How to Understand Blood Sugar

Understanding blood sugar is to understand its definition and how it affects the body. It's the main sugar made by the body from what we eat.  Blood sugar, also called glucose, is essential for cellular metabolism. Too often blood sugar levels are found to be abnormal. This can lead to medical problems such as Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. There are tests that show medical professionals where those levels are and what treatment they need to provide for their patients.

Things You'll Need

• Glucose meter
• A1c tests

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Instructions

• 1

  Understand what blood sugar is. Blood sugar, or glucose,  is the sugar circulating in our blood stream. We get sugar from what we eat, such as carbohydrates, and even fats and proteins. Blood sugar is important for maintaining cellular metabolism. This is where the cells store energy they get and then distributes it throughout the rest of the body. Insulin is the hormone that allows the glucose to go to the cells and fuel them.

• 2

  Understand why your blood sugar has abnormal levels. Sometimes our bodies just don't want to work properly. That can be due to hereditary or it can be due to environment, being overweight and not exercising enough or from not eating healthy foods. This can lead to medical conditions such diabetes, type 1, type 2, gestational diabetes and pre-diabetes. These diseases are a result of insulin not working properly in the blood stream.

• 3

   Type 1 diabetes is where insulin isn't getting into the cells and allowing glucose to fuel them. The treatment can consist of oral medication or insulin shots. Type 2 diabetes is where the body doesn't use insulin as it should. This too is treated with oral medication or shots. Gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy and medication may be given to the mother until childbirth. Afterward, blood sugar levels return to normal. In pre-diabetes, the blood sugar levels are elevated but are below the levels of a diabetic.

• 4

  Get tested for diabetes. There are several tests that show abnormal blood sugar levels. One is called fasting plasma glucose, another is oral glucose tolerance test. Using the fasting blood glucose, a person with levels of 126 milligrams or higher is a diabetic. If it's between 100 and 125 milligrams, the person is pre-diabetic .An A1c test helps keep track on the ups and downs in the past 30 days. No fasting is required for this test.

• 5

  Manage your elevated blood sugar. This can be done through a well-balanced diet and exercise. Keep monitoring your levels with a glucose meter. This requires a drop of blood to test your levels. It's very important to take your medication or shots as prescribed by your medical professional.