Most of the time when someone tells you that you don’t want to go ‘down that road’ they are not talking literally. You likely won’t behind the wheel of a motor vehicle or even on your way to anywhere at all. Generally, the expression is more commonly used in relation to the possibility of making choices you’ll regret. Anyone who has chronically high blood sugar levels doesn’t want to ignore the problem, because going down that road can lead to becoming a diabetic. So what is normal blood sugar level, and how would a person find out what their levels are? That’s what we’ll look at here.
The first aspect of this to understand is there is a difference between fasting blood sugar levels and random blood sugar levels, and so an answer to what is normal blood sugar level will depend on which of the two being evaluated. Your fasting blood sugar levels should be between 80 and 130mg/dl (milligrams per deciliter) and then non-fasting or random blood glucose levels after you’ve eaten a meal shouldn’t be higher than 180 to 200mg/dl depending on factors such as age and medical conditions.
Staying under those thresholds is the basics of what is a healthy blood sugar level, and if you’re looking at it through the measurement of an A1C hemoglobin test then you should be at 7% or lower. This will indicate you’ve got your blood sugar levels in check, and this is something that people will increasingly need to be aware of as they get older and their risk of developing prediabetes increases. Diabetes may be reversible, but it’s always going to be best to be smart about your diet and lifestyle choices in advance.
Next up with what is normal blood sugar levels is the recommendation that prediabetics take advantage of technology and use a CGM (continue glucose monitor). Using them may be more popular with Type 1 diabetics but the way the device puts sensors under the skin and a measurement is taken every few minutes means you’re ‘on top’ of your blood glucose levels in the utmost way. Some of them can take your levels that frequently every day for 3 months, so you’ll be aware if there are any instances of where you inch up over 100ml/dl with your fasting rate.
You’ll be better equipped to determine what diet choices or other factors are contributing to that. Also keep in mind that an understanding of what is normal blood sugar level may need to take illness or chronic stress into account if there’s not diet / lifestyle explanations for why blood glucose levels go up at certain times. Stress management may need to become a part of you blood sugar lowering regimen, and of course the connection between chronic stress and hypertension is well established. Know healthy blood sugar levels.