1. Factors That Determine Fasting Blood Sugar
It’s easy to assume that morning fasting blood sugar will be low simply because ‘you’ve fasted while sleeping,’ but it is actually the complex result of several factors. Our body’s blood sugar regulation mechanism works in a very complex way overnight.
2. The Influence of the Previous Night’s Dinner
– The Role of the Liver: Some of the carbohydrates from the food we eat for dinner are broken down into glucose and stored in the liver as ‘glycogen.’ The liver’s role is to release this glycogen little by little overnight to keep blood sugar from dropping too low.
– The Problem with Overeating: If you overeat or eat a high-carbohydrate meal late at night, more glycogen than necessary is stored in the liver. As a result, the amount of glucose released from the liver overnight can increase, causing a rise in the morning fasting blood sugar.
3. Interaction with the Dawn Phenomenon
In addition to this, growth hormone, cortisol, and other hormones that are secreted starting around 3-4 a.m. have the effect of raising blood sugar (the ‘dawn phenomenon’). If the dawn phenomenon occurs when the liver is already full of glucose from the previous night’s dinner, the morning fasting blood sugar will be even higher.
Summary: The morning fasting blood sugar is greatly influenced by what, how much, and how late you ate the previous evening, along with your body’s hormonal actions overnight. If your fasting blood sugar is consistently high, the first thing you should check is your dinner diet and timing from the previous day.
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