Your blood glucose (sugar) levels are a critical part of your overall health and your body’s ability to function properly.
For those of us with diabetes, striving to achieve “normal” blood sugar levels is a constant, hour-by-hour pursuit. And it isn’t easy.
In this article, we’ll look at normal blood sugar levels and goal ranges for people without diabetes and recommended blood sugar goals for people with prediabetes, type 1 diabetes, and type 2 diabetes.
Table of Contents
- Normal blood sugar ranges in people without diabetes (chart)
- Recommended blood sugar ranges in people with diabetes (chart)
- How do you know what your blood glucose level is?
- Diagnosing prediabetes, type 1, and type 2 diabetes
- Your A1c and blood sugar goals
- Your blood sugar isn’t just because of what you eat
- Final thoughts: Still frustrated with your blood sugar and A1c results?
Normal blood sugar ranges in people without diabetes (chart)
For a person without any type of diabetes, blood sugar levels are generally between 70 to 99 mg/dL (3.9 to 5.5 mmol/L) fasting and under 140 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L) after a meal.
Here are the normal blood sugar ranges for a person without diabetes according to the NIH:
Fasting Blood Sugar (e.g., In the Morning Before Eating) | Less than 100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L) |
1 to 2 Hours After a Meal | Less than 140 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L) |
2 to 3 Hours After a Meal | Less than 100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L) |
Recommended blood sugar ranges in people with diabetes (chart)
Here are the generally recommended blood sugar ranges for a person with diabetes according to the ADA:
Fasting Blood Sugar (e.g., In the Morning Before Eating) | 80 to 130 mg/dL (4.4 to 7.2 mmol/L) |
1 to 2 Hours After a Meal | Less than 180 mg/dL (10.0 mmol/L) |
Learn more about fasting and after-meal blood sugar levels in: Blood Sugar Chart: Blood Sugar and A1c Targets.
How do you know what your blood glucose level is?
Unless it’s fairly high or low, you generally can’t feel what your blood sugar level is. And in fact, you may not even be able to tell from physical symptoms when it is high or low.
The best way to know your blood sugar level is to either check it with a traditional glucose meter or use a CGM (continuous glucose monitor) device.
For a glucose meter, you do a finger-stick with a lancet, put a drop of blood onto a test strip, and then insert the strip into the meter for a reading. With a CGM, readings are taken from the interstitial fluid (the fluid between the cells) about every 5 minutes via a sensor inserted just under the skin.
Diagnosing prediabetes, type 1, and type 2 diabetes
The following are tests that may be used by your healthcare provider to determine if you have diabetes:
Tests used to diagnose diabetes
Fasting plasma glucose test
This test measures your glucose level at a single point in time, typically after you have been fasting (nothing to eat or drink except water) for at least 8 hours.
Random glucose test
This test measures your glucose level at a single point in time and may be given at any time, whether you have fasted or not.
Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT)
For this test, you will have a blood sample taken after fasting for at least 8 hours. Next, you will drink a liquid high in sugar and will have another blood sample taken after 2 hours to see how your blood glucose levels have changed.
(In those who are pregnant, glucose will be checked every hour for 2 to 3 hours to test for gestational diabetes.)
A1c test
This blood test reflects your average glucose levels over the previous 2 to 3 months. You can eat and drink prior to having an A1c test.
A repeat of these tests is typically required to confirm a diabetes diagnosis.
Test results for diagnosing diabetes (chart)
The following blood sugar and A1c results (a measure of glucose control over the previous 2 to 3 months) are used to diagnose prediabetes and diabetes, according to the ADA:
A1c | Fasting Glucose | 2 Hours After a Meal | |
Prediabetes | 5.7 to 6.4 percent | 100 to 125 mg/dL (5.6 to 6.9 mmol/L) | 140 mg/dL to 199 mg to dL (7.8 to 11.1 mmol/L) |
Diabetes (type 1 or type 2) | 6.5 percent or higher | 126 mg/dL (7.0 mmol/L) or higher | 200 mg/dL (11.1 mmol/L) or higher |
Learn more about diagnosing diabetes in: Types of Diabetes.
Please note: Type 1 diabetes tends to develop very quickly, which means that by the time symptoms are felt, blood sugar levels are often well above 200 mg/dL all the time. For many people, symptoms come on so quickly that they are dismissed as a lingering flu or another seemingly ordinary virus.
By the time blood sugar levels are checked, many people with undiagnosed type 1 diabetes may have levels above 400 mg/dL or higher.
If you suspect that you or a loved one has type 1 diabetes, visit your primary care or urgent care immediately and ask for a urine test to measure ketones in addition to checking blood sugar levels and A1c.
Read more about ketones at diagnosis in: How to Avoid Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA).
Your A1c and blood sugar goals
Managing any type of diabetes is far more complicated than giving a person some insulin and telling them to keep their blood sugars within X and X mg/dL. If you’ve lived with diabetes for more than a few days, you probably already know this.
What is A1c?
“A1c, also known as hemoglobin A1c, HbA1c, glycated hemoglobin, or glycohemoglobin, is a blood test that measures your average blood sugar over the last 2 to 3 months,” explains Christel Oerum, MS, in Diabetes Strong’s guide to lowering your A1c.
Although the test reflects the glucose attached to hemoglobin (the protein in your red blood cells) over the past 2 to 3 months, the blood sugar levels in the 2 weeks leading up to your A1c test influence the results the most. Essentially, higher blood sugar levels during this period result in more glucose binding to hemoglobin.
Translating your A1c to a blood sugar level
Using this simple calculator from the ADA, you can translate your most recent A1c result to an “eAG,” or “estimated average glucose level.”
You can also use this translation when working to improve your A1c and achieve closer to normal blood sugar levels.
For instance, if you know an A1c of 6.0 percent equates to an average blood sugar level of 126 mg/dL (7.0 mmol/L), then you can look at your current blood sugar results on your CGM and meter and pinpoint what time of day you’re frequently higher than that level.
A1c | eAG |
6 percent | 126 mg/dL |
7 percent | 154 mg/dL |
8 percent | 183 mg/dL |
9 percent | 212 mg/dL |
10 percent | 240 mg/dL |
11 percent | 269 mg/dL |
12 percent | 298 mg/dL |
Normal blood sugar levels in a person without diabetes can result in an A1c of 5.6 percent or lower.
Just a decade or two ago, it was rare for a person with type 1 diabetes to achieve an A1c result below 6.0 percent.
Thanks to new and improved insulin and better technology like CGMs, smarter insulin pumps, and hybrid closed-loop technology (which allows some insulin doses to be automatically delivered), more people with diabetes are now able to safely achieve A1c levels in the higher 5 percent range.
Why your A1c matters
In a nutshell: Your A1c is one of the clearest indicators of your risk for developing diabetes complications like neuropathy (nerve damage), retinopathy (a type of eye disease), nephropathy (kidney disease), cardiovascular disease, and severe infection in any part of your body that requires healing.
For instance, a small cut on your toe could become infected due to high blood sugars, struggle to heal, and become severe enough that the infection could require an amputation.
The general guidelines from the ADA recommend an A1c level of less than 7.0 percent to help prevent diabetes-related complications. Lowering your A1c closer to 6.0 percent may further reduce the risk of microvascular complications (those impacting the small blood vessels), such as those affecting the eyes (retinopathy), kidneys (nephropathy), and nerves (neuropathy).
Some people with diabetes aim for A1c levels in the 5s and lower — especially those who follow strict low-carb diets like the ketogenic diet and the Bernstein diet. However, this hasn’t been proven in research as especially necessary, nor is it reasonably achievable for the larger population of people with diabetes.
It’s also important to remember that your blood sugar levels and your A1c are just information that tells you whether your body needs changes in factors like insulin, other diabetes medications like metformin, your nutrition, or your physical activity.
If you don’t like the number you’re seeing on your glucose meter or your A1c results, use that number as motivation to make changes (with the support of your diabetes healthcare team) in how you safely manage your diabetes in order to get different results.
Determining the right A1c goal for you
Just because a blood sugar range of 70 to 130 mg/dL (3.9 to 7.2 mmol/L) is considered the healthiest for people with diabetes doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the appropriate goal range for you — especially if you have type 1 diabetes, or take insulin as a person with type 2 diabetes.
The reason this may not be the right goal for you is that extremely tight blood sugar management in people taking insulin can potentially lead to frequent hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), which can be dangerous.
Achieving extremely tight blood sugar management also generally requires a strict nutrition plan, very frequent blood sugar monitoring, precise medication management, and, often, years of experience studying your blood sugar levels.
Your A1c goals should be set in close consultation with your medical team, who can help balance the benefits and risks of different targets based on your health status, lifestyle, and preferences.
Older adults with cognitive or functional limitations or severe comorbidities (major additional health issues) may have a less-stringent A1c goal of less than 8 percent.
It is also worth noting that your A1c targets can change over time as your diabetes management evolves.
A1c goals should be individualized
“A1c goals should be individualized based on the individual capabilities, risks, and prior experiences,” explains Gary Scheiner, MS, CDCES, founder of Integrated Diabetes and author of Think Like a Pancreas.
“For example, we generally aim for very tight A1c levels during pregnancy and more conservative targets in young children and the elderly.”
Scheiner highlights important factors that could justify aiming for a higher A1c, like hypoglycemia unawareness, a condition in which a person with diabetes no longer feels the typical warning signs of low blood sugar.
Hypoglycemia unawareness can put you at significant risk for severe low blood sugars that have the potential to be life-threatening. To reduce that risk, you would aim for higher target blood sugar ranges.
“Someone with significant hypoglycemia unawareness and a history of severe lows should target higher blood glucose levels than someone who can detect and manage their lows more effectively,” adds Scheiner.
“And certainly, someone who has been running A1cs in double digits [like 10 percent or higher] for quite some time should not be targeting an A1c of 6 percent … better to set modest, realistic, achievable goals.”
Read about reducing your A1c in: How to Lower Your A1c and How to Lower A1c Naturally.
Your blood sugar isn’t just because of what you eat
It’s easy to believe that your blood sugar levels are impacted only by what you eat and how much you exercise, but people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes who check their blood sugars frequently could tell you otherwise.
It’s especially important to keep this in mind when looking at your own blood sugars and your goals, because there are certain variables and challenges that impact blood sugar levels that you can’t always control.
For example:
- Menstrual cycles: often raise blood sugar and insulin needs
- Adrenaline rushes from competitive sports, heated arguments, roller coaster rides, and other intense situations: raise blood sugar and insulin needs
- The common cold and other illnesses: usually raise blood sugar and insulin needs
- Hormonal changes due to puberty and healthy growth in young adults: raise blood sugar and insulin needs
- An injury that increases overall inflammation levels: raises blood sugar and insulin needs
- Gluconeogenesis during anaerobic exercise: raises blood sugar and insulin needs
While you can’t necessarily prevent these factors that affect your blood sugar from occurring, you can work with your diabetes healthcare team to adjust your insulin, other diabetes medications, nutrition, and activity levels to help compensate for them when they do occur.
For example, when engaging in anaerobic exercise such as weightlifting, many people with type 1 diabetes find it necessary to take a small bolus of insulin prior to or during their workout because anaerobic exercise can actually raise blood sugar.
Final thoughts: Still frustrated with your blood sugar and A1c results?
Your blood sugars and your insulin or medication needs never stay in one place. If you gain weight or lose weight, your insulin and medication needs will change. If you become more active or less active, your needs will change. If you make drastic or even small changes to your nutrition, your needs will change.
Working with your diabetes healthcare team and diabetes coaches who can teach you how to make changes in your overall diabetes management plan is essential. Diabetes is a lifelong learning process.
Take a deep breath and be patient. If you don’t like what you’re seeing on your glucose meter, don’t get mad … get studying! Take good notes and work with your team to make changes to reach your goals.
Annie
Hello
I am prediabetic my fasting blood sugar in between 105-115, however after 2 hours of meal it’s still 115. Should I consult to the doctor?
Christel Oerum
Your doctor might not be too worried about 115 mg/dl reading in itself, however, doctors don’t just look at your blood sugar but your overall health and health history. So I’d recommend that you bring it to your doctor’s attention during your next visit or call for an earlier follow up
Maxpayne
Hello, I consumed a high dose of alcohol, a bottle of juice and a can sodas one night at 2am and ended up peeing a lot for 3days, on the 3rd day my FSb blood sugar was 11mmol..after 3weeks without carbs it came down to 5.1 without using metaformin meds as prescribed. My blood sugar has never gone below 5.1 without taking carbs. I want to know if it still a diabete or I just had high sugar by body couldn’t handle? I ate bread,after 2hrs My sugar was 8.2 Moll
Christel Oerum
You won’t know without the proper blood work. I’d recommend seeing your doctor and have your A1C measured. This is also a good article for you to learn more about “reversing” type 2 diabetes: https://diabetesstrong.com/is-type-2-diabetes-reversible/
Mohammed Asif
Hello,
I am Type 2 Diabetes.
I want to know that range of sugar level increase or decrease constantly or its remain constant for long time.
for example some time after two hours meal i check my sugar its approx 165 to 170 and then again after two hours I check my sugar level is decrease and came to 125 to 130 without taking any medicine.
Do every hour sugar level decrease
Christel Oerum
Your blood sugar will fluctuate greatly throughout the day. It can get impacted by many things such as what you eat, exercise, stress, hydration level, etc. Since you live with type 2 diabetes and see your blood sugars come down without any medication you still have insulin production. That means that your body will secrete insulin and that’s why your blood sugar is coming down. I’d suggest reading more about type 2 diabetes here: https://diabetesstrong.com/category/diabetes/type-2/
Alejandra
Hello, I recently went to the doctor and got my glucose and ac1 blood test results. I got 5.7 and fasting 117 glucose. I was told everything looks good and I am healthy… But I see everywhere that 5.7 and a fasting <100 or more can be prediabetes. So, I'm wondering how is it that I am healthy? Or everything is fine?
Christel Oerum
Your doctor will look at more than just one data point when assessing your health. Your numbers are very close to the threshold which could be why your doctor isn’t concerned. But whenever you’re in doubt about anything concerning your health, I’d suggest asking your doctor and have the conversation.
Glenda
Blood surges level of 78 before dinner and 140 an hour after dinner.
Should oul I be concerned about this?
Christel Oerum
It depends on the meal and whether it’s a consistent pattern. If in doubt it’s always advisable to consult with your doctor
Wendell Wilson
I have been a diabetic for more than 20 years. I recently cut my janumet Dosage by a halve; started a supplement. I exercise regularly and am fit. My A1c is now tracking at 5. What’s your thought?
Christel Oerum
That’s amazing! Keep up the good work
Nina
I was recently diagnosed as diabetic, my A1C was 7.1. I was given a script for metaformin and all the testing supplies. Prescription meds are difficult for me , so I have tweaked my diet, upped my exercise and haven’t taken the metaformin, today my average reading for the week is 113. My concern is my fasting blood sugars are always around 130. Is that acceptable?
Christel Oerum
That’s something you’ll have to discuss with your doctor. Your doctor will take more than just your blood sugar into consideration when you have the conversation. Generally, don’t stop taking any medication without discussing it with your doctor. Rather ask questions and learn why your doctor has prescribed your meds. If you’d like to learn more about Metformin before you talk to your doctor again you can learn more HERE
Nataraj D N
My suger level is 300 what I am doing plz help me
Christel Oerum
If you know why (maybe you didn’t take enough inulin with your meal) then test for ketones and if they’re high go to the emergency room. If you don’t know why your blood sugar is high or what to do please go to the emergency room immediately.
Lori
Hello, I’m 55 and was just diagnosed with diabetes. I’m having a terrible time dealing with this emotionally. I’m highly motivated to improve my health but I’m feeling very overwhelmed. Any words for a newbie?
Christel Oerum
A diabetes diagnosis is overwhelming and it can seem scary and unfair. Once you’re over the initial shock I think it’s important that you arrive at a point of acceptance. With acceptance comes the power to deal with it in a rational way. Learn all that you can and work on managing it to the best of your abilities. If you find that you can’t get to a place of acceptance it might be beneficial to talk to a therapist specialized in diabetes and/or talking to others living with diabetes. You’re welcome to join the Diabetes Strong Community Facebook group, you don’t have to go through this alone
Doris
I am a 32years old my fasting blood sugar is 96. Since my family has a history of diabetes, should I be worried with the result I got?
Christel Oerum
One data point isn’t enough to tell you much, however, the one you mention is within the normal range. If you’re concerned I’d suggest you discuss getting more comprehensive bloodwork done by your doctor
ROSIE
My hba1c was 7.6 and my doctor placed me on Glucophage ER 500mg daily. I ve tried to make some changes in my meal and also do some work out but 4months on when I repeated the hba1ctest the result is 7.
My fasting blood sugar however has been between 4.3 and 5.
Should I be worried. I am 56years
Christel Oerum
Great job working on reducing your blood sugars! When you see your doctor you could discuss whether your medication should be adjusted while you continue to exercise and manage your diet