Sugar Levels

Incidence of disease begins to increase when fasting blood sugar rises above 85 mg/dL. This means that there is cellular damage and it is much harder to lose weight.

Apparently, the current criteria as far as the medical/diabetes community is that you are not “diabetic” unless your fasting blood glucose exceeds 125 mg/dL. The range between 100 and 125 mg/dL is considered “prediabetic.” However, many doctors and health practitioners agree that this is far too high. In other words, no one should be comfortable when their blood sugar is above 85 mg/dL. Normal blood sugar range is ideally no higher than 85 mg/dL. It is true that it is challenging to reduce one’s blood sugar after it’s been high for too long but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t aim to get as close to 85 mg/dL and below as possible.

Are you aware that you can find out at home whether you are in the normal range blood sugar levels? You can buy the one above here online that is said to be the best one on the market. It comes with some blood sugar strips to get you started. By investing in this system you can see immediately what your blood sugar is and get serious about a low glycemic eating program. However, any good corner drugstore is likely to have a blood sugar meter and blood sugar strips. I have seen them for about $100 in a drugstore.

A blood sugar meter will tell you if you are spiking your blood sugar after a meal as well as what your fasting blood sugar is (taken when you wake up in the morning.) After meal glucose spikes also present increased health risks. They can be potentially more damaging than elevations of fasting blood sugar. For example the risk of a heart attack increases by 58% for each 21 mg/dL increase in after meal blood sugar. There is even an increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, 26% after a glucose elevation.*

There are many disease risks of high normal blood sugar which would be the range above 85 mg/dL, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment, kidney disease, pancreatic dysfunction, diabetic retinopathy, and neuropathy. Within any blood sugar range the higher the glucose, the greater the involvement of the large nerve fibers. Nerve damage is possible.*

It cannot be emphasized enough that once you know if your normal range blood sugar levels are above 85 mg/dL you need to take serious action. Go to the foods that lower blood sugar page and begin reading about low glycemic eating. Then you MUST read about the glycemic index, and print out the low and high glycemic lists. It will be a great help to get a weight loss consultation which includes some coaching to make the necessary changes and your own individualized blueprint for a serious plan to reduce your blood sugar.

* Nakagami T. Hyperglycaemia and mortality from all causes and from cardiovascular disease in five populations of Asian origin. Diabetologia. 2004 Mar;47(3):385-94.

* Lin HJ, Lee BC, Ho Yl, et. al. Postprandial glucose improves the risk prediction of cardovascular death beyond the metabolic syndrome in the nondiabetic population. Diabetes Care. 2009 Sep;329):1721-6.

* Hemminki K, Li X, Sundquist J, Sundquist K. Risk of cancer following hospitalization for type 2 diabetes. The Oncologist, 2010;15(6):548-55. Epub 2010 May 17.

* Tali Cukierman-Yaffe T, Gerstein HC, Williamson JD,. Relationship between baseline glycemic control and cognitive function in individuals with type 2 diabetes and other cardiovascular risk factors: the action to control cardiovascular risk in diabetes-memory in diabetes (ADDORD-MIND) trial. Diabetes Care, 2009 Feb;32(2):221-6.

* Sumner CJ, Sheth S, Griffin JW, Cornblath DR, Polydefkis M. The spectrum of neuropathy in diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance. Neurology, 2003 Jan 14;60(1):108-11.

* Hoffman-Snyder C;Smith BE;Ross MA;Hernandez J;Bosch EP, Value of the oral glucose tolerance test in the evaluation of chronic idiopathic axonal polyneuropathy, Arch Neurol. 2006 Aug;63(8);1075-9.