Mr. A is 58 years old.
In this year’s health checkup, his
fasting blood glucose was 108 mg/dL
.
Generally, a fasting blood glucose level of less than 100 mg/dL is considered the normal range, 100–109 mg/dL is high-normal, and 110–125 mg/dL falls into the borderline range.
A level of 126 mg/dL or higher suggests diabetes, but a diagnosis of diabetes is not made based on a single test alone.
Although his blood glucose level is in the high-normal range, Mr. A does not have diabetes.
However, looking at his previous health checkup results,
92 → 96 → 101 → 108 mg/dL
it has been increasing little by little every year.
Thinking, ‘Should I do something about this?’ he searched online.
Then, he found an article stating,
‘Eating XX can suppress the rise in postprandial blood glucose.’
Moreover, it says,
‘The effect has been confirmed in studies.’
He also feels like he has seen stories about its effectiveness on TV.
It is a food you can buy at the supermarket. In that case, maybe I should try eating it starting tomorrow.
But is that really okay?
First, are you checking whether the research was done on ‘people similar to yourself’?
Looking at the article, it is true that for the people who ate that food, postprandial blood glucose levels were lower compared to when they did not eat it.
However, looking closely, the people participating in the study were healthy young people.
Mr. A is 58 years old, and his blood glucose level from health checkups has been increasing little by little every year.
Here is the first point to check:
Is the situation of the people who participated in the study similar to your own situation?
If the study was conducted only on healthy young people,
‘That sounds interesting. But I don’t know yet if it will have the same effect on me.’
It would be safer to think that way.
If,
‘The effect has also been confirmed in middle-aged and older people with slightly high blood glucose levels,’ just like yourself.
In that case, it might be worth using as a reference.
Next, is it a study that investigated ‘what you are expecting’?
In that study, they had participants eat the food once and then measured their blood sugar levels a few hours later.
It is true that the data shows post-meal blood sugar is less likely to rise.
So,
・If I eat it every day, will my HbA1c go down?
・Will I be less likely to develop diabetes in the future?
This is a different matter from the fact that this food lowered post-meal blood sugar levels.
Here is the second point to check. Which of the three does it fall under?
① Are you concerned about your post-meal blood sugar levels?
→ Studies that investigated post-meal blood sugar are useful references.
② Do you want to improve your HbA1c from your health checkup?
→ Check if it is a study that looked at HbA1c after continuing for several weeks to several months.
③ Do you want to prevent yourself from developing diabetes?
→ You cannot judge based only on a study where post-meal blood sugar dropped once.
Depending on your goal, the food and the study content you should refer to are different.
So, what will Person A do?
In Person A’s case,
58 years old.
Fasting blood sugar 108 mg/dL.
Moreover, for several years, blood sugar levels have been gradually rising from 92 → 96 → 101 → 108 mg/dL. If you look closely, HbA1c is also on the high side.
In such cases,
it is probably best not to stop at just ‘adding one food that is good for blood sugar levels.’
First, let’s take out your health checkup results and review them again while we think about this.
・Is your HbA1c trending higher?
・Has your weight increased?
・Has your amount of exercise decreased?
・Have there been any changes in your eating habits?
You need to confirm those points.
On top of that, I think it is important to review your entire lifestyle, including diet and exercise, not just your blood sugar levels.
Regarding that food, if it has been confirmed to have a reasonably solid effect on people in a situation similar to yours, you can consider incorporating it as one part of your lifestyle improvements.
However, it is not a case of ‘you will be fine if you just eat such-and-such.’
When you find ‘foods good for blood sugar levels,’ first take a look at your health checkup results
You found a food online that says ‘such-and-such is good for blood sugar levels.’
In such a case, before you rush to buy that food, please take another look at your own health checkup results first.
・What was your fasting blood sugar level?
・How was your HbA1c?
And, if possible, line up your results from last year and the year before. Then, let’s think about it by dividing it into the following categories ① to ④.
① If your blood sugar level and HbA1c are both fine and have hardly changed every year
There is probably no need to force yourself to eat that food every day just because it is ‘good for blood sugar levels.’ It is more important to balance your overall daily diet than to fixate on a single food.
② If your blood sugar level was slightly high
Instead of judging based only on this year, I will also look at your HbA1c and past blood sugar levels.
・Was it only slightly high this time?
・Has it been high for a while?
I will check that before considering your diet.
Instead of just ‘eating such-and-such,’ let’s also review the amount you eat, your snacks, and your drinks.
③ If both blood sugar and HbA1c are increasing little by little every year
This was the case for Person A.
In such cases, it is better not to just ‘add one food that is good for blood sugar levels.’
・Has your weight increased recently?
・Has your exercise time decreased?
・Have the amounts you eat or your snacks increased?
First, I will look for things that have changed over the last few years.
Then, I will start with one thing that seems possible to improve.
After that, if the food you researched has been confirmed to be effective for people in a similar situation to you, incorporate it as one part of improving your diet. This is the order to follow.
④ If it says ‘requires medical examination’ or ‘requires re-examination’
In this case, rather than prioritizing searching for foods online, please prioritize the re-examination or medical consultation indicated by your health checkup.
It is better not to think things like, ‘I’ll try to manage it with food before I get re-examined.’ You should consult a medical professional as soon as possible.
If you were Person A, what would you do first?
Now, if your fasting blood sugar is
92 → 96 → 101 → 108 mg/dL
What should someone like Person A, whose levels have gone up, do?
・First, check this year’s HbA1c.← You checked this right away, didn’t you?
・If you have past HbA1c results, line them up to compare.
・Next, look back to see if there have been any changes in your weight, exercise, or diet over the past few years.
・If there are areas that could be improved, start there.
Deciding whether to try ‘foods good for blood sugar’ comes after that. Instead of thinking ‘I’ll eat this’ because you’re worried about your blood sugar, start by ‘checking your own test results.’ I think this is important!
Thank you for reading until the end🙏
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