Dorothy FarrarBlood sugar
Blood sugar or blood sugar level is the concentration of glucose in the blood. Grape sugar or glucose is the form of carbohydrate generally available in the body . The body therefore converts starch, cane sugar and fructose into glucose. The energy supplier is transported in the bloodstream as glucose. This is how the blood sugar gets to the organs that need it for fuel.
What is the blood glucose level (measurements)?
The normal value of blood sugar is 80 to 120 milligrams per deciliter of blood, i.e. 80 to 120 thousandths of a gram in a tenth of a liter (abbreviated: mg/dl). According to a more modern unit of measurement, doctors indicate the blood sugar of healthy people between 4.5 and 7.0 millimoles per liter (abbreviated: mmol/l). This unit of chemistry is directly related to the number of molecules.
The slight fluctuations in blood sugar around a mean value are normal and therefore harmless. The doctor can sometimes explain extreme values of blood sugar in healthy people. Blood sugar is sometimes below 70 mg/l before breakfast and above 160 mg/l shortly after heavy meals.
However, the blood sugar must not constantly fall below or exceed it. When this happens, the patient suffers from the diabetes mellitus . The pancreas produces too little insulin. Without this hormone, the organs can no longer absorb the blood sugar. In this case, you have type 1 diabetes mellitus . Type 2 diabetes mellitus often develops at an advanced age : although there is enough insulin, the organs no longer react to the stimulus of the messenger substance.
Below a blood sugar level of 40 mg/l, a life-threatening low blood sugar level (hypoglycaemia) has occurred. The brain no longer works properly because it urgently needs blood sugar. Because the central nervous system cannot fall back on fat as biological fuel like the muscles .
High blood sugar can also lead to unconsciousness and even death. If the blood sugar rises above 200 mg/l, the doctor speaks of such hyperglycaemia. The body defends itself against the flood of sugar by excretion, which leads to the dangerous dehydration of the body. If a slightly elevated blood sugar goes unnoticed for a long time, it can lead to vasoconstriction. Then there is a risk of heart attack , stroke and amputation.
insulin and blood sugar levels
In 1869, while doing scientific work for his doctoral thesis, the pathologist Paul Langerhans discovered island-like 0.3 mm large cell groups in the pancreas. Named after their discoverer, these islets of Langerhans produce an important hormone – insulin.
Insulin is a protein (peptide) made up of 51 amino acids and regulates the sugar balance in our body. In addition to insulin, the islets of Langerhans supply another important hormone – glucagon. It is also a peptide and has an antagonistic effect on insulin.
Both hormones play an important role in human sugar metabolism. The central organ for this metabolism is the liver. It takes the glucose from the intestines and converts it into glycogen. When needed, glycogen is broken down back into glucose and released into the blood. Through the interaction of the two hormones insulin on the one hand and glucagon as well as hormones of the pituitary gland, the adrenal cortex and the thyroid gland on the other hand, the blood sugar level is kept relatively constant.
When the blood sugar level rises, the islets of Langerhans secrete insulin. Their effect is that the excess sugar is partly oxidized, but partly built up and stored in the liver and muscle cells to form glycogen. When blood sugar levels drop, glucagon and other hormones kick in, causing the liver to break down glycogen back into glucose and release that sugar into the blood.
How is the blood sugar level regulated?
Every cell in our body constantly needs carbohydrates in the form of glucose to run and maintain all metabolic and energy exchange processes. Because of this, a certain concentration of glucose must always be present in the blood.
The blood sugar level is constantly subject to strong fluctuations. The glucose content of the blood increases with the intake of carbohydrate-containing food. It decreases due to increased physical and mental activities. These stresses cause an increased metabolism and energy metabolism in the cells and thus an increased consumption of glucose from the blood.
The blood sugar level is therefore dependent on food intake and other human activities. It is kept relatively constant (100 mg glucose per 100 ml blood) through the interaction of hormones and nerves.
Blood sugar level control loop
A complicated control mechanism is in place to keep the blood sugar level constant within certain limits in the body. Here is a greatly simplified version of the control loop. In this control loop, blood sugar is the control variable. The target value is approximately 100 mg glucose per 100 ml blood. The actually present sugar value, the actual value, is constantly measured by sensory cells (feelers) in the blood vessels.
These two values are constantly compared with each other, with the pituitary gland playing a major role as a controller. After a meal (disruptive variable), the blood sugar level rises. The pituitary gland (regulator) immediately innervates the pancreas (actuator) to produce insulin and release it into the blood. Liver and muscle cells take up more glucose and store it in the form of glycogen. The blood sugar level drops, the target value is reached.
Through physical activity (muscle work), another disturbance variable comes into play, which strongly influences the controlled variable. The blood sugar level drops because the glucose is now needed especially in the muscle and nerve cells. The feelers register this and pass the value on to the pituitary gland. This regulator activates the two actuators, the pancreas and the adrenal glands, to produce the hormones glucagon and adrenaline, which then cause the stored glycogen to be broken down into glucose in a controlled manner. As a result, the blood sugar level (controlled variable) increases and the corresponding cells can use it as needed. The blood sugar level is antagonistically regulated by the hormones glucagon, adrenaline (player) and insulin (opponent).
lower blood sugar levels
Eating carbohydrate-rich foods increases the level of glucose in the blood. The pancreas is stimulated by corresponding nerve impulses to secrete more insulin into the blood. This hormone causes the transport, the uptake of glucose from the blood into the cells of the liver and muscles. In these cells, glucose is converted into glycogen and stored. The blood sugar level in the blood is thus reduced.
increase blood sugar levels
Depending on the severity of the stress, the cells need more glucose to maintain their metabolic processes during all physical, mental activities or sporting events. They get this from the blood, which lowers the blood sugar level. This is where the adrenal hormones, adrenaline, and a pancreatic hormone, glucagon, come into play.
Both hormones cause the breakdown of stored glycogen in liver and muscle cells into glucose and its release into the blood. The blood sugar level rises and every cell in our body can be supplied with sufficient sugar to maintain its metabolic processes. In addition to insulin, glucagon and adrenaline, other hormones can also influence blood sugar levels. For example, when excited, thyroxine, a hormone produced by the thyroid gland, causes an increase.
Importance of blood sugar in sport
An athlete’s body needs a solid reserve of carbohydrates because the muscles in action use the energy of combustion. Pure sugars, especially glucose, lead to a rapid rise in blood sugar. In healthy people, however, such peak values quickly drop again. This does not only happen through increased consumption of blood sugar during physical activity.
Blood sugar is also absorbed by the liver and stored there as starch. Starch, on the other hand, is broken down into glucose when needed and thus enters the organism as blood sugar in a controlled manner. The liver cannot store large amounts of starch.
Athletes should therefore pay attention to a carbohydrate-rich diet, i.e. eat a lot of bread, rice, pasta or potatoes. The intestine also breaks down the starch it contains into glucose, which is converted into blood sugar.
But unlike eating pure sugar, the process is slow and balanced. The body cannot do anything with a short-term excess of blood sugar anyway, because the oxygen in the blood is limited and so are the biological combustion processes.
The organism can only use the blood sugar without oxygen for a very short time. But then the concentration of lactic acid increases and there is a risk of acidification of the blood. Within limits, this effect will always occur in competitive sports. A mineral-rich diet and appropriate drinks can counteract this.
Hello and welcome to my Health Guide & Encyclopedia! My name is Dorothy Farrar, and I'm the founder and main author of this platform.
My passion for health and wellness started at a young age when I became interested in the connection between the food we eat and the way we feel. This fascination led me to study nutrition and dietetics in college, where I learned about the importance of a balanced diet and the impact of various nutrients on the body.