A glucose spike is a rapid increase in your blood sugar level, typically occurring after you eat, especially meals high in carbohydrates or sugars. In response, your body releases insulin to help bring your blood sugar back down to a normal range. This can lead to low energy and sugar cravings as your body tries to get back to normal.
Regular glucose spikes suggest that your body is not responding well to certain foods and you might benefit from making some changes to your meals or exercise patterns to achieve stable glucose control.
Here is an example of a glucose spike after eating a risotto. The 'optimal' level is to stay within the green 4-6mmol/L — although this is quite a tight range and normal to go up to 7.8mmol/L!
Everyone will have different responses to different meals. And you might even have a different response to the same meal from day to day — there are so many factors involved!
The occasional spike in glucose is normal. Ultimately, we are aiming for minimal changes in glucose levels over the day to optimise metabolic health.