Continuous Glucose Monitors

[derg]

Since GLP users are worse that CrossFit people or the old P90X crowd that are a noun, a verb and "you know I've been on GLP and I've seen a difference"

So since I'm a data nerd, I've been wearing a CGM the last month. I'm not diabetic, but I wanted to know how food intake affects my glycemic load.

Anyone else experimenting with CGMs and what have you discovered?

I've discovered that clear and brown alcohols will drag me off a hypoglycemic cliff. Beer is meh, heavier beers like IPAs will temporarily spike the glycemic load. I had a two margaritas and I assumed the sugar in the cocktail would certainly have some discernible spike but my glucose load went down into the high 60's. The bartender-owner is a good buddy of mine and he says that he uses agave nectar in his margaritas and agave nectar is a good simple sugar replacement, dissolves easily in cold liquids and does not increase blood glucose in many people. Marg' it up!

Simple sugars really aren't a big deal but when it comes to bread or rice, it will spike for a few minutes, but still in the healthy range but certainly back to normal levels within two hours of consumption.

My body HATES fast food. I got lazy on the commute from office days and had a basic double cheeseburger (I guess it's a whopper junior, with pickle, ketchup and mustard) half a small fry (I'm not really a french fry person) and a medium Coke and it shot up to 165 mg/dL for about 5 minutes.

Double cheeseburger + fries + regular coke:

That "double tap" is first the sugars from the sauces and the high fructose corn syrup (the devil), and the secondary spike is my body starting to break down the complex carbohydrates in the breads and starches from the fries.

A fairly high-protein meal (like ham, eggs, some AM coffee) has zero effect. But then a trip to Jersey Mikes is going to spike it a bit.

Anyway, it's a CGM from Abbott called "Lingo" — pain free, you forget it's even on. If you're interested, this is what I've been experimenting with: Lingo Glucose Biosensor & App — OTC CGM | Lingo by Abbott

 

[killbilly]

That's pretty interesting stuff.

I've been on a non-GLP1 fitness/weight loss program for a few months (down 27 pounds) and I've been getting more and more sensitive to food lately. It might be a little enlightening to see what's happening during my food/exercise cycles, if nothing else than timing my workouts against my food when I have the time to do so. Thanks for the idea.

 

[Roger Roger]

Ok but… how much of this is just like the normal functioning of the human body and now we see it in excruciating minute by minute detail? After all our ancestors ate rice and wheat for millennia and survived and thrived without any idea what a carbohydrate is…

 

[Wardogg]

Ok but… how much of this is just like the normal functioning of the human body and now we see it in excruciating minute by minute detail? After all our ancestors ate rice and wheat for millennia and survived and thrived without any idea what a carbohydrate is…

The problem is nothing today is real. It’s all ultra processed chemicals.

 

[derg]

That's pretty interesting stuff.

I've been on a non-GLP1 fitness/weight loss program for a few months (down 27 pounds) and I've been getting more and more sensitive to food lately. It might be a little enlightening to see what's happening during my food/exercise cycles, if nothing else than timing my workouts against my food when I have the time to do so. Thanks for the idea.

It’s been a riot. I’ve lost about 40 lbs on the GLP journey so I often border on hypoglycemia and low, but normal blood pressure. Before GLP I had pre-diabetic A1C and mild hypertension so it’s been a dream.

On the non-GLP thing, that’s fantastic! Those are lifestyle and exercise changes that have way more benefit than GLP if your genes support it. Myself, I was having problems with swallowing dense foods like animal-based proteins, had an endoscopy and the doctor basically said that all of my problems was because I was too fat and I needed to lose 20% of my body weight. “Ok, doc!” “You’re not going to be successful, you’re in your 50’s, you’re a traveler and you probably drink too much, talk to your PCP about GLP” and he was right. The weight came off without exercise, booze doesn’t release dopamine the way it did before and I sleep like I literally left Earth’s time-space continuum for five to nine hours.

Try a CGM, it’s really enlightening, especially if you have foods that spike your glycemic load, you can experiment with pairing it with fiber rich foods to shockingly moderate that spike or even a brisk walk to shorten or even eliminate it. Or hell, if it’s lasagne night, a couple Psyllium Husk supplements an hour before carb-loading and there’s barely a spike at all because your body will slow breaking down the complex carbohydrates.

 

[derg]

Ok but… how much of this is just like the normal functioning of the human body and now we see it in excruciating minute by minute detail? After all our ancestors ate rice and wheat for millennia and survived and thrived without any idea what a carbohydrate is…

It’s kind of a game and it’s fun. However, my ancestors, well, shoot. That’s complex. I’m mostly western/northern African so it’s a high starch diet, low wheat and it’s probably my caucasian with a sprinkle of asian roots that kept me from getting sicle cell. That’s probably why tubers like potatoes are fine, but when I eat bread my glyemic load goes through the roof.

Again, not advocating CGMs, just that if you’re at all curious, it can be a lot of fun and enlightening to see how your body reacts. Remember, I was 5’9 236lbs (180 now) so I had to do something if I wanted to beat the actuaries!