Post Time: 2025-09-01
Understanding Your Blood Sugar Range: A Guide to Healthy Living
Maintaining a healthy blood sugar range is crucial for overall well-being. It's essential to understand what constitutes a normal blood sugar range and how to achieve it through diet, exercise, and lifestyle modifications.
A stable blood sugar range helps regulate the body's functions, including energy production, growth, and development. When blood glucose levels are within the ideal range (between 70-99 mg/dL for fasting and less than 180 mg/dL after meals), the body can function optimally. However, fluctuations in blood sugar can lead to various health complications.
The Role of Diet in Regulating Blood Sugar
Diet plays a significant role in maintaining stable blood sugar levels. Consuming foods with high fiber content, such as fruits and vegetables, can help regulate blood glucose levels. Fiber slows down the digestion process, allowing for gradual absorption into the bloodstream. This reduces the risk of sudden spikes in blood sugar.
In contrast, consuming refined carbohydrates like white bread or sugary snacks can cause a rapid increase in blood sugar levels. These foods are quickly digested and absorbed by the body, leading to fluctuations in blood glucose levels. It's essential to strike a balance between fiber-rich foods and refined carbohydrates for maintaining stable blood sugar ranges.
The Impact of Exercise on Blood Sugar Levels
Regular exercise is another crucial aspect of managing blood sugar levels. Physical activity helps increase insulin sensitivity, allowing cells to absorb more glucose from the bloodstream efficiently. This reduces reliance on medication or supplements for controlling blood sugar levels.
Exercise also has an immediate impact on blood glucose levels by causing a significant drop within 30-60 minutes post-exercise. However, it's essential to maintain regular physical activity over time rather than relying solely on short-term spikes in exercise intensity.
Understanding Insulin Sensitivity and Resistance
Insulin sensitivity is the body's ability to use insulin effectively for regulating blood glucose levels. When cells become resistant to insulin, they can no longer absorb sufficient amounts of glucose from the bloodstream, leading to an accumulation of excess sugar. This reduces insulin secretion over time, further exacerbating resistance.
High levels of stress hormones like cortisol also contribute to reduced insulin sensitivity and increased fat storage in visceral areas (the body's primary site for storing fatty acids). Managing chronic stress through techniques such as meditation or relaxation can improve insulin function by enhancing its receptivity within the muscles and other tissues.
The Science Behind Blood Sugar Fluctuations
Blood sugar fluctuations occur when levels spike above 140 mg/dL after meals. This causes excessive glucose in the bloodstream, putting a strain on pancreatic beta-cells to produce more insulin for regulation. Frequent spikes can damage these cells over time, reducing their ability to secrete enough insulin.
Stable blood sugar ranges depend heavily on dietary habits and lifestyle choices that affect glucagon secretion (stimulating increased liver glycogen synthesis), growth hormone production (potentially beneficial but requires further research for regulating glucose metabolism). It's critical to control environmental factors such as exposure to excessive screen time, social media consumption of unhealthy foods.
Staying Vigilant with Blood Sugar Monitoring
Monitoring blood sugar levels helps track fluctuations and adjust treatment plans accordingly. Regular checks enable early detection of hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia episodes that need attention from healthcare providers during regular visits for consultation on optimal management techniques tailored to individual conditions.
In this episode 6 of a 6-part series on fitness, exercise and performance with Andy Galpin, PhD, professor of kinesiology at California State University, Fullerton, he explains optimal nutrition, hydration and supplementation to achieve your fitness goals. We cover macronutrient guidelines, when to eat relative to training and training fasted versus fed. Dr. Galpin describes proper hydration for before and during exercise, how dehydration and/or low electrolyte concentrations impede physical and mental performance. He discusses what supplements work best for fitness and performance, how to blood sugar after half hour eating decide which to take, if any, and when to take them. He also shares high-impact, lower-cost supplements and nutrition recommendations to benefit performance, recovery, and sleep. This episode also includes an audience Q&A. Overall, it is an in-depth but clear discussion of nutrition strategies and supplements that can help anyone improve their level of fitness physical and mental performance. #HubermanLab #Nutrition #Science Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): Levels: LMNT: InsideTracker: Supplements from Momentous Huberman Lab Social & Website Instagram: Twitter: Facebook: TikTok: LinkedIn: Website: Newsletter: Dr. Andy Galpin Academic Profile: Website: Twitter: Instagram: YouTube: Articles Meta-Analysis Examining the Importance of Creatine Ingestion Strategies on Lean Tissue Mass and Strength in Older Adults: Other Resources Examine: Absolute Rest: Reveri: Timestamps 00:00:00 Nutrition & Supplementation 00:05:16 Creatine Supplementation, Muscle & Cognitive Function, Loading Phase 00:16:51 Momentous, Levels, LMNT 00:20:31 Dehydration, Overhydration, Night Urination 00:35:37 Tool: Hydration, Caffeine & Electrolytes 00:41:22 Tool: Sweating, Salt & Performance 00:48:57 AG1 (Athletic Greens) 00:49:49 Galpin Equation for Hydration & Exercise, Focus 00:55:28 Tool: 5 Steps to Optimize Hydration, Sipping Water, W.U.T. Status, Salt 01:10:58 Electrolytes, Carbohydrates & apple cider vinegar dose for blood sugar Exercise 01:15:44 InsideTracker 01:16:47 Training Fasted versus Fed, Caffeine, Carbohydrate Timing 01:25:13 Caffeine & Endurance 01:31:20 Citrulline, Beet Root Juice & Performance; Alpha-GPC & Focus, Nootropics 01:35:43 Rhodiola, Cortisol & Fatigue 01:39:55 Tool: Supplement Formulations 01:47:31 Supplements, Dependency & Root Cause; Foundational Behaviors 01:57:44 Acute vs. Chronic Effects, Supplements & Gut Microbiome 02:02:33 Tool: Sleep Environment, Absolute Rest 02:11:03 Tools: Sleep & Disturbances, Inositol 02:20:03 Tool: “Fitness Fatigue” Model, Taper, Anti-Inflammatory Supplements 02:26:33 Exercise Recovery: Curcumin, Omega 3s, Glutamine, Nutrition, Vitamins 02:39:27 Intermittent Fasting, Training & Keto Diets; GABA 02:43:39 Carbohydrate Loading; Amino Acid Supplements; “Anabolic Window” 02:47:23 Garlic; Tart Cherry Extract; Examine.com 02:51:50 Fitness Testing, Training Programs; Exercise Recovery 03:04:13 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Neural Network Newsletter Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac - The Huberman Lab podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at low blood sugar during menstruation the user’s own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.