Is postprandial hyperglycemia dangerous?

What is postprandial hyperglycemia?

Hyperglycemia means "high blood glucose". Postprandial means after meal. Typically to determine if you have postpriandial hyperglycemia you will have to check your blood sugar after either a large meal or after drinking 100 grams of pure sugar like dextrose. After two hours if your blood sugar is over 140 then it's higher than normal and falls into the postprandial hyperglycemia range.

Some meals can cause even non-diabetics to get into the 160s-200 range in blood sugar such as if you eat a large bowl of white rice, or a very big high carb meal. The question is whether or not these spikes are permanently damaging?

Chronic postprandial hyperglycemia can be harmful

Some studies have indicated that if this happens regularly it can be damaging. In specific it raises CVD (cardiovascular disease risk). So to determine if you're sensitive to blood sugar spikes simply buy a glucose monitor (AgaMatrix makes a good one) and test your blood sugar after a high carb meal (1 hour) and then again (2 hours) to determine how your body responds. If you find that your blood sugar does spike over 140-160 then it might be a good idea to reduce carbs in your meals.

Note, I'm not a doctor or medically licensed so ask your doctor about these subjects. Be sure to quote the relevant references I provide in my post if you do bring this up to your doctor.

References

Singh, S. K. (2012). Post-prandial hyperglycemia. Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 16(Suppl 2), S245–S247. http://doi.org/10.4103/2230-8210.104051

Web:

1. http://www.nature.com/nrneph/journal/v11/n8/fig_tab/nrneph.2015.59_F1.html