If your fasting blood sugar level is below 100, you are in the healthy range. If not, your results could indicate diabetes or pre-diabetes.
Most of the food we eat is turned into glucose (or blood sugar) that our bodies use for energy. Your body makes a hormone called insulin that acts like a carrier to take your food energy into your cells.
When your body stops making insulin or the insulin stops doing its job, your energy supply and blood sugars are no longer stable and serious health problems, like diabetes, can result. People with this condition often feel overly tired because the cells are not being regularly fueled with energy. Diabetes can cause your blood sugar to rise to dangerous levels, and when this happens, your body may try to compensate by draining fluid out of your cells to dilute the excessive sugar, creating excessive thirst and hydration problems. Over time, high levels of blood sugar can damage your heart, kidneys, eyes and nerves.
Although diabetes is treatable and you can live a healthy life with this condition, even when glucose levels are under control it greatly increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. In fact, most people with diabetes die from some form of heart or blood vessel disease.
Lowered blood sugar helps protect your vital organs. When you reduce excessive sugars, you are giving yourself the best chance for a healthy life. The American Heart Association considers diabetes one of the six major controllable risk factors for cardiovascular disease. When insulin resistance or diabetes occur along with other CVD risk factors (such as obesity, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol and high triglycerides), the risk of heart disease and stroke rises even more.From July 30 through August 12, the Heart Beat will be focusing on the American Heart Association's Life's Simple 7 program. The AHA has identified seven key indicators of cardiovascular health: tobacco use, weight, exercise, diet, cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar. If you keep those factors in check, you can vastly improve your cardiovascular health. Get your heart score right now at MyLifeCheck.org!