As a wellness editor and author, I am continuously experimenting with the newest well being tech, so I used to be naturally intrigued after I realized that Oura Ring partnered with Dexcom’s Stelo, a continuous glucose monitor designed for folks with out diabetes. The aim of this collaboration is to assist on a regular basis folks like me perceive how meals and common consuming habits impact blood sugar and total well being.
“By combining Stelo knowledge with Oura’s current insights, we’re empowering members to higher perceive the cause-and-effect relationships between consuming patterns, power, temper and restoration — and in the end make sustainable, science-backed life-style adjustments,” Maz Brumand, vice chairman of product for Oura, informed CNET.
I’ve used my Oura ring every day for the previous three years to track my sleep, restoration and stress. However it was the primary time I heard {that a} health tracker can monitor blood sugar ranges. I examined the Stelo CGM with my Oura Ring for 2 weeks, and I can say that it modified the way in which I eat and transfer, and I feel the sort of biofeedback is useful for everybody, even in case you should not have diabetes.
What’s steady glucose monitoring, and why is it necessary?
Your blood sugar, or blood glucose, refers back to the measurement of sugar in your blood. In line with the Cleveland Clinic, glucose is the main source of energy in your physique — it is what powers your muscle mass, mind and even your cells. If you eat sure meals (notably carbohydrates), your glucose rises, and your physique responds by releasing insulin to shuttle that sugar into cells for power or storage. On the flip aspect, in case you expertise frequent spikes or crashes (even when you do not have diabetes ), it will possibly affect your power, sleep, temper and even long-term metabolic well being. When your physique does not want glucose instantly, it stores it as glycogen in your muscle mass and liver.
For folks with diabetes, monitoring glucose ranges is essential. However is it necessary to do the identical for the remainder of us with no analysis? To an extent, I feel so. Monitoring your blood sugar all through the day and seeing how your physique reacts to completely different meals can reveal quite a bit about your cravings, sleep and metabolic well being. “Glucose is a real-time window into metabolic well being, which underpins how we really feel daily — our power, focus, temper and sleep — and the way resilient we’re over time,” Brumand says.
With the rise of wearable glucose sensors like Stelo, these with out diabetes can now get insights into how their consuming habits affect their our bodies (with out finger pricks or a prescription).
What’s a ‘regular’ glucose vary, and are spikes unhealthy?
Earlier than utilizing a CGM, I assumed blood sugar was both secure or erratic, with no room for in-between spikes. As soon as I started monitoring my glucose every day, I rapidly realized that spikes are utterly regular, particularly after meals and snacks.
Most individuals will see glucose ranges rise and drop all through the day. In line with the American Diabetes Association, a common goal vary for adults with out pre-diabetes or diabetes is between 70 and 140mg/dL (word that Oura additionally follows this vary, and it is what customers can count on to see of their graphs). It is also value highlighting that 70 to 100mg/dL is taken into account regular for fasting (notably within the morning earlier than having meals), and below 140 mg/dL is widespread, particularly after meals.
“Scientific research present that even in wholesome people, a reasonable glucose spike (rise above 140mg/dL) can happen every day. In reality, analysis means that wholesome adults will dwell above 140mg/dL for about half-hour, as much as 2 hours a day, which is often 1 to three short-lived glucose spikes”, says Renee Fitton, registered dietitian and director of training at L-Nutra, a diet expertise firm.
Fitton additional defined that the quantity and frequency of glucose spikes rely upon numerous elements, primarily what and once you’re consuming. These spiked may also be affected by different elements like stress stage, train, dehydration and even whether or not you’ve got a sunburn.
Many glucose screens use a customized vary that adapts to your physique’s baseline and patterns over time. When taking a look at your graph, it is necessary to remember that context and developments matter greater than one-off spikes. For instance, seeing a spike after dessert is not an indication that one thing is mistaken. It is a signal that your physique is doing its job. What issues most is how rapidly your glucose returns to baseline and the way usually your ranges keep elevated over time.
“I’d not see indicators for concern for infrequent (one to a few occasions per day) reasonable spikes (lower than 160mg/dL) that resolve inside about 30 minutes. When reaching extra frequent, particularly if they’re larger spikes (for instance, above 180mg/dL), that take a very long time to resolve (over 60 minutes), then there could also be issues about metabolic well being,” Fitton defined. “A very flat glucose curve just isn’t one thing that we intention for; you need some light ups and downs as an indication of wholesome metabolic flexibility.”
How I arrange the Stelo monitor with my Oura Ring
You may order the Stelo sensor by ouraring.com ($99 for 2 sensors). I acquired a small field with the sensors and straightforward directions. Making use of it to the again of my higher arm took lower than 2 minutes and was surprisingly painless. And sure, there’s a small needle concerned. I am afraid of needles, so I spent a while mentally getting ready to prick myself, however to my disbelief, I did not really feel it in any respect. The sound the ejector makes is fairly loud, although. I generally suppose the sound acted as a diversion to my mind, and that is why I did not really feel something. However, nonetheless, it was a fairly pain-free expertise. As soon as in place, I paired it to the Stelo app, and it mechanically mirrored inside the Oura app. Every sensor tracks your glucose stage 24/7 for as much as 15 days.
Left Picture: CGM within the self-injector. Proper picture: CGM on the again of my proper arm.
From the Oura app, I may see how my glucose ranges fluctuated all through the day. You may simply entry it on the prime of the app, the place you additionally see different knowledge metrics like sleep, heart rate, exercise and readiness rating (a personalised rating, starting from 0 to 100, that gives a snapshot of how effectively your physique has recovered from the day past’s actions and sleep).
How even my ‘wholesome’ meals selections raised my blood sugar (and that is OK)
One of the eye-opening elements of my testing was seeing how a few of my favourite wholesome staples performed out on the glucose graph. An ideal instance of this was my favourite pressed juice.
I had a pressed juice within the morning that contained pineapple, beets, carrots, ginger, cucumber and lemon. It is nutrient-dense, nevertheless it additionally spiked my glucose above what’s thought-about my wholesome vary for about 6 minutes (a small window and nonetheless thought-about optimum for my age and total metabolic well being). This was sufficient to make me rethink how and after I devour fruit-heavy drinks.
The following day, I experimented with having a fruit smoothie as an alternative of juice. I made a home made smoothie with berries, banana, plant-based protein powder, peanut butter, soy milk and oats. This smoothie saved my glucose utterly in vary (zero minutes above my private threshold). The added protein and fiber from the fruit, oatmeal, peanut butter and protein powder helped gradual the absorption of pure sugars into my bloodstream.
What I realized: Even pure fruit juices may cause glucose spikes, particularly when consumed on an empty abdomen and with none protein or fiber. Smoothies that embrace protein, fats and fiber might help hold spikes at bay and assist stabilize your power ranges.
Stability your meals with protein, fat and fiber
Later that week, I had sushi rolls with a aspect of edamame for dinner. To my shock, my glucose ranges stayed inside vary the entire time. Oura Advisor (Oura’s AI coach) even identified that this meals mixture supplied protein and fiber, which doubtless contributed to the regular glucose ranges. This second was actually encouraging for me. It made me notice that I need not drastically change what I eat. By simply being extra intentional about how I pair my meals, I can drastically enhance the affect they’ve on my blood glucose. Pairing your meals with wholesome fat like avocados, nuts, seeds and olive oil may gradual digestion and due to this fact the absorption of sugars.
Fitton explains that that is primarily because of what occurs in our digestive tract, even earlier than the vitamins get to our bloodstream. Protein, fiber and wholesome fat work in their very own strategy to gradual the absorption of easy carbohydrates into the bloodstream, making a slower, extra gradual launch of sugars into the blood. These elements flip what may very well be a glucose spike into a gradual rise that your physique can clear steadily.
“The most important space of concern when managing our blood sugar ranges is limiting refined carbohydrates. If you do select a refined-carb merchandise (a plain cracker, white flour tortilla, cookies, and so forth.), attempt to pair it as an alternative of consuming it solo: add cheese, nut butter or a handful of edamame to blunt the glucose rise, and select a higher-fiber model of your carbohydrate supply when potential (for instance, whole-grain crackers) so the carbs come packaged with their very own pace restrict,” Fitton says.
Cake and a stroll equal regular blood sugar?
One of many extra stunning issues I realized was that blood sugar stability is not nearly what you eat. It is also about what you do after you eat. One afternoon, I had a slice of cake for a snack. No fiber or protein added, simply the cake (I had lunch a couple of hours earlier than).
As a substitute of my blood sugar spiking, my glucose ranges remained steadily in vary. The caveat? I took a brisk stroll after having my dessert. It wasn’t something strenuous, only a brief 15-minute stroll round my neighborhood. However it was sufficient to assist my physique course of and use the glucose extra effectively.
“The physique is aware of that train calls for extra power, and so it helps open up our cells to take in sugar (power) and take away it from our blood. A ten-minute stroll burns about 30 to 40 energy, and your physique will get that power from circulating glucose or saved glycogen,” Fitton defined.
After consuming cake and going for a stroll, my blood sugar noticed a slight spike, however stayed inside vary.
Taking a walk after meals has lengthy been really useful by consultants for metabolic well being, however seeing the impact in actual time made it click on for me. I do suppose that having the cake after having a balanced meal with protein and fiber additionally contributed to my regular ranges of blood sugar.
Typically, it isn’t about utterly eliminating our favourite treats or carbs, however extra so about timing, meals pairing and motion.
3 methods I realized to flatten my glucose curve with out sacrificing my favourite meals
Earlier than utilizing the glucose sensor with Oura, I assumed blood sugar spikes had been principally about meals and the way they affect your physique. I additionally thought the one strategy to handle them was to chop carbs or drastically change my food regimen. However over these two weeks, I skilled firsthand how and after I eat (and transfer) matter simply as a lot as what I eat. I realized that these three methods helped hold my glucose ranges in verify.
Pair carbs and sweets with protein, fiber and wholesome fat
Once I had a berry smoothie with protein powder and soy milk, my glucose ranges stayed regular. In distinction, after I had a fruit smoothie earlier that week, my blood sugar ranges spiked and crashed extra rapidly.
Takeaway: Carbs on their very own, particularly refined and processed carbs, can spike blood sugar rapidly, however including protein or fats slows digestion and results in a extra light spike.
Meals pairing examples: Apples and peanut butter, toast with avocado, rice with beans or one other protein.
Stroll it out (particularly after sweets)
Once I had cake as a snack, I used to be positive my graph would spike dramatically, nevertheless it did not due to my stroll (and consuming a balanced meal earlier than).
A easy stroll, even simply 10 to fifteen minutes, might help offset blood sugar spikes. This small however easy behavior helps me now take pleasure in treats with out the crash later.
Timing your meals issues
I additionally observed that after I ate higher-carb meals earlier within the day, my physique processed them higher than after I had them later at evening. Breakfast smoothies and bowls saved my ranges secure, whereas the identical smoothie after 9 p.m. induced extra spikes.
“On the subject of blood sugar administration, we see that within the morning our physique often has a spike in cortisol (a stress hormone) that may really assist our physique take up sugar in a short time and rapidly handle blood sugar. Consuming within the morning may even calm the cortisol response, lowering the stress in your physique. If you happen to wait too lengthy to eat, extra cortisol can create irritation and in addition produce bigger glucose spikes once you do eat,” defined Fitton.
Fitton additional defined that, conversely, within the night, the sugar administration programs in our our bodies begin powering down and are usually not pretty much as good at serving to blood sugar get into the cells. So it is very important strive to not eat too late; in any other case, you will most likely see blood sugar go up and look ahead to longer.
That does not imply you possibly can’t eat carbs or treats at evening, however consuming them earlier within the day when insulin sensitivity tends to be larger could make an actual distinction.
