Do You Have "Normal" Blood Sugar?

A couple weeks ago I shared an article on Facebook from The Healthy Skeptic blog about testing your own blood sugar levels. As I have continued to research this topic both at The Healthy Skeptic and at Blood Sugar 101 and began testing myself, I am fascinated by what an excellent personal diagnostic tool this actually is.

Knowing your own personal fasting and post-meal blood glucose levels can give you valuable information about your health and prevent you from suffering needlessly in the future. You don't have to wait until you're diabetic or pre-diabetic to benefit from this information. Currently, the medical community offers us these targets for "normal":

Marker	Normal	Pre-diabetes	Diabetes
Fasting blood glucose (mg/dL)	<99	100-125	>126
OGGT / post-meal (mg/dL after 2 hours)	<140	140-199	>200
Hemoglobin A1c (%)	<6	6-6.4	>6.4

HOWEVER, before you adopt any such target, it is worth mentioning that the point of setting and adhering to any blood sugar target is to avoid diabetic complications. I don't know about you, but just avoiding diabetic complications is not quite what I have in mind when it comes to good health!

So, if you’re interested in vibrant health and longevity – instead of just slowing the onset of serious disease by a few years – you’d be well advised to shoot for these targets instead:

Marker	Ideal
Fasting blood glucose (mg/dL)	<86*
Post-meal (after 1 hours)	<140
Post-meal (after 2 hours)	<120

*If you’re already following a low-carb diet, fasting blood sugars in the 90s and even low 100s may not be a problem, provided your A1c and post-meal blood sugars are within the normal range.

So why not pick up a ReliOn Confirm-Blood Glucose Monitoring System for $9 next time you're out and put your blood sugar to the test? (don't forget extra testing strips) Specific testing instructions are available HERE.