Glucose

Glucose is the main source of energy for the human body. Glucose is converted into either glycogen to be stocked in the liver or into the fat tissues as triglycerides. Blood glucose levels play a significant role in the maintenance of a healthy body and also in preventing many chronic diseases. The blood glucose concentration depends on a wide variety of factors and its concentration at any time is the net result of equilibrium between the rates of entry and of removal of glucose in the circulation. Furthermore, when the renal re-absorptive capacity for glucose is exceeded (renal threshold), urinary loss of glucose becomes an additional factor influencing the maintenance of the blood glucose concentration. As such, all the factors that exert influence on entry or removal become important in the regulation of blood glucose concentration.
One of the major health problems associated with uncontrolled blood glucose levels is diabetes mellitus. The prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and obesity results in the development of hyperglycaemia or high blood glucose. According to the International Diabetes Federation, there are around 463 million diabetic people worldwide (Diabetes Atlas, 2019). This number has been showing an increasing trend and furthermore there are a number of people undiagnosed for diabetes worldwide.