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What is a Healthy Glucose Level?

Glucose or sugar is the product of food. When you eat, the food breaks down into glucose, which your body uses for energy. Too much glucose or sugar in the bloodstream can result in damage to the body's organs. Too little glucose in the bloodstream may lead to shakiness, confusion and a diabetic coma. Diabetics struggle to maintain stable blood sugar levels, which is necessary for a healthy lifestyle.

  1. Process

    • Food breaks down into sugars in the intestine. The blood vessels carry the sugar to the body's organs. The pancreas makes and releases insulin when sugar is in the bloodstream. The insulin helps move the sugar into the body's cells where it is used for energy. Type 1 diabetics do not produce insulin, so they must take insulin to help move the sugar into the cells. Type 2 diabetics have difficulty using insulin effectively.

    Range

    • A healthy glucose level is 70 to 100 milligrams per deciliter. However, people with diabetes have a larger range because variables affect blood sugar levels such as medication, other health issues, age and activity level. The American Diabetes Association suggests that diabetics have a range of 70 to 130 mg/dl before meals and less than 180 mg/dl within a two-hour period of starting a meal. Glucose meters are available for patients to monitor their own blood sugar. Health providers suggest monitoring your blood at different times throughout the day to determine where spikes in the blood sugar level occur and what might be causing them.

    A1C Test

    • Milligrams per deciliter is the measurement used when testing the blood or glucose level using a glucometer or glucose meter. The A1C test shows the blood sugar average over the past three months. The A1C is measured in percentiles. A normal level for a person who is not diabetic is 4 to 6 percent. The target level for a person who is diabetic is 7 percent or less. The A1C test is usually done every three to six months by a lab technician. Your health provider will decide how often you should have the A1C test.

    Pre-diabetes

    • To determine if a patient is pre-diabetic, doctors will recommend one of two tests: the fasting plasma glucose test or the oral glucose tolerance test. Both tests require that the patient fast overnight. With the fasting plasma glucose test or FPG, blood is measured in the morning prior to eating. If the blood sugar level is below 100 mg/dl, the sugar level is normal. If the blood sugar level is between 100 mg/dl and 125 mg/dl, the patient is pre-diabetic. The oral glucose tolerance test requires that the patient drink a "glucose-rich beverage." Normal blood glucose levels are below 140 mg/dl, two hours after drinking the beverage. Pre-diabetics have levels of 140 to 199 mg/dl.

    Prevention/Solution

    • To prevent diabetes, health providers suggest that patients watch their intake of sugar and starches, maintain a healthy weight, and exercise regularly. The Diabetes Prevention Program study shows that "30 minutes a day of moderate physical activity, coupled with a 5 to 10 percent reduction in body weight, produced a 58 percent reduction in diabetes," according to the American Diabetes Association.

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