Diabetic Diet & Blood Gluecose

Had a blood glucose test a few days ago after fasting for 12 hours, but forgot to mention that I had some Pepsi Max before the blood was taken.
The result was 5.0, would drinking Pepsi Max have altered the test significantly?

Fay Knowles,
A general rule is “nil by mouth” from midnight with the blood test being taken early the next morning. This rule may also include no liquids at all until after the blood has been taken. Certain blood tests are sensitive to any type of food or drink. When these tests are performed, it is necessary for the patient to fast for several hours before blood is drawn. Some tests require a 12-hour fast and others only for eight hours. It’s important to know which is required before blood is drawn to assure the accuracy of the results. If a patient smokes, or is on a prescribed course of medicine, the doctor will advise the patient not to indulge in that until the blood test ends. Pepsi Max is a low-calorie, (calorific value is approximately 4 which may have caused the Blood Sugar elevation) sugar-free cola. It differs from Pepsi in that it contains aspartame which is an artificial sweetener, and artificial sweeteners are used in diet sodas as replacements for sugar and high-fructose corn syrup. Unlike corn syrup and sugar, these artificial replacements do not contain carbohydrates, which your body converts to glucose in your bloodstream. As a result, drinking sodas that contain these sweeteners WILL NOT directly AFFECT your blood sugar levels. Common examples of non-glucose-raising artificial sweeteners include saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, neotame and acesulfame-K. Just for interest – The normal non-diabetic’s glucose ranges from 70mg/dl- 3.9mmol/l or 126mg/dl to 6.99mmol/l when fasting. After meals, glucose levels can go up to about 146mg/dl – 8.10291mmol/l before a person is considered in the pre diabetic range. A normal blood glucose range is in the low to mid 100s. A diagnosis of pre-diabetes is made if your blood glucose reading is 146mg/dl or 8.10mmol/l to 199mg/dl or 11.04mmol/l. A diagnosis of diabetes is made if your blood glucose reading is 200 mg/dl or 11.01mmol/l or higher and you have symptoms of disease such as fatigue, excessive urination, excessive thirst or unplanned weight loss.
(Edited for spelling mistakes – sorry!)

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Hope this helps
matador 89

They are all the same.

They ARE less accurate than having the tests done in a laboratory, but also MUCH less expensive!

The DIFFERENCE in the meters is in the test strips. test strips cost from about $0.75 to about $2.00 EACH. You will need to test 3-4 times a day, so over a month the cost can range from about $100 to about $250, depending on your personal insurance.

So pick the brand with the lowest-cost strips! ASK the pharmacist what the cost for the different strips are, and buy the meter which uses the lowest-cost strips.
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Note that NONE of the hand-held test meters are more accurate than about +/-10 points. And this varies based on the individual strip used.

In other words, if your exact Blood Sugar reading is 100, then the meters will read somewhere between 90 and 110. you cannot get any more accurate, except from a laboratory.

But if you took three drops of blood from that same "stick", and measured it using three different strips (all out of the same box) you would get three different readings, like 94, 101, and 108.

This is due to the manufacturing process. the manufacturers COULD get better accuracy, but the strips would then cost $10 EACH, not $1! SO, to keep costs in line, the +/-10 points is considered "accurate enough".

And for something like blood suagr readings, exact readings are NOT really necessary on a daily basis.