Diabetes and Weight Loss: Part 2 - Carb Tolerance

By Dr. Adam Carter, DPT, CF-L2, CSCS

Continuing the theme from last week, I want to talk about carbohydrate tolerance. Simply put carb tolerance is your blood sugar response to food. It’s no surprise that the majority of Americans (~75%) do not tolerate carbs very well. Is this you? How about let’s test it to find out.

Step 1: Obtain a glucose monitor from your local pharmacy or Amazon.com and figure out how to use it.

Step 2: Choose a meal that you eat regularly to see if this is a good selection for you. Ideally you are testing this meal in a fasted state (having not eaten for at least 8 hours)

Step 3: Once you have your meal ready to go, test your pre-meal blood sugar and record the number.

Step 4: Eat silly!! AND set a timer for two hours

Step 5: Test your two hour blood sugar and record that number

Step 6: Compare and contrast. Ideally your blood sugar should be below 120 mg/dL at the two hour mark. If your fasting numbers are already above 120 mg/dL, then the closer to pre-meal levels the better with the aim of a difference between 30-40 mg/dL.

Step 7: If your reading is higher than described above then this meal may not be a good choice for you!!

Interested in reading more about carb tolerance? Check out this article by paleoleap.com

Post a comment or shoot me a DM if you have any questions.

Until then...

KEEP IT MOVING!!!

AC