How blood sugar levels can affect your health
Just what is blood sugar level?
A person’s blood sugar level (sometimes called serum glucose level or plasma glucose level) is really just the volume of glucose (sugar) present in their blood at any given time.
So why is glucose significant?
Glucose (sometimes called dextrose) is a simple sugar which is produced by the human body from the carbs that we ingest. It’s critical for a wide variety of crucial bodily processes. Specifically, it is important given it supplies energy to our tissues, nervous system and also the brain.
Glucose is carried from the intestinal tract or liver to cells via the blood flow, and is made available for cell absorption via the hormone insulin, generated by the pancreas.
Glucose which isn’t directly used as a source of energy by brain cells, intestinal cells and red blood cells is delivered to the liver, adipose tissue and muscle cells, where it is actually absorbed and stored as glycogen. This glycogen can be transformed back to glucose and returned to the bloodstream in the event that insulin is low or absent.
How is blood sugar level measured?
Blood sugar is normally measured in molecular count, the unit for which is mmol/L (millimoles per liter). Equally, it is quite often measured as a weight in grams, the unit for which is mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter).
What exactly is a healthy or normal blood sugar level?
Usually, your body maintains its blood glucose level at a reference range of between 3.6 and 5.8 mmol/L (or 64.8 and 104.4 mg/dL).
The mean standard blood glucose level in people is around 4 mmol/L (or 72 mg/dL), but the level naturally fluctuates over the course of the day. As you might suspect, glucose levels usually are at their lowest in the morning, prior to the first meal of the day and rise immediately after eating for one to two hours by a few milliMolar. Bear in mind, when it comes to people with diabetes, blood sugar varies more extensively – see further below.
Just how can blood sugar / glucose levels threaten your health and well-being?
As mentioned above, glucose offers one’s body with the power that it must have to complete critical physiological functions. Not enough sugar / glucose (a low blood sugar level) or an excessive amount of sugar / glucose (a high blood sugar level) can cause serious health concerns and blood sugar levels outside of the normal range may be an indication of an underlying health issue.
Hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia
A constantly high blood sugar level is technically referred to as hyperglycemia, while low levels are labelled as hypoglycemia.
Hypoglycemia is a potentially fatal condition. Warning signs include drowsiness, reduced mental functioning, frustration, trembling, twitching, weakness in arm and leg muscles, pale appearance, sweating excessively, paranoid or aggressive mentality and fainting. In rare cases, brain damage is possible.
By comparison, hyperglycemia usually involves suppressed appetite for the short term, with long term health issues including cardiovascular illnesses, diabetes and eye, kidney, and nerve damage.
Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus is characterised by persistent hyperglycemia (high blood sugar levels) either because the person’s body does not manufacture sufficient insulin, or because their cells don’t respond to the insulin that’s produced. It’s the most typical disease associated with malfunction in blood sugar regulation.
For those with diabetes, it is of course especially vital to keep blood sugar levels inside normal ranges, otherwise considerable health complications can occur. Such as, nephropathy (kidney disease), neuropathy (nerve disease), retinopathy (eye disease) and cardiovascular diseases (heart diseases).
Insulin resistance
Insulin resistance (a manifestation of polycystic ovarian syndrome) is another example of a disorder where blood sugar levels have a crucial role. In this case, the body does not recognise the consumption of sugars and carbohydrates which means that it continues to pump out insulin which is not needed. If this keeps on for an extended time period, the pancreas can shut down and cease to produce insulin entirely. If proper care is not taken by those who have this disorder to ensure a balanced diet and balanced blood sugar levels, it has the potential eventually lead to type two diabetes.
What else can affect blood sugar levels?
A variety of factors can impact on an individual’s blood sugar level. For instance, it can be briefly elevated as a result of severe stress (such as trauma, stroke, myocardial infarction, surgery or disease) or on account of drug / medication use, which can cause glucose levels to rise or lower.
Alcohol intake additionally causes an initial increase in blood sugar, but eventually tends to cause levels to drop.
Maintaining your blood sugar level in check
Making positive and healthy lifestyle choices (and, if needed, adjustments) is a great first step in keeping your blood sugar levels in balance. For instance, taking regular exercise and (if needed) slimming down in a sensible and healthy way.
Dietary modifications, particularly, are often very helpful in keeping blood sugar levels within normal ranges. For those with restricted diets (such as diabetics), it can certainly be a challenge to ensure an ideal intake of vitamins and minerals every single day. Many individuals find that high quality, nutrients-fortified meal replacement powders / shakes can help with this.
MEALtime is a liquid meal / meal replacement drink that is rich in quality protein, complex carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, nutritious herbs and psyllium husks. What’s even better, it’s appropriate for diabetics and others seeking to maintain healthy, stable blood sugar levels because the only sugars included are those found naturally in the ingredient fruits.
MEALtime is a quick and simple way to fuel up on the go. Not only does this meal replacement / protein shake contain an array of important vitamins and minerals, but it also has important amino acids, ginseng and aloe vera for energy!
Needless to say, before changing your diet or taking health supplements, always be sure to consult your physician or qualified health practitioner (particularly if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or on medications).
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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 5th, 2012 at 3:12 pm and is filed under Antidote.
