Today I am initiating a 1 month experiment to monitor my blood glucose levels. Glucose levels rise and fall depending upon many factors including diet, sleep habits, exercise and fasting. I purchased my glucose monitor through Nutri-Sense and it is a Freestyle Libre 14 day sensor. You receive two sensors for the month. In addition participants can enlist the services of a dietician and mine, Stephanie, has already reached out to me! She knows all my secrets which today primarily involve chocolate chip cookies! Full disclosure, I do try to eat healthy and I seldom keep junk food in the house (my kids will attest) however we have 6 teen landscapers working in our yard and I couldn't help but bake them a few dozen cookies! My son works for the same company but is not part of this crew today. Anyhow, I had to taste test the cookies and my sensor didn't lie. With just a couple of cookies and a glass of milk my glucose spiked above 140mg/dL. While this is a normal reaction for the body in response to highly processed foods and sugar, the app gives me clear evidence that these foods affect my blood chemistry. Higher levels of inflammation have been identified in the bodies of people with Type II diabetes and chronic inflammation can cause damage increasing the risk of heart attack, obesity, and cancer among other conditions. Hence, a healthy lifestyle and a low-sugar diet may reduce my chance of chronic inflammation and its associated issues.
The Nutri Sense online app collects data from daily scans (one must scan at least every 8 hours however I find currently I am scanning more often in my effort to be an accurate historian). In addition, individuals are encouraged to log meals, snacks, beverages, exercise, sleep, stress and anything else that may assist you and your dietician in understanding how normal behaviors and food impact your glucose. The Nutri Sense app pairs with Googlefit which tracks activity, sleep, and fitness habits. This information can be useful to improve one's metrics going forward. Stephanie calls herself my "health tour guide," and she receives all information that I submit (to my chagrin!) She can help interpret my glucose readings, plan food experiments, and optimize health habits based on the data.
If you're like me, you might get a yearly blood draw to test lab values like cholesterol, triglycerides, liver function and fasting glucose levels however this is just a brief snapshot. The days leading up to a yearly blood draw I tend to temper my habits and try to be more careful. My lab draw is probably less an indication of my typical behavior and instead one refined to "pass" the test. Fortunately overall, my fasting glucose values over the past decade tend to be between 75-95ml/dL, however the older we become the less responsive our body tends to be to our nutritional intake. My college aged son can eat a fast-food diet yet his lab values are relatively unaffected. My doctor informed me if I ate my son's diet at 51 years of age my body would quickly reflect these poor habits not only in lab values but likely in illness. Youth certainly has its advantages however the earlier we practice our healthy eating behaviors the better for our long-term health.
Feel free and follow along with my journey. I hope to enhance my education around the area of glucose, insulin and overall metabolic health so this is my own personal deep dive. Full disclaimer: I know very little about the subject which is why I am engaging in this single-subject N=1 research design. Any information I share is my own and is not intended as medical advice. You are always encouraged to speak to your doctor or other healthcare provider for strategies to improve your health and well-being. Thanks for reading!
Feel free and follow along with my journey. I hope to enhance my education around the area of glucose, insulin and overall metabolic health so this is my own personal deep dive. Full disclaimer: I know very little about the subject which is why I am engaging in this single-subject N=1 research design. Any information I share is my own and is not intended as medical advice. You are always encouraged to speak to your doctor or other healthcare provider for strategies to improve your health and well-being. Thanks for reading!
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