Does blood sugar matter if you don't have diabetes?

1. What is blood sugar?
2. What is insulin resistance?
3. But then why do we only hear about diabetes?
4. How does fluctuating blood sugar levels affect health?
5. Blood sugar levels affect daily well-being
6. Balanced blood sugar levels are also important for overall health.
7. High blood sugar increases risk of chronic diseases
8. What can I do to maintain healthy blood sugar levels?
9. How can I check my blood sugar levels?
10. You can measure your blood sugar level in several ways:
11. What are healthy blood sugar levels?
12. In light of this, the following values ​​are worth setting as goals:
13. Summary

Why do I need to test my blood sugar if I don't have diabetes?

The first answer is obviously the prevention and timely diagnosis of diabetes, and in fact the second answer is also this: maintaining stable blood sugar levels is a key issue for general health, and is also decisive for quality of life: well-being, balanced concentration, body weight, are all linked to even blood sugar levels. In this article, we will review the most important questions about healthy blood sugar levels: what and how does glucose level affect, and what can we do to keep it in a healthy range?

Most conversations about blood sugar still take place in the context of diabetes, a condition characterized by chronically high glucose levels. However, it’s important to know that even without diabetes, your blood sugar can fluctuate to the point where it can cause unpleasant symptoms. If your blood sugar is extremely fluctuating (even within the normal range), it can cause you to feel unwell, tired, and have trouble concentrating in the short term, and can lead to serious health problems in the long term, regardless of how thin, fit, or healthy you are.

Your blood sugar levels can also contribute to very common health problems such as obesity, various hormonal disorders, certain mental illnesses (panic disorder, anxiety disorders), Alzheimer's disease, and cardiovascular disease. Blood sugar problems are also widespread - more than a third of the adult population in the United States has prediabetes, and 80% of them do not even know it. Eight of the leading causes of death are linked to high blood sugar and its consequences.

The good news is that you can control your blood sugar levels. In fact, the truth is that spikes can be almost completely controlled by making simple, everyday habits that are easy to incorporate into your daily life. By modifying lifestyle factors like diet, exercise, stress levels, and sleep, you can significantly improve your blood sugar profile and take control of your health.

Why is healthy blood sugar important, even if you don't have diabetes?

What is blood sugar?

Blood sugar, or glucose, is one of our body's primary sources of energy that powers our cells. When you eat foods containing carbohydrates, your body converts them into glucose, which causes your blood sugar levels to rise.

Eating almost always causes a gradual rise in blood sugar levels, as most foods – even whole vegetables – contain some carbohydrates.

This is normal and completely healthy. Your body is able to initiate regulatory processes that return glucose to baseline levels.

However, some meals do not cause this healthy, slow rise, but lead to a much more dramatic spike.

The type and amount of food consumed causes different peaks, and different people can react differently to the same food. What's more, our diets today contain significantly more sugar and refined carbohydrates than ever before - we consume nearly ten times as much sugar per day as we did 200 years ago.

As mentioned, lifestyle factors such as exercise, sleep, and stress also affect blood sugar levels.

For example, poor sleep can cause significant blood sugar spikes the next day. Exercise after meals can blunt these spikes.

High blood sugar spikes and subsequent dips are clear signs of faulty fuel usage. If these spikes are repeated, it can have serious health effects.

These consequences are partly due to how glucose spikes affect insulin levels and can lead to insulin resistance.

What is insulin resistance?

When glucose levels rise, our bodies release a hormone called insulin into our bloodstream, which helps process sugar and move it from the blood into our cells. Insulin production is a perfectly normal process, but when glucose spikes are too high or too frequent, the body produces more and more insulin to keep blood sugar levels in check. This eventually leads to cells becoming less sensitive to insulin – a condition called insulin resistance. This causes the body to produce even more insulin, creating a vicious cycle that eventually leads to chronically high blood sugar levels – diabetes. Insulin resistance is the root cause of many health problems, so preventing it is key to staying healthy.

Insulin resistance, low blood sugar, blood sugar balance, hormones and your cycle

But then why do we only hear about diabetes?

The first disease that comes to mind when we think of blood sugar and insulin is type 1 and type 2 diabetes, which are two completely different conditions – although there are similarities between them.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body is unable to produce insulin at all. There is no way to prevent its development and it must always be maintained with insulin.

Type 2 diabetes and its precursor, prediabetes, are the types that are most strongly influenced by lifestyle factors. Prediabetes and type 2 diabetes occur when insulin resistance becomes so advanced that blood sugar levels remain chronically high. Type 2 accounts for 95% of all diabetes, and unfortunately, the condition is increasingly common in children. More than a third of American adults are diagnosed with prediabetes, and 80 percent of those with it are completely asymptomatic.

Unlike type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes is almost completely reversible with lifestyle changes that help stabilize blood sugar levels. These interventions reduce the degree of insulin resistance and allow blood sugar levels to decrease over time.

So it's clear that everyone needs to take insulin resistance seriously before it leads to prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. Glucose spikes and the insulin resistance they cause can damage your health much sooner than you're diagnosed with these metabolic conditions. Prevention is much easier than reversal.

How does fluctuating blood sugar levels affect health?

Since glucose is the fuel for your cells, poorly regulated blood sugar levels impair cell function throughout your body, causing dysfunction in your blood vessels, brain, and muscles, among other things. The resulting cell damage can lead to serious health problems in the long term.

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Blood sugar levels affect daily well-being

Poor blood sugar control also has less dramatic “side effects.” When blood sugar levels are high, it can cause fatigue, difficulty concentrating, uncontrollable cravings, and skin problems.

If you've ever experienced the huge energy boost caused by sugar and the inevitable crash that follows – or diabetic coma, or if you've ever felt sick after not eating for a long time: then you're familiar with the most basic symptoms of high and low blood sugar levels, which we tend to treat as normal bodily processes, even though they can be prevented and avoided.

If your blood sugar levels can remain stable, you will have higher energy levels, clearer skin, better cognitive performance and concentration, and be less prone to cravings that challenge your healthy eating habits.

Balanced blood sugar levels are also important for overall health.

Blood sugar levels are also relevant for preventing many health problems that masses of people struggle with today.

For example, if your blood sugar (and insulin) levels are consistently high, your body will start to convert excess glucose into fat – which can lead to weight gain. Insulin also prevents fat burning, so high insulin levels make it harder to lose extra weight. Stabilizing blood sugar levels is also important for maintaining a healthy hormonal system. PCOS, menopause, and female and male fertility problems can be significantly influenced by controlling blood sugar levels.

Glucose levels also affect mental health. Both depression and anxiety have been linked to fluctuating blood sugar levels.

High blood sugar increases risk of chronic diseases

Frequent spikes in blood sugar damage cells, which over time can contribute to the development of chronic diseases. Here are some chronic diseases that have their roots in blood sugar fluctuations:

• Type 2 diabetes
• Dementia and Alzheimer's disease
• Heart diseases
• Cancer: Some types of cancer, such as breast and prostate cancer, are more common in people with glucose control problems.

What can I do to maintain healthy blood sugar levels?

Maintaining healthy blood sugar levels can be a challenge in our modern environment, filled with hidden sugars and toxins, chronic stress, sleep deprivation, and rush hour. The good news is that you don’t need to make dramatic changes to see results. Small, simple changes can make a big difference to your metabolic health. Here are four key tools to help you maintain blood sugar stability:

Eat foods that keep your blood sugar levels stable!

The most important thing you can do is eat foods that don't cause big spikes. Focus on nutrient-rich, whole foods and avoid those that quickly raise your blood sugar (like processed foods and simple carbohydrates). Eat high-fiber foods alongside your carbs to help prevent spikes.

Change the way you eat

While what you eat is important, research shows that how you eat also matters. For example, whether you eat carbohydrates with protein or fat, the order in which you eat these nutrients, and even the time of day you eat them can all affect how much your blood sugar levels rise.

Exercise regularly

Exercise has an amazing effect on blood sugar levels, regardless of intensity. Studies show that simply walking can help reduce blood sugar spikes after meals. Cardio and HIIT workouts, or weight training, help your body process glucose more efficiently. The bottom line: choose a form that works for you and move every day!

Prioritize healthy sleep and stress management

Research shows that sleeping less than six hours a night significantly impairs glucose metabolism and increases insulin levels. Remember – it’s not just the quantity of sleep that matters, but the quality of sleep as well. Avoid screen time in the evening, don’t drink coffee in the afternoon, and try to go to bed at a consistent time!

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Stress can also raise blood sugar levels.

Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline affect glucose and insulin levels. Stress management techniques like meditation, yoga, or breathing exercises can help keep blood sugar levels stable.

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How can I check my blood sugar levels?

Monitoring your blood sugar is essential and very useful, and it's one of the few biomarkers that we can easily and reliably measure ourselves. You may be more affected by stress than you think, or certain carbohydrates may cause you to spike higher while others don't. Knowing your blood sugar profile gives you real-world data about what lifestyle choices are most effective for your health.

You can measure your blood sugar level in several ways:

The most common way to monitor your blood sugar and metabolic health is with a routine blood test. However, this only provides a single snapshot at a given time, so it doesn't give you a complete picture of your glucose levels over the long term.

You can also use a home blood glucose meter, which is easily available at any pharmacy. Or, if you're really committed to stabilizing your blood sugar, you can wear a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), which is a small device that you can stick on your arm or stomach for up to two weeks that continuously monitors your blood sugar levels.

What are healthy blood sugar levels?

During lab tests, fasting blood sugar levels are usually measured. This is also important, but the value can be completely normal even if there are already underlying metabolic disorders.

Postprandial blood sugar levels are a good measure of how your body handles glucose. However, it's important to understand that standards for "normal" levels don't take into account a preventative approach: recent research suggests that blood sugar levels that are still considered normal but in the higher range may increase health risks.

In light of this, the following values ​​are worth setting as goals:

Optimal fasting blood sugar level: <4.7 mmol/L

Maximum postprandial blood sugar level: <7.8 mmol/L

Blood sugar is therefore a critical health indicator that we often only think about when it is too late: until then, it silently damages our health for years. Since the harms associated with unstable blood sugar levels are preventable, it is very important that everyone has adequate information about regulating and monitoring glucose homeostasis – this way we can intervene in time in order to protect our health.

Summary

Blood sugar levels affect your energy levels, concentration, weight, hormones, and mental health.

Fluctuating blood sugar levels increase the risk of chronic diseases, so maintaining proper levels is important, even if you don't have diabetes.

Frequent, wide fluctuations in your blood sugar levels can lead to insulin resistance, which can cause many health problems (such as weight gain, hormonal disruptions, and may also increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease and heart disease).

You can control your blood sugar levels with simple lifestyle changes.

By periodically checking your blood sugar levels, you can see how your lifestyle choices are affecting your health.

Optimal fasting blood sugar levels are below 4.7 mmol/L, and postprandial peaks should remain below 7.8 mmol/L, although higher values ​​are considered clinically normal.

Healthy blood sugar and insulin levels are the foundation of any hormone balance plan. One of the most important steps is to balance your hormones and take control of your cycle, fertility, and most importantly, your life. In the Blood Sugar Balance program, you will learn about the effects of sugar and carbohydrates, as well as blood sugar fluctuations, on the menstrual cycle, and how to keep blood sugar levels balanced for optimal hormonal function and health.

You can join here: Blood Sugar Balance Program