If you’re looking for an alternative to the traditional Gestational Diabaetes Test for pregnancy, I hope that sharing my own experience below might help. Keep in mind that I am not a doctor, so be sure to work with your own certified practitioner to develop a plan that is best for you.
My Gestational Diabetes Test
If you followed along with my first pregnancy, you’ll recall that I was required to consume the neon-orange colored glucose drink not once, but twice, to test for gestational diabetes. I failed my first test by a few points, so I had to follow that one up with the 3-hour test, which is even worse! Luckily, I passed my 3-hour test with flying colors, but I nearly fainted during the process.
During my second pregnancy, I was determined to find a better way! Though I worked with a very traditional doctor for my next pregnancy, she was open minded to trying an alternative as long as it would be accurate. (See the other alternatives towards the bottom of this post, which my doctor did not consider an accurate measure for gestational diabetes.)
My Alternative Gestational Diabetes Test
Instead of consuming the glucose drink, my doctor recommended that I test my blood sugar four times a day using a glucose monitor. I did this every day for one week, when I hit the 30-week-mark in my pregnancy.
What I love about this approach is that I get to see how my body handles the real food I eat on an everyday basis, which seems like it will provide a more accurate result compared to drinking a glucose beverage that I would have never chosen on my own.
The only downside is that I hate needles, and poking my finger 4 times a day isn’t fun. But, after the first few times I’ve finally gotten the hang of it and it really isn’t that bad. This alternative simply involves testing my blood first thing in the morning (to get my fasting number), and then I have to test it again 2 hours after each meal, for a total of 4 times each day.
What Happens if you Decline the Gestational Diabetes Test?
After talking to my doctor, testing my blood sugar like this is what I would have to do if I were to skip test for gestational diabetes all together. They would treat me as if I had diabetes to be on the safe side, and I’d have to test my blood sugar 4 times a day until I gave birth.
The only issue I’ve had with this method is that during this pregnancy, I tend to graze all day long. So, I have to consciously NOT eat so that I have 2 hours for my body to process the food I’ve consumed and can get an accurate blood sugar reading. To accommodate the test, I drink my morning smoothie and eat my mid-morning snack of raw nuts all at the same time, so that my body won’t get too hungry while I wait the 2 hours before testing.
How Different Foods Affect My Blood Glucose Levels
As it turns out, my glucose numbers are perfect, so I’ve started having a little bit of “fun” while I have this glucose monitor and must poke my finger anyway. By fun, I mean I’ve been trying out different food combinations to see how they affect my glucose levels.
For example, yesterday I had an all-fruit meal for breakfast to see if it would spike my blood sugar the way everyone always assumes it will, and in contrast, I had a low-carb breakfast another morning to see how my blood sugar responded to that. Below are my results!
All-Fruit Breakfast
Most experts agree that in a healthy person without diabetes, your blood sugar will spike (regardless of what you eat) 45 minutes to an hour after a meal. This is why you test 2 hours after a meal, because your blood sugar should return to normal by then. I’ve always been taught that fruit digests faster than any other food, and according to my glucose numbers, that theory is correct.
My glucose reading after the all-fruit meal, which contained a whopping 92 grams of natural sugar, was by far the lowest glucose number I’ve had all week! I assume that’s because my body was able to process the natural sugar and get it out of my blood stream as quickly as it had entered. This number is actually borderline low, and my body was definitely telling me it wanted more food at this point, but I waited the full 2 hours post-meal because I wanted to be as consistent as possible with these readings.
This is why I don’t fear fruit. I am curious to see what would happen to my blood sugar if I ate 92 grams of refined sugar in one sitting, but at the same time, I don’t necessarily want to do that to my body or baby to find out. Although, on a side note, when I took the 3-hour glucose test during my first pregnancy, my blood sugar wasn’t nearly that low at the 2-hour mark, so my body definitely struggled to get that processed sugar out of my blood stream when compared to my all-fruit meal above.
Low-Carb Breakfast
To compare and contrast with the all-fruit meal, I had a low-carb breakfast the following morning which had only 4 grams of sugar, naturally found in the eggs and cheese. My glucose reading was about average after this meal, not any lower than other normal meals I had eaten this week (94 has been my average post-meal reading).
I found this interesting since the whole meal consisted of only 5 grams of carbohydrates and my other meals are much higher in carbs. I wonder if the higher fat content kept even that small amount of sugar in my blood stream longer, as I’ve read that fat could be a culprit behind higher blood sugar readings.
Turkey Wrap Lunch
Out of curiosity, I’ve also tried to eat some typical lunches, like a turkey sandwich wrapped up in a tortilla, which contained decent amount of carbs, protein, and fat. I’ve had a busy week running errands over my lunch break, so I picked up this wrap at Whole Foods– it’s made to order with warm turkey, field greens, tomato, red pepper, and avocado wrapped up in a large spinach tortilla.
Out of all my meals, this one left me with the highest glucose reading I’ve had all week. (Though any reading under 120 is considered perfectly fine as a post-meal glucose reading when testing for gestational diabetes.)
Why It’s Important To Keep Monitoring Blood Sugar
To be on the safe side, my doctor asked me to continue testing my blood sugar every few weeks until the baby was born. I love that this alternative test allowed for me to continue monitoring my blood sugar levels throughout the rest of my pregnancy, since gestational diabetes can develop late in the game. Luckily, that wasn’t the case for me and I went on to have a healthy, unmedicated childbirth. (You can read my first birth story here, and my second birth story here.)
Other Glucose Test Alternatives
In case you’re curious, here are some other alternatives to the glucose test that I discussed with my doctor, along with why she doesn’t recommend them:
A1c Blood Test. This blood test can give you a look at your blood sugar level average over the last 3 months or so, which is great for testing for diabetes in non-pregnant people. The reason why my doctor doesn’t like this test for determining gestational diabetes, is that this condition typically won’t show up until much later in pregnancy. In fact, that’s why she didn’t even want me to test my blood sugar until I was 30 weeks along, because gestational diabetes might not make an appearance until the last 8 to 10 weeks of pregnancy. So, it doesn’t really matter what my blood sugar average has been over the last 3 months– I could still develop diabetes and it could go undiagnosed if we relied on the A1c test.
Eating an equivalent amount of glucose in food or fresh juice. I’ve heard that some midwives will let their clients eat a certain amount of grapes, orange juice, or jelly beans to get to the 50g of glucose found in the standard orange drink. My doctor wasn’t comfortable with that idea, because she felt there were too many variables involved. Since food can vary, she was afraid I’d be eating too much or too little sugar and wind up with an inaccurate result– which could potentially lead to undiagnosed diabetes, or falsely diagnosed diabetes, neither of which is ideal.
Dye-Free Glucose Tolerance Drink
I hope you all find this post useful, and that it might help any pregnant women in the future know that there are alternatives to the neon-orange glucose drink, even if you have a very traditional mainstream doctor. If nothing else, I learned this time around that they do make a dye-free drink— which would make me feel a little better about drinking it 3 years ago. Why don’t they make that the standard?
How to Pass the Glucose Tolerance Test for Pregnancy
If you have no choice but to take the glucose test, I’ll pass on this tip that my doctor shared with me: Rather than eating a low-carb meal before you take the test, as so many doctors recommend, she actually recommends eating a low-fat, higher-carb meal because the body seems to respond to the test better that way. (Possibly because the blood clears out simple sugars faster than it does fat, as shown by my numbers above?)
Since false positives are fairly common with the one-hour glucose test, I wonder if this tip might help to avoid that. Also, it’s not uncommon for fasting numbers to be higher than post-meal numbers, so if I had to do it again, I would definitely eat something 2 hours before taking the one-hour test. (You must fast for the 3-hour one, so it’s not an option there.) I fasted for my one-hour test the last time, and failed it by one or two measly points, but went on to pass my 3-hour test with flying colors.
Reader Feedback: If you’ve ever been pregnant, did your doctor offer you an alternative to the glucose test? I’d love to hear if there are any other options available!
I had a midwife (hospital birth) for my second baby and that test was optional to do. You have to be healthy, low risk snd have normal blood pressure but they didn’t pressure us at all. For my first I had an OB and I did drink it for the test but I never even thought to ask if it was optional at all. I’m not sure if it is optional because we don’t deal with health insurance companies since in Canada we havr free health care, interesting though. All the best in the rest of your pregnancy.
Why not just decline the test of have not had any risk factors or better yet opt for a home birth? You eat extremely healthy. I’m delivering any day now with baby number 6 and I’ve declined the test in 4 different states under the care of doctors and midwives. I’d never consume such an awful drink. I took a hypoglycemic test once which is quit similar and it was grueling. But sound while pregnant seems insane. At least with the machine you are getting some more accurate reading, but one can over analyze it all and miss all joy of being pregnant. Just my thoughts!
I have a friend in New York who was kicked out of her doctor’s practice for declining the test, and then she had no choice but to have a home birth because no other doctor would have her without taking the glucose drink. I personally don’t want to have a home birth, though I have a few friends who prefer it that way. To each their own! I actually relax more at the hospital, so that’s where I prefer to give birth, especially after my perfect experience last time around. Congrats on your newest baby!!
As someone who had GD, I was prepared to go nuts after reading this post, but your alternative method is actually a good one! I had absolutely no risk factors, healthy diet, perfect weight gain, exercise, and honestly didn’t even crave sugar when I was pregnant, yet had it not been for a test, I would have missed something so important. I’ve read a lot of bloggers suggesting to eat something else instead, but the orange stuff provides a controlled amount of glucose. Yes, they should work on standardizing something much healthier to consume, but I do NOT agree when I hear that “oh, my midwife said I could ditch the test because I have no risk factors” or “I just ate oatmeal instead.”
GD can cause many complications to the placenta and baby at birth and for the rest of his/her life. The risk of missing it is just too much, even if it means a false positive and going through another test. Testing your blood sugar the way someone who is diagnosed would is a good method, though for all the reasons you state (you can’t eat whenever you want) might make it tough for some. Still, if I were to be pregnant again, I would start this early knowing that it’s likely I’d have it again and don’t need to wait for the test.
Just to clarify, my midwives or doctors never suggested that I could decline it as that would be illegal, however, they can inform you that you have a right to decline testing. I declined it based on having taking the test and it literally messed me up and it was negative. As a patient you have the right to decline most, if not all of the testing offered. Let’s remember, that in other parts of the world they fare just fine in pregnancy as it is a natural process that God created. I am very comfortable with my trust fully in Him for this process to go well. I’ve delivered in hospitals with and without intervention and others at home. My greatest concern is women not be bullied but rather have the birth they would like to have. I’m happy for you that the test had a positive outcome, I just have a totally different perspective on American medicine, the body, soul and mind putting my trust first and foremost in my maker!
“Let’s remember that in other parts of the world they fare just fine in pregnancy as it is a natural process that God created.”
5/100 births result in death of the baby within 4 weeks. 1/200 births result in death of the mother.
No argument that God created the process. How comfortable are we with babies and moms heading home to him? Are we prepared to take care of that many orphans when mom leaves her other children behind? Imagine if out of every 200 families, the kids were orphaned. Apply that to your high school class. That’s an awful lot.
I totally agree with you, Julie!
I had a hospital birth with a midwife and was not only offered, but encouraged to do the four times daily blood test over the drink. I had to do it twice during my pregnancy. And, like you I found it a great way to experiment with how different foods impacted me and what best balanced my blood sugar. Win-win: no terrible drink and I learned a lot!
Your posts are always fantastic, but having been diabetic for years, I just wanted to point out a common misconception. While simple sugars like fruit, chocolate, sugar or honey reach their peak in your body at 1 hour, a normal meal consisting of carbs, fat and protein takes about 2 hours. In the case of a full balanced meal, it takes about 4 hours for blood sugar levels to return to normal.
That is hugely interesting and encouraging. I didn’t even think to carb up the week before. I thought being in ketosis and having increased insulin sensitivity would insulate me from a giant shot of sugar. I was hopefully wrong and everything is fine. I’m weighing and tracking all my food starting tonight and checking my blood sugar fasting and after every meal. Experiment time!!! I’ll update this post in a few weeks and we’ll see how it goes. Im going to do some research into the reliability of the test. Thank you so much, sincerely.
I’m due for the test in a few weeks and was so sick having it with my first child. I also do not like all those chemicals!!!! My Dr will not do any alternatives!
I knew a woman who had to consume 2 pieces of white wonder bread before her glucose test, instead of ingesting the liquid! Apparently 2 slices of white wonder bread has more sugar than fruit and a lot of candy bars. Not sure what came of that but it’s just kind of interesting.
Great info! Thank you for taking your time to spread this info. Signed Doula turned Midwife in training
Love this post! With my first, my doctor was completely supportive of my natural birth plan but encouraged me to just suck it up and do the hour glucose test drink against my better judgment (they did offer the dye free one). He had been so easy going with my every request that I decided to go along with it but just knew I would fail based on the fact that my body would have no idea how to handle that much processed sugar in one sitting! As I suspected I failed miserably and after letting him know I wasn’t comfortable with the 3 hour test he gladly suggested the glucose monitor method. While I showed no symptoms of gestational diabetes he stressed how important it was to be certain and if he couldn’t clear it on my file I’d be treated as if I had gestational diabetes when I got to the Hospital – certainly not what I wanted. I’m 24 weeks pregnant and this second time around will skip the drink all together!
It’s interesting to hear how this works in the States! I’m in my 3rd pregnancy in Switzerland, and have taken the glucose test every time around 24 weeks. Here, though, it starts with a fasting blood draw at 8 am, after which you have to drink (and eat, the mixture is so thick!) the glucose in 5 minutes. It’s undyed and unflavored, although my doctor allows her assistants to add lemon to it. There are 2 more blood draws, one 1 hour after finishing and one 2 hours after. I’d love to skip it, but my husband worked in diabetology and knows too much about all the risks. 🙂
I was diagnosed with GD while pregnant with my son about two years ago after failing the 1-hour glucose test by 4 points and getting sick during the 3-hour test. I had no other risk factors (no family history of diabetes, I was healthy, thin and very active, and had only gained a few pregnancy pounds), so needless to say, I was shocked. Having to schedule my food intake around the testing times and pricking my fingers 4 times a day for 12 weeks was awful, but in the end it really opened my eyes as to how food affects my body and my husband and I COMPLETELY changed our diets because of it. We now eat way less carbs and sugar and try to eat vegan when we cook at home, so I am so thankful for websites and cookbooks like yours! I’ll definitely ask my doctor about skipping the horrible drink and doing the glucose test the way you are if I have another child.
I just had a baby (in Winnipeg, Canada) and declined the gestational diabetes test as it made me sick last time and I’m low risk. I am glad to hear that your doctor gave you another option but I can’t help but feel annoyed by the system. If one is informed of the risk of declining a test and still chooses to decline, how is this not acceptable? Is it that health insurance won’t cover you if you decline tests? We own our own bodies bodies and should be allowed to make decisions of what goes into and/or is done to them.
This is life changing. I ate SO healthy during my pregnancy (I didn’t even eat an ounce of sugar until the last 2 weeks…surprising coming from me, i know!), and I cringed when I read the ingredients in the glucose drink. And worst of all–I got the red one. All I could think about was RED DYE. I was heart-broken to have to drink it. Next time, I’m insisting that I will not drink that disgusting drink full of preservatives and dyes. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS <3
They say that in the second trimester (when moms typically feel beat) that they should start making and freezing meals for when baby comes. When I had my son I didn’t do this because my husband said he would do all the cooking. Little did I know how ravenous I. Would be. I ended up eating not so good food merely because I had the most insatiable appetite. (Lots of bread) I had never been so hungry ever. Do you do any meals before the date? What are ur recommendations to have bountiful meals that are both a. Cost effective. B.Instant freezer meals And c.Filling? I know you’ve done freezer meals before but postpartum freezer meals are a bit different because you need to eat all the time.
I didn’t make any of the freezer meals I had planned to my first time around because my son arrived too early! I agree– postpartum is the hungriest I’ve ever been in my entire life. I pretty much survived on the most calorie-dense smoothies I could make along with these Date Energy Balls that I would keep in the freezer for anytime I needed a snack! This time around I’ve actually already got freezer meals stocked up because my second cookbook focuses on budget-friendly fast meals– many of which I’ve tested as freezer and slow cooker meals. Unfortunately, my publisher won’t let me share those recipes yet, so I have to wait until February when the book releases! But a few recipes on my site that currently freeze well are my Cauliflower Pizza Crust (I always have at least 2 crusts in my freezer for a quick meal), along with my Cauliflower Fried Rice, Sweet Potato Noodles, and Coconut Curry, which have freezer directions here: https://detoxinista.com/2015/09/easy-vegetarian-freezer-meals/
You might also want to make a few salad dressings ahead of time and freeze those, because I found myself craving salads and wraps last time, and they are super easy and fast to prepare if you have a dressing ready to go. My favorites are the Raw Apple Cider Vinaigrette and Creamy Tahini Dressing. Hope that helps!
I did a mostly soup diet after my first birth. Lots of beet soup, veggie soup, what have you. It was pretty satisfying, easy to digest, and helped me stay more hydrated with all the nursing and blood loss. (I also had a hemorrhage during the birth in addition to normal postpartum bleeding so needed to stock up on iron and liquids.) In Chinese medicine, this is a time when you need to stay warm for your body to heal, and soups and stews helped with that. They would be easy to do in a slow cooker or prep beforehand and freeze. Also easy to eat from a mug when I had to.
I just had my 8th baby and I am 39. So I am considered a more risky pregnancy. I was able to find a midwife with this baby and it was such a blessing! I too shared my concerns with her about the glucose test and they let me do the glucose testing at home as well for 2 weeks. Hopefully as more and more women voice their concerns for that nasty orange drink more docs will realize how unhealthy and ridiculous it is! With my previous children I drank the nasty stuff without even a thought. It is a shame how brainwashed and thoughtless we are as a society. It is time for an awakening.
When I was pregnant, all processed sweets made me sick (even homemade ones). Even the thought of drinking the sugary dyed syrup made me want to puke. My midwife was totally fine with me not doing this test, and instead I did a fasting blood draw, went and had breakfast, then came back two hours post breakfast for another blood draw. That was it. I’m sure if I had started showing any signs of gestational diabetes after that, she would have re-checked, but all else went pretty well.
My midwife suggested the same thing for my 3rd baby (after taking the orange drink for baby 1 and 2)–I did the fasting glucose and then 2 hours after each meal and I kept a detailed food journal which was very interesting. I started experimenting as well with different foods. She had wanted to monitor my results for two weeks, but they were such good readings that after a week she said I could stop. Now I’m nearly to 30 weeks with baby #4 and definitely will do the same thing. I agree that this is a very accurate way to monitor blood sugar levels as long as you’re eating the way you normally do!…and much safer than just declining any testing altogether. Thanks for your website–I’ve been loving your recipes!
I told my OB that I didn’t want to drink that stuff, since glucose gives me migraines. No problem, she said. She just had me do a fasting blood test (i.e. no breakfast, get blood drawn in the morning). I was worried about my results because I’d been craving fruit and orange juice all through the second trimester, but my numbers were perfectly normal. This doctor is a regular OB-GYN at a regular hospital albeit in a Seattle suburb, so maybe there’s a bit of an east coast/west coast divide.
Hi Megan. My name is Lisa. I am on my 8th baby (23 weeks almost). Things are going fairly well. I am 46 years old always having gestational diabetes with every pregnancy. They are not requiring the glucose test at my request. I’ve been testing my sugars 4 times daily. The only issue I’m having is with my fasting numbers…just slightly high. I DONT , I repeat DONT WANT TO HAVE TO TAKE MEDS :).
I’m not up to 1/3 of the numbers high where they start being concerned, but I’m close. Starting tonight I’m going to start taking a 30 minute walk in the evening and for a bedtime snack I’m going to eat a baby bel and 1/2 cup low glycemic full fat premium ice cream with a handful of almonds on top. And right before I head to bed I’m going to take 2 T ACV. Can you give me some input and or tips that might help me. Thank you Megan 🙂
This is a wonderful post!! I took the first glucose test & failed it, which seems to be the norm for many women! This lead me to get informed about the risks associated with GD. I too feel our society is broken in the way we fear monger & standardize procedures that are never questioned, just obeyed. I’ll be declining the second (2hr test here in Canada) & opting to test my own blood sugars at home. I wonder if they’ve ever ran statistics on the detriments of micromanaging & scaring pregnant women into conforming to their procedures? Thank you for this!!
I seriously love this post! I had to come back and read this again after hearing an interview with the author of Wheat Belly. He is against grains and does not recommend much fruit. Your blood sugar was the lowest after an all fruit meal!! We consume a ton of fruit, greens, oats,beans, pasta and rice. Sometimes it is confusing to hear from the no grains folks. I would love to see you post on the high carb more plant based lifestyle versus the grain free/low sugar or whatever you want to call it lifestyle. I always love to hear your perspective
Very informative :). I’m curious to know what are normal range 1 or 2 hours from the start of the meal. I hate to drink the glucose test and ask to track my glucose level at home instead. I didn’t know I’d have to do that all throughout the pregnancy even if they find out I didnt have gestational diabetes. Thanks for the info!
While I am not completely against people choosing alternatives to the glucose drink I do think what your doctor allowed you to do does NOT give the complete picture and can actually let gestational diabetes go undiagnosed. After having a stillborn son and multiple conversations with the high risk doctor (maternal fetal medicine doctor) I decided to go forward with the glucose drink and so glad I did because now I can share my experience. Taking your blood sugar 4 times a day for only a week is NOT completely accurate to diagnose gestational diabetes. You should continue to monitor throughout your entire pregnancy if you decide to go this route and here is why. I failed my 3 hour glucose test and immediately had to start monitoring 4 times a day. For 4 weeks of monitoring my numbers were ALWAYS within the recommended range. My doctor said this did not mean I did not have gestational diabetes, it just meant that I was able to control it with diet. I was not eating any special diet, I was just making healthy choices like I always do. Well she was absolutely right and about 4 weeks after I started monitoring, my numbers slowly went up to the point they were no longer in range (especially my fasting). She said this was very typical of gestational diabetes, and as your pregnancy progresses it gets harder to control with diet alone because of the hormones. Had I skipped the glucose drink and only monitored my numbers for one week my diagnosis would have been missed. If you decide to skip the drink, PLEASE continue to monitor your levels throughout the rest of your pregnancy. You could miss a very important diagnosis that is dangerous for both you and your baby. After my son was stillborn with no known cause I would never want someone else to lose their baby for something that is preventable.
My doctor didn’t just have me do it for a week. We re-tested every few weeks until the baby was born.
Thanks for your comment. I’m pregnant with my first and haven’t done this test yet. I’m curious, in your opinion, (Erika) why would the orange drink that you take once be better than monitoring for at least a week? Thanks!
I also chose to test my blood for two weeks! I just couldn’t put that sugar and color into my body after trying so hard to eat right for my baby! I loved how it actually turned into a learning experience on how certain things affected my blood sugar. Great to keep mindful of that! Now I have the monitor too, if anyone else in my house wants to use it. My husband has an obsessive Date habit, and wanted to find out how they were affecting his blood sugar, so he tested himself and was able to find out that his blood sugar is great…even when he pounds the dates! Thank you for posting this, as more women should definitely refuse to put that drink into their bodies.
Wow! You’re amazing and dedicated!
So here in Canada if you have a midwife and are choosing a home birth you can opt out any glucose testing. That’s also based on general health. But I’ve refused both times and I’ve been fine. I probably should cut back on my sugar intake this pregnancy. That being said, I always knew the standard glucose testing was weird. Thanks for your post! So informative!
I’m allergic to some artificial food colorings and also to sodium benzoate. Unfortunately, the dye-free fasting glucose test you mentioned still includes the latter…
This is such a great post! I refused to drink the glucose drink with mg 3rd pregnancy. (It actually makes me.incredibly sick and I passed in previous pregnancies with flying colors.) But, my doctor insisted I do something so I ended up bringing in this very specific breakfast and eating it there and then having my blood drawn. 2 eggs, 2 slices of toast with butter , 1 cup or orange juice, and 1 cup of whole milk. I generally don’t drink milk, or orange juice, or toast! Haha but I did it, and it was much a much better option for me. I appreciated them being willing to use real food rather than a bottle of liquid sugar.
Did you Doctor give you the glucose monitoring device? I am in the same position, I really dont want to do the GTT standard test. I never thought to ask my Doctor for an alternative.
Thanks Michelle 🙂
WOW! I would have loved to test my blood sugar like you did, we’ll done. The glucose tests for my three babies made me want to die. I begged my Doctors during the third pregnancy for any alternative with no luck. I have since learned that I malabsorb fructose.
Was not offered any other means of testing, even though I asked. I also failed my 3 hour and typically eat a low carb/low sugar diet. It’s a horrible test to truly diagnose GD.
I too wanted an alternative to the glucose drink. After doing some research online and speaking with my Dr. She allowed me to test my blood sugar 4 times a day for a week, just like you stated. She was happy with my numbers and I was able to avoid the traditional glucose test. I have had it 5 times before but feel its unhealthy so I am about to do my finger prick testing for the 3rd time with baby #8 and I orefer it much more.
Very useful read – thank you!
I have a GTT coming up and worry how my body will cope as I don’t eat processed sugar very often (and I’m often ill when I do).
I’m doing the overnight test – fast from 10pm and then have blood taken at 8am, drink awful beverage rather than black coffee, and have blood taken two hours later. Do you have any tips for passing this test? I’m anxious about a false positive. Would a high carb meal just before 10pm help?
I declined the glucose drink and was provided an alternative plan of checking my levels 4 times a day 1 hour after each meal and before bed for 7 days. I hate needles, I hate blood. I’m really mentally struggling and this test is only 2 weeks away.
I am so very glad you shared this! I have experienced the very same thing and wanted an alternative. Thank you!!
I’ve had gestational diabetes and learned a thing or two over the past couple of years as I try to wars off type 2 diabetes. I need to warm you that your blood sugar result after your fruit breakfast being the lowest is actually not a good sign. If you were to test at 30 mins and 60 mins as well as the 2 hour mark, you’ll see what I mean. I bet you find that your spike is higher than optimal. If you go above 140mg ( 7.8mmol ), they say that is where cell damage starts happening, and the lower 2 hour result just means a larger amount of insulin was shot out (and slightly overshot) to deal with all that fructose, which, by the way, is the sugar that gives us fatty liver. If you keep on with the high sugar, you may find that 2 hour result gets lower and puts you into a hypo range, and then over time, as the pancreas burns out and can’t produce the insulin needed for that amount of sugar, all of your blood sugar results will rise and it will be too late to prevent it. You’re better off now researching insulin resistance and stick to low carb if you want a gulit free piece of fruit into your old age. Low carb is also, iny experience, the best way to lose the baby weight. Just don’t go too hard while you’re still breastfeeding if you want a good supply.
That’s definitely one point of view! Another would be to check out Mastering Diabetes, where they use a high-fruit method to reverse Type 2 diabetes, or manage Type 1 diabetes. There’s all sorts of approaches to managing blood sugar, so it’s definitely not one-size-fits-all.
I have actually heard about that Mastering Diabetes method of high carb low fat too. Most of us would be hopeful that we can avoid diabetes without having to give up all the sweet stuff so I was hoping that would work for me too. But I think it might only be appropriate for T1 diabetics for a number of years if the person is not overweight and hasn’t already got insulin resistance.
And then I also think of Professor Tim Noakes? (a South African scientist, and an emeritus professor in the Division of Exercise Science and Sports Medicine) who was eating (and endorsing) a high carb low fat diet while running marathons, and he ended up prediabetic and has now changed completely to support the low carb high fat way of eating.
I also have read that sugars, which means carbs, fructose included, will feed cancers, and didn’t Steve Jobs die of pancreatic cancer while drinking nothing but apple and carrot juice?
Personally, I think not overeating is the first step, and not being too extreme unless you are already extremely ill, is probably sensible. There are people who live to 100yo who still eat a bowl of pasta with cheese on top and whatever fruit they like, so if you don’t overdo it, you give yourself more time to enjoy the variety, provided you stick to mostly real foods.
I was grazing a lot myself, even though I was not overweight until I started having babies, and I can tell you that eating little bits all the time also destroys your teeth! It did mine anyway. So far I’ve had good success by going lower carb. After almost 2 years I find I can eat the odd carb meal again and it doesn’t seem to spike me too much now. But I will probably err on the low carb side of things or cycle between the two from now on.
If fats and carbs together in high amounts are the biggest problem, you just have to avoid putting cream on all that fruit 😉
Hi, thank you so much for sharing but unfortunately my Dr didnt discuss any other alternatives. However I did read from another Mother about the Hemaglobin A1C test which my Dr didnt offer as an alternative. Except that a fasting GL test was the only option as I had tested G.D from my last pregnancy so I think I will be doing a high carb low fat breakfast 2 hrs before my GL test this time round. Thanks for the tip.
I fainted after the orange drink with both pregnancies. The Dr. & phlebotomists told me that the drink wasn’t causing this. I’m glad to hear that you had this result also. I feel that I did have gestational diabetes but it went undiagnosed, despite doing that test. I wish I would have been offered the alternative. Thanks for your article.
Hey Megan!!
I love your blog and have used so many of your recipes over the years!!
My name is Katelyn and I am the founder of a company called Glucoganics. We are the only certified organic alternative beverage for the glucose tolerance test. We only use 3 ingredients (organic sugar, organic lemon juice, and water) and are packaged in glass!
I would love for your readers to know about this option to empower them to have the pregnancy they deserve! Please let me know if I can offer a discount code 🙂
Best,
Katelyn
I’d love a discount code please!
My OB ordered an early glucose test at my 12-week appointment. Annoyingly, he added that test to my checkout sheet and then handed it back to me without discussing. I have about a week and a half before I go in and I’m so upset that he didn’t even discuss it with me. My risk factors are obesity and being 35 years old. My previous pregnancy, I had a large babe but passed two glucose tests in later pregnancy with flying colors. I’m strongly considering declining such an early test as I feel like it is so premature! Thoughts?
Hello all!! I am due for the glucose test but my dr agreed to let me have it done at home(poking my finger 4 times a day for 4 weeks)and I could not be happier this way. I have been analyzing my levels one hour after each meal, and the average is 110-120. I should try some days two hours after meals. One night it was high, I ate icecream, and it completely spiked the level. I should have had less than 140 but mine was 156. My question is, the average number during these 4 weeks counts or the fact that I spiked one night/reading then I have GD? Please, I would appreciate an advice/opinion/suggestion. I am a super healthy eater, I even made cookies at home just with banana, apples and almond flour and the number was lower than ever. I am also afraid to tell the dr because it is a liability for them and I do not want to have me done the glucose test and crazy medication afterwards, but ai can definitely diet on my own. Thank you so much.
This was an interesting read! Im 24 weeks pregnant at the moment, and my maternity health care practitioner has not offered my an alternative. I’ve known for years that if I ever get pregnant, the glucose test will be a big problem for me. I Live in Finland, and the standard procedure here is the 3 hour test in the morning after fasting for about 10 hours before.
I’ve previously reacted very badly to sugary drinks on an empty stomach, and in those cases it’s just been a soda after not having eaten for a few hours. This resulted in me being very close to passing out and having to sit with my head between my knees to regain full consciousness. Needless to say, I fear that drinking a large amount of glucose first thing in the morning would actually have me passing out. I’m afraid that either me passing out or just the extremely rapid and dramatic changes to my blood sugar levels would be harmful to either baby, me or both of us. My maternity health care practitioner was not interested in my concerns and said this could not be done in any other way. I was so upset when she told me this I could not really gather myself enough to find the right arguments.
But as I remember that I’ve heard before that there is the alternative of testing your glucose levels at home I’ve decided to pursue this. She still does not like that I refuse to go to the glucose test but on my suggestion she gave me the instructions for blood sugar testing that is given to expectant mothers already diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I’m actually not sure this is the ultimate way to test blood sugars in my situation, but I’ll at least start with them.
I found it interesting to read about your experiments. The low level of blood sugar that you had after an all-fruit meal sounds logical to me. I’m sensitive to low blood sugar and have learned that I always need to include fat in every meal, otherwise I will be hungry again in an hour. My experience is that a high intake of sugars without any proteins or fat will make my blood sugar rise quickly, which sends my insuline rushing to correct it. In my case, my body responds so effectively to a rapid rise in blood sugar that my level of blood sugar will actually drop to a level lower than the starting point – and this is why sugar on an empty stomach makes me dizzy and close to fainting. Naturally I quickly drew my conclusions after the second incident of this, and for years I’ve been very careful not to eat or especially drink sugars on an empty stomach. This keeps my mood and more level and spares me a lot of dizziness and nausea. Going through the glucose test feels very unhealthy for someone who has actively been avoiding these types of situations out of health concerns for years.
Hemoglobin A1C Testing is a draw that monitors blood sugar levels over a three month period. It has been used as an alternative to the normal Glucose testing and is routinely used for those with Diabetes outside of pregnancy. This was the best option for me and should’t be ignored. Your doctor wasn’t right in the other denials of alternatives but glad you poked your finger enough for one week to find what was best for you.
I see that you say low fat and high carb to attempt to pass the 1-hr test. What kind of foods do you recommend for that. I tried googling but most things on Google are recommending high fat and low carb. Thank you!