• It's important to know what a normal claret sugar is if you lot accept diabetes, or if you may be at risk.
  • For diabetics, normal claret sugar levels are considered between lxxx to 130 mg/dL after fasting, and less than 180 mg/dL ane to two hours after eating.
  • For those without diabetes, normal blood carbohydrate levels are considered between seventy to 99 mg/dL subsequently fasting, and less than 140 after eating.
  • This commodity was medically reviewed by Jason R. McKnight, MD, MS, a family unit medicine md and clinical assistant professor at Texas A&M College of Medicine.
  • This story is office of Insider'due south guide to Diabetes.

If you have diabetes , daily management of your blood sugar levels is important to feeling your best and preventing long-term wellness complications.

Claret sugar can also exist an important measurement to determine your risk for diabetes. For instance, those with prediabetes will have their claret sugar tested at least annually, as abnormal blood carbohydrate levels can indicate yous may exist likely to develop type 2 diabetes .

Hither's what you need to know nearly how blood sugar is measured, what's considered normal, and how to regulate blood carbohydrate if it's too loftier or depression.

What is blood saccharide?

Blood carbohydrate, or blood glucose, is a measurement of the amount of glucose in your blood.

When you consume carbohydrates, your body breaks downwards those carbs into glucose. This becomes your torso'due south main source of energy, and fuels the vital functions in your brain, middle, liver, and muscles, says Nestoras Mathioudakis, MD, a diabetes expert at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

For people without diabetes, the pancreas releases insulin to assist your cells absorb glucose and fuel your body. But for people with diabetes, the body does not produce insulin or information technology doesn't work properly, and as a event, blood sugar levels must exist carefully regulated to preclude health complications.

How to measure out claret sugar levels

At that place are two primary means to check your blood sugar levels:

  1. Blood glucose test. At that place are many at-dwelling house devices — such as finger-prick monitoring kits or continuous glucose monitors — that you tin can utilize to measure claret sugar on your ain.
  2. An A1C test. A1C is a claret exam, conducted past your md, that describes your average blood sugar levels for the by three months.

Type 1 diabetics, along with some type 2 diabetics, who require insulin medication, must bank check their blood sugar at to the lowest degree 4 times per mean solar day, says Mathioudakis. Typically, this should exist done before a meal, one to two hours after a repast, and at bedtime.

The timing of these measurements can assistance decide how much insulin to utilise. For instance, information technology can exist important to utilize more insulin after a high-saccharide meal, or to avoid falling into hypoglycemia while y'all're sleeping.

To bank check your blood sugar at abode, you lot should use blood glucose tests, such as a glucose meter or continuous glucose monitor (CGM). Both devices measure blood saccharide with the unit of measurement mg/dL, which means a milligram of sugar per deciliter of blood.

If you don't have diabetes, but y'all may be at hazard, your physician might have y'all accept an A1C test during a yearly check-up. This test reports results every bit a percentage; the higher the per centum, the higher your claret sugar has been in the past three months. Those with diabetes should get an A1C exam at least twice a year — and sometimes every three months.

What's normal?

The post-obit chart depicts normal blood sugar measurements, depending on which exam you lot use and when you take it.

Yuqing Liu/Insider

Overall, what is considered a normal claret saccharide level can look different depending on someone's age, weight, gender, and other factors.

For example, a 2022 study published in the journal Physiology & Beliefs suggests that women could take lower fasting blood glucose levels and be more insulin resistant due to lower muscle mass compared to men. Nevertheless, the same study finds that pre-diabetic symptoms like impaired fasting glucose is more common amidst men. Normal claret saccharide levels besides increment as yous age.

Then, talk with your doctor about what normal blood sugar is for y'all in gild to best manage your health.

How to regulate your blood sugar levels

Nigh of the time, y'all'll exist able to regulate your claret sugar on your ain if it's likewise high or depression.

If your levels are likewise high — over 140 mg/dL earlier a meal or 180 mg/dL after a repast — you may be experiencing hyperglycemia. Symptoms can include:

  • Headache
  • Irritability
  • Fatigue
  • Frequent urination
  • Excess thirst

To lower blood carbohydrate, you lot'd want to use more than insulin medication to help your cells absorb glucose.

On the other manus, hypoglycemia is when your claret sugar is too low, typically under seventy mg/dL. Common signs may include:

  • Hunger
  • Nausea
  • Defoliation
  • Feeling shaky or sweaty
  • Blurred vision

If you demand to raise your blood carbohydrate, you should eat a glucose tablet or drinkable something sugary, such as fruit juice.

Mathioudakis says that those with a family history of diabetes — and who show high fasting glucose — should talk with their doctor about how to regulate claret sugar levels. And if your blood carbohydrate spikes too high, such as 200 mg/dL or more, you lot should seek immediate medical attending.

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MK Manoylov is a contributer at INSIDER and a freelance science writer. MK is currently pursuing a main's degree from New York University's Science, Health, and Ecology Reporting Program (SHERP). When non reporting on a story, yous tin detect MK writing fiction.