Chiropractor & Functional Medicine Headquarters

Blood Sugar/Blood Glucose

 

From a medical standpoint, normal blood glucose levels have a broad range of 65 to 105, while functional or optimal blood glucose level ranges are 85 to 99.  According to the American Diabetic Association, a fasting blood sugar level reading of 106 to 126 is termed “insulin resistance” or “pre-diabetes,” and anything above a reading of 127 is diabetes.

 

Granted, those are fasting blood glucose levels and it is important to note that because many times I will see patients who have been tested and I’ll ask them if they’ve fasted before their test and they will tell me, “No.”  You need at least a 12-hour fast, which means absolutely no food, no drinking orange juice or coffee or anything!  All that you should have is just water for 12 hours before your test, so you can get an accurate reading of your blood glucose levels.

 

Supporting hypothyroidism is futile if your blood sugar level is too high or too low.

 

A reading below 65 would be termed hypoglycemia, a reading below 85 would be termed reactive hypoglycemia and a reading above 99 would be termed hyperglycemia.  Either high or low blood sugar levels are called dysglycemia. Dysglycemia is a stepping-stone to diabetes.  Diabetes is becoming so prevalent in the United States that authorities are predicting that it may bankrupt the healthcare system.

 

Hypoglycemia is a condition in which the blood sugar level repeatedly drops too low in response to high carbohydrate foods.  Refined sugar is a good example of a high carbohydrate food. Hypoglycemia can also be a result of going too long without eating: and too many Americans are skipping breakfast. 

 

 

If your fasting blood sugar is below 85, it’s important that you eat every two to three hours.  You should have a breakfast, a snack, lunch, a snack, dinner and a light snack before bedtime.  I prefer to have people eat a snack or meal that consists of protein, healthy carbohydrates, and some fat. The snack can be vegetables, fruit, nuts, and/or seeds but it SHOULD be something healthy. I prefer that the snack be more than simple sugars, which is often what people gravitate towards for a snack.

 

Insulin resistance is high blood sugar that hasn’t  yet reached the point of diabetes.  It’s called “pre-diabetes” and is a result of the cells becoming resistant to insulin. Insulin is important for getting sugar into cells. Essentially insulin opens the doors of the cells to let glucose (blood sugar) into the cells. So sugar in the cell is good, but once the cell has gotten the amount of glucose it needs, the cell locks the doors to prevent too much glucose from coming into the cell.

 

You need glucose in your cells to make energy.  It’s a vital, important part of life.  Your brain and nervous system need two things to survive:  fuel and activation.  The primary fuel are oxygen and properly regulated glucose. Since properly regulated glucose is critical for fueling the cells of the body, any and every system of the body is compromised when you have a dysglycemia.