Blood sugar levels are important to good health and as we get older keeping those blood sugar levels in normal ranges is more important than ever. Some people have a natural disposition to stay lean and keep normal blood sugar levels, but that is not true for most of us. Type II diabetes is the most common form of diabetes and the disease that most persons with elevated blood sugar levels will develop. Managing those elevated sugar levels is important to long term health as the complications from chronic high blood sugar can be very unpleasant indeed.

For most of us normal blood sugar levels are between 80 mg/dL and 100 mg/dL in a fasting state, which for most of us would be first thing in the morning before eating or drinking anything. Now blood sugar or glucose is vital to our good health and our bodies need glucose as fuel for cells in the body to use to keep us going. That glucose comes from the food we eat. Carbohydrates are turned to glucose during digestion and then the glucose is absorbed into the blood stream. As glucose levels rise insulin is released to move that glucose to cells needing it for fuel. The problem for most of us as we age is that we eat like we were still as active as we were in our youth, but the fact is that we slow down as we age and our lives have become more sedentary and exercise is limited to walking to and from the car on the way to work and work for many of us is done from a sitting position.

Continuing to eat as we did in our younger days combined with no activity during the day, besides sitting in a chair and riding in a car, causes those blood sugar levels to raise more than they need to in supplying our bodies with glucose. There is simply too much glucose for our bodies to deal with and normal glucose levels are a thing of the past. Year after year of this situation can cause undiagnosed high blood sugar and be the cause of health problems.

A blood sugar levels chart would show that in a normal person blood sugar would rise from the fasting state to a high somewhere around 180 mg/dL to 200 mg/dL after eating and then after 2-3 hours fall back to the original starting point. When your fasting starting point is higher than 100 mg/dL, your peak will be higher and it will take longer to fall back to your starting point. This is a problem and hopefully through changes in diet and adding exercise to your daily routine this can be reversed. Some of the pictures in other posts show a stomach that is too large and if this is your case, your blood sugar levels probably need to be checked to rule out any of the further complications that may be sneaking up on you. 

Sugar levels that operate in normal ranges indicate a well functioning body. Pay attention to your age and adjust your lifestyle accordingly and keep those blood sugar levels where they need to be.