How Long After Eating Should I Check My Blood Sugar

Blood Sugar Level Immediately After Eating:

When to Check Your Blood Sugar

Blood sugar level changes rapidly according to the intake of the meal. The normal blood sugar level before eating or during fasting is between 3.5 to 6.1 mmol/L.

Normal blood sugar right after eating rises drastically as the digestive tract acts quickly to digest the food through mechanical actions, digestive enzymes and different hormones. So the blood glucose rises sharply during this time. The rate at which the blood sugar rises depends on the type of food, the amount is taken, the metabolic condition of the individual, etc.

How Do I Test My Blood Sugar

Consider testing your blood sugar at the same time as your ketones to get a more holistic perspective of whatÃ¢s happening in your body. For instance, is that new low-carb protein bar going to keep you in ketosis without spiking your blood sugar? ThereÃ¢s really only one way to find out: Testing both ketones and blood glucose.

You can even use both of these readings to determine where you sit on the Glucose Ketone Index .

Insulin And Blood Sugar

Insulin is an important hormone that helps regulate your blood sugar levels. The pancreas makes insulin. It helps control your blood sugar levels by assisting the cells that absorb sugar from the bloodstream.

If you have type 1 diabetes, your body doesnt make insulin. This means you have to inject insulin every day.

If diet and exercise arent enough to manage blood sugar, those with type 2 diabetes may be prescribed medications to help keep blood sugar levels within target ranges.

If you have type 2 diabetes, your body produces insulin, but may not use it properly or produce enough of it. Your cells dont respond to insulin, so more sugar keeps circulating in the blood.

Exercise can help the cells respond better and be more sensitive to insulin. The proper diet can also help you avoid spikes in blood sugar. This can help keep your pancreas functioning well since high blood sugar levels decrease pancreatic function.

Also Check: How To Drop Sugar Levels

Read Also: Healthy Snacks For Diabetic Kids

How To Test Your Blood Sugar

To test your blood sugar at home, all you need is a very inexpensive piece of equipment you can find at any drug store or pharmacy called a glucose meter or glucometer.

Glucose testing from home using a glucometer is typically done by a finger stick test. This involves pricking the tip of your finger and collecting a small drop of blood onto the testing strip.

The test itself is very mildly painful but if you are feeling squeamish, I recommend having someone else help you with the finger stick because it may be harder to do on yourself.

Here are the data points that you will want to track when assessing your bodys response to meals: :

fasting blood sugar levels
blood sugar 1 hour after eating
blood sugar 2 hours after eating
blood sugar 3 hours after eating
how long it takes for blood sugar to return to fasting levels after eating
a diary of foods eaten before the tests

Lets work through the best way to test your blood sugar and get all these data points.

First: Test your blood sugar first thing in the morning before you have eaten anything.

This is called your fasting blood sugar level. Optimally this level should be between 82-88 mg/dL . Conventional medicine considers anything < 100 mg/dL as normal.

Second: Test your 1-hour post-meal blood sugar.

Third: Test your 2-hour post-meal blood sugar.

This reading tells you how efficient your body is at balancing your blood sugar. Optimally this level should be less than 120 mg/dL . The closer to 100, the better.

How To Do A Finger

Your healthcare team will show you how to do it the first time, but these are the key steps:

Wash your hands with soap and warm water. Dont use wet wipes as the glycerine in them can affect the test result. Make sure your hands are warm so its easier to get blood and wont hurt as much.
Take a test strip and slot it into the meter to turn it on. Some meters will have tests strips built in.
Remove the cap from your finger prick device and put in a new lancet. Then put the cap back on and set the device by pulling or clicking the plunger.
Choose which finger to prick but avoid your thumb or index finger . And dont prick the middle, or too close to a nail. Place the device against the side of your finger and press the plunger. Use a different finger each time and a different area.
Take your meter with the test strip and hold it against the drop of blood. Itll tell you if the test strip is filled, usually by beeping.
Before you look at your reading, check your finger. Use a tissue to stop bleeding, then use it to take out the lancet and throw it away in your sharps bin.
You can use the same tissue to take out the test strip and throw that away too. Taking out the strip will usually turn the meter off.

Don’t Miss: Glucose Tolerance 2 Hour Test

Before During & After Exercise

Checking your blood sugar around exercise is especially important for people who take insulin or other diabetes medications that can cause low blood sugar. Remember to always carry fast-acting carbohydrates with you while exercising.

Especially if youre new to exercise , its extremely important to check your blood sugar before, during, and after exercise to identify and prevent low blood sugars. The more you study the way different types of exercise impact your blood sugar, the more you can develop a consistent plan around meals and exercise to prevent highs and lows.

A low blood sugar level before, during, or after exercising could suggest:

Your body may need less rapid-acting insulin for the meal or snack you eat before exercising.
Your body may need a temp-basal if you use an insulin pump, programmed to start at least 60 minutes before you start exercising.
You might consider exercising before you eat to reduce the amount of insulin you have active in your system.

A high blood sugar level during, or after exercising can happen, too. Certain types of exercise like weightlifting, spinning, sprinting can trigger your liver to release stored sugar for extra fuel and the conversion of lactic acid into glucose. Many people take a small bolus of insulin before or during these anaerobic types of exercise to prevent high blood sugars.

Talk to your healthcare team about making any adjustments to your diabetes regimen to help you achieve your blood sugar goals.

Hours After Eating A Meal

Checking your blood sugar approximately 1 to 2 hours after eating is hugely important, because it tells you if your body has the tools it needs in order to handle your meals. Being consistently higher or lower than your goal range after eating can tell you some very important and clear things about your current diabetes management regimen.

A high blood sugar level 1 to 2 hours after eating could suggest:

Your body may need more rapid-acting insulin for your last meal.
If you were high before the meal, and high 2 hours after, your body may need more basal/background insulin.

A low blood sugar level in the hours after eating could suggest:

Your body may need less rapid-acting insulin for your last meal.
If you also engaged in physical activity after eating, you may need a reduced meal dose.

Talk to your healthcare team about making any adjustments to your diabetes regimen to help you achieve your blood sugar goals.

Before During And After Exercise

Exercise typically causes blood glucose to go down. If you take insulin and certain oral medications, exercise may increase your risk for low blood sugar. Monitoring your blood glucose before, during , as well as after exercise can help you see the impact of exercise on your blood glucose and help screen for hypoglycemia.

How Often Should You Check Your Blood Sugar

What I Learned Tracking My Blood Sugar & Why You Should Too (Levels Health CGM)

As with most things dealing with diabetes, this all depends on your particular body and lifestyle. Work with your care team and doctor to determine the appropriate number of times per day that you should be checking your blood sugars.

Know that not only is everyone different, but peoples needs for more or less frequent checking can change over their lifetime.

For instance, when someone is pregnant, their need for checking goes up immensely, and conversely, if someone with type 2 diabetes weans their way off of insulin, they may need to check less frequently as their likelihood of hypoglycemia is lower without exogenous insulin in their system.

According to the Mayo Clinic, people with type 1 diabetes should at a minimum check between 4 and 10 times per day, and people with type 2 diabetes may only need to check a few times a day , and maybe not at all if they are not on insulin.

But lets be clear: you can check as many times as you need to, and however often youd like . There is nothing wrong with checking more often or whenever you like.

How Long Does It Take For Blood Sugar Levels To Peak After Eating

After consuming foods that contain carbohydrates, it’s normal to see a rise in blood sugar levels.

Video of the Day

Your blood sugar, also known as blood glucose, will temporarily go up after eating a meal until your body’s insulin is able remove the extra sugar from the bloodstream. In general, blood sugar “peaks 90 minutes after you consume a meal,” says Erin Palinski-Wade, RD, CDE, author of 2-Day Diabetes Diet. “But it’s going to vary based on what you ate.”

This type of peak is a normal part of digestion. Sometimes, however, a person’s body does not respond as it should, and blood sugar levels rise too high. When this happens, it can indicate a risk for prediabetes or diabetes. Frequent spikes in blood sugar can lead to additional long-term medical problems, as well. Here’s what you can do to protect your health.

High Calorie Foods May Or May Not Cause The Blood Sugar Level To Rise

Many people think that all high-calorie foods raise blood sugar level, but this is not always the case.

In general, foods that cause blood sugar level to rise the most are those that are high in carbohydrates, which are quickly converted into energy, such as rice, bread, fruits and sugar. Next are foods high in protein, such as meats, fish eggs, milk and dairy products, and oily foods. However, even though carbohydrates affect blood sugar levels, if you don’t eat them your diet will be unbalanced and you won’t feel satisfied after your meal, which can lead to excessive consumption of foods rich in protein and fat.

Food containing three major nutrients

Carbohydrates

Also Check: Risks Of High Blood Sugar

Do I Need To Check If My Blood Sugar Level Is Normal

If you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, tracking your blood sugar regularly will help you understand how medication, food, and physical activity affect it. Checking your blood glucose level also gives you the chance to see when it’s rising and take action to correct it.

Managing your blood sugar levels is the most important thing you can do to prevent complications from diabetes, like blindness, heart attacks, amputation, kidney disease, and stroke.

Others who may want to track their blood glucose regularly include people:

What Causes Your Blood Glucose To Go Up

How Does Glucose Enter Cells From The Blood?

Blood glucose refers to the amount of glucose that is circulating through your blood, ideally headed to cells for energy. Insulin is the hormone that allows glucose into our cells, but those with type 1 diabetes don’t produce insulin and those with type 2 diabetes are resistant to insulin and don’t use it effectively.

Things that can make our blood glucose levels go up include food, stress and illness. Things can can cause our blood glucose levels to go down can include long periods of time without eating, taking too much medication and physical activity.

Each person, regardless of whether they have diabetes, has their own healthy blood sugar target range where their body functions as its best. If you have diabetes, it’s important to identify what your range is, and how it compares to a range that would make you feel your best. Talk with your healthcare team about your current range as well as what the healthiest range for you would be.

Don’t Miss: Healthy Diet For Diabetes And High Cholesterol

What Is The A1c Test

The A1C test is a simple blood test that measures your average blood sugar levels over the past 2 or 3 months. The test is done at a lab or your doctors office in addition tonot instead ofregular blood sugar testing you do yourself.

A1C testing is part of the ABCs of diabetesimportant steps you can take to prevent or delay health complications down the road:

A: Get a regular A1C test.
B: Try to keep your blood pressure below 140/90 mm Hg .
C: Manage your cholesterol levels.
s: Stop smoking or dont start.

The A1C goal for most adults with diabetes is between 7% and 8%, but your goal may be different depending on your age, other health conditions, medicines youre taking, and other factors. Work with your doctor to establish a personal A1C goal for you.

How Much Does Blood Sugar Increase After Eating

At this time the blood sugar level can reach 7.8 mmol/L in a healthy individual.

After the half-hour mark, the blood glucose level starts to fall as the sugar is absorbed from the blood into the cells of the body.

Its important to check your normal blood sugar level 1 hour after eating. For example, if you find that your blood sugar is 160 mg/dL after the meal, this equates to 8.9 mmol/L which means your blood sugar is high. Its an indication that you may need to seek medical treatment to control your blood sugar level.

Don’t Miss: Why Does Diabetes Make You Thirsty

Normal Blood Sugar 30 Minutes After Eating

Blood sugar is a very familiar term these days. With a huge amount of individuals suffering from diabetes, trying to maintain a healthy level of sugar in the blood has become one of the daily challenges many of us face. As a matter of fact, checking the normal blood sugar 30 minutes after eating is a key indicator for getting an idea of the state of diabetes and overall health.

In this article, well go over the normal blood sugar, how to check it, what is the normal blood sugar after meals and how to control it.

Table of Content

10 Bottom Line:

Blood Sugar Level Rises Every Time You Eat

When should you test your Blood Sugar

Your blood sugar level rises immediately after eating a meal or snack . In a healthy person, insulin then starts working, and the blood sugar level returns to the pre-meal level 2 hours after eating. In untreated diabetes patients, the blood sugar level does not return to the pre-meal level of its own accord. Some people’s blood sugar level remains high two hours after eating, even though on an empty stomach it would be at a normal level. As a result, the risk of developing diabetes increases as insulin is not properly secreted, or does not work properly in the body. In order to make sure insulin works properly, it is important not to overeat and to avoid becoming obese. Knowing which foods will not cause a sudden and extreme spike in blood sugar level and using this knowledge in your daily life will help you to prevent obesity and diabetes, and maintain good health.

You May Like: Are Diabetic Test Strips Universal

Other Important Times To Check Your Blood Sugar

Some other important times in your life that you should pay special attention to your blood sugar and check more frequently may be:

When theres a change to your medication regimen, including insulin
When youre on vacation or traveling
During pregnancy
If theres been a change to your daily routine
Youve been diagnosed with a new health condition
Theres been a drastic change to your diet
Youve been under a lot of stress

At 2 Am/middle Of The Night

Overnight blood glucose checks, while inconvenient, are typically done to screen for hypoglycemia as it is more common to not feel a low blood sugar overnight and to sleep through a hypoglycemia event. If you wake up with a headache or a stomach ache it may be due to low blood sugar that unknowingly occurred overnight.

Read Also: Deaths From Diabetes Per Year

How Does Food Affect My Blood Sugar

When you eat, your body breaks food down into carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals.

You need all of these parts for a healthy diet, but carbohydrates are really important when it comes to your blood glucose level. However, not all carbs change into blood sugar at the same rate.

Examples of foods that fit into each carb category include:

Starches, or complex carbohydrates: Starchy vegetables, dried beans, and grains
Sugars: Fruits, baked goods, beverages, and processed food items like cereals
Fiber: Whole wheat products, chickpeas, lentils, berries, pears, and Brussels sprouts

The glycemic index is a carb ranking system that uses a scale ranging from zero to 100. You can use the GI to find out how different foods affect your blood sugar levels.

High GI foods are quickly processed and can cause a rapid spike in blood sugar levels. Low index foods are more slowly processed which leads to smaller blood glucose level changes.