I have a question and Im hoping someone can shed some light on this for me. My appt with a Dietician is not for a while and I would like some answers now. With my first pregnancy, I failed the one hour glucose test so they referred me to the 3 hour test. They told me to eat a diet filled with carbs and I did that and passed the three hour test. Now with my third pregnanct, I failed the one hour test. I forgot how long they told me I should not eat for and I ate at noon and my test was at three. I also ate something really small, I think a small croissant with a piece of turkey. So my first question is did my glucose level go up because I took the test three hours after eating something really small?? My other question is that they didnt instruct me to carb load for the three hour test this time (different Dr) so I actually ate very little the day before bc I was so stressed. I ended up with a normal fasting score of 89 but failed all the other scores afterwards. Now I am diagnosed with GD bc my scores were so high. Any input will be appreciated.

There are many factors that determine your blood glucose readings - insulin sensitivity (which tends to increase after exercise, but can DECREASE if your exercise is particularly stressful), hormone activity, (Cortisol, DHEA, estrogen, testosterone and others), your overall stress level, and rate of stomach emptying (full digestive pattern). And, of course, knowing that you BG level will NEVER be constant at one measure throughout the day.

Based on your readings, what are you particularly concerned about? Your cortisol does not necessarily decrease (much) in the morning if those levels are high. Could be your cortisol dropped by the time you had lunch.

I wonder what you're really trying to achieve by measuring your glucose. I get you're saying you want to know how carbs affect you, but sometimes folks get a bit carried away with the numbers, especially if they do NOT have diabetes. The best thing is to keep a journal and note ALL of the effects, including emotional, hunger signals, etc.

What does "more carbs than usual" mean, and what was the source of that carbohydrate? Remember that carbs are not the only macronutrient to affect BG. Protein has an effect as well, and FAT very little.

The eating of 150g of carbs prior to testing does not apply to using a glucose meter. That is just in preparation for a glucose tolerance test in which you drink a formula that is many times more carbs than you are used to eating (and are therefore resistant to processing). So forget about carb loading before you test. Most non-diabetics have a fasting blood sugar in the 80's or low 90's, though some long term low carbers may be around 100, but don't go much higher. In general, a non-diabetic will have a sugar level of 120 or less two hours after eating. To see how you are doing, or to test for how your body handles a particular food, test before you eat it and then again at one hour and at two hours after eating.

I have been diabetic for 26 years and, due to a very low carb version of "paleo" now have fasting blood sugars in the 80's and rarely go above 110 (but it took over two years of eating this way to achieve that).

David makes a very good point about how long it takes for BG to stabilize after implementing dietary changes. Since you don't have diabetes Laura, it's going to take some detective work for more than one day, and at varying daily carb levels (of non-grain based carbs) to find out how your body really reacts.

Since you don't have diabetes, you might consider working with some of the carb levels defined in Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint. It's going to take several months to find the level that works for you that you're happy doing for the long haul.

And, since you are a woman, your monthly cycle WILL have an effect on the values you get as well as how you feel in general. If you're up to the task, set aside 1 month of eating at 1 carb level, then cycle down for another month, etc. until you reach the level that you feel good and get numbers that work for you, bearing in mind all that I told you above of the factors that go into your BG level. Also know that every home BG monitor is off by up to 20%. Laboratory meters are have a 7-10% error/variance.