A healthy person shall have healthy blood sugar. The glucose which is primary energy source for human and even animal cells, is a type of sugar that runs through the bloodstream. Glucose enters our body whenever we eat carbohydrate foods. Glucose levels are regulated by insulin and glucagons. Insulin is a hormone that is produced by the pancreas and released into the bloodstream when glucose level rises.
Normal glucose levels fall between 70 and 150 mg. Levels typically are lower in the morning and rise after meals. Blood sugar levels falling consistently above 150 are indicative of hyperglycemia or high blood sugar. Chronic low levels, falling below 70, characterize hypoglycemia or low blood sugar. Hypoglycemia is a potentially fatal condition.
The 140 mg/dl blood sugar target is a good start, but many of us find we get much lower blood sugars and much more normal health if we shoot for truly normal blood sugars. That means keeping blood sugars under 120 mg / dl at all times and getting back into the 80s by three hours after every meal. If we can do it, we can go for it. Now that we know that heart attack risk rises significantly in the mid 5% range, getting to true normal is that much more important.
If you have had high blood sugars for a while, even only moderately high blood sugars, you may find that you feel shaky and even downright sick when you bring your blood sugars down into the normal range.
This is because over time, your body has become accustomed to those much higher blood sugars and it interprets the normal blood sugar as being dangerously low. When this happens, the body secretes those "fight or flight" counter-regulatory hormones to push the blood sugars back upto what it erroneously thinks is the safe zone. The stress hormones associated with the counter-regulatory response can make you feel like you are having some kind of dreadful attack. They may include a pounding pulse, shakiness, a raised blood pressure and symptoms similar to a panic attack.
After a counterregulatory response you may feel shaky for another hour or two, because of the changes the stress hormones have made in your body and you may be a big more insulin resistant than usual. But after some period of time which varies from person to person, your body will get used to these new, normal blood sugars.