How blood sugar levels can affect your health
What exactly is blood sugar level?
A person’s blood sugar level (often called serum glucose level or plasma glucose level) is essentially the volume of glucose (sugar) present in their blood at any given time.
Exactly why is glucose critical?
Glucose (often known as dextrose) is a simple sugar that is produced by the human body from the carbohydrates we eat. It’s really important for a variety of imperative bodily processes. Notably, it’s critical since it supplies energy to our tissues, nervous system as well as the brain.
Glucose is transported from the intestines or liver to cells by way of the blood flow, and is made available for cell absorption through the hormone insulin, primarily produced by the pancreas.
Glucose which is not directly used as a source of energy by brain cells, intestinal cells and red blood cells is transported to the liver, adipose tissue and muscle cells, where it is absorbed and stored as glycogen. This glycogen can be changed back to glucose and returned to the bloodstream whenever insulin is low or absent.
How is blood sugar level assessed?
Blood sugar is typically measured in molecular count, the unit for which is mmol/L (millimoles per liter). Additionally it is occasionally measured as a weight in grams, the unit for which is mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter).
What’s a healthy or standard blood sugar level?
Usually, the 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 normal blood glucose level in humans is around 4 mmol/L (or 72 mg/dL), though the level naturally changes during the course of the day. As perhaps you may suspect, glucose levels tend to be at their lowest early in the day, before the first meal of the day and spike immediately after eating for 1 – 2 hours by a couple of milliMolar. Having said that, with regards to people with diabetes, blood sugar varies more widely – see further below.
How does blood sugar / glucose levels impact your overall health?
As pointed out above, glucose provides your body with the power that it needs to complete critical bodily functions. Inadequate sugar / glucose (a low blood sugar level) or excessive sugar / glucose (a high blood sugar level) can lead to serious medical problems and blood sugar levels outside of the normal range might be an indication of a medical condition.
Hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia
A persistently high blood sugar level is known as hyperglycemia, while low levels are referred to as hypoglycemia.
Hypoglycemia is a life-threatening condition. Warning signs include listlessness, weakened mental functioning, irritability, shaking, twitching, lack of strength in arm and leg muscles, pale skin tone, sweating excessively, paranoid or hostile mentality and loss of consciousness. In severe cases, brain damage is a possibility.
By contrast, hyperglycemia usually involves the appetite being suppressed for the short term, with longer term health issues including heart problems, 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 generate a sufficient amount of insulin, or due to the fact cells fail to react to the insulin that is produced. It happens to be the most prevalent disease linked to failure in blood sugar regulation.
For all those with diabetes, it is of course especially vital to keep blood sugar levels within normal ranges, or else major health complications can arise. For instance, 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 yet another instance of a condition where blood sugar levels are important. In this case, the body doesn’t recognise the consumption of sugars and carbohydrates and this means that it continues to pump out insulin which isn’t required. If this proceeds for an extended period of time, the pancreas can shut down and cease to produce insulin altogether. If proper care is not taken by those who have this condition to ensure a balanced diet and balanced blood sugar levels, it could ultimately lead to type 2 diabetes.
Can anything else have an effect on blood sugar levels?
Lots of factors may affect someone’s blood sugar level. For instance, it can be briefly elevated as a result of extreme stress (such as trauma, stroke, myocardial infarction, surgery or disease) or as a result of drug / medication use, which can cause glucose levels to go up or go down.
Alcohol intake additionally triggers an initial spike in blood sugar, but afterwards has a tendency to cause levels to fall.
Trying to keep your blood sugar level within healthy ranges
Making positive and healthy lifestyle choices (and, if needed, changes) is a good starting point in keeping your blood sugar levels in control. For example, taking regular exercise and (if required) losing weight in a sensible and healthy way.
Dietary adjustments, in particular, can be remarkably useful in keeping blood sugar levels within normal ranges. For individuals with restricted diets (such as diabetics), it can often be a challenge to ensure an optimum intake of nutrients and vitamins every single day. Many individuals find that good quality, nutrients-fortified meal replacement powders / shakes can help with this.
MEALtime is a liquid meal / meal replacement shake that’s rich in quality protein, complex carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, nutritious herbs and psyllium husks. On top of that, it is suitable for diabetics and others wanting 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 easy 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!
Naturally, prior to changing your eating habits or taking health supplements, always be sure to consult your doctor or qualified health practitioner (particularly if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or on medications).