Breakfast before GTT?

[BertieBotts]

I'm in Germany and apparently it's policy that everyone does the one hour glucose test here. I have mine booked in May. I didn't do one with my son (in the UK) so I'm not sure what to expect - but on reddit where I'm part of a month group, most people are really hardcore saying that it's hugely important not to eat ANY carbs or sugar for breakfast - for example, not even eggs on toast, but just eggs, in case the toast starch breaks down into sugar and causes a false positive on the test Apparently the 1 hour test is not very accurate and a false positive can easily be caused (but you can't "cheat" the test so if you have GD it will show up whether you've had a sugary breakfast, or a normal one.)

My midwife just said that I need to eat breakfast, don't skip it, she didn't mention anything about not having too much sugar. If I'm honest my breakfasts are normally sugary or carby and probably the least sugary thing I'd have would be marmite on toast! I don't really eat much in the mornings and I'm going to have to leave at about 8.30 which doesn't fill me with confidence for having the energy to prepare eggs or whatever. I could eat a bowl of no added sugar museli but it will have raisins in it.

Do you think the no carbs, no sugar is overkill? I don't know if it's an American thing because foods have more added sugar over there? Should I just eat my coco pops and be done? Has anyone failed the initial test but had it be a false positive?

Well I had a banana and yoghurt for breakfast and failed mine. Did the 3 hour one and passed so I reckon if I hadn’t had a sugary breakfast I’d have probably passed the first one

I had to fast for mine

I had to fast from 10pm for mine (it was at 9am). That was a few weeks ago.

I had to fast from 10pm the night before for both of my 3 hour tests. "Passed" them both. I would never normally
Challenge a midwife but I'm sure she is mistaken!!!

There is 2 types the fasting one and the 1 hour one.

Sorry should have explained.

The 1 hour test didn’t involve fasting but the 3 hour one did

You fast for the GTT. No food after 12pm the night before and water only.

I had the 3 hour GTT and wasn't allowed anything but plain water for 12 hours prior to the test. That's also why you just have to sit and not do anything for hours after you've had the glucose drink - because movement/exercise also affects your blood sugar so it could give a false result on the test.

I would say if you eat cereal before it you will fail it. Carbs break down into sugars in the blood and they need to see how accurately your body deals with the glucose drink in order to get a proper result. I think if you eat anything you'll fail it.

It sounds like a different test to the UK - I did the 2 hour one and you can't eat after midnight the previous evening.

If your midwife is saying to eat breakfast, I'd eat whatever you normally have for breakfast, rather than 'eating to pass', otherwise you might not pick up a problem.

Did the GTT recently in UK and had to fast from night before. Only allowed water. My test was reasonably early in the morning. Otherwise your baseline levels would be affected by whatever you have eaten. Then they give you the glucose drink that looks like wee and is calculated to the exact amount of sugar and retest at a very specific amount time later to see how your body has reacted. I've not heard of anyone having a GTT here that was different to that?

Sorry, I thought i had been clear. This isn't the fasting one, if I fail this one then I will have to do the fasting one which takes 3 hours. This one is just one hour and no fast required- I've specifically been told to eat breakfast!

I'm in Germany so perhaps they don't do the one hour one at all in the UK? Hmm.

To clarify, on reddit they aren't saying that you can eat in a certain way to pass the test, but that eating a high carb/sugar breakfast is likely to cause a false positive meaning that you'll have to do the 3 hour test which you then may pass just fine.

I think you’re having a random glucose test rather than a GTT?

Maybe - I could have translated it wrong. It's definitely not a fasting test. There are two kinds. There's a drink involved in this one too.

It might be an Hba1c test. It doesn't require any fasting and indicates levels over 6-8 weeks to avoid daily fluctuations.

In any case, unless you know it's Hba1c, I'd have a protein breakfast to avoid any hassles. It's early in the morning, but what I sometimes do is boil eggs the night before and eat them cold the next morning. Or you can make scrambled eggs in the microwave if you don't like cold eggs and you're really pressed for time. A big chunk of cheese would also hit the spot and is not a carb/sugar.

Hi, I had a glucose screening, which required me to fast for only an hour before drinking a specified sugary drink and then have my bloods taken an hour after that.

My blood test was at 1.20pm though so I knew I wouldn't be able to eat again until maybe 2pm. I decided to have a bacon sandwich at about 10am to see me through.

I failed the screening so got referred for the fasting two hour GTT and passed. A friend of mine (an obstetrician) said it was quite likely the bacon sandwich that pushed me out of the normal range in the initial screen.

I can't eat cheese because it makes me sick, even when not pregnant! Good point about hard boiled eggs, though.

Amazing that a bacon sandwich could cause a false positive!