This entry compares the two least expensive glucose testing strips available.
Firstly, no, I don’t have diabetes or pre-diabetes. However, I do sympathize with those that do, especially after pricking my fingers 100+ times. I’ve literally bled for this post so please enjoy. 🙂
After reading Wired To Eat I decided to do some glucose tolerance testing vs certain carbohydrates (something I may turn into a series on my blog), but first I had questions as to how I could go about doing this cheaply. For those of you who have never used a glucometer before, the real cost is in the testing strips. Sometimes companies even give a glucose meter away for free, just to get you subscribed to buying their strips for life. If I was going to be doing a lot of glucose readings for my experiments, I had best find the cheapest option available.
I dropped some cash and did some glucose strip comparisons.
The Equipment
OneTouch Ultra 2 Glucose Monitor
Equate Glucose Test Strips (50) (medium priced, available at Walmart)
GenUltimate! Glucose Test Strips (50) (least expensive)
The Test
Several different times I tried the two brands of glucose testing strips side-by-side for comparison. At each different measure I washed and thoroughly dried my hands, and then lanced two different drops of blood on my middle and ring fingers. At each measurement session I alternated the order of the test strips; The main reason for this was because each brand has a unique code that must be put into the glucose meter, and it was less work to start each session with the last strip used. This also means that the strips alternated fingers as well. No particular attention was paid to what I was eating, but I did notate if I had been fasting.
Each measurement was recorded into a spreadsheet.
Summary
The “GenUltimate!” brand glucose test strips read on average -2.857 mg/dL when compared to the “Equate” brand test strips. Well within any margin of error, it appears these strips read approximately the same. In summary, the cheapest, least-expensive glucose testing option available appears to be the OneTouch Ultra 2 and the GenUltimate Glucose Test Strips.
But are they as accurate as the name brand version of the strips?
Yes. Glucose testing strips have a margin of error they have to meet. Testing must be accurate to 20% of blood glucose above levels above 75 mg/dl and within 15 mg of glucose below 75 mg/dl. Google ISO 15197 for more info.