Diabetes Prevention - Understanding Blood Glucose - Better Health Solutions

Diabetes Prevention – Understanding Blood Glucose

Every person’s blood contains sugar that is also referred to as glucose. Blood sugar is essential for human health. We obtain glucose from the foods that we eat. The blood takes the role of carrying it into the different organs of the body in order to provide energy to the cells thus allowing the muscles to move, the brain to think and other important functions of the entire body.

Blood glucose is the fuel for normal body and brain function. But like most things in life, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing! Uncontrolled levels of blood sugar can have devastating and long-lasting, even permanent, effects on organs and tissue.

Maintaining Normal Levels of Blood Glucose

When talking about blood glucose, balance is the key. Although blood glucose is very important for the many processes that are taking place inside the body, its levels should not be too high or too low. Otherwise, the person becomes at risk of some serious health problems.

Fortunately there are many things that you can do in order to keep healthy levels of glucose in the body. Aside from regularly monitoring your glucose levels, which is a must if you have diabetes or at high risk of developing such condition, you also need to get a better understanding of how glucose behaves and functions in order to keep it functioning at an optimum level.

The Importance of Having Normal Levels of Blood Glucose

The human body has the innate ability to keep the levels of glucose high enough for the millions of cells to stay well nourished. The human body also has this natural scheme of preventing glucose from going too high to avoid it from getting in the way of many important biological processes that are necessary for keeping the body healthy.

In order to regulate the levels of glucose, the body needs the help of some other parts of the body including: the muscles, fat tissue, brain, liver, small intestines, pancreas and a variety of hormones including insulin.
However, when one or any of these glucose-regulating body parts do not function well for some reason the individual may suffer from elevated levels of blood glucose, resulting in diabetes.

If left untreated, having elevated levels of glucose may damage the person’s eyes, nerves, blood vessels, and kidneys.

How Blood Glucose Behaves Inside the Human Body

For people who do not have diabetes, their bodies are capable of keeping the levels of blood glucose within 70- 100 mg/dl. After eating, foods will be broken down for their nutrients to be used by the different parts of the body.

As the process of digesting the food is taking place, their blood glucose will temporarily increase. While the levels of blood glucose are increasing, the release of insulin is additionally being triggered by the pancreas to ensure that blood glucose levels do not get too high. Insulin is a peptide hormone produced within the pancreas. It is released into the bloodstream to help regulate fat and carbohydrate metabolism.

At this time, signals are being sent to the numerous cells inside the person’s body, especially those that are found in their fat, liver, and their muscles. Once the signals are received, these body parts will absorb the extra glucose to convert it into energy or store it in the liver as glycogen for future use.

bhealth