So... Here is a description of one of two days I spent at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland as part of a research study. The purpose of the study was to look at how artificial sweeteners affect the absorption of glucose in humans. The study is ongoing and is using volunteers that have Type 1, Type 2, or no Diabetes. Every participant goes through the testing twice, one day without the artificial sweetener (I just drank mineral water on this day) and another day with artificial sweetener (I drank diet cola on this day), so that the researchers can compare the effects on the body when there is artificial sweetener in the blood versus when there is not.

So... here is the diet cola testing day:

8am - Wake up, watch my mom eat breakfast. I am not allowed to eat or drink anything, and I also cannot take any insulin other than what is in my set basal rate. Since I am going to be undergoing the equivalent of a glucose-tolerance test today, my blood sugars are going to be able to rise on their own without the influence of insulin to bring them down.

9am - Arrive at NIH. Say hi to the nurses,

Jeff and Molly; get vital signs taken,

height and weight measured.                            

Above: Me with the nurses....see the bandage on my arm? That's where they were poking me all day for blood!

9:25 am - Molly puts the IV in (ouch), and takes the first blood samples. I start watching television/reading People magazine and just "chilling." Mary Ann de Banate, Dr. Rother's Research Training Fellow, comes in to talk with me about the day's procedures, etc., and explains that it is mandatory to rest and relax for at least 30 minutes before drinking the diet soda.

10:15 - Molly comes back and draws more blood. Then I am instructed to drink 8 ounces of diet soda as fast as I can, and after that my blood is drawn again, at about 10:20 am.

10:25 - Time for another blood draw. Next, I am given Glucola, a special super-sugary drink meant to mimic the intake of a high-carb meal. I drink the Glucola as fast as I can, finishing the 10-ounce bottle in about 4 minutes. It contained 75 grams of dextrose - I would normally take 5 units of insulin to cover a meal like that - but with no boluses allowed, and no insulin in my system, all the sugar gave me a massive headache and sky-high blood glucose readings. Oh well, it's all for the good of scientific knowledge.