The Ups & Downs of the Blood Sugar Stock Market

This week's nutrition question from viewers of the website, http://foodpicker.org :

I have diabetes and my blood sugar is all over the map.  Could you please ell me the ideal blood sugar level?

The first question you should ask yourself is when exactly are you measuring your blood sugar?  Because there will be a difference between your pre-prandial (before your meal) and your post-prandial blood (after your meal) blood sugar reading.  Unless noted otherwise by your physician or registered dietitian you should strive to obtain the blood glucose levels that are close to that of a person who does not have diabetes.  These values are;

• pre-prandial/fasting less than 100 mg/dl
• post-prandial/bedtime 120 mg/dl

If these values are not achievable for you the recommendations for blood sugar levels for individuals with diabetes from the American Diabetes Association are;

• pre-prandial 90-130 mg/dl
• peak post-prandial (about 1-2 hours after the beginning of eating) less than 180 mg/dl