Why is My Blood Glucose So High in the Morning
I am puzzled by my blood sugar pattern. I am not on any medications.
My morning fasting blood sugar is always the highest of the day—between
120 and 140 mg/dl. The rest of
the day it is in the normal range. Why does this occur?
Ruth Reynolds, Elk Grove, Calif.
Christy Parkin, MSN, RN, CDE, responds:
In the early morning hours, hormonal changes in your body will
naturally cause blood glucose to rise. For people who don't have
diabetes, the increase in blood glucose is offset by increased insulin
production. For people with diabetes, this can be a problem.
There
are a couple of things going on that make your glucose rise in the
morning. One of these is insulin resistance—a condition that means your
body's muscle and fat cells are
unable to use insulin effectively to
lower blood glucose. However, insulin resistance also affects how your
liver processes, stores, and releases sugar, particularly at night. The
liver is supposed to release small amounts of glucose when you're not
eating. But in type 2 diabetes, the liver dumps more glucose than is
needed into the bloodstream, especially at night. So, while your
hormones are causing a natural rise in blood glucose, your liver is
releasing even more sugar into your system. And because your insulin
resistance prevents your muscle and fat cells from using the sugar, your
blood glucose level rises.
Unlike mealtime blood glucose, which can be somewhat controlled by diet and exercise, high fasting blood glucose usually needs to be treated with medication. You should talk to your doctor about medications that can help you obtain good control. You may also want to read our September 2008 story "Rocky Morning Highs."
Comments
Comments are subject to review and will not be posted immediately. If you have an urgent medical question, please consult a health care professional. If you have a question for the staff of Diabetes Forecast, please send it to replyall@diabetes.org.anonymous writes
alcohol doens't raise sugar level!. He/she must enjoy the drink too much to be honest. Even I as dumb as I am, know alcohol raises your sugar level
Blood sugar and alcohol
I am a recovering alcoholic and a type 2 diabetic. My endocrinologist told me that alcohol alone does not raise
sugar levels, in fact, it may lower sugar levels occasionally.
Alcohol and sugar!
This is completely wrong! I have worked in the wine industry for 13 years and am also a diabetic. Alcohol is made from sugar. When you consume alcohol your body breaks it back down to sugar. That is 100% true for all alcohol. This is part of the reason you are hung over. The extreme spike in sugar dehydrates your body and in addition to your liver working over time to remove the toxins from your body.
If you know how to control your diet and know what alcohol will do to your blood sugar then you can work a drink per day or two (depends on you gender and build) just as you would a snack. It is recommended to avoid alcohol if you are working on getting your sugar under control!
Please do not read the comment about alcohol not having sugar or carbs and believe that it is fine to consume freely. You could easily put yourself at risk!
Alcohol and Sugar
Firstly, pure alcohol contains not sugar and is not "converted" back into sugar. Ethyl alcohol is has two carbons (saturated with hydrogens in available bonding sites) with a hydroxly prosthetic: C-C-O-H. Carbs can be found in other parts of the alcoholic beverage primarily in the form of sugars. If the beverage has no sugar...
Hangover is caused by two enzymes in your liver metabolizing the alcohol (it replaces the hydroxyl prosthetic with an aldehyde prosthetic): ethyl aldehyde. This is what causes hangover - not dehydration. Dehydration, a side effect of drinking diuretic alcoholic beverages, exacerbates the hangover by increasing the concentration of ethylaldehyde.
Alcohol and sugar
I agree with the fellow that states alcohol does not contain carbs or sugars. Be careful what you advise. Wines contain some carbs depending on the wine, beer also contains carbs which are metabolized and create a rise in blood sugar. Pure spirits contains no such product. The sugars in the grape, or grain mash is metabolized by yeast. The metabolic by-products are alcohol and carbon dioxide. The alcohol is refined and distilled to the point of being near pure, then reduced to a 40% level most times. It has no carbohydrates or sugars present, however, you need to monitor your glucose levels to see the effect your beverage of choice has on your sugar levels. Those on medication could have a hypoglycemic condition occur due to the effect of alcohol.
Alcohol does indeed spike sugar
Sorry - Alcohol is a long chain molecule which converts to sugar. It does indeed spike your sugar. I too miss my night caps.
Alcohol converts to sugar
Myth: Alcohol is really a form of sugar/digests into sugar/the body treats alcohol like sugar. This is NOT true.
Alcohol (CH3CH2OH) is not sugar ((2R,3R,4S,5S,6R)-2-[(2S,3S,4S,5R)-3,4-dihydroxy-2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)oxolan-2-yl]oxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)oxane-3,4,5-triol), nor a form of sugar, and does not digest/break down into sugar. Alcohol is alcohol! Alcohol does not raise insulin levels. Simply described, once consumed alcohol absorbs through the stomach lining and small-intestine directly into your blood stream as alcohol – it does not digest at all. If food is consumed while drinking alcohol, its absorption rate will be slowed. If your mixer contains sugar or other carbs, then an insulin release will occur. Once in the blood stream alcohol is oxidized, (metabolized), by the liver into an energy source known as acetic acid for the body.
Alcohol has 7 calories per gram and is used as an energy source by the body just like carbs, protein, and fat can, (4, 4, and 9 calories per gram respectively). The only catch is that the body must burn the alcohol calories first, before it can move on to the other food you’ve eaten. However, don’t forget to consider your mixer, or how dark your beer is, as this will add carbs/sugars and additional calories to your alcoholic beverage.
If you don't believe me then do your own research.
blood sugar
I would definitely quit the shot of scotch. Alcohol is practically pure sugar once in your blood stream.
You are absolutely wrong!
You are absolutely wrong! There is no sugar/carbohydrates in liquor.
The alcohol, but not because it has sugar
Hi Jeff,
Despite the other claims on this blog, the truth is that alcohol does not contain sugar, but in a round about way it could be responsible for the morning spike.
Alcohol does not contain sugar, it does not turn into sugar in your blood. It is metabolized into energy in the same way as protein, fat, and sugar. The reason for the spike could be a function of the liver combined with the alcohol.
The liver's is a filter, it's job is to protect you from harmful elements entering your system. I know this is over simplified, but I'm not trying to write a book here. The important thing is to understand what happens when you drink alcohol.
When the liver detects alcohol it treats it like poison and stops all functions involved with maintaining glucose levels. In other words, it will not release any sugar into your system while the alcohol is present. The operative word of the statement being "while". When the alcohol wears off, the sugar stored is then released. That is why when you eat sugary food while drinking alcohol, your bs doesn't rise, but when the alcohol is gone, you start to see a rise or spike in your glucose readings. If you take that information and combine it with how long it takes to digest food you can see a direct correlation. It's like a door, when it's open you get a few people an hour going through it, when it is locked all those people pile up at the door only to burst through all at once when it's reopened.
I hope this helps.
I am a Type-2 for 17 years. No meds, less than 10 carbs a day keeps my BS averaging 85 daily. I drink, but not very much because I know how easy it is to get hooked on it.
Good luck!
Chanse.
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