Postprandial glucose test values may indicate diabetes. However, doctors will not use just one test result to diagnose the condition. Postprandial glucose test A postprandial glucose test is a blood glucose test that determines the amount of a type of sugar, called glucose, in the blood after a meal. Glucose is mainly made from carbohydrate foods. It is the main source of energy used by the body. Normally, blood glucose levels increase slightly after eating. This increase causes the pancreas to release insulin, which assists the body in removing glucose from the blood and storing it for energy. People with diabetes may not
Glucose glucose themselves from certain precursors as the need arises. Nerve cells, cells of the renal medulla and erythrocytes depend on glucose for their energy production.<ref name="Löffler/Petrides 195">Peter C. Heinrich: "Löffler/Petrides Biochemie und Pathobiochemie." Springer-Verlag, 2014, , p. 195. (german)</ref> In adult humans, there are about 18 g of glucose, of which about 4 g are present in the blood. Approximately 180 to 220 g of glucose are produced in the liver of an adult in 24 hours. Many of the long-term complications of diabetes (e.g., blindness, kidney failure, and peripheral neuropathy) are probably due to the glycation of proteins or