Healthy Blood Sugar Levels O'er

Over the years that Dr. Mehmet Oz has appeared on television, first as a regular on The Oprah Show and now on his own The Dr. Oz Show, and in his passionate concern for our health, he has given us healthly guidelines and numbers that we should strive for in our efforts to get healthy and maintain our health. Bookmark this link as a one-stop reference guide of Dr. Oz’s healthy numbers recommendations.

Waist Size - Dr. Oz says your waist size should be no more than ½ your height. So a 5ft 4in or 64 inches tall woman’s waist should be no larger than 32 inches.  A 5ft 9in or 69 inches tall man’s waist should be no larger than 34.5 inches. To get the best measurement, Dr. Oz says suck in, and then measure your waist between your hip bone and your rib cage. If the average American’s waist is greater than 35 inches, they are at greater risk for heart disease, gall bladder disease and diabetes.

Waist to Hip Ratio – this number helps indicates your body type.  Dr. Oz says Pear Shape Types tend to carry fat in the hips which is the healthier option compared to Apple Shape Types which tend to carry fat in the belly.  Dr. Oz has stressed many times that extra belly fat can squeeze the kidneys, elevate blood pressure, cause liver problems as well as other health risks. To get your ratio:

• take your waist size as indicated above.
• measure hips at the widest point around the buttocks.
• divide your waist size by your hip size. So a 32 inch waist and 45 inch hips would be   ” 32/45 = .7 “
• .7 indicates “ideal Pear Shape” for women
• more than .8 indicates “Apple Shape” health risk for women
• .9 is good for men
• more than 1.0 indicates “Apple Shape” health risk for men

Resting Heart Rate – Dr. Oz says checking your heart rate daily can help you predict when you may be at risk of a heart attack or stroke.  If your resting heart rate is over 90 beats per minute, your risk of a heart attack and stroke could increase by 3 times!  To get your resting heart rate:

• check in the morning before getting out of bed
• take your right two fore fingers and feel the pulse beats on your left wrist.
• count the number of beats in 10 seconds. Keeping a small digital counter at your bedside may be a convenient help.
• take the number of beats and multiple by 6. Example – “12 beats x 6 = 72 beats per minute (bpm)”
• Dr. Oz says 60-80 bpm is ideal. Anything over 90 bpm may be a health risk.

Target Heart Rate – Dr. Oz says that when you find you are exercising regularly and the scale still does not move, the problem may be you are not pushing yourself enough. Make sure you are working out at your target heart rate for 20 minutes of your workout session, at least three times a week. To get your Target Heart rate:

• take 220 minus your age multiplied by .80. Example 220 – 40 years old = 180 times .80 = 144
• in addition to cardiovascular exercise, Dr. Oz says it is important to build muscle mass through strength training. Muscle burns more calories than fat.

Blood Pressure – Dr. Oz says that maintaining a healthy blood pressure will reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke. A blood pressure reading of 115/75 is ideal. Here are some blood pressure categories defined by the .

Blood pressure (mm Hg) Stage Less than 120/80 Normal 120/80 to 139/89 Prehypertension 140/90 to 159/99 Stage 1 hypertension 160/100 and higher Stage 2 hypertension Higher than 180/110 Hypertensive Emergency Crisis

Cholesterol - Dr. Oz says the only way to know your cholesterol numbers is to measure cholesterol in the blood through a lipid profile. A lipid profile is an estimation of LDL, HDL, triglyceride and total cholesterol.  Everyone over the age of 20 should get a blood lipid profile at least once every 5 years, more often if you have risk factors for heart disease or have already been diagnosed with high cholesterol.

Dr. Oz says our LDL (lowsy, bad) needs to be less than 100 and our HDL (healthy, good) needs to be above 50. The recommend the following:

Total Cholesterol Values

• Desirable – Less than 200 mg/dL
• Borderline high – 200–239 mg/dL
• Very risky – 240 mg/dL and above

LDL Values (Lowsy, Bad)

• Optimal – Less than 100 mg/dL
• Near optimal – 100–129 mg/dL
• Borderline high – 130–159 mg/dL
• Risky – 160 –189 mg/dL
• Very risky – 190 mg/dL and above

HDL Values (Healthy, Good)

• Optimal – 60 mg/dL and above
• Risky – Less than 50 mg/dL (for women)
• Risky – Less than 40 mg/dL (for men)

Triglyceride Values

• Optimal – 150 mg/dL or lower
• Borderline – 150–199 mg/dL
• Risky – 200–499 mg/dL
• Very Risky – 500 mg/dL or higher

Fasting Blood Sugar - Dr. Oz says monitoring your fasting blood sugar will let you know if and when you may be at risk for diabetes. Your fasting blood sugar reading should be taken in the morning when you wake up. Normal levels will be 100 or less.  Higher than that number may put you at risk for diabetes and other related health problems. But on a regular basis without going to a doctor?

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