Glucose: The Little Molecule that Influences Your Health Every Day

Welcome to the Abbott EDGE newsletter, and get ready to dig into one of the hottest health topics of the moment …

What is Glucose, and Why Does it Matter?

Glucose is:

• Essential for life.
• A sugar molecule that gives your cells energy.
• Something you can balance to improve your health.

Glucose isn’t:

• Just in carbohydrates or in sweet foods and beverages.
• Only meaningful to people with diabetes.
• A health fad.

We could go on and on with both lists. The key takeaway is that glucose should matter to everyone because everyone needs glucose.

Understanding how your body processes glucose can help you make healthier choices. And the emphasis is on your body — the process is truly unique to the person.

So, going back to the question of “What is glucose?”: Let’s define it in terms of what it means for your body and health.

How Glucose Affects Your Health

Blood glucose, which you may know as blood sugar, is what your body breaks carbohydrates down to. Glucose that is in your bloodstream is then transported throughout your body and absorbed by cells that convert it into energy. Anything extra is taken to your muscles, liver or fat cells and stored away for later use.

“Glucose, especially for your brain, is the fuel that your body most readily uses,” explains Dr. Mahmood Kazemi, chief medical officer for Abbott’s diabetes care business.

You may be familiar with hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar. If your blood glucose levels exhibit a constant pattern of being too high, you may be at risk of developing prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes.

Apart from that, however, it’s important to recognize that everyone’s glucose levels are changing over time throughout the day, fluctuating from being steady, high and low. Because of that, it’s especially helpful to recognize patterns — if you realize that you constantly have low energy and focus after an activity you do daily or a certain meal you eat, it’s possible that your body is going through glucose spikes and crashes.

With the help of continuous glucose monitoring, you can visually see your glucose levels and watch patterns over time [1]. If they’re constantly high, or if you feel like you’re always riding a glucose roller coaster of spikes and dips, you can make lifestyle adjustments to potentially improve your metabolic health.

[1] Jarvis, P.R.E, Cardin, J.L., Nisevich-Bede, P.M., & McCarter, J.P. (2023). Continuous glucose monitoring in a healthy population: understanding the post-prandial glycemic response in individuals without diabetes mellitus. Metabolism, 146(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2023.155640

How Glucose Connects with Metabolic Health

For all the reasons stated above, knowing your glucose levels can open a window into your metabolic health.

We’ve visited that topic before, and it’s worth going there again, because there are several actions you can take to improve your metabolic health .

(Spoiler alert: A lot of them very much have to do with how your body processes glucose.)

The more we can demystify metabolism, the more power we hold over our health.

Can monitoring your glucose levels change your health? Read more.

A Few More Links Before We Go

• Is it Possible to Change Your Metabolism?
• Abbott’s Breakthrough Dissolving Stent Receives FDA Approval for Arteries Below the Knee
• Summer is Coming: 3 Heat and Hydration Tips

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