I'm wondering if I can get some insight into how I can best prepare for an upcoming blood test. My doctor wants to screen me for cholesterol and blood sugars, since I'm high risk (primary family members with these problems).

I'm particularly concerned about the fasting glucose test.

-How many grams of carb in that nasty stuff they make you drink?
-In order to avoid a huge sugar rush during/after testing, should I 'build myself up' by consuming more carbs than usual on the preceding couple of days? Should I increase to maybe 40-50 carbs (up from my usual 25 or so)?
-If increasing carbs for a few days is a good idea, I'm even toying with the idea of doing a 2-3 day 'reversal diet' as a stallbreaker, which could involve high carb, low fat (ugh), low-glycemic whole grains, beans, and veggies (ugh). Would this be a good idea, or would it throw my test off?
-Or should I just carry on eating low-carb as usual?

Any insights, info, or ideas gratefully accepted!

Rachel

Is it a Fasting blood glucose test that you're having, or a Glucose Tolerance Test??? Glucose Tolerance is the one where you have to drink the pure glucose syrup, then have blood drawn at intervals. You are permitted water only during the 2 to 4 hrs, and it is a horrid feeling, so I've heard people say. On the other hand, a fasting blood glucose is a single draw ... you fast overnight or for the specified # hrs for the cholesterol/triglycerides. In the morning, you go to the lab, or dr.'s office, get poked once and they'll take several tubes of blood, then off you go on your merry way and have brekkie.

Hopefully that's the case. I can't imagine they'd do a Glucose Tolerance test unless your fasting bld. sugar is way out of whack.

Doreen

I'm sure Doreen will have informed answers which I look forward to reading. I'm going to see my doc in the next couple of weeks and will ask him to do blood tests. I'd like to see how things are settling out after 8 months in ketosis. I'm curious about the high carb stall breaker. I have a faint recollection that one of the lc plans has something like that as part or their system (don't think it was Atkins (?) Do you know which one, how it goes, for how long? My minor observation (based on occurrences that may be pure coincidence) are that I lose a couple of lbs after an overt carb intake (I've posted on this recently). I'd been doodling around between 174 and 177 for months and then all of a sudden I was down to 171. Of course, ignored the scales in disbelief, but when it stayed there a couple of days, I recklessly and optimistically changed my weight in my profile. Today it's still 171 so maybe I just experienced my first little whoosh.

I think you’re confused: the “fasting glucose test” consists in taking your blood after you’ve been for 12 hours. You don’t drink any “nasty stuff.” You just give blood!

Duhh.... I think you're right, Doreen. I'm looking at the lab request, and it says "Glucose - Fasting." I took that to mean they'd be testing me after an ingestion of glucose (I had that test once, years ago), but I suppose what it REALLY means is that they'll be testing my glucose after fasting!

So I suppose this means I don't have to worry about it - thanks, Doreen!

Rachel
who has a PhD in English and can't read sometimes!

Thanks, Bill! Blood, I can give! Nasty stuff, I don't want! Now if they did Hagen Daz instead of glucose....

Ah, well, a girl can but dream. And pass the mozzarella....

Rachel

PS Keep us posted on yer own 'sweetness,' Bill! I got a copy of Bernstein out of the library; sounds like lots of good info there.

Hi, Liz. The reversal diet is outlined in DANDR, pp. 285-87. Atkins discusses the possibility that, after months on low-carb, your body can become more 'efficient, thereby slowing the rate of weight loss.' He suggests a three-day regimen of high carb, low fat, and low protein. 'The main purpose of reversal dieting is to reestablish the dramatic effect that you must have noticed when you first went on the Induction diet .... you do it to break up a log jam.'

I've been 'stuck' at 138, give or take a pound, for about 6 weeks now; no change in measurements that I can detect, so I think this qualifies as a stall. But I'll do a few things before I consider a reversal diet; back to strict Induction for a couple of weeks, and if that doesn't work, maybe a meat fast. Or maybe just straight into the meat fast. Haven't decided yet.

Rachel

Rachel, I'd read somewhere else while surfing that as well as a reversal diet it can help if you simply follow another diet for a week (It didnt matter which diet as long as you followed it, there had to be rules) And then you went back to induction. Giving your body a break and confusing it since it seems to have adapted to your current WOE too well. They suggested plans like Somers, CAD, Montignac, the Zone even a low fat high carb (I guess that would be reversal huh? ). I will try to retrace my steps and find the site where it was mentioned.

Nat

Interesting thread this. Is it correct to assume that the recent project Rachel, Jomil, Karen et al were on is a variety of "confuse the hell out of the body"? I saw at the outset of the project that I didn't have the will or organization to to follow the regime, and thought it looked exceptionally onerous, but appreciate the people who did try it for their amazing persistance and the insights they share. I wonder if one did ever get to or at least near goal and shifted to maintenance whether the body, being used to a lowcarb diet, would start to gain at that level of carbs. Or another way, is there a danger of the low carb efficient body setting at a exceptionally low level of carb, other than which one would simply begin to gain weight?

Quoting myself.... I feel just like my boss (the blow hard )

I found the link. And much to my dismay it reads like a reversal diet! I thought I had something new to share. Here's the link anywho.... a lot of good tips for stalls and plateaus.

Nat

ftp://locarb:water~209.238.150.128/tipsntricks.html