How fast should blood sugar change in healthy people?

What is it about?

Blood sugar health is usually assessed by glucose levels, but the speed at which blood sugar rises or falls also matters. Using continuous glucose monitor data from over 150 people without diabetes, this study shows that rapid changes in blood sugar are uncommon in healthy individuals. We define a normal reference range for how fast blood sugar typically changes, providing a simple benchmark that can help identify abnormal glucose dynamics even when glucose levels themselves appear normal.

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Photo by isens usa on Unsplash

Photo by isens usa on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This study is the first to define physiological reference ranges for how fast blood glucose normally changes in healthy people, addressing an important gap beyond glucose levels alone. As continuous glucose monitoring is increasingly used across medicine, this work is timely in providing a clear benchmark for normal glucose dynamics. These reference ranges may help identify abnormal patterns not only in diabetes, but also in other metabolic conditions, such as post-meal hypoglycemia, where rapid drops in glucose have been described despite glucose levels often appearing normal.