Super Fitness Health BlogHow blood sugar levels can affect your health
Just what is blood sugar level?
A person’s blood sugar level (also referred to as serum glucose level or plasma glucose level) is simply the amount of glucose (sugar) within their blood at any time.
Exactly why is glucose significant?
Glucose (sometimes called dextrose) is a simple sugar that is produced by the body from the carbs that people take in. It is important for a wide range of necessary bodily processes. Specifically, it’s really important given it gives energy to our cells, nervous system as well as the brain.
Glucose is carried from the digestive tract or liver to body cells by way of the bloodstream, and is made available for cell absorption via the hormone insulin, created by the pancreas.
Glucose that’s not directly used as an energy source by brain cells, intestinal cells and red blood cells is taken to the liver, adipose tissue and muscle cells, where it is assimilated and stored as glycogen. This glycogen can be transformed back to glucose and returned to the bloodstream in cases where insulin is low or absent.
Just how is blood sugar level tested?
Blood sugar is ordinarily measured in molecular count, the unit for which is mmol/L (millimoles per liter). Equally, it is at times calculated as a weight in grams, the unit for which is mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter).
What is a healthy or usual blood sugar level?
In general, the body sustains 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 regular blood glucose level in people is around 4 mmol/L (or 72 mg/dL), but the level naturally varies over the course of the day. As you may expect, glucose levels are frequently lowest in the morning, just before the first meal of the day and surge just after eating for one to two hours by a few milliMolar. Having said that, in terms of diabetics, blood sugar varies more extensively – see further below.
Just how can blood sugar / glucose levels have an effect on your health?
As pointed out above, glucose provides your body with the fuel that it needs to undertake vital biological functions. Inadequate sugar / glucose (a low blood sugar level) or too much sugar / glucose (a high blood sugar level) may cause considerable health problems and blood sugar levels outside the standard range may perhaps be an indicator of an underlying disease.
Hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia
A persistently high blood sugar level is called hyperglycemia, while low levels are labelled as hypoglycemia.
Hypoglycemia is a potentially fatal condition. Symptoms include listlessness, weakened mental functioning, becoming easily irritated, shaking, twitching, weakness in arm and leg muscles, pale colouration, sweating excessively, paranoid or aggressive demeanour and fainting. In severe instances, brain damage is possible.
In comparison, hyperglycemia can involve the appetite being suppressed in the initial stages, with long term health conditions including heart related illnesses, diabetes and eye, kidney, and nerve damage.
Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus is characterised by continual hyperglycemia (high blood sugar levels) either because the body doesn’t manufacture enough insulin, or for the reason that cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced. It happens to be the most typical disease associated with failure in blood sugar regulation.
For those with diabetes, it is particularly significant to maintain blood sugar levels within normal ranges, otherwise severe health complications may arise. E . g ., 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 instance of a condition where blood sugar levels are important. In this case, the person’s body does not recognise the consumption of sugars and carbohydrates and this means that it continues to pump out insulin which isn’t needed. If this lasts for an extended period of time, the pancreas can pack up and stop producing insulin completely. If care is not taken by individuals who have this problem to ensure a healthy diet and balanced blood sugar levels, it could at some point bring on type two diabetes.
What else can change blood sugar levels?
Many factors can impact a person’s blood sugar level. Such as, it can be temporarily elevated as a result of severe stress (such as trauma, stroke, myocardial infarction, surgery or sickness) or as a result of drug / medication usage, which can cause glucose levels to go up or decline.
Alcohol intake additionally causes an initial surge in blood sugar, but eventually tends to cause levels to fall.
Trying to keep your blood sugar level under control
Making positive and healthy lifestyle choices (and, if necessary, modifications) is a great starting point in keeping your blood sugar levels in check. For instance, taking regular physical exercise and (if required) reducing your weight in a sensible and healthy way.
Dietary adjustments, specifically, are often incredibly helpful in keeping blood sugar levels within normal ranges. For people with restricted diets (such as diabetics), it can often be a difficult task to ensure an optimum consumption of nutrients every single day. Many individuals find that top quality, nutrients-fortified meal replacement powders / shakes can help with this.
MEALtime is a liquid meal / meal replacement powder that is rich in quality protein, complex carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, nutritious herbs and psyllium husks. What’s even better, it’s 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!
Needless to say, before altering your diet or taking health supplements, always be sure to talk to your doctor or qualified health practitioner (particularly if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or on medications).
Comments are currently closed.