Blood sugar level In humans, glucose is the primary source of energy, and is critical for normal function, in a number of tissues, particularly the human brain which consumes approximately 60% of blood glucose in fasted, sedentary individuals. Glucose can be transported from the intestines or liver to other tissues in the body via the bloodstream. Cellular glucose uptake is primarily regulated by insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas. Glucose levels are usually lowest in the morning, before the first meal of the day, and rise after meals for an hour or two by a few millimoles. Blood sugar levels outside the
Blood sugar level the nonspecific reducing property of glucose in a reaction with an indicator substance that changes color when reduced. Since other blood compounds also have reducing properties (e.g., urea, which can be abnormally high in uremic patients), this technique can produce erroneous readings in some situations (5–15 mg/dL has been reported). The more recent technique, using enzymes specific to glucose, is less susceptible to this kind of error. The two most common employed enzymes are glucose oxidase and hexokinase. Average blood glucose concentrations can also be measured. This method measures the level of glycated hemoglobin, which is representative of the average