Data is, for me, motivation, inspiration, and, call me geeky, fascinating.
Not included in the above is the data that a scale provides.
There’s nothing quite like watching a tiny digital tyrant reduce decades of joyful living, delicious meals, and wine-filled celebrations to a single, unflattering number.
The same is true for calorie counting apps. If you have followed me at all you know I ascribe to the “calories in do not equal calories out” school of nourishing myself. Therefore, I count them not.
More interesting to me, and pertinent to my health and healthy aging are the following: blood sugar levels throughout the day and over the course of a year.
Sleep, parsed into the levels that matter most: deep sleep, REM sleep, and awake time.
Food and movement that feel good and get the job done. But I digress.
For part 1 of this 2-part series, it’s all about blood sugar levels and why I chose to fork over a couple of hundred dollars to get to know mine intimately.
Let’s start with the pesky but not life threatening and then serious risks of Blood Glucose Fluctuations
- Fluctuating energy levels and fatigue-pesky
- Cravings and crashes-pesky or life threatening if you operate heavy machinery
- Lack of focus and mood regulation–pesky and can be life threatening to partners or small people depending on ones level of restraint
- Inflammation and oxidative stress pathways–can cause disease which threaten quality of life
- Long-term health implications when this problem leads to diabetes include CVD, kidney damage, eyesight damage, diabetic neuropathy–definitely life threatening.
Even long-term, slightly elevated blood sugar, pre-diabetes level say, can put us in danger of experiencing a life-limiting disease or worse.
This is why, ever since I wrote my book, Your Genes Do Not Determine The Size of Your Jeans, in 2013 I’ve been dogged about helping women understand just how important and powerful this one health habit is.
But you don’t have to buy the book. You can find a mini lesson on managing blood sugar in my Power of 5 formula for healthy aging. It’s a 5 day email course with one day for each tenet dedicated to explaining why the thing works and how to implement it.
What’s a CGM anyway?
A CGM is a wearable that tracks blood sugar levels throughout the day and night.
A tiny needle embedded into a quarter sized plastic sensor that you stick into either your arm or abdomen measures glucose levels in the fluid between your cells and sends readings to your smartphone every few minutes.
Unlike the old-school finger pricks that give you just a moment-in-time reading, CGMs show you the full story of how your body responds to food, exercise, stress, and sleep throughout your day. Yes, your blood sugar fluctuates even while you sleep.
Learning to balance blood sugar
You can google a “how to” on this and it will send back the most common recommendations. Don’t eat too many starchy carbs, get plenty of fiber, don’t eat close to bedtime, manage stress, etc.
Over the years I realized that teaching people what to do to manage blood sugar without knowing their biochemical systems is like Google giving us the most common recommendations. The advice is a good place to start but there is more to do.
Why?
Because no two people’s bodies react the same to food, exercise, sleep or stress–the main influencers of blood sugar balance. It’s true that most of us will experience similar spikes and plunges depending on our lifestyle habits, but it’s still an individual thing.
What if I was wrong about me?
One day it occurred to me there’s the very real possibility that although I thought I was a pretty good manager of my blood sugar I could be falling short of optimal.
I needed data.
I needed a continuous glucose monitor but until recently, diabetics have been the primary market for these devices and even this group of people had to go through their doctor and insurance program to get one.
People like me, non-diabetic, non-prediabetic, but interested in tracking the markers related to health, had to use companies like Levels or Nutrisense to get the testing device and use their app. Each of them has a “membership” fee which can be steep but means you can input meals to see the effect of different foods at different times of the day. And a few more bells and whistles.
I decided to go with Levels because I didn’t need health coaching and coaching was part of the cost of your membership with Nutrisense. (Nutrisense has since made coaching optional for an additional fee.)
Turns out, I was right
What I thought was right for me food wise was sometimes wildly off base. Imagine my surprise when my glucose spiked way above the Target Range for blood glucose levels when using a CGM: (between 70 and 180 mg/dL) from eating one of my “healthy” breakfasts.
But that wasn’t the only surprising discovery. In Part Two, I’ll reveal the surprising foods that caused my biggest glucose spikes and the ones that didn’t but should have according to Google. Plus I’ll share the tricks that make it possible for me to still enjoy those spiky foods. Did I change my eating or other habits because of what I learned?
I’ll let you know next week and help you decide whether investing in a CGM is worth it for someone who isn’t diabetic or pre-diabetic.
Until next week, I’m curious: what food do you suspect might be causing unexpected glucose spikes in your diet? Leave a comment below!
