How High Does Blood Sugar Go After Eating

Normal Blood Sugar Levels Vs Hyperglycemia

If youve been diagnosed with diabetes, your endocrinologist will tell you what your target blood glucose levels are. Your levels may be different from what is usually considered as normal because of age, pregnancy, or other factors. You will be given two target levels, or ranges, one applying to when you havent eaten for a number of hours and one for after meals .

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Why They Happen And How To Try And Reduce Them If You Live With Type 1 Diabetes

Living with type 1 diabetes requires you to regularly check your blood sugar levels before you eat. However, we may not always consider what happens to our sugar levels immediately after we eat where it is very normal for people who dont have diabetes, let alone those who do, to temporarily have high sugar levels. Given that having high sugar levels can give you symptoms like thirst, tiredness and needing to go to the toilet a lot, learning about ways to try and reduce spikes in your sugar levels after meals may make a difference to your overall health and wellbeing.

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High Calorie Foods May Or May Not Cause The Blood Sugar Level To Rise

Many people think that all high-calorie foods raise blood sugar level, but this is not always the case.

In general, foods that cause blood sugar level to rise the most are those that are high in carbohydrates, which are quickly converted into energy, such as rice, bread, fruits and sugar. Next are foods high in protein, such as meats, fish eggs, milk and dairy products, and oily foods. However, even though carbohydrates affect blood sugar levels, if you don’t eat them your diet will be unbalanced and you won’t feel satisfied after your meal, which can lead to excessive consumption of foods rich in protein and fat.

Food containing three major nutrients

When Should I Check My Blood Sugar

How often you check your blood sugar depends on the type of diabetes you have and if you take any diabetes medicines.

Typical times to check your blood sugar include:

• When you first wake up, before you eat or drink anything.
• Two hours after a meal.

If you have type 1 diabetes, have type 2 diabetes and take insulin, or often have low blood sugar, your doctor may want you to check your blood sugar more often, such as before and after youre physically active.

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Hba1c Test For Diabetes Diagnosis

An HbA1c test does not directly measure the level of blood glucose, however, the result of the test is influenced by how high or low your blood glucose levels have tended to be over a period of 2 to 3 months.

Indications of diabetes or prediabetes are given under the following conditions:

• Normal: Below 42 mmol/mol
• Prediabetes: 42 to 47 mmol/mol
• Diabetes: 48 mmol/mol

There are two types of blood sugar levels that may be measured. The first is the blood glucose level we get from doing finger prick blood glucose tests. These give us a reading of how high our levels are at that very point in time.

The second is the HbA1c reading, which gives a good idea of our average control over a period of 2 to 3 months. The target blood glucose levels vary a little bit depending on your type of diabetes and between adults and children.

Where possible, try to achieve levels of between 4 and 7 mmol/L before meals and under 8.5 mmol/L after meals. The target level for HbA1c is under 48 mmol/mol .

Research has shown that high blood glucose levels over time can lead to organ and circulation damage.

Keeping blood glucose above 4 mmol/l for people on insulin or certain medications for type 2 diabetes is important to prevent hypos occurring, which can be dangerous.

Your doctor may give you different targets. Children, older people and those at particular risk of hypoglycemia may be given wider targets.

FREE blood glucose level chart

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What Causes Blood Sugar Spikes

First, let me define what a blood sugar spike is and how it happens. A blood sugar spike occurs when your blood glucose level rises right after eating. This is actually a normal occurrence in all people after eating foods that contain carbohydrates. When this happens, two important reactions take place in the pancreas: an immediate release of insulin and an immediate release of a hormone called amylin.

Insulin works quickly to move glucose out of the bloodstream and into cells. This takes just a matter of minutes. The amylin helps prevent food from reaching the small intestine too fast . Most of the time, the after-meal blood glucose rise is temporary, even hardly noticeable.

But for people with diabetes, these normal post-meal reactions are hampered. In people with Type 2 diabetes, the pancreas makes insulin, but the cells dont respond to it as they should. This is referred to as insulin resistance.

Since the glucose cant get into cells, the blood sugar level quickly rises. Diabetics who are on insulin therapy typically experience a significant delay in the reduction of blood sugar because it can take up to 15 minutes for the insulin to begin working. Diabetics also either do not produce amylin at all, or not in sufficient quantities. This causes their food to be digested much faster.

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How To Manage After

Get medicine that works for you. The right insulin or medication program can make a big difference. In general, to cover after-meal spikes, those that kick in quickly and for a short time are a better choice than ones that work slowly over a long period. Your doctor can explain your options.

Keep blood sugar in check before meals. That way, even if it goes up after you eat, it won’t be so dramatic.

Watch what you eat. Limit sweets, white bread, rice, pasta, and potatoes. They tend to trigger post-meal spikes.

The type of fat you eat may play a role, as well. One study shows you may be able to curb blood sugar spikes after you eat if you skip foods with lots of butter and choose a meal made with a little olive oil instead.

Eat breakfast every morning. Even when you’re in a hurry to get out the door, don’t be tempted to skip it. A study shows that folks with diabetes who don’t eat breakfast get higher blood sugar spikes after lunch and dinner.

The ideal morning meal? It might just be one that’s packed with protein. A small study shows that when people ate a 500-calorie breakfast that was 35% protein, their post-meal blood sugar levels were lower than those who started their day with high-carb food. But check with your doctor to see what’s right for you.

Go for an after-dinner walk. It’s a healthy habit for everyone, but if you have diabetes, it’s also a good way to burn extra glucose from a meal.

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Blood Glucose Testing Made Simple

Checking blood sugar levels before and after meals can help you determine how different foods affect them and whether your diabetes management plan needs to be adjusted. Whether youre out to eat at a restaurant or eating a meal at home, having the right tools to stay on top of blood sugar monitoring is key.

The POGO Automatic® Monitor is an innovative all-in-one blood glucose monitor that allows you to check your blood sugar in one simple step, and you can get accurate results in seconds. Theres no need for separate test strips or lancets because all your supplies are integrated inside a compact cartridge with enough test strips and lancets for 10 tests. With POGO Automatic, monitoring is simple, even when youre away from home and when life gets busy.

The free Patterns® for POGO Automatic app automatically syncs to your POGO Automatic Monitor so you can view your results on your smartphone, identify trends, and share your data with your healthcare provider. You can also set reminders for when to check levels. If your levels are too high or too low, Patterns can automatically send you alerts with tips on what to do next to support your health.

Knowing how long to wait to check blood sugar after eating can be very important for preventing potential health risks. POGO Automatic makes checking fast, easy, and discreet so you can stay on track, no matter what your schedule is and no matter where you are.

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Blood Sugar Levels During Pregnancy

The NIDDK states that gestational diabetes is high blood sugar that occurs during pregnancy if you were not diabetic before getting pregnant. Healthy blood sugar during pregnancy can help lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes later. It can also lower the risk of your baby being born prematurely, at a high birth weight, and having respiratory problems.

Blood sugar and insulin levels during the first trimester of pregnancy tend to be lower than usual, but they rise during the late second and early third trimesters. You can be diagnosed with an oral glucose tolerance test .

These are the steps for the 2-step strategy.

• Drink a solution with 50 grams of glucose about the amount in 1 16-oz. bottle of a soft drink
• Get your blood drawn after 1 hour. IF the value is high, retest
• Drink a solution with 100 grams of glucose about the amount in 12 peanut butter cups
• Get your blood drawn immediately and after 1, 2, and 3 hours

Or, your doctor might use the 1-step strategy with a 2-hour OGTT:

• Drink a solution with 75 grams of glucose
• Get your blood drawn immediately and after 1 and 2 hours

These are some values to know from NIDKK related to gestational diabetes and healthy blood sugar in pregnancy.

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Normal Blood Sugar Range After Meals

Glucose is a main source of energy for the body, and some amount of glucose, or sugar, always needs to be present in the blood to ensure this energy reaches all of the body cells. But a problem in both prediabetes and diabetes is that too much sugar stays in the blood, and over time these abnormally high levels can harm the body. To reduce the risk of health problems, blood sugars need to be kept as close to a normal range as possible. Monitoring your own blood sugar is the only way to tell if you are keeping your day-to-day readings — both before and after meals — within an acceptable range.

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Blood Sugar Level After 30 Minutes:

About half an hour after a meal, the digestive tract works in full swing to digest and absorb the nutrients taken during the meal. So, the proteins, carbs and fats are broken down by different digestive enzymes and are gradually absorbed in the body.

The blood is the carrier of these nutrients and it transports them throughout the body to supply energy to the different organs. The blood glucose level at this time is generally at its peak.

The Blood Sugar Level Regulation Mechanism

When you eat rice, bread, or any other typical food high in carbohydrates, it is digested by the stomach and small intestine, where it is absorbed into the blood as glucose. Figure 1 shows how it is absorbed into the body.

When glucose enters the bloodstream, insulin facilitates its uptake into the body’s cells. When an excess of glucose is ingested, insulin over secretion occurs. Insulin increases the biosynthesis of fat and suppresses its breakdown. Thus, it becomes easier for fat to accumulate in body tissues.

Blood sugar level will not drop if the sugar in the blood is not properly processed due to, for example, too little insulin being secreted, or resistance to the action of insulin. If blood sugar levels have not decreased several hours after eating on a regular basis, this indicates a susceptibility to diabetes. To avoid this and stay healthy, we should eat types of foods that will not cause a sudden, extreme rise in blood sugar levels.

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What is a healthy blood sugar level

• Fasting blood sugar level 99mg/dL
• Postprandial blood sugar level 7.8mmol/L

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How Do You Treat Hypoglycemia

Low blood sugar levels happen when theres too little glucose left in the bloodstream to continue supplying fuel to your organs, muscles, and tissues. It most often occurs when you dont eat enough food, especially carb-containing foods, given your blood-sugar-lowering medications and physical activity levels, ONeill says. Levels can decrease gradually or suddenly.

When the amount of glucose in the bloodstream drops to too-low levels, the body reacts by releasing epinephrine, also called adrenaline or the fight or flight hormone. Epinephrine revs your heart rate and can cause sweating, shaking, anxiety, and irritability. If not enough glucose is able to reach the brain, the result may be difficulty concentrating, confused thinking, and slurred speech. In extreme cases, a lack of glucose within the brain can lead to seizures, coma, and even death, she says.

People with low glucose levels can use the ADAs 15-15 Rule, which advises people consume 15 g of carbs, wait 15 minutes, and check their levels again. If the number is still low, repeat until reaching at least 70 mg/dL.

You can find 15 g of carbs in:

• 1 slice of bread
• 1 small piece of fresh fruit
• cup of yogurt
• Three to four hard candies
• Glucose tablets as indicated on the label
• Glucose gel as indicated on the label

Once your glucose levels are back to normal, the ADA suggests going ahead and eating your next scheduled meal or snack, which will help prevent levels from dropping again.

Blood Sugar And Diabetes

To better understand what’s considered normal for blood sugar levels, it helps to know what happens when blood sugar is out of range and why it happens.

Diabetes occurs when your pancreas can’t make enough insulin to move sugar out of your blood, or your cells become less responsive to insulin.

Insulin is a hormone that tells your body to move glucose out of the blood and into your cells. Once inside your cells, glucose can be used for energy or stored as fat. People with diabetes aren’t able to lower blood sugar effectively, so it remains higher than what’s considered normal.

Abnormal blood sugar occurs when too much or too little sugar is in the blood.

• Hypoglycemia is 70 mg/dL or less.

• Hyperglycemia is 180 mg/dL or more.

There are four tests used to test blood sugar levels. Blood glucose, aka blood sugar, is measured in milligrams per deciliter :

• Hemoglobin A1c: A1c measures long-term blood sugar averages over two to three months. Anything about 6.5% is considered a diagnosis of diabetes. This plus fasting are most commonly used.

• Fasting blood sugar: Fasting blood sugar looks at glucose levels before you’ve eaten anything. Fasting glucose above 126 mg/dL is also considered diabetes.

• Casual or random plasma glucose test. As the name suggests, this test randomly tests your blood sugar at any time and doesn’t require fasting. Anything higher than 200 mg/dL is considered diabetes.

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Eat The Majority Of Your Calories Early In The Day

Dinner may be thought of as the biggest meal of the day, but if you have elevated blood sugar, you should stop thinking of things that way. And don’t “save” your calories for a big meal either.

“Eating more of your calories earlier in the day can improve blood sugar levels since our bodies follow a circadian rhythm where we process food better during daylight hours,” Harris-Pincus explains. “People who eat a larger breakfast and lunch with a smaller dinner have been shown to improve blood sugar more than people consuming the same amount of calories but during evening hours.”

Plus, when you jam everything in later in the evening at dinner, especially if you eat dinner close to bedtime, your belly might feel too full, and GI distress could prevent you from falling asleep comfortably.

How Can I Treat High Blood Sugar

Talk to your doctor about how to keep your blood sugar levels within your target range. Your doctor may suggest the following:

• Be more active. Regular exercise can help keep your blood sugar levels on track. Important: dont exercise if ketones are present in your urine. This can make your blood sugar go even higher.
• Take medicine as instructed. If your blood sugar is often high, your doctor may change how much medicine you take or when you take it.
• Follow your diabetes meal plan. Ask your doctor or dietitian for help if youre having trouble sticking to it.
• Check your blood sugar as directed by your doctor. Check more often if youre sick or if youre concerned about high or low blood sugar.
• Talk to your doctor about adjusting how much insulin you take and what types of insulin to use.

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