Continuous Glucose Monitoring For Better Health?

I try to stress that dietary needs can be very individual and sometimes it can take some trial and error to figure out a way of eating that works best for you. If anyone ever tells you that keto, paleo, carnivore, veganism, etc. etc. is 100% the best diet for everyone then you should turn around and run in the other direction as fast as possible. Sure, some of these diets might work great for some people, but that doesn’t mean it is what is right for you. Although we are all human ( well, hopefully you are ) we can all have different responses to food. One of those responses being glucose levels.

You may have heard some of the biggest contributors to Covid19 complications are: obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. These are all part of our metabolic health.

The word metabolism gets thrown around a lot in the fitness industry. You may have seen products claim that they will “boost” your metabolism or you may have heard Karen talk about her slow metabolism over lunch. But what exactly is metabolism?

Metabolism is the set of cellular mechanisms that produce energy from our food and environment to power every process in the human body. 

Metabolism may be a fitness buzzword but its actually quite broad and complex. It is not just about how many calories you burn or don’t burn. It involves all the systems in the body. Metabolism regulates our sleep, appetite, and energy levels. It is what keeps us alive.

Unfortunately a vast majority of the US population struggles with their metabolic health mostly due to poor nutrition and exercise habits.

Statistics from the CDC:

Diabetes:

• Total: 34.2 million people have diabetes (10.5% of the US population)

• Diagnosed: 26.9 million people, including 26.8 million adults

• Undiagnosed: 7.3 million people (21.4% are undiagnosed)

Pre-diabetes:

• Total: 88 million people aged 18 years or older have prediabetes (34.5% of the adult US population)

• 65 years or older: 24.2 million people aged 65 years or older have prediabetes

Considering uncontrolled diabetes is one of the leading causes of complications from Covid19 it really got me digging deeper into prevention and ways to improve metabolic health even for the average “healthy” individual such as myself.

I stumbled across a company called Levels that is doing something called Continuous Glucose Monitoring for healthy individuals looking to improve their metabolic health, find their optimal diet, or improve their sports performance. CGM ( Continual Glucose Monitoring ) is common among diabetics but it is now being used for people to get more specific data about their current health.

According to the ADA the standard guidelines for glucose levels are:

You have probably had your fasted glucose tested at least once in your life via a blood test, but it turns out post meal glucose levels can also be important in regards to your health.

“High post-meal glucose levels are linked to worsened glucose control over time, development of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, and impaired exercise and cognitive performance. While it is not unexpected for glucose levels to increase after a meal as the glucose from the meal is released into the blood, if this level is too high it is not good for health and can predispose one to disease over time.  According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) guidelines for the management of post-meal glucose levels, nondiabetic people should have a glucose level of no higher than 140 mg/dl after meals, and glucose should return to pre-meal levels within 2-3 hours. Post-meal hyperglycemia (elevated glucose) is defined as a glucose level >140 mg/dl 1-2 hours after ingestion of food or drinks.”

After doing more research about metabolic health and disease prevention, I got super curious about my own metabolic health and how different foods affect me. I’ve tried a variety of different diets throughout my life to see what I felt optimal on. I had a pretty rough struggle with IBS for years. I’ve been vegan/vegetarian, and then moved on to more of a “paleo” type of diet. Eventually I fell upon a diet that is just sticking to whole foods as much as possible. I’ve got no labels for it, I just avoid foods that don’t make me feel great, and stick to eating foods that my body seems to agree with.

Although I feel great with how I am eating now, I am a nerd and I love data and insight to how my body reacts to what I am eating. CGM takes a bit of the guesswork out for you which I find kind of amazing. I am always down to make some improvements with my diet based off data that I can’t ignore.

So far I am on day two of using the Levels CGM program. It has been quite fascinating to see real time data about how my body uses the food I eat, and how exercise has an effect on my glucose levels as well. For example: If I drink a kombucha while I am working, I will see my blood sugar spike up into the 100’s, but if I drink a kombucha and take a walk after, it tends to stay in the 90’s. It just show’s how important both diet and exercise can be when it comes to metabolic health.

It can be easy to ignore your nutrition when the effects of your questionable choices take years to build up. With this program showing you in real time how food affects your body, it makes it much harder to ignore. This could be a game changer for those having a hard time making a connection with health and food choices. Then again, i’ve seen plenty of people ignore data…but hopefully this data will hit on a more personal level.

I might continue to document my own experience on here with Levels/CGM for shits and giggles. Looking forward to finding more info out about my own health!

If you want to know more go to www.levelshealth.com

Oh and if you are wondering… no I didn’t get paid for this. I actually had to pay for the sensors and program, I am just really excited about it because I am a nerd.

This is why I always have a hard time answering the question “What do you like to do for fun?” — I like to collect data about my metabolism and write about health and fitness. Definitely have no idea why I am single.

Let me know your thoughts!

Why Covid-19 Is a Wakeup Call to Better Your Health

It’ has been a crazy few weeks. Hopefully you are reading this from the comfort of your home at the moment and you are practicing social distancing, hand washing, and taking the proper precautions laid out for you by the CDC for the prevention of Covid-19. Especially if you are considered high risk. According to the CDC high risk is defined as:

Based upon available information to date, those at high-risk for severe illness from COVID-19 include:

• People aged 65 years and older

• People who live in a nursing home or long-term care facility

• Other high-risk conditions could include:

  • People with chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma

  • People who have serious heart conditions

  • People who are immunocompromised including cancer treatment

  • People of any age with severe obesity (body mass index [BMI] >40) or certain underlying medical conditions, particularly if not well controlled, such as those with diabetes, renal failure, or liver disease might also be at risk

• People who are pregnant should be monitored since they are known to be at risk with severe viral illness, however, to date data on COVID-19 has not shown increased risk

There is no cure for Covid-19 at this time, but they are working on some possible treatments using already FDA approved drugs like Remdesivir, Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine whether these drugs are effective or not hasn’t quite yet been determined. They are also in the beginning stages of working on a vaccine… however, that can take 12-18 months and I hate to break it to you but this is not going to be the last virus we come across.

So beyond the current preventative measures of hand washing and social distancing, something we might be able to also control is our own health and improving the chance that you will not fall under a high risk category.

Obviously, aging is out of your control, but some of the high risk conditions are those of metabolic diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes. Some people are more prone to these conditions, but the risk can be greatly reduced with proper diet and exercise. Also, if you still smoke now is the time to quit.

According to the CDC 34.2 million Americans have diabetes and 88 million are pre-diabetic. That Is a lot high risk Americans, and this is only covering diabetes.

Data and prevention information from the CDC

Moving onto the topic of heart disease.

Heart Disease in the United States

• Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men, women, and people of most racial and ethnic groups in the United States.1

• One person dies every 37 seconds in the United States from cardiovascular disease.1

• About 647,000 Americans die from heart disease each year—that’s 1 in every 4 deaths.2,3

• Heart disease costs the United States about $219 billion each year from 2014 to 2015.3 This includes the cost of health care services, medicines, and lost productivity due to death.

What are the risk factors for heart disease?

High blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and smoking are key risk factors for heart disease. About half of Americans (47%) have at least one of these three risk factors. Several other medical conditions and lifestyle choices can also put people at a higher risk for heart disease, including

• Diabetes

• Overweight and obesity

• Unhealthy diet

• Physical inactivity

• Excessive alcohol use

One person dies every 37 seconds from cardiovascular disease. That means by the time you are even done reading this, several people have died and it wasn’t from Covid-19. In a time where we are focused more than ever on death and mortality rates… we can’t forget about the chronic diseases that people were dying from before Covid-19, and will continue to die from long after Covid-19.

As you can see so far, many of these high risk conditions can all be present at once and one of the leading causes of heart disease and diabetes is obesity.

Obesity is a common, serious, and costly disease

• The prevalence of obesity was 42.4% in 2017~2018. [Read CDC National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) data brief]

• From 1999–2000 through 2017–2018, the prevalence of obesity increased from 30.5% to 42.4%, and the prevalence of severe obesity increased from 4.7% to 9.2%. [Read CDC NCHS data brief]

• Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer that are some of the leading causes of preventable, premature death. [Read guidelinesexternal icon]

• The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the United States was $147 billion in 2008 US dollars; the medical cost for people who have obesity was $1,429 higher than those of normal weight. [Read paperexternal icon]

• For children and adolescents aged 2-19 years:

  • The prevalence of obesity was 18.5% and affected about 13.7 million children and adolescents.

42.4% of adults and 18.5% of adolescents in America suffer from obesity. That is huge high risk category for Covid-19.

If you fall into some of these high risk categories, I am not writing this to shame you or make you feel like your worth as a human being is any less. I am sharing these facts because you are worthy of living a long healthy life and I feel like I would be doing more of a disservice to not touch on this topic. I am also not sharing this to blame you. Truth is, that at some point or another the food and medical system has failed you, but I believe in you and I know you are strong enough to push forward despite that.

I am also aware that me sharing the facts isn’t going to be what helps move you forward to better health. Doctors may refer patients to dietitians or even prescribe meds or surgery, but they generally overlook the core issues. Studies have shown that obesity is linked to higher cases of depression, anxiety, ptsd, and mood disorders.

So when it comes to obesity, why is it that we are not first recommending seeking help from a mental health professional? To me, it makes the most sense… in the same way that a doctor would not tell someone who is anorexic to just gain weight. They know how to gain weight, they know how to get healthier, but there is an underlying mental health issue that needs to be addressed. It is no different for someone who needs to lose weight.

The way that we currently approach obesity seems incredibly counterproductive in my opinion. In the future, I hope to see more referrals to mental health professionals as a first step to treatment. Perhaps Covid-19 is not only a wake up call for physical well being, but for mental and emotional well being. The uncertainty this situation brings to the table definitely helps put things in perspective. You never know what can happen. This virus has shown that our jobs, money, and etc. can all be gone in a second… and all you are left with is your health. It is time we stop putting everything else above our health. Change doesn’t happen overnight. Start from the inside out.

If I were to prioritize the steps to better health it would look like this:

1. Therapy

2. Nutrition

3. Exercise

Stay healthy folks. If you are looking for some mental health resources currently these are sources I recommend:

https://www.duffthepsych.com/

https://www.betterhelp.com/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us