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Fasting Glucose Is Normal, but… Why Post-Meal Glucose Needs a Separate Look

Partner contentWritten together with partner company ONDAM BIO

When the fasting blood glucose on your health check report is below 5.6 mmol/L (100 mg/dL), most people feel reassured. But fasting blood glucose is a number taken after going at least 8 hours without food. You eat three meals a day, and how much your blood glucose rises and falls in the hours after a meal is not captured in this number.

The range that fasting glucose misses

The KDCA National Health Information Portal describes prediabetes in three ways: a fasting blood glucose of 5.6–6.9 mmol/L (100–125 mg/dL) (impaired fasting glucose), an HbA1c of 5.7–6.4%, and a 2-hour blood glucose of 7.8–11.0 mmol/L (140–199 mg/dL) on a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (impaired glucose tolerance). The last criterion is a test of how well your body handles blood glucose after eating, so it can apply to you even if your fasting blood glucose is normal.

According to the Korean Diabetes Association, 41.1% of Korean adults aged 30 and older have prediabetes. That is 4 in 10. It is too large a number to dismiss by looking at the single line of fasting blood glucose.

The basics of managing post-meal blood glucose

  • Eat regularly. If you skip meals and then eat a lot at once, your blood glucose after the meal can easily rise sharply.
  • Cut back on refined carbohydrates. Eat more mixed grains and vegetables rather than quickly absorbed carbohydrates such as white bread, sweet drinks, and sweets.
  • Get enough dietary fibre. Dietary fibre slows the absorption of sugar, which helps ease a steep rise in blood glucose after meals.
  • Move your body. At least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise a week and strength training 2–3 times a week are the basics of blood glucose control.

If you cannot get enough dietary fibre from meals alone

Getting enough vegetables and mixed grains at every meal is harder than it sounds. One option is resistant maltodextrin, a water-soluble dietary fibre. It is a fibre obtained mainly from corn starch, and it is a health functional food ingredient for which Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) recognises that it “may help suppress the rise in blood glucose after meals.”

In a meta-analysis (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition) pooling 37 randomised controlled trials that used 10 g or less of resistant maltodextrin, the blood glucose response after eating carbohydrate foods such as rice, noodles, and bread fell in proportion to the dose. When 6 g was taken in a drink, it fell by about 20%, and when mixed into food, by about 10%, so the effect was clearer in the drink form.

Partner company product

If you want to look after both post-meal blood glucose and body fat: SANBIDAM Premium

Partner company ONDAM BIO's ‘SANBIDAM Premium’ contains 10,000 mg of resistant maltodextrin in a single 50 ml liquid bottle. One bottle after a meal is all you need, with no need to carry water or pills separately. It also adds the Cornus extract complex (MFDS individual approval No. 2022-26, body fat reduction) developed by NINEB, a subsidiary of Ajou University's technology holding company. It is a product worth considering for middle-aged and older adults who have started to pay attention to their blood glucose after meals and want to look after their body fat as well.

  • Resistant maltodextrin 10,000 mg — may help suppress the rise in blood glucose after meals · may help improve blood triglyceride levels · may help support regular bowel movements
  • Cornus extract complex 1,600 mg — may help reduce body fat (MFDS individually approved functional ingredient No. 2022-26)

Health functional foods are not medicines for preventing or treating disease. Health functional foods do not replace a healthy diet and physical activity. If you are being treated for diabetes or taking medication, talk to your health care provider before use.

See product details

When to get tested

  • You have a family member with diabetes and your waist circumference is at or above the reference value (Korean criteria: 90 cm for men, 85 cm for women)
  • Your blood glucose 2 hours after meals, measured with a home meter, is repeatedly 7.8 mmol/L (140 mg/dL) or higher
  • Your HbA1c came back at 5.7% or higher

Blood glucose 2 hours after a meal: when and how to measure it