Blood glucose level monitoring is perhaps the most important and effective way of self- managing your diabetes. It is hence imperative to understand what is the recommended range of the blood glucose levels in those individuals who are normal as compared to those who suffer from different types of diabetes.

Importance of Knowing the Blood Sugar Level Ranges

Knowing the level of blood glucose ranges forms a very important part of diabetes management. Not only that, it is important to know how the level of blood glucose ranges amongst different individuals in order to understand the adequacy of medicines, physical exercise, and diet in the overall regime that the experts might have recommended for managing the chronic illness. It is for this reason that each individual, whether diabetic or not, should have a defined target of the blood glucose level which he or she must strive to achieve.

What are the Normal Blood Sugar Levels Should Be?

You should be aware of a few terms and definitions related to the level of blood glucose before getting into the range of blood glucose levels

A pre-prandial measurement of blood sugar level is the one which is usually taken before having the food and meals. A post-prandial measurement of the level of blood glucose is the one where the measurement of blood glucose is taken after eating the meal.

The fasting blood sugar level is the level of blood glucose that you have in your body after you have been without food for at least eight hours.

According to the American Diabetes Association, the fasting blood sugar level for an adult who is not pregnant and is non-diabetic is somewhere around 70-100 mg/dl or 3.9 to 5.6 mmol/L.As per American Diabetes Association, the oral glucose tolerance test for a normal, healthy adult should fall in the range of 7.8 mmol/L or less than 140 mg/dl.

The level of blood sugar in a healthy, non-diabetic person around 2 hours after meals is somewhere around 7.8 mmol/L or less than 140 mg/dl.

Finally, the recommended level of HbA1c for a normal individual is less than even 5.7%.

What Should be the Blood Glucose Levels for a Person Suffering from Diabetes?

Below are the recommended levels of blood glucose or blood sugar for those suffering from different types of diabetes. The same has been recommended by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence or NICE.

For type 2 diabetes patients, the pre-prandial or before meal recommended level of blood glucose is 4 to 7 mmol/L and the level after at least 90 minutes of the meal is less than 8.5 mmol/L.

For type 1 diabetes patients, the blood glucose just after waking up should fall in the range of 5 mmol/L to 7mmol/L. The pre-prandial or before meal recommended level of blood glucose is 4 to 7 mmol/L and the level after at least 90 minutes of the meal should fall in the range of 5 mmol/L to 9mmol/L.

Finally, NICE also recommends the range of the blood glucose level in children suffering from type 1 diabetes. When the child wakes up and before he or she eats the meal, the level of blood glucose should be around 4 to 7 mmol/L, and at least 90 minutes after the meal, the level of blood glucose in the child should be somewhere around 5 to 9 mmol/L.

We hope that the above post has been helpful in providing you an important insight into the blood sugar levels in a normal as well as a diabetic individual. Whether diabetic or not, you should remember the same and regularly monitor the effect of your diet and lifestyle on the level of blood glucose!