Diagnostic Evaluation of Oral Glucose Tolerance Tests in Nondiabetic Subjects after Various Levels of Carbohydrate Intake

IT is routine for most clinicians to instruct patients to take a high-carbohydrate diet for three days before a glucose tolerance test. Even with careful dietary instructions many patients find the suggested level of 250 to 300 gm. of carbohydrate in excess of their usual intake and have difficulty in consuming the amount of food required. In this study, an attempt is made to determine the effect of lower levels of carbohydrate intake on glucose tolerance in nondiabetic subjects, particularly regarding diagnostic evaluation.Since the time of Claude Bernard1 the concept of decreased glucose tolerance after starvation has been accepted. . . .