Some DIY health experiments are risky and even downright dangerous. Eating a high glycemic index breakfast and measuring your blood sugar a half-dozen times afterwards is not one of them. If you check my posting history you'll see that every time I have suggested that someone investigate iron supplementation I also urge them to see their doctor and get their ferritin tested, since taking oral iron willy-nilly can be quite dangerous for some people. I do not care for the implication that I am endangering the health of other members here simply by sharing information and advice.

Hi Dianyla,

I respect that you are trying to help people with your advice but this is just patently false. While severe reactions during GTTs are rare, they can and do happen. First, you recommended a glucose tolerance test; that is NOT the same thing as a high glycemic-index breakfast followed by testing. Since you've talked about trying the test with glucose in this thread I don't think it's hard to be confused about your actual recommendation. I think that Triskeliongirl's original post recommended something quite different -- testing response to a reasonable meal -- which may give you some insight into how you respond to real foods but it is quite different since you have to digest and metabolize the food.

You were looking for hyperglycemia, but another possible outcome is hypoglycemia, which can vary from asymptomatic to deadly. And while the latter is very unlikely, it is quite possible to have a severe reaction. Some people produce too much insulin especially in response to a large quantity of simple sugars and can see a huge drop in their blood sugar after an initial climb. Risk of a hypoglycemic reaction can also be increased by numerous common medications, alcohol consumption (which you may still be metabolizing from the previous night), exercise within 24 hours prior, the carbohydrates you were consuming in the days prior to the test, etc. etc. etc. There is a reason your Dr. doesn't just send you home with glucose and a meter to do these tests.

Beyond the test itself, I think the biggest danger is self-testing/diagnosis without involvement of a medical Dr.; I've seen a lot of people harm themselves by doing this sort of experiment and either 1) determining that they don't have a problem when they do or 2) deciding that they understand and can control a problem they 'detect' without seeing the big picture.

My two cents.

Anne