Understand your sugar numbers, with doctors beside you.
Diabetes Saathi explains blood sugar reports, food and medicines in plain language. Soon you will also hear from people across India who live with diabetes every day.
An estimated 101 million people in India had diabetes in 2021, and another 136 million had prediabetes (ICMR-INDIAB study, 2023).
What does your HbA1c number mean?
In the diabetes range
- Average blood sugar
- 148 mg/dL
- Same result in mmol/mol
- 51 mmol/mol
Ranges for adults who are not pregnant. A diagnosis needs your doctor and usually a repeat test. Read the full HbA1c guide.
Start with your numbers
Most people first meet diabetes as a number on a lab report. These pages explain what each number means and what to ask next.
HbA1c report explained
Normal, prediabetes and diabetes ranges, your average sugar in mg/dL, treatment targets, and why anaemia can make the result misleading.
Blood sugar tests and targets explained
- Fasting and post-meal sugar
- The glucose tolerance test
- Glucometer and CGM readings
- Targets if you already have diabetes
Open the guide
Guides we are building
Five in-depth guides, each written from evidence. New guides appear here as they are published.
- Blood sugar tests and targets explainedPublishedHbA1c, fasting and post-meal sugar, and what your targets should be.
- Type 2 diabetes in India: complete guideComing soonCauses, risk in Indian families, diagnosis and the first months after.
- Diabetes diet with Indian foodComing soonRice, roti, millets and festivals, without giving up home food.
- Diabetes medicines and insulinBeing writtenWhat each medicine does and the questions to ask your doctor.
- Diabetes complications: eyes, kidneys, feetBeing writtenScreening tests, warning signs and protecting your feet in Indian summers.
How every page is made
Health information should be easy to read and safe to act on. Each page goes through the same four steps before it is published.
Written from evidence
Every medical claim is linked to Indian guidelines, the ADA Standards of Care or peer-reviewed research.
Edited for clarity
Our editors cut jargon and check that the page answers the question people actually ask.
Kept up to date
Pages show when they were last updated and are revised when guidelines change.
Coming soon
Stories from people living with diabetes
Real experiences, shared with consent and checked by our editors before they go live. Personal stories, never medical advice.
Ask an endocrinologist
Send a question and a verified specialist answers it in plain language. Answers are general information, not a diagnosis.