What is Normal Non-Fasting Blood Sugar?

What is Normal Non-Fasting Blood Sugar?
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If you’re a diabetic, you probably check your blood sugar levels often. But blood sugar levels do not always give you the best picture of how your body is able to metabolize blood sugar. For example, you might check your blood sugar one morning to see that it is 94 mg/dl. But the question is how long did it take to reach that level?

You should also be concerned with how and when your blood sugar levels spike, normally one to two hours after you eat. This is because diabetes complications and HbA1c levels depend more on those levels than they depend on the fasting levels. Non-fasting blood sugar levels can give you a better understanding of your diabetes. This article answers one question: what is normal non-fasting blood sugar?

What Is Normal Non-Fasting Blood Sugar?

One diabetic mgiht be able to eat a sandwich without ever having his blood sugar go above 140 mg/dl. You might eat a piece of bread and see your blood sugar skyrocket past 200 mg/dl. People’s blood sugars do vary somewhat, but there are guidelines as to what are normal blood sugar levels at certain times, such as just before you eat and after your eat.

According to the American Diabetes Association:

A normal non-fasting blood sugar reading taken one to two hours after a meal is one that is below 180 mg/dl.

A normal non-fasting blood sugar reading taken before a meal is 70 to 130 mg/dl

What Can I Do To Maintain Normal Non-Fasting Blood Sugar Levels?

There are a number of things you can do to maintain normal non-fasting blood sugar levels:

  • Physical activity and exercise helps to maintain a normal blood sugar levels. Exercise can increase insulin sensitivity and decrease abdominal fat, both of which are important factors in the development of diabetes.

  • Eat low-glycemic foods and monitor your carbohydrate consumption. Low-glycemic foods like whole wheat pasta, rye bread, barley, fruits and vegetables are complex carbohydrates that take longer to digest than most carbohydrates, creating a more modest rise in blood sugar after you eat them.

  • Avoid stress, or undergo some form of therapy that can help you manage it. Stress is associated with poor blood sugar control. Some forms of stress reduction include deep breathing, listening to classical music, progressive muscle relaxation and meditation.

  • Get enough sleep. In recent years, researchers have uncovered the role of sleep in blood sugar regulation. Getting too little sleep can have a detrimental effect on your blood sugar.

Not surprisingly, the same things you need to do in order to keep non-fasting blood sugar levels in check are the same as you need to do in order to keep fasting blood sugar levels in check.

References

[1] https://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-and-care/ask-the-expert/ask-the-pharmacist/archives/what-is-a-normal-non-fasting.html

[2] https://diabetes.webmd.com/news/20090812/sleep-less-get-diabetes

[3] https://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/complications/stress.html