My findings wearing a Continuous Glucose Monitor!

merakiintegratedwe
Jul 21, 2022
5 min read

My findings wearing a Continuous Glucose Monitor!

After wearing the Libre2 (from Abbott) Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) for two weeks, here are some initial findings! Most of these items are not currently in my diet, but I wanted to test items that have been in my diet in the past..

Disclaimer, I am not paid by Abbott or affiliated with them in any way, it is simply the CGM that my pharmacy carries.

Do you tell yourself that if you eat ‘well’ or ‘healthy’ for the week you can have one ‘cheat’ day or cheat meal or cheat item? I tested this theory and here is what happened to me: I had 4 pieces of liquorice, two mini mars bars and some movie popcorn maybe ¼ of a medium bag)…this one evening re-set my average blood glucose(BG) to over 5.7 mmol/l for close to 5 days! Prior to this, my set blood glucose was 5.0 mmol/l.
Steel cut oatmeal, ¼ cup, with 10 raisins, ¼ tsp maple syrup and ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk caused a spike in my glucose to 12 mmol/l
A snack size Booster Juice, Chunky Monkey with extra protein caused a spike from 5.1 mmol/l to 9.0 mmol/l
When I make all meals from home, the highest my blood sugar gets is 6.4 mmol/l
A bagel belt from Tim’s made my BG travel to 12.1 mmol/l!

Some good news!!

Walking after meals brings BG down quicker than sitting on the couch watching netflix!! Sometimes I just walk around the house, it works!
Dark chocolate and 2 cups healthy popcorn (made with avocado or coconut oil, (see naturamarket.ca or Goodness Me), does not spike my BG…unless I eat half the bar
Eating 6 cups of plants/day helps keep my BG stable
Cooking from home keeps BG stable
My all time favourite gut healthy rice meal does not spike my BG!! Whoot Whoot!! The rice is brown or wild, I change it up. The wild rice does one point better than the brown rice but both are terrific in keeping it stable!

Why do I care what my blood glucose is doing and why did I decide to wear a continuous glucose monitor in my arm for 2 weeks??

I am a curious person and I love health! The past 3 years I have been reading the research on ageing and longevity. My Mom died of cancer; seemingly healthy and then she was diagnosed palliative. This definitely has affected me and made me more proactive regarding my health, although learning about it has always been a love. It is quite possible as well, that as I am entering my 50’s,ok, I am IN my 50’s gawk!! I am all about health prevention, I do not want to be in the illness system that we currently have. I have a need to learn how to age well and long!! I still have too much life to live and fun to have and I want to continue to feel amazing while I am doing it!

What do we need to know about blood sugar?

Blood sugar should rise slightly then come back down within 1-2 hours after we eat. It should really not raise more than 1.8 mmol/l after a meal to stay below 6.1 mmol/l. Keeping tight control over your blood sugar is important to keep inflammation down. Inflammation, we now know, is responsible for all the chronic conditions.

If we do not have a diagnosis of diabetes, our blood sugar should be in these ranges:

Fasting 3.9-5.5 mmol/l (12 hours or more of no food/drink intake)

1-2 hours after a meal < 7.8 mmol/l

These tests are done real time, like when using a continuous glucose monitor.

We also have a marker that is called the HbA1C (hemoglobin A one C); this is the average reading of our blood glucose over the course of 3 months. We can have spikes in our BG as you have seen above, but how our body responds (releasing insulin to open the cells to store glucose and bring our body back to balance (homeostasis) is key. Our average HgA1C should be lower than 5.7mmol/l….some say lower than 5.0 mmol/l to encourage longevity.

Sugar is deadly. It can be found in most prepared (processed) and unexpected products. The effects of added sugar in our diet are: weight gain, increased risk of heart disease, acne, increased risk of type 2 diabetes, increased risk of cancer, increase risk of depression, accelerates the skin's aging process, increases cellular aging, drains your energy, leads to fatty liver, kidney disease, poor dental health, increased risk of developing gout, accelerated cognitive decline (impaired memory, dementia).

Insulin Resistance, aka Metabolic Syndrome

Insulin resistance, or Metabolic Syndrome is when the cells in your fat, liver and muscles no longer respond well to insulin. In this state, our body cannot use glucose (sugar) from our blood for energy. The pancreas will then make more insulin and over time this increases our blood sugar levels. Insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome includes a group of issues like obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes. One in five Canadians and one in three Americans have metabolic syndrome.

Some signs of metabolic syndrome are:

A waistline of over 40 inches in me and 35 inches in women
Blood pressure reading of 130/80 or higher
A fasting glucose level of over 6 mmol/l (blood test ordered from a Healthcare Professional)
A fasting triglyceride level over 2 mmol/l (blood test)
HDL (good) Cholesterol under 0.9 mmol/l (blood test)
Skin tags
Patches of dark, velvety skin called acanthosis nigricans

Am I at risk for Insulin Resistance?

This is what can make insulin resistance/metabolic syndrome more likely:

Obesity, especially if you carry your weight around your belly
Sedentary lifestyle
Eating a lot of carbohydrates
Gestational diabetes
If you have non-alcoholic fatty liver and polycystic ovarian syndrome
Family history of diabetes
Smoking
Ethnicity: it is more likely if your ancestry is African, Latino, or Native American
Age - more likely if you are over 45
Hormonal disorders like Cushing’s Syndrome
Medications such as steroids, antipsychotics and HIV medications
Sleep problems like sleep apnea

Do you want to try out a continuous glucose monitor?

You can purchase one from your pharmacy. If you have insurance and you do not have a diagnosis of diabetes, it is unlikely your insurance will cover the cost. Shop around, the cost may vary from pharmacy to pharmacy. You can search online. There are some programs out there that offer dietitian support.

Ideal pre-meal glucose is 4-5 mmol/l

Test before you eat and then every 20-30 minutes for the next 2 hours.

You can also purchase a finger prick glucometer, these are usually less expensive.

So now what??

Move every day

Eat more plants

Choose healthier carbs

Track your intake

Find a solution for your eating that is sustainable, that you can see yourself doing for your whole life! No diets allowed, they do not work btw.

Reach out to me, I can walk you through a plan that will fit for you!

Want to learn more?

Here are a few of my favourite books on this topic!