2 hours post meal reading-Is this number okay?

I had quick oats for breakfast-the kind you buy in bulk from the health food store. I put blueberries in it and I had two pieces of soy bacon as well and some water. I tested two hours post breakfast and my glucose is 98. Is that good or bad or should it be closer to the 80's? I know oatmeal is moderate on the glycemic index but I figured the regular bulk quick oats may not be as bad as the prepackaged and flavored kind from the grocery store.

I don't actually like regular bread but I do like english muffins, mini bagels and small rolls. Sometimes I make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on those. I usually use low sugar jelly. It will be interesting to test after a meal like that to see how high my numbers are. I find this all very fascinating because at least my doctor caught things early and right now I feel like I'm having a little control with my body figuring out what I can and cannot have to eat and what works and what doesn't work with my body.

Chrissy, that's a very good reading for eating oatmeal for breakfast!  Keeping your post-prandial (2-hour after eating) levels like that will give you very good lab results when you return to the doctor.

Bagels are very dense and will probably cause a much greater spike in blood sugar compared to English muffins but the only way you will know how any food affects you is by eating and testing.  The beginning is when you will eat and test, eat and test.  You'll soon know what works and what doesn't.  Keeping in the very low 100's on average is possible with diet along with some regular exercise.  The exercise (walking, biking, swimming, etc.) helps up ups the glucose circulating around your system.

Here is a website that has some interesting information for you:

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/index.php

 

When I wrote 'two hours after eating', this means two hours after starting a meal according to medical professionals who advise patients,  but to be honest, I think that's nitpicking when you're talking about breakfast.  How long does it take to eat a bowl of oatmeal?  Maybe 15 minutes?  Maybe less?  So, if you're testing exactly two hours after you started or two hours and 15 minutes after you started, whatever blood sugar reading you see is going to be similar.

As soon as we put food in our mouths, we start metabolizing it with the enzymes in our mouths as we chew.  So, I guess doctors want to be "exact" in timing and choose to say "when we start eating". 

Consider a large meal like Thanksgiving which seems to go on and on.  It's a long meal with lots of food.  You can see the reasoning, then, why doctors tell us to count the time from the start of a meal.  By the time you get up from that table, it might be an hour, an hour of eating and talking which makes the meal longer and second helpings! 

A non-diabetic metabolizes food easily because his pancreas is working normally and his blood sugar doesn't rise a lot.  A diabetic or a pre-diabetic will have higher blood sugar as the pancreas tries to produce enough insulin to take care of the meal and even higher blood sugar if the person is insulin-resistant.  So, in my opinion at least in my case, it doesn't matter if I start testing two hours from when I started eating or two hours from when I finished - because my blood sugar is going to be high if I eat carbs or elevated even if I don't.

Yes, Lloyd is really talking about fasting.  Doctors follow the guidelines of the ADA when diagnosing diabetes so they are looking for under 100 for fasting.  Between 100 and 126 is considered pre-diabetic and over 126 is diabetic according to their charts.

Bob, please don't get stressed over this.  If you're eating well and not going overboard with carbs, I'm sure you're doing ok.

In my opinion, you need to be consistent in your testing.  If it's 2 hours from the first bite one day, then continue that timing.  If it's 1 1/2 hours, then continue that.  In other words, be consistent with the timing.

I think Nick Jonas is a type 1, isn't he?  I thought that's what I had read.

Yes, diabetics who haven't been diagnosed (so they're not on medication and are eating anything, usually what they shouldn't) will have constantly elevated blood sugar if they are eating too much, eating too many carbs, and not getting any exercise.  They will probably gain weight and remain stuck in this cycle until they finally get diagnosed and do something about their diet and lifestyle.

Here is a section from Blood Sugar 101.  This is an interesting site for you to look through.  It has lots of different sections but this one talks about 'normal blood sugar':

http://www.bloodsugar101.com/

(Oops, I don't know why the page didn't copy.  Anyway, look for the section on that first page that says, "What is Normal Blood Sugar?")

 

Since probably all the medical booklets about testing suggest 2 hours, then stick with 2 hours (120 minutes) because maybe that's what your doctor might ask you about. I think it's a good idea to keep a journal of what you eat every day and what your blood sugar is with the times you eat and take your blood sugar. It will help both you and your doctor to see if there is a trend of rising blood sugar or if it's stable and not changing to much.

I test at 2 hours.