Glucose Tolerance Test

[Bojibelle]

I will finish the Whole30 today, August 30, and feel amazing.  My goal was to get my cholesterol down and I will find out soon enough.  Right before I started my doc (who actually practices and understands Paleo) wanted to do a Glucose Tolerance Test because she believes there may be connection with managing blood sugar and my cholesterol. I told her I was doing the Whole30 and would like to wait until after I finish. I take the test on Sept 12.  Do I keep doing Whole30 until that time or should I start adding things back in? Or should I complete the reintro phase before I do the test?

 

And if I do choose to reintroduce, is it important to do something at each meal?  

[GFChris]

I would keep doing the Whole30 until your test is complete. Then reintro. 

 

When you reintro, yes, the idea is to have the reintro the food in question at each of your 3 meals that day, keeping the rest of the day Whole30 compliant. Then, eat 100% Whole30 for two days, and then reintro the next item in question, and so on.

[Bojibelle]

Thanks for the input.  I will add 13 more days on.  Even though I bought some really good goat cheese to try.   But if the first thing I go to after Whole30 is sugar with Glucose Tolerance Test (you drink a bunch of sugar water and they monitor your response) that seems like it will mess with everything else when I add it back in. Thoughts?

[GFChris]

I think if you eat Whole30 for 2 days after you have the sugar water, you should be good to go for your reintros.

[Tallulah Wolf-Angel]

I have been reading some blog entries about pregnant paleo women who have to take a glucose tolerance test to make sure they don't give their babies gestational diabetes. I realize you aren't taking the test for this reason, and maybe the test you get will be a different one, but you should be aware that eating paleo may skew the results of your glucose tolerance test. Here's a link to an article on Mark's Daily Apple: http://robbwolf.com/2010/09/06/gestational-diabetes-what-constitutes-low-blood-sugar/  

 

In case you get a troubling test result, maybe you could point your doc in the direction of this article.

 

Good luck!

[Renee Lee]

Personally, pregnant or not, I would do everything in my power to avoid a GTT. Chris Kresser's talked about the shock that such a concentrated dose of glucose can give your body. It's just not healthy.

There are better indicators out there. A1C's a pretty good one, which measures the amount of glucose attached to your hemoglobin. Because hemoglobin cells live for 3 months. It's a pretty good indicator of blood sugar control over time.

Note: there's been some evidence to suggest that eating long term Paleo/Whole30 will extend the life of your hemoglobin (which is good), but that means they're around in your body longer, so they'll pick up more glucose over time than normal, so the number can look a little more elevated than you'd expect.

Other options would be tracking your own blood sugar levels with a glucometer for however long your doc would want. Etc. whatever you and the doc are most comfortable with!

[Bet]

I have some blood sugar issues and the doctor wanted to do a glucose test. I was wary because of the information from Chris Kresser linked above. So I bought a glucometer and some strips and tested on my own. You can do your FBG when you get up and then and hour and then two hours after each meal. If you are eating healthy, you should be fine. But drinking a glass of glucose is not really a good test. Who does that regularly?

 

Here is a link to how to use a glucometer to test your blood sugar http://chriskresser.com/how-to-prevent-diabetes-and-heart-disease-for-16

 

And here is his thoughs on the OGTT

 

The other problem with the OGTT is that it's completely artificial. I don't know anyone who drinks a pure solution of 75 grams of glucose. A 32-oz Big Gulp from 7-11 has 96 grams of sugar, but 55% of that is fructose, which produces a different effect on blood sugar. The OGTT can be a brutal test for someone with impaired glucose tolerance, producing intense blood sugar swings far greater than what one would experience from eating carbohydrates.

 

http://chriskresser.com/when-your-normal-blood-sugar-isnt-normal-part-1

[Bojibelle]

Thank you all for your input.  After reading Chris Kresser's articles, I will not have the OGTT. Before I started Whole30, I knew that sugar was my big achilles heel.  There are numbers in my lab work-up history that shows changes and not for the good so it is important for me to figure that out. I will let her know that I would like to use the glucometer approach.  

 

And tomorrow I will start reintroduction.