Diabetic or not, most adults in the US (and these days teens too) have at some point in time or the other done a blood glucose test. We all know that blood glucose test is meant to test for ‘sugar’ in the blood. But is blood really sweet? In my blog today, allow me to give you a ball park overview of what exactly is a blood glucose test.

I’m Deborah Susan, a dietician and personal trainer specializing in nutrition and physical fitness for diabetics.

A blood glucose test can be done at home with a good quality blood glucose tester (sold over the counter by most drug stores) or at a medical testing facility or clinic.

If you are visiting the clinic for a blood glucose test then I recommended that you fast – eat or drink nothing other than water for at least 8 hours prior to the test (hence it is called the fasting blood glucose test). Obviously therefore, the best time to do a blood glucose test by using blood glucose test strips or at a clinic would be early morning.

Is the blood sweet?

We need energy for everything - even when we are asleep and busy dreaming we need energy. Energy is primarily obtained from Glucose. Glucose in turn is manufactured by our body from the food that we eat. Each organ in our body needs glucose and so the body uses the blood stream as the best way to transport glucose around.

Too much electrical current or too little of it can ruin your precious digital gadget. As with everything in life, in blood too, there is an optimal level of glucose. Anything above or below the optimal level causes severe problems. Think of the blood glucose test as a meter that indicates the current level of glucose in your blood.

Once you arrive at the medical clinic, a small blood sample is drawn from a vein in the arm by using diabetes test strips. The standard practice is to put 50% in one tiny sterile bottle and the remaining in another tiny sterile bottle. This is so two tests can be done to verify the results. In reality, most clinics that do a blood glucose test only perform a single test. A second test is done only if the supervisor feels the results of the first test are unrealistic.

A second blood glucose test is done an hour after your lunch. The procedure is identical to one done in the morning.

The results

70 ~ 99 mg/dL (3.9 to 5.5 mmol/L) would be the normal reading for fasting blood glucose test

100 ~ 125 mg/dL (5.6 to 6.9 mmol/L) would indicate impaired fasting blood glucose (an indication of pre-diabetes stage).

126 mg/dL (7.0 mmol/L) and more would usually call for at least one more round of testing before pronouncing the person as a diabetic.

Blood Glucose Test is also known as : Fasting blood sugar (FBS), Blood sugar; Fasting blood glucose (FBG), Blood glucose, Fasting plasma glucose (FPG), Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT), and Urine glucose.