Fasting blood sugarFBS, Fasting plasma glucoseFasting blood sugar is the glucose level in blood after at least eight hours without food or sweetened drink. It is the simplest and cheapest test for diabetes, and one of the three that can diagnose it.
Postprandial blood sugar
Pronounced post-PRAN-dee-al
Also known as After-meal blood sugar, PP sugar, Two-hour postprandial
Blood sugar measured two hours after starting a meal. It shows how well your body handled that particular food.
"Postprandial" simply means after eating. In Pakistan it is usually written on lab forms as "PP" and taken two hours after the first bite, not after finishing.
For most adults with diabetes a value under 180 mg/dL two hours after a meal is a reasonable target, though your own target should come from your doctor.
Related terms
- HbA1cGlycated haemoglobin, A1cHbA1c measures the proportion of haemoglobin that has sugar stuck to it, which reflects the average blood glucose over roughly the past three months. It needs no fasting and is used both to diagnose diabetes and to judge how well it is controlled.
- Glycaemic indexGI, Glycemic indexA score from 0 to 100 showing how quickly a food raises blood sugar. Lower-GI foods release sugar more slowly.
- Carbohydrate countingCarb countingEstimating the grams of carbohydrate in a meal so that insulin doses — or portion sizes — can be matched to it.