What Should Your Glucose Blood Level Be After Eating?

Diabetics use blood glucose tests to measure the amount of sugar in their blood. Glucose comes from carbohydrates. Insulin is produced by your pancreas and released into your blood when the amount of glucose rises. The effect of eating particular foods on blood glucose levels depends on many factors, including cooking time, ripeness, and fiber and fat content. The time of the day you eat, your blood insulin levels and recent physical activity also play a part in the outcome for your body.

Test

Test blood sugar often, count carbohydrates during each meal and match your insulin to your carbohydrate intake and current blood sugar. Learn to use your test results to adjust insulin. If your blood sugar is low in the afternoon, have a snack. Test before, during and after exercise. If you change your daily routine, glucose levels may fluctuate, so be sure to monitor how you feel to reduce problems.

Levels

Cigna says the normal blood sugar level in the body before eating should be 70 milligrams/deciliter to 130 mg/dl and less than 180 mg/dl after eating. It is important to maintain this blood glucose level steadily to prevent sudden highs or lows.

Glycemic Index

Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, can be treated by eating 15 to 20 grams of fast-acting carbohydrates. The glyemic index measures how fast a food is likely to raise your blood sugar. If your blood sugar is low in the morning, eat a carbohydrate that is higher in number in the glycemic index. Glucose is given an arbitrary number of 100 and other carbohydrates have numbers relative to their glucose levesl. There are faster carbohydrates that have been given higher numbers and slower carbohydrates with lower numbers.

Warning

Carbohydrates build up in the body as sugar, which can cause sudden shifts in your glucose levels. Carbohydrates are found in milk, fruit, yogurt, bread, cereal, rice, pasta and starchy vegetables. Bread, rice, pasta, sweets and juice can cause a spike in your glucose level. Other examples of fast-acting carbohydrates are potatoes, soda, cornflakes, sticky white rice and spaghetti.

Prevention

Your blood glucose levels may not be normal if you take too much insulin, lose too much weight, skip meals or become more physically active. To get back to a normal level, you should make corrections by taking less insulin, eating more regularly or adjusting your diet.

Foods that have slow-acting carbohydrates do not spike blood levels and have many health benefits such as, helping to control blood sugar levels, reducing cholesterol levels, improved memory, decreased risk of heart disease and weight loss. Slow acting foods include low-fat dairy products, apples, pears preserved in natural juices, grapefruit, chicken, venison and turkey.