Preliminary Health Care Podcast

Why is Blood-Sugar Important? Your body is made of nearly 100 trillion cells! One thing that they all have in common is a constant demand for fuel, of which there are 4 major types: • Sugar • Fat • Ketones (made from fat when fat is being burned rapidly) • Protein (amino acids) Most cells of your body are able to use each and are not dependent on any particular fuel-type. Further, most cells of your body are able to store fuel, and replenish those stores with fuel circulating within your blood-stream. However, neither of these statements can be said for certain cells of your Nervous System or Red Blood Cells—which require at least some sugar and cannot store fuel. Thus, these cells require steady access to sugar from your blood i.e. “blood-sugar.” High Blood-Sugar is Harmful Even though your body must maintain some level of blood-sugar for your Nervous System, too much is very harmful. Diabetes is simply a state of chronically elevated blood-sugar; the health-problems associated with diabetes (like damage to