Having Type 2 diabetes means that, whether your day is not complete without some kind of extreme sport or you never do anything more strenuous or exhilarating than taking a book off of a high shelf, you have to avoid other certain extremes in life. One of those extremes (or perhaps two of those extremes), occurs in your blood. Simply put, you should not have too much sugar (which is called hyperglycemia), or too little sugar (which is known as hypoglycemia), or you will suffer the consequences. And like most consequences in diabetes Type 1 or Type 2, these are problems that can kill you. Of course, you can also live a long and healthy life in spite of your Type 2 diabetes; it's a reason to be healthy, not an excuse to be sickly and short-lived.
High Blood Sugar Levels: If your blood sugar gets to be higher than 180 mg/dL (10 mmol/L), you are said to be hyperglycemic. And while this might bring to mind images of a Dragon Ball Z character glowing and shouting before they dismantle somebody, this is a fight you can win only by avoiding it in the first place. While being somewhat hyperglycemic for short periods may do you no harm, long-term it can lead to serious damage of your:
- retina
- brain
- heart and
- kidneys.
Simply put, your body is only designed to have so much sugar in it as the norm. When you push things too far, something has got to give.
Low Blood Sugar Levels: Hypoglycemia or low blood sugar is a little bit more difficult to diagnose. There is a lot of debate as to what is borderline, what is healthy and what is definitely not. What you have to remember about hypoglycemia is that it is essentially the same thing as starving. If enough time without glucose passes, your most vulnerable body system (your brain), will start to suffer serious problems, such as:
- not feeing well
- having seizures, and
- even losing consciousness
In some cases, a person can actually die, just because their brain needs sugar that it isn't getting. Eating something sweet may be all it would take to keep them alive and functioning.
Both of these conditions are extremely problematic to have. Therefore, it is in your best interests to avoid either one of them. You can do this easily enough by only keeping and eating foods that promote balance. You need enough carbs entering your body to keep everything working well, but not so much that it's going to rattle around in there and cause you damage. Just like a lot of things in life, you need to practice some moderation and a little foresight. Otherwise, keeping your blood sugar levels reasonable is really no big deal.
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