When to do blood glucose testing


(Lisa) #1

So wanting a schedule to work out how my insulin is at work.
So would you recommend a blood glucose test first thing in the morning?
And I’m keen to see what foods are a problem for me and heard you should test blood glucose before eating the said food then 1 hour and 2 hours after eating or can just at 2 hours be ok?
I’m guessing in this time frame no other foods should be eaten so the results are clearer.
Thanks for your help in advance.


(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #2

I usually test before eating, and 1, 2, and 4 hours after.

And yes, nothing but water while waiting.


(Bob M) #3

Testing in the morning is good, but might be (will be?) higher then than during the day or at night. Take a look at this, which is from my Free Style Libre continuous glucose monitor:

I have months of similar data. (To get US units, multiply by 18, so 5.3 = 95.4; also these are better for trends than exact numbers.) Basically, my blood sugar starts higher in the morning, goes up until somewhere close to noon, then goes down all day until the night time.

As for how often to measure, it depends. To show you Thanksgiving, the first peak of 9.7 (=175) occurred at about 1:15 pm, each line represents one hour. For me, the entire peak was less than or about one hour. The first peak was potatoes, bread, etc. The subsequent peak was dessert.

That was 2017’s Thanksgiving.


(57 yo female started keto Jul '19) #4

I’d do it every 30 minutes to begin with.

The duration of the peak depends on your body’s ability to stuff away glucose. If you’re T2D, it takes relatively long for your body to get back to the ‘baseline’ glucose value after the peak. @richard has a nice step-by-step description on how to do it. It encompasses three or more measurements (more if the peak takes longer):


(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #5

I’ve found that depending on how much protein I eat my peak can be later, and can take 3-4 hours to come down. I am not T2D!


(Mary F) #6

I’m pre/real-diabetic & just got my meter. Find these guidelines for testing helpful as I launch into eating Keto. I have a lot to learn. Thanks!