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1/ I used a CGM for 28 days with @unlocklevels. Here's what I learned and I'm all in on this wearable of the future::
2/ I've always been crazy obsessed with optimizing my lifespan and healthspan (longevity) and consume a lot of books, studies, and podcasts on the subject.
3/ One of the keys to preventing chronic diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer's is maintaining a metabolically healthy system with low average glucose and low glucose variability.
4/ A Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) is the only way to really understand those variables and while CGMs are typically reserved for folks with type-1 or type-2 diabetes, Levels has made it easy for anyone to get access to one.
5/ The CGM is a small white disc called 'Libre' and made from a company called Abbot that stays in your arm for 14 days at a time.
6/ Sticking a needle in my arm made me a little anxious at first but the process ended up being very painless.
7/ The Levels app will pull in a glucose reading from the Libre app every 6 minutes or so automatically. You can get an immediate measurement by scanning through the Libre app.
8/ Libre isn't 100% continuous and will have 'gaps' in data after a period of 8-hours without a manual measurement. I've lost some glucose data on some nights of sleep because of this, unfortunately.
9/ In my two weeks of wearing a CGM, my goal was to experiment and learn my body's metabolic reactions to different sources of carbs.
10/ A groundbreaking study published in 2015 showed high variability in the response to identical meals, from an 800-person cohort. The study proved that each person metabolized specific carb sources differently than one another. https://www.cell.com/fulltext/S0092-8674(15)01481-6
11/ The testing program has since been covered in books like The Personalized Diet & Wired To Eat with a program to test individual carb sources and determine your own personalized glycemic index.
12/ I spent a couple of weeks measuring 50g of carbs from an individual carb source as my first meal after a fasted state and avoided eating anything else for 2 hours. This helped figure out how to incorporate these carb sources in my diet going forward.
13/ Through the Levels app I learned surprising insights like how a sweet potato triggered a bigger glucose response than white rice (traditional glycemic indices would tell you otherwise!)
14/ Throughout the first 28 days I learned a ton of other valuable personalized insights::
15/ Carbs paired with protein/fat can prevent a blood sugar spike. I had a similar serving of sweet potato paired with a sirloin steak and had a fairly stable blood sugar response.
16/ Meals after certain activities can alter how my body responds to foods. A pizza after a 90 walk in a fasted state didn't nearly spike my blood sugar as a pizza in a late-night fed state.
17/ High-intensity workouts increase blood glucose levels and low-intensity workouts. My understanding of high-intensity workouts is that the intense levels of activity require more glucose in your blood for energy, and release this from stored glycogen stores.
18/ A bad night of sleep keeps my glucose high all day and doesn't return to normal until I reset and get a good night of sleep (despite how well I eat that day).
19/ After 28 days of wearing a CGM, I'm 100% committed to wearing one for as long as I can. Here's why::
20/ The real-time feedback on your individual metabolic responses to nutrition, sleep, exercise, and stress are unmatched with any other wearable or medical test.
21/ Day to day energy level management is so much easier when you understand your glycemic variability. I've noticed a big correlation between high glycemic variability days and low energy days. The real-time feedback lets me act accordingly.
22/ I've never experienced a more powerful behavior tool. The CGM has acted as the ultimate accountability for what I foods I put in my body. Knowing how my blood sugar will spike if I eat that pint of ice cream has seriously made me reconsider my actions.
23/ Lastly the team behind Levels is incredibly passionate about this space and has been very consistent about making the software more valuable. Big shoutout to @mike__didonato for the bi-weekly check-ins helping me get the most value out of Levels!
