I know many, if not most, here believe in doing n=1 experiments with themselves, which I think is the best thing to do given no two people are exactly alike. However, I wanted to post this because I thought if I made this mistake, it may be helpful to some out there to avoid doing the same.

In trying to get my BG down, I had read how both excess protein and some artificial sweeteners can raise BG for people who are IR. Both my PCP and Endo had stated I was IR. Last year, I spent a few months testing my blood before and after just about everything and thought I would test each of these.

In my n=1, it seemed I was in the group that was negatively affected by both of these. This really sucked. Although I don't use sweeteners much, I do like Diet Dr. Pepper. That is about the only thing I ever had that used artificial sweeteners.

Then, after a much longer story I posted in another thread (http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10490291/interesting-dr-follow-up-with-lchf-friendly-doc-for-t2#latest), I found out I am not IR and my elevated BG is primarily a result of stress and some micronutrient deficiencies. This got me questioning why I would have gotten the results I did on those 2 n=1 experiments if I was not IR, so I have been repeating them.

The results are that neither seem to be elevating my BG at all. In fact, reintroducing the Diet Dr Pepper might be slightly lowering my lunch PP reading a couple points. Some have suggested caffeine can help lower BG, and lunch is when I drink this, so maybe....

After really looking back at the timing of my n=1 experiments last year, I realized I did them during the time when my family was living in a small apartment due to our house being destroyed by softball sized hail. I was working as the general contractor to save some cost so we could do some upgrades as part of the repairs. This also included me doing quite a bit of the work myself. I was going to my house every morning before work to do things like rip down the ceiling drywall that had to be replaced, ripping up flooring, painting, etc. I was also going there after work on some days and spending much of my weekends there. I think, by just about anyone's standards, it was a stressful time.

What I learned, and am trying to express here is if you do n=1 experimentation, you really need to make sure that the ONLY thing that has changed is what you are testing. In my case, the added stress I had placed on myself turns out to be the real n=1 experiment.

In case you are wondering how hail could be so damaging, in addition to being softball sized, we had winds in excess of 70 mph. The storm was April 11th of last year and we still have 3 or 4 people on my street alone who have not been able to move back into their houses. It didn't help that it rained every day for about two weeks afterwards, so the literally hundreds of holes in my roof (even after being tarped) leaked through constantly ruining much of the inside of my house. And of course with that wind, windows were shattered and glass was all over the house.

Anyway, the point being, be careful you are actually measuring what you mean to be measuring and not some factor you may not have thought about.