Best time to test?

Hi hanadr,

I'm a type 1 and usually test 1 hour after meals, although the advice I was given by
my doctor (and hand on to others on the forum) is to test 2 hours after eating.

I find I can keep quite tight control if I test 1 hour after and then snack accordingly.

Regards,
timo.

Hi Hana,
It really depends what you are testing for. A test at 1 hour after eating will show you what your BG has gone up to, but at 2 hours it will show you what it has come down to. Depends on whether your testing is intended to show the effect that different foods have on your BG (1 hour) or how effective your insulin/medication is in dealing with the load (2 hours).

I think it depends on the type of meal and also as Dennis said what your purpose is in testing.
I listened to doctor Jovanovic's lecture. Whilst she discusses the carbohydrate content of the meal she doesn't mention whether there was any fat or protein in the meal. If it was high carb percentage or ( as it could have been) almost total carb, the post prandial response would have been quicker.
For my self I know that if I eat a meal with a high fat content I have a plateau phase after eating, followed by a dip , which is in turn followed by a rise. The highest BS might be at 3 hours or even later.

Similarly we don't know how long it took to eat the meal. I have read somewhere that in the US the speed of eating a meal is significantly faster than in other parts of the world .I also don't feel eating in a clinical setting would be conducive to a leisurely meal. This would perhaps make a difference to the timing of the pp peak.
I ate a lunch in a restaurant yesterday it was simply a starter and a main course. I started a midday and finished my coffee just before 2pm. When would have been the best time to test that meal? The first carbs were probably eaten about 45 minutes before the second lot.


Like everything you have to determine your own response to different types of meal.



edited to say I'm lucky I am prescribed 6 strips a day but the way the system works end up with at 50 a week, (I have bought a few boxes when testing intensively) I rarely test at 1 hour. I use Sidi diary for recording. This has alwasys accurately predicted my HBA1c