Why I Won't Follow ADA's Glucose Guidelines

The above chart published in WebMD shows how the American Diabetes Association does not care for people with type 2 diabetes. Granted the above cannot cover every situation and each person must set their own goals. Hopefully your goals will be less than this chart displays.

The only point in the chart that I can agree with is the reading before exercise. In my research, it has been difficult to find conclusive answers for type 2 diabetes. Everyone agrees that a blood glucose level of 250 mg/dl (13.9 mmol/L) or higher means that you must not exercise until your levels have come down below this. The blood glucose guidelines for exercising for all types of diabetes are 100 to 250 mg/dl (5.6 to 13.9 mmol/L). For most people, this is a safe pre-exercise blood glucose range. If you are not on insulin or sulfonylurea treatments, then it is still necessary to discuss this with your doctor if you are about to start an exercise regimen after a long period of being sedentary. This applies to people controlling their blood glucose levels with diet and exercise as well to prevent possible cardiovascular problems.

Each time you test your blood glucose, log it in a notebook or online tool, or with an app. Note the date, time, results, and any recent activities:

1. What medication and dosage you took
2. What you ate
3. How much and what kind of exercise you were doing

This will help you and your doctor see how your treatment is working.

Well-managed diabetes can delay or prevent complications that affect your eyes, kidneys, and nerves. Diabetes doubles your risk for heart disease and stroke, too. Fortunately, controlling your blood glucose will also make these problems less likely.

Tight blood glucose management; however, means a greater chance of low blood glucose levels, so your doctor may suggest higher targets.

Before meals, glucose levels should be 70 to 95 mg/dl and not 70 to 130 mg/dl. After meals, glucose levels should be less than 140 mg/dl. The maximum increase from preprandial to postprandial readings should not exceed 40 mg/dl.

Even the A1c level of 7.0% is way above what we should strive to manage and while 5.0% may be too low for those of us on insulin, we do have people that are capable of managing their diabetes at this level. This is why we always declare that people are all different and vary in their abilities to manage their diabetes.