What should BG readings be?

[guybrush]

I'm newly diagnosed. I have been checking my bloods 2 hours after food and have been told that readings should be between 4-7. Luckily they have been. They have been been ok when I've had something naughty.

In that 2 hours after food I know it will spike and this is natural depending what you eat. My question is what should they spike to?

 

[rebrascora]

I think you may have misunderstood, but your levels should be between 4 and 7 before meals and no more than 8.5 two hours after meals. They may well spike higher within that 2 hours but not much above 10 and not every time you eat..
The 2 hour reading is really just checking that your body is managing to deal with the carbs you ate and bring the natural spike from the release of glucose from those carbs down efficiently.

 

[guybrush]

I think you may have misunderstood, but your levels should be between 4 and 7 before meals and no more than 8.5 two hours after meals. They may well spike higher within that 2 hours but not much above 10 and not every time you eat..
The 2 hour reading is really just checking that your body is managing to deal with the carbs you ate and bring the natural spike from the release of glucose from those carbs down efficiently.

I was told by the diabetic nurse that 2 hours after food they should be between 4 and 7.

Either way they have been so that's good.

I'm on medication at the moment so hopefully my next hba1c test comes back OK and I can reduce or come off it.

 

[JimmyBlue]

@guybrush I had a look on the net to see what the level should be and the answer is .... its a bit hit and miss. Everyone is in the same ballpark for what it should be after a meal which for non-diabetics is around 7.8 and for diabetics either below 8.5 or 10 dependent on your medical system (higher figure is from the US) although there are a couple of others saying below 9. As to the spike none of them say much about that although the suggestion is that it should be below 10.

 

[pjgtech]

I've read that a "normal" BG level should be between 4 and 7.
To see how meals affect your BG you should test before a meal (around the time you start eating).
Then retest about two hours after the meal, to see if your BG has spiked (gone up) and if so to what level.
My understanding is that it should not go up more than 3, but ideally no more than 2 is better still.
So if BG was 6 before meal and 8 approx 2 hrs after meal that would be ok as it has only risen by 2.
But as above, depending where you look you may see slightly different figures quoted, but they should all be roughly the same.
The main thing is to see whether a meal spikes your BG or not and to what level, obviously if BG goes way up then you may wnat to avoid that meal in the future or reduce or remove the carbs from it.
Cheers

 

[PerSpinasAdAstra]

Most non-diabetics stay below 7.8 mmol/L most of the time. This paper describes a study where 80 non-diabetics wore CGMs for 12 weeks:

Real-life glycaemic profiles in non-diabetic individuals with low fasting glucose and normal HbA1c: the A1C-Derived Average Glucose (ADAG) study - Diabetologia

Aims/hypothesis Real-life glycaemic profiles of healthy individuals are poorly studied. Our aim was to analyse to what extent individuals without diabetes exceed OGTT thresholds for impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and diabetes. Methods In the A1C-Derived Average Glucose (ADAG) study, 80...

link.springer.com

Almost all went above 7.8 mmol/L at some point during the day - very few never went above this level at all. The median time per day above this level, averaged over 12 weeks, was 26 minutes per person. One in ten participants peaked above 11 mmol/L at some point during the study though.

A level above 7.8 mmol/L (140 mg/dL) two hours after eating is one definition of prediabetes, though this is based on the 75gram Oral Glucose Tolerance test:

Glucose Tolerance Test - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf

The results of that test, based on drinking 75 grams of glucose dissolved in water after fasting, do not translate well to the real world in all circumstances. A Big Mac, large fries and large coke from McDonalds has 150 grams of rapidly-digested carbs in it, 62 grams of which are sugar. Remaining above 7.8 mmol/L two hours after eating that probably isn't that unusual in non-diabetics.

The targets for diabetics are generally about compromise - 8, 8.5 and 10 mmol/L at the 2 hour mark are targets I've seen suggested by various organisations. It's thought that staying below 7.8 is perfectly healthy but above that it's all guesswork about what level and duration above that level might be unhealthy or harmful. There are no long-term studies to indicate what the ideal target might be. Trying to stay below 8 mmol/L all the time is an extremely conservative approach that is perhaps out of reach for many. Below 8 mmol/L at 2 hours after eating is relatively conservative. Below 8.5 at 2 hours is reasonable and is the level suggested by many diabetes charities. Above that level you get further and further away from the blood glucose patterns of a non-diabetic, and nobody really knows where exactly the 'line' is.

 

[CoolShot44]

For someone without diabetes it is recommended that the normal glucose level should be between 4 and 7 before meals then after eating 2 hours no more than 7.8 .
Everyone has there own individual targets to manage and with diabetes its a constant juggling act for me my own targets are 2 to 3 hours after meals no more than 8 or no more than 2 to 3mml rise from before eating and what the glucose check was so if i was hovering around 5.6 and with what i eat i'm happy if they are kept to around 8 or under most of the time ,i think anyone with diabetes will find it very difficult to stay with the between 4 and 7 range at all times after meal times so well done for keeping between the lines the nurse might reduce your meds , you seem to be doing all the right things to manage this tricky condition if that target is what your diabetes nurse has given you then yeah its a good target to go for but most of us would find it hard to keep to such a strict level , like i said earlier for someone without diabetes the level is 4-7 without food and no more than 7.8 2 hours after eating .
For most of us keeping between levels its recommended between 4 and 7 before meals and no more than 8.5 two hours after meals recommended as in earlier posts .

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

The numbers I’m familiar with (which I think DUK adopted from previous NICE guidance), and the ones I see quoted most often on the forum are:

4-7mmol/L before meals and
8.5mmol/L or lower by 2hrs after meals

Forum folks who use pairs of checks to tailor their menu also often use a rise of 2-3mmol/L from a meal at 2hrs. I think because if you were mid-range or thereabouts before the meal, your 2hrs reading would then hit the recommended level.

🙂