One of the main reasons why there is no clearly defined one-size-fits-all diabetes diet, is because diabetes affects everybody differently. Often you will find that one person can eat a specific food safely without raising blood glucose too much whereas another person can eat the same food and their blood glucose skyrockets.

The amount of carbohydrate in the food will determine how well you tolerate that food as well as how sensitive your body is to insulin. It is your insulin response that will determine how quickly glucose is taken out of your bloodstream.

Here is a guide to testing your glucose tolerance level if you have diabetes:

1. Make sure you have not had anything to eat or drink in the last two hours.
2. Identify the food you are going to eat. Decide how much you would like to eat. Use the label on the packaging or a carb tracker app to determine how many carbs are in the portion you are going to eat.
3. Wash and dry your hands and measure your blood glucose.
4. Eat the food in the determined portion that you have calculated the carbs for.
5. Two to three hours after eating the food, measure your blood glucose again. Do not eat anything else within that two-hour period after the food you tested. The blood glucose reading should be no higher than 2mmol/L above where your first measurement was. If it’s higher than 2 mmol/L above your first reading, then you know that you are not able to tolerate this food tested in the amount that you ate it. You can reduce the amount and retest it or leave it out of your diet.

The mySugr app removes the burden of managing diabetes by having all your therapy information readily available. It allows for automatic blood glucose tracking, food and medication logging as well as activity tracking. Along with numerous other features, it provides downloadable reports to share with caregivers or healthcare providers. 

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