What Should Your Blood Glucose Levels Be?

Your blood glucose—which is a measure of how much sugar is in your blood at any given time—fluctuates throughout the day, and sometimes from day to day. But how much should it fluctuate, when is it a cause for concern, and how can you monitor your blood glucose? Read on to find out.

Healthy blood glucose ranges:

Fasting (or pre-meal) glucose: < 100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L)

Post-meal glucose peak: < 120 mg/dL (6.7 mmol/L)

Post-meal glucose increase: < 30 mg/dL increase (1.7 mmol/L)

What is your blood sugar supposed to be?

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), your fasting blood glucose should be less than 100mg/dl (5.6 mmol/L).[1] Anything over that will get you into metabolic hot water.

‍100-125 ((5.6 mmol/L - 6.9 mmol/L) is considered pre-diabetic; 126 (7.0 mmol/L) or higher is considered diabetic.‍

But fasting blood sugar only tells you part of the picture.

An important metabolic health factor to consider is how much your blood sugar spikes after a meal

‍The ADA says that a blood sugar reading of less than 140 mg/dl (7.9 mmol/L) two hours after a high-sugar beverage indicates good metabolic health, while anything over is either pre-diabetic or diabetic.

Our standard at Veri is to have a post-meal glucose of no more than 130 mg/dl (7.2 mmol/L), with <120 (6.7 mmol/L) being the ideal range. Also, blood sugar shouldn’t spike more than 30 mg/dl (1.7 mmol/L) from your pre-meal glucose reading—otherwise you’ll release too much insulin for your body to properly handle.

References

1. https://www.diabetes.org/a1c/diagnosis
2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29807103/