My first days understanding glucose using a Continuous Glucose Monitor
It is not about the amount of energy you have available, it is about how you manage it.
Ever wondered why your doctor asks you to fast before certain blood tests?
It might seem inconvenient, but there's a crucial reason behind it. Fasting helps ensure accurate measurements of key health indicators, especially your fasting blood sugar.
Fasting blood sugar is a vital health indicator. It reflects your body's ability to regulate blood sugar levels (hence, the ability to process glucose). Chronically high fasting blood sugar can be a sign of prediabetes or diabetes, both serious conditions. But measuring blood glucose it’s more than just a diabetes diagnostic tool; it offers a window into various aspects of your health and well-being such as performance, weight control, hormone regulation, overall energy levels, ability to focus, etc.
What is glucose?
Glucose, a type of sugar, is the primary source of energy for your cells. Your body obtains glucose from the food you consume, particularly carbohydrates. The pancreas, a vital organ, produces insulin, a hormone responsible for ushering glucose from your bloodstream into your cells for energy use.
While some glucose gets used immediately for energy, excess amounts are stored for later use. This storage happens in two main ways:
Glycogen: The liver and muscles convert extra glucose into glycogen, a readily available energy source. However, glycogen storage has a limited capacity.
Fat: If the body continues to receive more glucose than it can use or store as glycogen, it gets converted into fat and deposited in fat cells throughout the body.
This chronic oversupply of glucose and subsequent fat storage (which most “healthy” people experience) can trigger a series of serious health issues such as insulin resistance, prediabetes, diabetes, high blood pressure, unhealthy cholesterol levels, increased abdominal fat, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes or unhealthy weight gain.
Understanding the numbers
If you’ve checked your labs, you may have seen a number for your glucose levels, but what does it mean? To help you understand these numbers, you can check this breakdown of typical fasting blood sugar ranges and their implications:
Normal: Generally between 70-99 mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter). This indicates your body efficiently regulates blood sugar.
Prediabetes: Fasting blood sugar levels between 100-125 mg/dL. This suggests borderline high blood sugar and lifestyle changes might be necessary to prevent a progression to diabetes.
Diabetes: Fasting blood sugar levels exceeding 126 mg/dL on two separate tests. This signifies diabetes, a chronic condition where the body struggles to regulate blood sugar effectively.
Some people are beyond surprised when their blood tests reveal prediabetes or borderline high blood sugar levels. This can be true even for those who consider themselves health-conscious and maintain a balanced diet and exercise routine. If that's you, don't panic! It's a more common scenario than you might think (and it happened to me too). The good news is that with proper management, you can lower your blood sugar levels and achieve optimal metabolic health.
But before diving into management strategies, it's important to understand that a single yearly fasting blood sugar test offers a limited snapshot. To gain a deeper understanding of your body's response to food and truly assess your metabolic health, a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) becomes a valuable tool.
Continuous Glucose Monitor - How does it work?
A continuous glucose monitor (CGM) is a coin-sized device that is placed under the skin, such as on the arm or abdomen. This small device constantly checks glucose levels in the fluid between cells (interstitial fluid). This is helpful to see the big picture as it reveals how your glucose levels react throughout the day, in response to meals, exercise, and even stress. Knowing this information will help you to identify trends and make informed choices.
As a non-diabetic person who monitors my blood sugar levels, a CGM has been a game-changer. It helped me understand how certain foods or activities impact my glucose levels, allowing me to make adjustments and achieve: stable and optimal glucose levels, better athletic performance, sustained energy levels throughout the day, a healthy muscle mass and body fat percentage, and completely get rid of cravings. The best part is that I did all of that with some small changes in my diet, without counting calories and without obsessing about it, contrary to most other tools and methods that try to achieve these results.
My takeaways
I thought I was healthy… until I found out that my blood sugar levels weren't optimal. There were a few signs of it, but I wasn’t aware as most of them are considered “normal”, but they shouldn’t be. I constantly had cravings despite following a low-calorie diet rich in protein and vegetables, after meals I always felt my energy levels were lower, morning trainings weren’t always performed at my best, I was incredibly hungry even two days after a trail run, I felt I was losing my strength when losing weight… Something was not right.
The turning point came when I started tracking my glucose levels. Shockingly, my fasting insulin levels were above the recommended range. Additionally, even "healthy and balanced" meals, as championed by the fitness community, triggered significant blood sugar spikes (over 30mg/dL). This explained my afternoon slumps and inability to focus after lunch – symptoms I had (and we all have) mistakenly accepted as normal.
As information is power, I decided to make small changes to my diet in order to control my glucose levels and my health transformed. Here are some of my key takeaways from my experience:
What you eat is more important than how much you move
How many people do you know that eat whatever they want because they exercise? These people think that calories burned through exercise are an excuse to ingest the same amount of calories, without taking into account what foods they are getting those calories from. Not all foods have the same molecules, so not all foods act the same way in our bodies. For example, foods that spike your glucose levels make you store more fat than foods that don’t. These high glycemic foods, also make you feel tired quicker and crave the next meal in within two hours, instead of four. Constant snacking not only affects weight but also can damage your immune system function as during digestion, our immune system is shut down.
Sugar is sugar
Many people think agave syrup, honey, or fruits are better than regular sugar. Well, let me tell you that they all have the same effect on your blood sugar and they are the reason why most people still wonder why they exercise and eat “healthy” and they are not improving their health.
Eat your veggies first
The order in which you eat your food can significantly impact your blood sugar response. Prioritizing vegetables and healthy fats before eating protein and always eating carbohydrates and sugars last helped me manage spikes and improve overall satiety.
Quantities matter more than what you think
Not only do you have to eat your veggies first, but you have to make sure you eat at least as many veggies as carbohydrates. This will make digestion of carbs slower and the release of glucose into the bloodstream more manageable for your body so you won’t suffer from blood spikes that cause storing glucose as body fat (which is very hard to burn for most people).
Glucose is not the enemy
Glucose levels can be managed and used to prepare your body for stressful situations whether they are at work, in your family, or doing sports. Peak performance is all about how you manage the energy you have available.
Weight loss doesn’t equal strength loss
It also doesn’t mean eating less or measuring your calories constantly. By prioritizing the right kinds of food – rich in protein and fiber – and combining them in the right way, you can build and maintain muscle mass while losing some extra weight and feeling extra energized.
Not only people with diabetes should track glucose levels
The misconception that blood sugar management is only for diabetics is a myth. Understanding and optimizing your blood sugar can benefit everyone, regardless of diagnosis. It's about preventative health and optimizing your body's natural function.
These are some of the life-changing discoveries I made during my journey and I want to share them all with you. So if you are:
Struggling to manage your weight.
Tired of feeling sluggish despite your best efforts?
Wanting to know the secret to hack your health.
Overwhelmed by diets that you cannot maintain over a long period of time.
Looking to improve your performance (whether is mental or physical).
Or
Ready to feel your best?
You have all the information you need right here!