Blood glucose questions

(Suzanne Barton) #1

Hi all! I bought a blood glucose/ketone meter and I have been testing my blood ketones (usually around 3.5), but then I decided to start testing my blood glucose as well. But I also realized that I don’t really know what I am looking for. What is the benefit to monitoring BG? Does BG have any correlation to BK? What is a ‘good’ BG when a person is on keto? Anything else I need to know?
I am not diabetic but do have PCOS/IR. Have been doing keto for 11 weeks now.
Thanks everyone!

(Barbara Greenwood) #2

First thing you need to know is which units your meter uses for glucose: mmol/l as used in U.K., Canada and Australia, or mg/dl, as in the USA. I use mmol/l, so I’ll give those first, and the others in brackets.

The normal range is 3.9-7.8 (70-140) at all times. Anything above that is too high. Apparently non-diabetic people can get spikes above that after a very high carb meal… but I reckon that actually means they are insulin resistant and on the way to T2 diabetes.

Fasting, it should be under 6 (108) and return there within 2 hours after eating. If either of those doesn’t happen, you have a degree of insulin resistance.

Truly healthy young individuals actually have a base level of about 4.7 (83)

For you, with PCOS/IR, an occasional test of your fasting glucose would give you an idea of whether your IR is improving. Ditto testing before and at 1 and 2 hours after your main meal.

(jketoscribe) #3

One of the benefits of a BG meter is it allows you to see YOUR body’s response to various foods. Sometimes foods that you think are benign are actually a problem, but you don’t know if you aren’t testing.

While Barbara Greenwood gave a great answer I will add that the upper limits of BG are not the OPTIMAL limits. I try to keep my BG in the mid-80’s and keep my post meal numbers at 1 and two hours after 100. A one hour post meal (called "post prandial) BG of 140 is considered “acceptable” but it’s really too high. Likewise , a 2 hour post prandial BG is considered “acceptable” if it’s under 120, but the closer you can get back to baseline (mid-80’s for me) by 2 hours, the better. When I cheat I make it a point of taking my BG just to remind myself how unacceptable it is when I see a BG close to 200. :scream: Not OK!!!

(Barbara Greenwood) #4

Agreed re optimal levels. Truly healthy people rarely go much above 6 (108) even after eating.