Article by Sheila Dobson, NC
All articles are for educational purposes only. Please consult your qualified health professional for individualized guidance.
Monitoring blood sugar is not just for diabetics
Tracking your blood sugar and how it responds to dietary changes can be a tool that may assist you to find the best diet for your individual needs.
This practice can also discover problems early in order to resolve them before they develop further. Keep in mind that poorly controlled blood sugar is a warning sign of potentially developing diabetes which shows up long before the diagnose-able condition shows.
Furthermore, when sugars (and carbs, which are broken down into sugars during digestion) are not properly utilized in our bodies, advanced glycation end products (AGE’s) can be formed. These are molecules which cause tissue damage and they are considered to be the main agent of the so called diseases of aging.
AGE’s cause tissue damage including atherosclerosis or hardening of arteries, the clouding of the lens of the eye, kidney disease, pulmonary fibrosis, Alzheimer’s disease, damage to joint tissues, damage to the liver and potentially, a long list of other problems, even including weakened immunity and poor blood flow potentially leading to ulcers on the skin.
AGE’s tend to accumulate in our bodies as we age, especially if we over-consume carbohydrate foods. Monitoring blood sugar is one excellent way to find out if a person is eating more carbohydrates than they can handle, or, even if they are just eating carbohydrates that are not ideally suited to their particular body type.
How and When To Self-Monitor Blood Sugar To Optimize Diet
- Get a traditinal blood sugar test kit, OR a continuous glucose monitoring kit (CGM kit), OR you can even get a monitor that will check both blood sugar and ketones. Keep reading for links. You can find blood sugar test kits in every pharmacy and drug store. Or you can get one from Amazon or Ebay or another online store. Continuous glucose monitors are very popular; these work through use of a sensor inserted under the skin in your arm which sends a signal to a device, even your smart phone, and this then gives real-time blood sugar readings any time you desire. Traditional blood glucose monitors require a finger prick and handheld monitor to get a single reading. The latter are less expensive than the continuous monitors. Here is the link for Amazon’s top selling devices of both types: https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Blood-Glucose-Monitors/zgbs/hpc/3777171. Alternatively, you may wish to check out keto-mojo.com for a combination device that checks both blood sugar and ketones at the same time. Ketones are a type of molecule made by the body when there are insufficient carbohydrates consumed to fuel the body’s normal energy production process of glycolysis. Ketones are made when we are either fasting or eating a diet in which we get most of our fuel from fats rather than carbs.
- Take your blood sugar at the correct times (or consult your continuous monitor at these times). Usually this is
- when you get up in the morning, before eating – this is your fasting blood sugar
- half an hour after a meal – to see how much change the meal is causing (this is NOT the standard but it can be a useful measurement in my opinion)
- one hour after a meal (this is the standard for monitoring during the day)
- two hours after a meal
- With the next meal and in between meals you can get readings so you can figure out the range of high to low for you, and also how foods affect it
- It helps to keep a log of blood sugar and also what you have eaten
Someone with poor blood sugar regulation may see blood sugar spike to over the amount considered to be within a normal healthy range. This range is from a low of 70 or 80 to a high of around 140 to 160. Most experts agree that we should try to avoid having spikes of blood sugar much beyond 160. If it does go a little higher, it should not stay at the higher levels for long.
Really high readings (above 190) or really low readings (below 70) of course indicate the blood sugar regulation system is not working well. Our bodies make insulin in order to absorb sugars into the cells. If the system is working poorly, we may have “insulin resistance” and this will result in the body producing insulin at higher levels to try to control the blood sugar. However, this can lead to a roller coaster effect.
The tighter and lower the range, in general, the better. For example within the range of 70 to 140 is considered very good. A well functioning blood sugar regulating system won’t allow blood sugar to vary much beyond these limits. The body is stressed by wide fluctuations and these eventually lead to diabetes, metabolic syndrome, obesity and other problems, if unchecked.
The range of what is acceptable differs a bit depending on the source you consult.
If you find that 1/2 hour after a meal blood sugar spikes really high (let’s say just for example it goes to 200) but it is “normal” an hour after a meal there is most likely a problem beginning. Its helpful to catch problems as they develop rather than wait until it has become severe.
If blood sugar tends to drop quite low such that you get shaky, lightheaded and weak, there is also likely a problem. If you are not sure if blood sugar is what is causing weakness or shakiness, etc, then it is useful to do testing in order to find out. Other problems besides low blood sugar could be the cause of these symptoms.
Carbohydrate Tolerance Varies by Food and From One Individual To Another
Learning how your blood sugar responds to various foods can be a starting point for determining what foods are best for you. Often just knowing your own individual tolerance for carbohydrate foods can help greatly in determining the best diet for you.
This is because a high carbohydrate food such as white potatoes, corn or rice can affect one person with blood sugar regulation problems very differently from another. This has do to do with individual differences in digestion as well as genetics and other factors. Allergy, intolerance and sensitivities are often factors in poor tolerance for certain carbohydrate types. Any time you are “sensitive” to a food, it will usually cause more of an impact on your blood sugar.
We are all individuals! This is why glycemic load or glycemic index estimates are only rough indications of the actual effect of a food on a person’s blood sugar regulation system.
Summary
Many serious illnesses have poor blood sugar regulation as a component, and many more “minor” annoying symptoms and health problems do as well. This is because blood sugar regulation involves so many different systems in the body, and because the advanced glycation endproducts that result from eating a diet excessively rich in carbs can damage so many bodily organs and tissues. For these and other reasons, poor blood sugar regulation can be a fairly sensitive early warning sign that there are problems developing. Working on refining one’s diet based on blood sugar stability can help a person avoid many of these problems.
References
Bailey, R. (2024, June7). Glycolysis: The first stage in respiration. ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/steps-of-glycolysis-373394
Kasper M, Funk R, Age-related changes in cells and tissues due to advanced glycation end products (AGE’s). Arch Geront and Ger. 2001; 32(3):233-243. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-4943(01)00103-0