Monitoring BG levels after meals

[Blue25]

Good morning,

I am looking for some advice please. I am trying to work out the affect certain foods have on my BG level. To do this I experimented yesterday by checking my BG level 1 hour and then again 2 hours after breakfast. Previously I have check at the 2 hour mark.

I have found that the increase in level is much higher after an hour than it is after 2 hours. Had I not checked after 1 hour I would have assumed the food was fine to eat and my body was coping.

Yesterday my fasting level was 5.0 mmol/L. An hour after breakfast it had increased to 8.5 mmol/L but an hour later it was 5.7 mmol/L

That tells me I should adjust my food choice because of the increase to 8.5 mmol/L or do I use the 5.7 mmol/L reading to help me move forward?

Your thoughts would be very much appreciated.

 

[RBZ5416]

<8.5 is the target after two hours, so the fact you're there after one suggest you're coping very well with whatever you ate. 5.7 after two hours is very good, so I'd say no change required there.

Normal and Diabetic Blood Sugar Level Ranges

Normal blood sugar ranges and blood sugar ranges for adults and children with type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes and blood sugar ranges to determine diabetes.

www.diabetes.co.uk

 

[harbottle]

Those readings look normal. What did you eat?

You've caught the peak of blood sugar from the looks of it (About an hour after eating, in general, but can be dependent on the food.) The advice - for the UK at least - recommends for T2s getting to < 8.5 two after after a meal (Non diabetics can still be over 7 two hours after eating.)

 

[rebrascora]

You are not looking for the peak of your meal spike with the testing. The 2 hour post meal test is to show that your body dealt with the glucose in a timely manner, not the highest it spiked to. We almost always spike higher at an hour than 2 hours (even non diabetic people) unless you ate a very fatty meal which slows the spike down. As long as you are not going up to mid teens an hour after every meal it is not a problem. The important thing is that by 2 hours, your body has brought it down nicely. Each meal and each person's digestive system will release carbs at different rates so trying to find the peak for each meal would be nigh on impossible with finger pricking and it really isn't important. The 2 hour test indicates how well your body dealt with it and that is the important bit.
If I were you, I would go back to just testing immediately before eating and then 2 hours afterwards and base your decisions about diet on that, which is the tried and tested guidance here on the forum.

 

[Blue25]

Thanks for the responses. @rebrascora I will be taking your very helpful advice.

@harbottle You really don't want to know what I ate as it seems to be forbidden but I will have it again on Thursday to help me come to my breakfast conclusion. There is a method in my madness...

 

[harbottle]

Thanks for the responses. @rebrascora I will be taking your very helpful advice.

@harbottle You really don't want to know what I ate as it seems to be forbidden but I will have it again on Thursday to help me come to my breakfast conclusion. There is a method in my madness...

If you're seeing results like that, it shouldn't be forbidden!