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Conversion

Blood Glucose Unit Converter (mg/dL ↔ mmol/L)

Blood glucose is reported in two units worldwide: mg/dL (milligrams per decilitre — common in the US, Japan, parts of the Middle East) and mmol/L (millimoles per litre — used in Europe, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and mainland China). The conversion factor comes from the molar mass of glucose (C₆H₁₂O₆ ≈ 180.156 g/mol): 1 mmol/L ≈ 18.0156 mg/dL; NIDDK and ADA public converters use 18.0182. Enter your value with its unit, and the tool returns the other unit plus the American Diabetes Association (ADA) category — low, normal, prediabetes or diabetes — using the fasting and random / 2-hour OGTT cut-offs from the Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes.

Converted

5.55 mmol/L

100 mg/dL

ADA category

Normal

Within the healthy range. Maintain balanced diet and regular activity.

Reference cut-offs (American Diabetes Association)

Low
< 70 mg/dL
< 3.9 mmol/L Normal
70–99 mg/dL
3.9–5.5 mmol/L Prediabetes
100–125 mg/dL
5.6–6.9 mmol/L Diabetes range
≥ 126 mg/dL
≥ 7.0 mmol/L

Formula

mmol/L = mg/dL ÷ 18.0182 | mg/dL = mmol/L × 18.0182

The conversion factor comes from the molar mass of glucose (C₆H₁₂O₆ ≈ 180.156 g/mol), so 1 mmol/L ≈ 18.0156 mg/dL; NIDDK / ADA use 18.0182 in their public converters. Classification uses the American Diabetes Association Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes (fasting, random and 2-hour OGTT thresholds). A diabetes diagnosis requires more than one abnormal reading — this tool is informational only; consult a clinician for clinical decisions.

Formula

mmol/L = mg/dL ÷ 18.0182 mg/dL = mmol/L × 18.0182

Frequently asked

Why do the US and the rest of the world use different units?

Pure historical accident. Early-20th-century clinical chemistry reported substances as "mg per 100 mL (dL)" — a mass-per-volume convention the US kept. From the 1960s, IUPAC pushed SI units worldwide, recommending mol/L for blood chemistry (reflecting actual molecule counts), and Europe, the UK, Canada, Australia and most of Asia switched. The US Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) has debated converting several times but systemic inertia, insurance forms and re-education cost have blocked a full switch. So the ADA guidelines lead with mg/dL while the IDF (International Diabetes Federation) leads with mmol/L and shows mg/dL alongside.

My meter shows "7.2" — is that mg/dL or mmol/L?

Almost certainly mmol/L. Healthy adult fasting glucose is roughly 4.4–5.5 mmol/L and random < 7.8 mmol/L; the same numbers in mg/dL are 79–99 / < 140. So a single- or low double-digit reading (4–11 range) is mmol/L; a three-digit reading (70–200 range) is mg/dL. Check the meter's display settings — many models (OneTouch, Accu-Chek US versions) let you toggle. If unsure, multiply by 18: if the result lands in the plausible mg/dL band, the original was mmol/L.

Why are the fasting and random cut-offs so different?

Normal physiology: after a meal, blood glucose rises naturally to about 7–8 mmol/L (126–144 mg/dL) within 1–2 hours and insulin pulls it back below 7.8 mmol/L (140 mg/dL). So the post-meal normal ceiling is higher than the fasting one. The fasting value tests baseline regulation with no incoming sugar load, so it is more sensitive: prediabetes often shows up on fasting first (IFG — Impaired Fasting Glucose), while some people show up first on the 2-hour OGTT (IGT — Impaired Glucose Tolerance). ADA recommends screening with fasting + HbA1c and adding OGTT when needed. Toggling "Fasting / Random OGTT" in this tool switches to the matching category.

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