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A little confused!

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chris7

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Just a quick question, maybe a silly question!

I don't understand that when you take glucose levels after food it is good for it to be higher than before food? Should it not be down instead of up? I thought the whole idea was for the levels to come down as they are too high.

Sorry should of said 2 questions!

A bit of a weird question I guess, I'm not sure even if I have remembered this right! But here goes! Do I remember rightly that there is a distinct odour from urine as a link to diabetes?
I did say it was a weird question and to be fair it could be any disease! lol
 
Hi Chris, when you eat the carbs in the food begin converting to glucose and this gets passed into your blood so that it can be transported to the cells throughout your body to be used as energy. This means that your blood glucose levels will rise more as the food digests until it reaches a peak, and then start to fall away again as you run out of food and your body uses the glucose for energy. When you have diabetes your aim is to try and keep that peak to a minimum, however, it will almost always rise after eating. Some foods will make it rise very quickly, others more slowly - the slower ones are the best for us 🙂

Urine can become sweet if your blood sugar levels get too high, as the excess sugar is processed out of your body by your kidneys. You are also more prone to UTIs (urinary tract infections) when levels are high, as bacteria thrive when levels are high - this can also give a strong odour to the urine.
 
No silly questions here Chris - only the ones you don't ask!
 
Thanks for your help and Northener for the detailed answer when you say it like that it makes sense!
 
In addition to the point made about odour in urine and glucose levels, there's a further three possibilities.

Poorly controlled diabetes can lead to serious kidney issues (nephropathy), which will lead to a change in urine colour and odour.

High blood sugar can also lead to sweet smelling urine - there have been times when I've peed when I've not got my management quite right and my urine smells exactly like Sugar Puffs!

Finally, I'm not sure but I think high ketone levels (either caused by safe and normal ketosis or extremely dangerous DKA) may also affect the smell of your urine - they certainly can affect the smell of your breath, which is likened to nail polish or pear drops because of the acetone.
 
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