What is Glucose, And How Does It Affect My Health?

Glucose comes from the food that we eat, and is used to fuel our body as it moves throughout our bloodstream. Your body produces the hormones insulin and glucagon in order to regulate glucose in the body. They work together to keep your blood sugar in a very narrow acceptable range of sugar levels. As you digest food, the carbohydrates you ingest are converted into glucose, and then is sent throughout your bloodstream. In response your pancreas produces insulin. The insulin tells the body to distribute the glucose to the rest of the body for immediate energy, and the excess is stored as glycogen to be used as fuel between meals.

Glucagon works in the opposite way, alerting your liver to use your storage of glycogen and triggers about four to six hours after a meal. This creates a sensitive feedback loop between insulin and glucagon that your body is always participating in. It keeps you in motion by ensuring your blood sugar isn’t dipping too low, and that you have a constant stream of energy.

Unfortunately, issues can occur in which your body isn’t producing enough of these hormones, making it far more difficult to regulate your blood sugar levels. When your blood sugar goes unregulated in your body, it can cause a large number of issues. This can be expressed in symptoms found in both low blood sugar and high blood sugar. When untreated and unregulated having blood sugar irregularities can be life-threatening.

Normal blood sugar levels are less than 100 mg/dL after not eating for at least eight hours. And they’re less than 140 mg/dL two hours after eating.

During the day, levels tend to be at their lowest just before meals. For most people without diabetes, blood sugar levels before meals hover around 70 to 80 mg/dL. These numbers can vary from person to person, and it is best to consult with a doctor about what your average blood sugar level should be. If you need to keep a consistent record of your blood sugar levels, it is recommended that you take frequent glucose tests. While this may seem a bit daunting at first, Care Touch’s Blood Glucose Meter is the perfect tool to make keeping track of your blood glucose a simple process. On top of that, it stores your records, so that you have a well-kept account of how foods change your blood sugar levels for future doctor visits.

 

Low Blood Sugar (Less than 70 Mg/dL)

Low Blood Sugar, also known as hypoglycemia, is when your blood sugar has fallen below the 70 mg/dL, and while the numbers may vary from person to person, the symptoms often come on rapidly. It may be a mild reaction, or severe, but the only way to be sure that your blood sugar levels are in the correct range is to test it with a glucometer. Being at a low blood sugar level releases adrenaline in the body, which may express itself in the manner of several of these symptoms. If your blood sugar level is low for too long, it may starve the brain of glucose, resulting in seizures, comas, and rarely deaths.

Symptoms for Low Blood Sugar include:

Feeling shaky

Nervousness or anxiety

Sweating, chills, or clamminess

Confusion

Irritability or impatience

Rapid Heartbeats

Hunger

Nausea

Tiredness

Headaches

Nightmares

Coordination issues

Weakness or lack of energy

Impaired Vision

Numbness in the mouth

Color draining from the skin

Seizures

 

 

High Blood Sugar (Above 240 Mg/dL)

High Blood Sugar, also known as hyperglycemia, is when your body has too little insulin, or cannot produce it correctly. It expresses itself in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. If you have type 1 diabetes it can occur from not taking the right amount of insulin, but if you have type 2, it can come from a lack of proper diet and exercise, or just your body not being able to produce the right amount of insulin. As high blood sugar can lead to serious complications, it is important to be able to recognize the symptoms.

 

 

Symptoms for High Blood Sugar Include:

Fatigue

Headaches

Blurred Vision

Frequent Urination

Increased Thirst

Dry Mouth

Confusion

Shortness in breath

Difficulty Concentration

Abdominal Pain