Diabetic Diet & Blood Gluecose

i have to wait a few weeks for an ovarian scan to rule out PCOS as the cause of my irregular, infrequent menstrual cycle, & i heard insulin resistance can cause this. i have had many blood tests done before, one a few weeks back, and my glucose levels are always normal. is it likely i could have insulin resistance despite this? i am BMI of 20.5.

1337 is a bit off. You CAN have insulin resistance and still have normal glucose levels, but you cannot know without a doctor giving you a blood test.

Ask for an Insulin Levels or a C-Peptide test — this will tell you how much insulin you have in your blood. If your glucose is normal and you have an elevated Insulin or C-Peptide level, then you likely have some insulin resistance.

As to how likely? I’m not sure, I hope someone else can help you. I would guess that it would be hard to tell without more information, but going on your BMI, I’d say that it’s not too likely.

I am an insulin dependent diabetic and lately my Blood Glucose levels have been a little high. I have seen both my doctor and diabetic educator regarding this and both have said to give myself more insulin, other than that neither were very helpful. I don’t really want to go over the top with giving myself more insulin and am worried that I may give myself too much. I have eating and exercising well and am wondering what else I can do to lower my blood glucose levels. Any suggestions???

Exercise is always a big help for me. I noticed that my blood sugar is always much better for 12 to 24 hours after I exercise. I think it has something to do with the exercise helping your cells use insulin for efficiently/effectively. Although it’s tough to start up a regular routine, it really does help a lot.

Is Blood Glucose primarily used in the aerobic pathway (Krebs cycle), or is it also used in the anaerobic pathway when muscle glycogen stores are depleted during exercise? Thanks!
Isn’t glucose and glycogen formed from carbohydrates?
Thanks Travis! Am I correct in saying that muscle glycogen is used for anaerobic needs and blood glucose is used for aerobic fuel then?

Apparently Tristannnnn’s "A" didn’t require her to know that glucose IS a carbohydrate, and is the primary energy source for all cells. However, she is correct, that glycogen is actually stored glucose in the liver, which can be broken down to glucose again for times of low energy. Lactate removes hydrogens from NADH to convert them to NAD in order to provide plenty of available NAD to prevent metabolism from grinding to a halt. This is what causes the lactic acid build sensation once it’s excreted from the cells.

The increase in breathing is actually a response to an increase in carbon waste buildup in the blood. It promotes more breaths to intake more oxygen which is inevitably needed as the last electron donor at the end of metabolism.

Glucose is primarily used in aerobic conditions. It will continue to use glucose until the glycogen reserves are depleted, and will then move on to lipid molecules and eventually amino acids for sources of energy.

like how the body maintain blood glucose and calcium levels being an example of homeostatis

could someone explain that to me please?

The human body has a number of mechanisms in place to regulate the storage and release of molecules for energy. Sometimes, an individual will consume more calories than can be immediately used, so sugars will be stored in the form of glycogen (a polymer of glucose) in liver and muscle cells. Other periods of increased activity may however, require the sudden release of energy, whereby glycogen is initially oxidised from the stores in the liver. Clearly, this is another example of homeostasis and it is outlined in Figure 2.

Two enzymatic hormones are utilised by the body to control the interchange of glucose as an energy molecule and glycogen as a storage molecule. The first, insulin, lowers blood glucose levels by promoting its conversion to glycogen. The second, glucagon, increases glucose levels by allowing glycogen to be phosphorylated. Both of these hormones are produced and released by specialised cells in the pancreas known as Islets of Langerhans. Insulin is released from ?-cells, and glucagon is released from ?-cells.

If the blood glucose level is too high, more insulin and less glucagon is released. This causes cells to take in glucose from the blood, while the liver converts glucose to glycogen. During low levels of blood glucose however, glucagon release increases, activating the breakdown of glycogen to glucose in the liver, and glucose is released into the blood. This is a good example of negative feedback control, as the lowering of Blood Glucose, for example, inhibits further insulin secretion.

Importantly, insulin is dependent upon calcium. This is because glucose activates calcium channels. When glucose levels are high, the subsequent release of calcium results in calcium binding to calmodulin. Together, the two molecules promote insulin vesicles to be released from the pancreas. This demonstrates the negative feedback system discussed in the overview.

What is the normal range for a non diabetic person after eating more than normal ? Like on a holiday.? And when is the best time for a non diabetic person to check Blood Glucose ?

Hi the normal blood glucose in a non-diabetic person is 70-110. But this lab varies with different labs at different doctors offices. It will not vary much though. After a sugary load of food your blood sugar will rise possibly to 150-200. But it does goes down once the pancreas kicks out the insulin. The best time to check your blood sugar for a non-diabetic person is in the AM before you eat breakfast and preferably the night before you did not eat all sugar things. Hope this helped. Happy Thanksgiving.

I recently did my fasting lab-work and my blood glucose level was 124. My dr says it is elevated and wants me to retest.
I just tested my blood-sugar with a glucometer and it was 145. I ate a small sandwich about 2 hours ago. I am worried that I might be diabetic, or border line.
What is a normal number?

A ‘normal’ fasting blood glucose level for a non-diabetic is between 70 and 99 mg/dL. Obviously, with yours being higher than this, you can see why your doctor wants you to be retested.

Even after eating, a non-diabetics blood glucose level wouldn’t normally be higher than 140 mg/dL. This is because blood glucose control is kept within tight constraints by the autonomic nervous system.

After eating and breakdown of carbohydrates, by way of digestion and absorption, blood glucose rises. A signal is sent to the pancreas to produce more insulin. Insulin allows the transport of glucose into the body’s tissues in order to make energy. It’s this that keeps us alive. Because glucose is being used in this manner, the Blood Glucose level falls. This, in turn, sends another signal to the pancreas to produce glucagon. This stimulates the liver to release some of it’s store of glycogen … the way it stores glucose … which, obviously, raises the blood sugar level. As I say, this happens automatically … via the autonomic nervous system … in a non-diabetic, that is.

The reason your doctor wishes you to be retested is because a single high reading would not be sufficient to make a diagnosis. There are a number of reasons why blood sugar levels may increase including such things as, whether or not you have an infection, stress and anxiety suffered by yourself, various medical conditions, etc. etc.

If your second test also comes back that you have a raised blood glucose level, your doctor may, yet again, consider further testing … specifically an OGTT (Oral Glucose Tolerance Test), and maybe an HbA1c (Gycated haemoglobin [hemoglobin]), which would give your doctor a picture of what your blood sugar levels have been like over the previous three months.

Please note, the terms blood glucose and blood sugar are used interchangeably.

The other day I had a blood test to see if i was hypoglycemic but my doctor said it’s okay to eat because I feel faint in the mornings when I don’t. He said it won’t really affect the test. So I had two egg whites, half a sausage, a slice of cheddar cheese, and water. The results for my glucose test came back as 91. Did the breakfast affect the results? I had breakfast at 8:30 and took the blood test at 9:10. Wouldn’t it take a while for the food to digest?

With what you had for breakfast it wouldn’t raise your glucose level. Everything you had was low in carbs.

I went to the doc today and told her how I have a sweet metallic taste in my mouth and I thought it might be diabetes. She pulled up my records and said that my recent blood test showed that my Blood Glucose levels were normal so I can’t have diabetes. I don’t really trust my doctor… So is this true?

Are you expiriencing any of the symptoms that go along with diabetes? How long ago was your last blood test? There maybe a possiblity of diabetes if the test was a long time ago. But likely you dont have diabetes if your doctor did tests recently. If you don’t trust your doctor I would HIGHLY suggest you get a new one. You are paying them good money…although I highly doubt your doc is lying to you…if your not happy go to a different doctor.

I’m a Type 2 diabetic controlling my diabetes (for now) with Diet/exercise. I have lost weight, increased activity. At night before bed, my Blood Glucose is pretty good (100-115). But, then first thing in the morning before breakfast, it seems to spike (145-160). Anyone else experincing this? What can I do to manage?

The increase in blood sugar may be due to either the Dawn effect or the Somogyi Effect.

The dawn effect is caused by not having enough insulin in your body at night. While we sleep, glucose is released into our body as a response to hormone stimuli. The release of these hormones to repair and maintain your body causes an increase in blood glucose levels during the first hours of the morning. If you take insulin, you should increase your insulin dosage at night or take it later in the evening.

The Somogyi effect differs from the dawn effect because it is caused by too much insulin at night, and there is a dramatic decrease in blood glucose between 2-4 am. Because of this drop, the body compensates by increasing glucose in the body, thus causing the high blood suger upon awakening. The only way to differentiate between the two is to check your blood sugar between 2-4 am. If you do not currently take insulin, then this probably is not the problem because it is caused by too much insulin at night.

At 4:30 in the afternoon my husband had a Blood Glucose test after a 21 hour fast and working all day in construction, it was 6.2. Does this indicate he is diabetic?

Didn’t your doctor explain the results? If not, I think you better get a experts opinion.

That said, here’s my non-expert opinion; its a bit high considering but not diabetic high. I expect a normal fasting result to be more like a 4 or low 5 but if it was diabetes then it would be much higher. Possibly indicates pre-diabetes or diabetes that has been caught early. I think you should ask for a GTT to be sure as you can’t really diagnose off a fasting test.