The amount of glucose or sugar in a person’s blood varies throughout the day and night. For people with diabetes, balancing blood sugar is a mandatory task that they manage on a constant basis. But what about people who are not diabetic? Do you think they keep an eye out for their blood sugar balanced throughout the day? Chances are, they don’t.
Normal Blood Sugar Levels
Glucose, or sugar in the bloodstream, is measured in mg/dL and can be accurately measured by taking a blood sample after fasting for 8 hours. The results of normal blood sugar test should be in the range of 70 and 99 mg/dL. If a person tests their sugar levels 2 hours after eating, the blood sugar should be less than 140 mg/dL.
Symptoms of Blood Sugar Imbalance
Individuals who experience blood sugar imbalances experience fatigue, irritability, weakness, blurred vision, headaches, frequent urination, and increased thirst. These signs are your body’s way of telling you that your blood sugar levels are not within the normal range.
Are You Affecting Your Blood Sugar Balance?
There are a variety of ways you may be impacting your blood sugar balance without even knowing it.
Let’s take a look at the most common ways people affect their blood sugar balance.
- Too Much or Too Little Food In One Meal Let’s say you skip breakfast and have a big lunch. Do you think that’s healthy? Not necessarily. Skipping breakfast means your blood sugar was too low throughout the morning (especially after an entire night of not eating while you slept). It also means that for lunch, you overpacked your system with calories and sugar. This sudden change in the blood sugar (going from low to high) is not healthy. The healthy option is to have multiple, well-balanced meals throughout the day, instead of packing your calories and sugar into one or two meals a day.
- Stress Not many people know that stress can affect your blood sugar balance. Stress causes your body to go into fight-or-flight mode which increases stress hormones in the body that drive glucose stored in the body to suddenly become available in the blood for use in the case of an emergency. This causes an imbalance in sugar levels.
- Not Exercising Not exercising affects your blood sugar balance because it prevents you from using the extra glucose that you’re intaking during the day. Exercising helps your body pump blood and oxygen to every corner of your body and causes you to use up the sugar you consume. This lowers your blood sugar and decreases your risk of developing diabetes.
Diabetes Treatment in Minnesota or South Carolina
If you have not had a complete blood panel or checked your sugar levels and are experiencing symptoms of blood sugar imbalance, talk to a doctor about getting tested for diabetes. The physicians at Between the Bridges Healing Center have a lot of experience treating patients with diabetes. Call (507) 388-7488 to make an appointment or request an appointment online.
