Recommendation: Test your blood glucose once per month. The easiest way is to use a home test kit, which you can buy for under $20, or borrow one from a friend. You will also likely get it tested during a routine yearly physical. With your home test kit, test in the morning before you eat or exercise–this tells you your fasting glucose. Also test 1, 2, and 3 hours after a meal you would normally eat to find out if your normal diet is causing unhealthy spikes in blood sugar. The 2nd and 3rd hours tell you how well you’re able to process the glucose loads you normally encounter. Have fun discovering new foods that don’t spike your blood sugar!
Why Is Glucose So Bad?
It’s actually–technically–one of the healthiest things you can eat. It’s a super effective source of energy for like, every cell in your body. ((Reconstructing the Mosaic Glycolytic Pathway of the Anaerobic Eukaryote Monocercomonoides)) (more on this further down) To understand why this is, we need to view glucose in the big picture of human energy:
Before and after birth, we’re in a state of ‘ketosis’ meaning we eat mostly fat and use it to make ‘ketones’ for energy. As we’re weaned off of milk, we start to eat more carbs (mostly glucose). It’s easy for the body to get energy from carbs, so our resourceful body stores glucose in our liver and muscles for energy later. As we use energy to build and repair tissues, think, etc., we take it from stored glucose, called “glycogen”. Throughout the day we break down glycogen, but as soon as we eat some glucose–soda, candy, bread, pasta, potatoes–our body yells, “STOP!” and uses some of what we just ate for energy and the rest is added to our stores. That “STOP!” is our body releasing insulin. How loud/long the body ‘yells’ depends on how much glucose we just ate, and the type of food. (“Glycemic load” vs “glycemic index” will be discussed another time)
Why is this so important? It means that when we drink a 20 ounce soda it makes our body scream. Eventually–quickly, if it screams every day–it loses it’s voice and we aren’t able to use nor store glucose effectively. #diabetes The problems with that are too many to discuss in this article. The good news for us is that if we catch our blood glucose levels before they get too high, it’s relatively easy–and tasty–to keep them in check.
How High Is Too High?
Currently, normal fasting glucose is 70-100mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter of blood). ((Diagnosing Diabetes and Learning About Prediabetes)) Two hours after eating a carb-heavy meal, you should be below 140mg/dL. Many people are normally much lower than these numbers, and research suggests these are too high to even be considered “upper-limits of normal”, linking them to cardiovascular dysfunction and decreased LDL particle size–the subject of a future post. ((The CATHAY Study)) ((Fasting blood glucose: an underestimated risk factor for cardiovascular death. Results from a 22-year follow-up of healthy nondiabetic men)) ((What is a Normal Glucose Value?)) Two random test results of 200mg/dL (by a doctor) qualifies for a diagnosis of diabetes, though the ADA says some doctors will diagnose after one high result if symptoms exist as well. “Pre-diabetes” is between 100 and 126mg/dL fasting glucose. It’s a risk factor for some nasty business like atherosclerosis, CVD, and inflammation leading to CHD. ((Pre-diabetes, insulin resistance, inflammation and CVD risk)) If you tested normal, good for you! Here are some obvious ways to keep it that way, and some you might not know of:
- Move! All exercise from walking to CrossFit helps control glucose over time, (measured by Hemoglobin A1c). ((Effects of Different Modes of Exercise Training on Glucose Control and Risk Factors for Complications in Type 2 Diabetic Patients))
- Sleep! Insufficient sleep obviously impairs healthy judgment, but is also related to impaired glucose regulation and decreased energy expenditure. ((The metabolic consequences of sleep deprivation))
- Drink coffee–even decaf–with a crab-heavy meal. ((Coffee acutely modifies gastrointestinal hormone secretion and glucose tolerance in humans: glycemic effects of chlorogenic acid and caffeine)) Read my post on coffee to find out why.
- If you choose to eat a meal high in carbs, choose oatmeal, corn tortillas, or pasta. Whole and white bread have similar effects on blood glucose. ((International Tables of Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load Values: 2008))
- Eat a low glycemic index dinner to keep blood glucose from spiking with breakfast. ((Second-meal effect: low-glycemic-index foods eaten at dinner improve subsequent breakfast glycemic response))
Here’s a simple guide to interpret your test results:
