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I do not want to start insulin. My friend who started insulin now has to stay on it forever.
This is true to all patients with type 1 diabetes and partially true to certain people with type 2 diabetes. For patients with type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin and so will need     more
Question Posted:
2010-09-10 12:28
Question: 
I have a question that sounds a bit silly, but here it goes. I recently heard that drinking Gatorade before being tested for Diabetes can affect the outcome of the blood test. Can that really happen? My brother-in-law loves Gatorade and was drinking it on a regular basis. He was then tested for diabetes and the results came back with him being "pre-diabetic". My sister heard about Gatorade affecting results and now wonders if that had any impact on his levels and/or results and ultimately his diagnosis. By the way, he was not drinking the Gatorade because he excersiced on a regular basis. He was simply drinking it as a bevarage. Can this be true?
Answer: 

There are 3 different ways to test for diabetes.

1) Check blood glucose after an overnight fast. As long as the Gatorade was not consumed after the fast has started, it should not have impacted the result.

2) Check your hemoglobin A1c. This blood test reflects the estimated average blood glucose over the past 3 months. An abnormal A1c level tells us that his entire diet and lifestyle should be evaluated including the regular consumption of sweetened beverages.

3) Do an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) - Drink a particular amount of sugar drink after an overnight fast and test for blood glucose response in 2 hours. This test is not performed regularly.

The good news is that through lifestyle changes, many individuals with pre-diabetes can revert back to normal. Please talk to your health care providers about how to do this.

Answered by: William Hsu, M.D.