Is it necessary to eat a "carbo rich" diet several days prior to taking the glucose tolerance test???

Recently, at my last dr's appt, the doctor had blood drawn for several things he was checking, with sugar being one of them (I had been fasting since the night before). I was called back with the results that my sugar was a bit high and they scheduled a glucose tolerance test which will be this Thursday. The only instructions given was to come in fasting. Since my dr's I have started the South Beach Diet which is a low carbo diet (just finish week 2, lost 11 lbs and feel great but that sugar de-tox was rough). I have gotten on the internet and researched and 8 out of 10 sites states that it is very important to eat carbo rich diet 3 days prior to my test. This has really bum me out. While I want accurate test results, I sure don't want to have to go through that de-tox again.

Can any of you share from your experience if this is necessary or not? I would really appreciate it. I am very overweight, want to make lifestyle changes with diet and exercises, was also told by dr that he was checking for hypoglycemia, have a few other health "inconveniences" such as hypothyroidism, fibromyalgia, high cholesterol until medication, some bladder incontinence, and such.

Thanks,

RitaB

Rita, We just debated this on another thread, but the situation was a bit different. This person was in dietary ketosis and wanted to know if that would effect a diabetes diagnosis... a few of us concluded that it probably would.

So the question for you is, are you currently in a state of dietary ketosis or are you eating carbs now? If you have started to add complex healthy carbs back into your diet (some whole grains, an apple, etc) then you should not have to eat other carbs... "carb-rich" does not have to mean white bread and sugar. The fact that you have dramatically reduced or eliminated the refined, simple carbs from your diet will effect the results of any future diabetes tests. It might be more meaningful to do a HA1C as this will indicate how your glucose levels have been running for the past 3 months.

The bigger concern is how the GTT itself will effect you - this test will have you consume pure glucose and monitor your body's response to it. Having just come out of carb-detox phase, this test will likely make you feel like AWFUL (really really BAD) and will likely cause a setback in your efforts. After the GTT you will probably need to go back to phase 1. I question the usefullness of a GTT at this point - if your blood glucose has already come back high, what is the purpose of it? What does your doctor hope to find?

IMO I would contact your doctor and ask why the GTT is being done - if there is no valid reason provided, tell your doctor that you just came out of phase 1 of Southbeach and that you would prefer not to be subjected to the glucose drink. On the other hand, if there is a valid reason, then obviously go forward with it... The way I see it, there is no reason to take steps backwards in your accomplishment only to confirm what you already know. I am not a doctor, I am just providing my opinion.

Also - are you seeing an Endocrinologist or a GP? You really should be working with an Endo as they can properly diagose and treat your condition. Let the Endo determine what further tests are needed.

If you really want to know if you have diabetes or not, you should take the GTT. That is how they found out early that I have T2 diabetes. I believe it will find out even if you are on a diet. They take blood once before you drink a flat soda tasting drink, (doesn't taste bad) then they take blood 1 hr. after you drank the glucose drink and then 2 more times, they will take blood 1 hr. apart. This will tell them your fasting glucose level then your spiked level, and how well your glucose comes down in the next 2 hours. Mine was 120- 260- 187-102 because it spiked to 260 and was surposed to be around 160 one hour later they found out I had diabetes. The Registed Dietitian (RD)has me on a diet, with the diet and walking for 30 min. a day my glucose levels stay pretty good and I need NO medicines so far. I have a Diabetes Educator (DE) that has also helped teach me a lot. By the way, the RD and DE both told me that the Adkins and South Beach diets are bad diets to be on. At my next diabetes class on the 17th, I am going to ask them why. Both diets appear to be popular in this forum.

But a GTT is really no longer needed to diagnose diabetes. Sure it shows the trend of blood glucose over a period of time, but if someone has already been diagnosed, the test really isn't all that important.

Having completed the Phase1 stage of southbeach is an accomplishment which will likely be compromised by taking the test. It seems to me that continuing to eat a healthy diet and focus on glucose control is the obvious important step. You should get a glucometer to measure your blood glucose often througout the day, specifically 2 hours after meals. This will show how well the body is metabolizing glucose.

IMO There are really 2 stages of T2 diabetes... controlled and not controlled. I consider myself controlled... my fasting bg is typically under 100 and my pp (2 hours after meals) never goes higher than 120 anymore.

But if I were to take a GTT my bg would SOAR, I'm sure. There would be no point in doing this - I already know I have diabetes and I know what I need to do to control it.

Like I said, if there is a valid reason that your doctor wants you to have this test, then by all means have it. But if not, tell your doctor that your preference is to attempt control with diet and excercise (if possible) and continue the efforts you have already been making.

By the way, the RD and DE both told me that the Adkins and South Beach diets are bad diets to be on. At my next diabetes class on the 17th, I am going to ask them why. Both diets appear to be popular in this forum.

I happen to agree with this - I think its VERY dangerous for a diabetic to consume more than 30% of daily calories as protein. It is possible for most T2 diabetics to gain control and still eat about 40-50% of calories as carbs.

In Rita's case, Southbeach phase 1 is already over - and the carb-addiction should have somewhat subsided. At this point, it might be better to eat a diet of 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 30% fat.

I have been doing lots of studying on kidney function lately because I have been diagnosed with Nephrotic Syndrome, a general but serious kidney disorder. I am learning so much, specifically about the dangers of overconsumption of protein. And its far worse for diabetics. Most important, if a diabetic still wants to be on a high protein plan, despite the warnings against it, it is CRITICAL that they drink at least 96 oz of water per day AND get renal panels and 24 hour urine collections done frequently to monitor kidney function. It is also recommended that you not consume more than 25 grams of protein per meal (so either eat more often, or eat more complex carbs).