Q: I ran 3 miles last night and took my blood sugar level about 5-7 minutes after stopping. I was surprised to get a reading of 150 mg/dL. I am not diabetic but have minor signs of insulin resistance, so I do some glucose monitoring. Before the run my blood sugar was 91 mg/dL and within 45 minutes of stopping, I was down to 87 mg/dL. Is the increased blood sugar level normal for intense exercise (I run/jog several miles a week for over 1 year now)? Was the blood sugar elevation to compensate for the activity itself? When I abruptly stopped, my body took a few minutes to reach the new equilibrium.

A:If someone is fasting then there is release of glucose first from liver, which can last for 6-9 hrs followed by glucose production from fat and proteins. The possible reason for your glucose increase after exercise is release of glucose from liver/fat. Other possible reason is counter regulatory hormones which increase glucose levels during exercise. As you said this is a body adaptation in response to exercise.