I agree that you should keep your A1C as low as possible. Mine is 5.6 and I work very hard to get it to that number, and it is NOT easy. I eat a lot of salads, grilled chicken, grilled vegetables, etc. and exercise and focus on a low carb diet. My weight stays around 127-130. I am classified as Type 1--LADA. I am sure there are those who have a much lower A1C, but I am not sure how they do it. I am satisfied with my A1C but strive constantly to keep it low and lower if I can.
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The relation between A1c and average BG is not as carved in stone as some people think. Many things can affect the A1c, for example, average red blood cell (RBC) lifetime. If you have hemolytic anemia, your RBCs don't last as long and your A1c will be lower than you'd expect. If you have no spleen, your RBCs live longer, because the spleen is the organ that breaks them down.
And there are likely genetic factors that affect RBC lifetime as well. The old YMMV factor. The charts relating A1c to average BGs are based on averages.
Basically, the lower the better as long as you don't have a lot of lows. But if your BGs seem pretty good and you don't just measure fasting but measure at different times of the day as well, but your A1c isn't below 5.5, I don't think you should worry.
It could indicate that you're having highs at some time when you're not measuring. Or it could indicate that you're an outlier on the A1c vs average BG chart.
Gretchen is correct. HBA1c and average BG often do not match.Pub Med has quite a few papers on this. I'm an outlier. My average BG - when I was testing - was around 4.9 using rigorous 7 point testing and recording the results. Which would indicate an HBA1c of about the same.yet my HBA1c was - and still is - between 5.8 and 6.1.
There are indeed many reasons for this and I had various tests, including for the more common haemoglobinopathies ( there are maybe 300, but they usually only test for the most common 4 or 5 ), all of which came back negative.
There is far too much focus on HBA1c and whilst I can appreciate the reasons for this, I profoundly disagree with it. What matters is your average BG.