Blood Glucose Level: Normal For Healthy And How To Maintain It

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Most of us understand the importance of a normal blood glucose level. If our blood glucose level goes very low, we might become unconscious. If our blood glucose level goes very high, we develop a problem called diabetes. Now, diabetes is a serious problem. It can cause damage to the larger blood vessels in our body. 

Diabetic patients have a very high incidence of heart attack, stroke, as well as amputation. But diabetes can also cause problems to the very small blood vessels in the body. So-called microvascular problems resulting in damage to the retina. Diabetics have a high instance of blindness. It can also cause problems with the very small blood vessels supplying the kidney. So diabetics have a high incidence of kidney failure.

What exactly is a normal blood glucose level or to put it in terms?

Let's use some ingredients as examples. Prepare a container containing 5 liters of water. Why must 5 liters? The reason is that the average person has about five liters of blood circulating around the body.

And also a container of glucose, a white crystalline powder, and you might be surprised to know that the amount of glucose that we would need to add to the container to give a similar concentration of glucose in our blood is only one teaspoon.

In fact, it's slightly less. It's about 4.5 grams. So, here's the glucose and if we add that to that container, the concentration in there is approximately the same as the blood glucose level in our blood right now. Now if we were to add another teaspoon full, the concentration of glucose now in that water is that of a diabetic.

So as you can see (if you also do that while reading this post), the blood glucose level is very tightly controlled and the difference between a normal blood glucose and that of a diabetic person is only an additional one teaspoon full of glucose. Quite surprising, really? 

How do we maintain normal blood glucose levels during the course of the day?

Many people are advised to eat small frequent meals throughout the day consisting or having as part of that meal, or snack a complex carbohydrate which releases glucose very slowly into the bloodstream. 

In fact, Professor Tim Noakes in his excellent book "The Real Meal Revolution" has suggested that actually there's no requirement for us to eat carbohydrates at all. And certainly, the liver has an amazing ability to manufacture glucose should it be required. 

Certainly, for people with type 2 diabetes, in which the main problem is too much glucose in the bloodstream, many experts believe that the way to tackle this issue is to eat meals which have a restricted amount of carbohydrate within them. 

Because all carbohydrates when they're eaten are digested and they have to enter the bloodstream as glucose, and as you can see it doesn't take very much glucose entering the bloodstream to turn a normal blood glucose level into that of a diabetic. So it seems sensible if you have a risk of diabetes, then to restrict the amount of carbohydrate that you're eating. 

We don't need there's no essential requirement for carbohydrates in fact. We can exist very happily with proteins and fats we don't actually need to eat carbohydrates. And as we know, the liver has an ability to manufacture glucose and release it into the bloodstream a process called near gluconeogenesis. 

So that's a normal blood glucose level, only one teaspoon in five liters gives a concentration of glucose which is equivalent to that of a normal person. It doesn't take very much more to tip one into a high blood glucose level the same as that of a diabetic, and so for those who are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes - in fact, some would say - for all of us. It's sensible to restrict the number of carbohydrates that we eat.