![]() ![]() Why? Because low-carb diets induce insulin resistance. One caveat here is that very low-carb diets will produce elevated fasting blood glucose levels. I’ll discuss this in more detail in the OGGT section. Several studies show that a “normal” FBG level in the mid-90s predicts diabetes diagnosed a decade later.įar more important than a single fasting blood glucose reading is the number of hours a day our blood sugar spends elevated over the level known to cause complications, which is roughly 140 mg/dl (7.7 mmol/L). What’s even more important to understand about FBG is that it’s the least sensitive marker for predicting future diabetes and heart disease. This study showed progressively increasing risk of heart disease in men with FBG levels above 85 mg/dL, as compared to those with FBG levels of 81 mg/dL or lower. In this study, people with FBG levels above 95 had more than 3x the risk of developing future diabetes than people with FBG levels below 90. While most doctors will tell you that anything under 100 mg/dL is normal, it may not be. Many normal people have fasting blood sugar in the mid-to-high 70s. Fasting blood sugarĪccording to continuous glucose monitoring studies of healthy people, a normal fasting blood sugar is 83 mg/dL or less. With all of that said, let’s take a look at some of the research. So if someone is normal on all of the other blood sugar markers, but has high A1c, I’m usually not concerned. On a similar note, I’ve written that A1c is not a reliable marker for individuals because of context: there are many non-blood sugar-related conditions that can make A1c appear high or low. If their fasting BG, A1c and fructosamine are all elevated, and they’re having spikes, then I’m concerned and I will investigate further. If they have a few post-meal spikes and all other markers or normal, I’m not concerned. I run a full blood panel that includes fasting glucose, A1c, fructosamine, uric acid and triglycerides (along with other lipids), and I also have them do post-meal testing at home over a period of 3 days with a range of foods. In my work with patients, I never use any single marker alone to determine whether someone has a blood sugar issue. Markerīut before we do that, I’d like to make an important point: context is everything. ![]() We’ll also consider which of these three markers is most important in preventing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In this article, we’re going to look at just how “normal” those normal levels are-according to the scientific literature. We also looked at what the medical establishment considers as normal for these markers. In the last article I explained the three primary markers we use to track blood sugar: fasting blood glucose (FBG), oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and hemoglobin A1c (A1c). ![]()
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