You don’t have to have prediabetes or diabetes to be concerned about your blood sugar levels. Unbalanced levels can affect how you feel on a daily, meal-by-meal basis.
“When blood sugars are poorly regulated after eating a carbohydrate-heavy meal, snack, or sugary beverage, a person may be hit with post-meal fatigue, mood swings, or even more cravings,” says Crouch. “When this happens, it’s because the insulin response overshoots the mark, bringing sugars down a little too far and resulting in intense cravings for sweets to raise blood sugars back up. This becomes a vicious cycle that can lead to lower insulin sensitivity.”
Crouch says that a healthy blood sugar is one that is no higher than 140 mg/dl after meals and drops down to <100 mg/dl approximately two to three hours after eating. You won't know these numbers if you're not getting lab or using a glucose monitor, but prolonged high blood sugar has some set symptoms.
Blurry vision, excessive thirst, waking up to pee frequently at night, unintended weight loss, moodiness, and brain fog may all be signs that your blood sugar levels are off-kilter.
