What level of blood sugar is dangerous? Learn More about it
If you want to live a long and active life, you ought to be healthy and strong. It is necessary to maintain health and keep on every function, system, and reaction of our body. One of the most important things every person should check is blood sugar levels. What level of blood sugar is dangerous? How to lower it? What is normal? These questions will be answered in this comprehensive article.
Blood Sugar Level: What Is It?
Before providing useful tips, let’s answer one question. It sounds like this – What is a good blood sugar level? This is the level of sugar in your bloodstream that does not negatively affect your well-being. Depending on your health conditions, you need to keep a definite level of sugar.
This creates another reasonable question – What is normal blood sugar? It depends on how healthy you are and what sicknesses you may have. For example, blog sugar levels of a healthy person strongly differ from the ones who have diabetes I or II types. Pregnancy is another health condition when one can notice differences. Let’s check the main states when these levels are different:
Health condition |
Before meals | After meals |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with type 1 diabetes | 80–130 mg/dL | < 180 mg/dL |
| Adults with type 2 diabetes | 80–130 mg/dL | < 180 mg/dL |
| Children with type 1 diabetes | 90-130 mg/dL | 90–150 mg/dL |
| Pregnant people (T1D, gestational diabetes) | < 95 mg/dL | 140 mg/dL |
| 65 of age | 80–180 mg/dL | 80–200 mg/dL |
Finally, healthy people should have the following levels: 99 mg/dL before fasting and 140 mg/dL (can be below) after eating.
How to Bring It Down?
The next question is how to lower blood sugar if it’s necessary. This is crucial and may save your life in case you suffer from diabetes of any type. There are some extra options. Yet, it’s worth beginning with the methods that help to keep your blood sugar levels stable all the time. They aren’t that hard to follow. Consider the following methods:
- Regular exercising. By practising sports on a regular basis, you can control your weight and build perfect insulin sensitivity. It is crucial for your cells to use sugar more effectively and thus avoid excess levels in the bloodstream.
- Control carb levels. You should know that carbs influence blood sugar levels. When they are broken down by your body, most of them are turned into glucose. In case you consume too many carbs, your insulin-regulation function may be impaired. So, you may need to reduce the percentage of carbs.
- Consume more fiber. Consuming more fiber can easily reduce sugar levels because it absorbs glucose. The main sources of fiber are fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains.
- Remain hydrated. You should always remain hydrated because water is critical for the body of every living organism in the world. If you drink a lot of water, it helps even people with diabetes. Children aged 9–18 years should drink from 7 to 11 cups of water daily. Adults above 19 should drink 13 cups of water or more. Pregnant and breastfeeding women require 10–13 cups daily.
- Stick to a low glycemic index. It’s useful to consume foods that have a low glycemic index. Thanks to them, your sugar levels will not rise too fast. The main sources of such foods are bulgur, barley, oats, beans, legumes, and others.
As you can see, it’s not that difficult to lower sugar levels or maintain control over them. There are some severe cases when a person sick with diabetes needs to bring down sugar levels as swiftly as possible. How to reduce blood sugar level immediately? There are 4 ways:
- Take insulin. This is the fastest way to lower your sugar levels. You should make an intramuscular injection.
- Take missed preparation. Many people take various preparations in combination with insulin. A missed dosage of these preparations may be a threat to your life. So, don’t miss it. Yet, you should not double the dosage if you missed it!
- Exercise. This is the fastest way to lower sugar levels without insulin or medications. Physical activity helps to turn glucose into energy and thus free your cells from sugar.
- Hydrate your body. This is the slowest method out of the rest, but it’s also effective.
Remember these methods for good! They may save your life!