How does our body control blood glucose?
Glucose (sugar) is the fuel for our cells. Glucose often comes from the food you eat (carbs break down into glucose). Our pancreas releases insulin when it detects glucose in the blood. Think of insulin like a key that unlocks the door to your cells. Without insulin, the glucose can’t get into the cells, and it just sits in your blood. Your liver makes a little glucose all the time, especially at night. This is so your cells don’t starve when you’re not eating. When your blood glucose gets low (hypoglycemia), you can get light headed, dizzy, or even faint. Your body needs glucose, or it will shut down. In someone who is a type 1 diabetic, their pancreas no longer makes insulin. So, they don’t have the “key” to unlock the cells and let the glucose in. That’s why their blood sugar is high (hyperglycemia) – there is no insulin to let the glucose into the cells.
