As a wellness editor and author, I am always experimenting with the newest well being tech, so I used to be naturally intrigued once I realized that Oura Ring partnered with Dexcom’s Stelo, a continuous glucose monitor designed for individuals with out diabetes. The aim of this collaboration is to assist on a regular basis individuals like me perceive how meals and normal consuming habits impact blood sugar and total well being.
“By combining Stelo knowledge with Oura’s present insights, we’re empowering members to higher perceive the cause-and-effect relationships between consuming patterns, vitality, temper and restoration — and finally make sustainable, science-backed life-style modifications,” 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 best way I eat and transfer, and I believe any such biofeedback is useful for everybody, even in the event you should not have diabetes.
What’s steady glucose monitoring, and why is it vital?
Your blood sugar, or blood glucose, refers back to the measurement of sugar in your blood. In accordance with the Cleveland Clinic, glucose is the main source of energy on your physique — it is what powers your muscle tissues, mind and even your cells. If you eat sure meals (significantly carbohydrates), your glucose rises, and your physique responds by releasing insulin to shuttle that sugar into cells for vitality or storage. On the flip aspect, in the event you expertise frequent spikes or crashes (even when you do not have diabetes ), it might impression your vitality, 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 tissues and liver.
For individuals with diabetes, monitoring glucose ranges is essential. However is it vital to do the identical for the remainder of us and not using a prognosis? To an extent, I believe so. Monitoring your blood sugar all through the day and seeing how your physique reacts to totally different meals can reveal so much about your cravings, sleep and metabolic well being. “Glucose is a real-time window into metabolic well being, which underpins how we really feel day after day — our vitality, 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 impression 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 believed blood sugar was both steady 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 accordance with the American Diabetes Association, a normal goal vary for adults with out pre-diabetes or diabetes is between 70 and 140mg/dL (be aware 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 (significantly within the morning earlier than having meals), and beneath 140 mg/dL is frequent, particularly after meals.
“Medical research present that even in wholesome people, a average glucose spike (rise above 140mg/dL) can happen every day. In actual fact, analysis means that wholesome adults will dwell above 140mg/dL for about half-hour, as much as 2 hours a day, which is normally 1 to three short-lived glucose spikes”, says Renee Fitton, registered dietitian and director of training at L-Nutra, a vitamin expertise firm.
Fitton additional defined that the quantity and frequency of glucose spikes depend upon numerous elements, primarily what and whenever you’re consuming. These spiked may also be affected by different elements like stress stage, train, dehydration and even whether or not you’ve a sunburn.
Many glucose screens use a customized vary that adapts to your physique’s baseline and patterns over time. When your graph, it is vital to understand that context and tendencies 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 typically your ranges keep elevated over time.
“I’d not see indicators for concern for infrequent (one to a few instances per day) average spikes (lower than 160mg/dL) that resolve inside about 30 minutes. When reaching extra frequent, particularly if they’re increased spikes (for instance, above 180mg/dL), that take a very long time to resolve (over 60 minutes), then there could also be considerations about metabolic well being,” Fitton defined. “A totally flat glucose curve 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 possibly can order the Stelo sensor by means of 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 frightened of needles, so I spent a while mentally making 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 typically 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 robotically 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 might see how my glucose ranges fluctuated all through the day. You possibly can 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 nicely 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 crucial eye-opening elements of my testing was seeing how a few of my favourite wholesome staples performed out on the glucose graph. A terrific 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, however it additionally spiked my glucose above what’s thought of my wholesome vary for about 6 minutes (a small window and nonetheless thought of optimum for my age and total metabolic well being). This was sufficient to make me rethink how and once I devour fruit-heavy drinks.
The subsequent day, I experimented with having a fruit smoothie as a substitute 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 embody protein, fats and fiber might help maintain spikes at bay and assist stabilize your vitality 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 impression they’ve on my blood glucose. Pairing your meals with wholesome fat like avocados, nuts, seeds and olive oil can even gradual digestion and subsequently 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 approach to gradual the absorption of straightforward carbohydrates into the bloodstream, making a slower, extra gradual launch of sugars into the blood. These elements flip what could possibly be a glucose spike into a gentle 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 many others.), attempt to pair it as a substitute 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 doable (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 shocking 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 an alternative 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 vitality, and so it helps open up our cells to take in sugar (vitality) and take away it from our blood. A ten-minute stroll burns about 30 to 40 energy, and your physique will get that vitality 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 advisable 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 have been principally about meals and the way they impression your physique. I additionally thought the one approach to handle them was to chop carbs or drastically change my weight loss program. However over these two weeks, I skilled firsthand how and once I eat (and transfer) matter simply as a lot as what I eat. I realized that these three methods helped maintain 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, once 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, however 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 seen that once I ate higher-carb meals earlier within the day, my physique processed them higher than once I had them later at evening. Breakfast smoothies and bowls saved my ranges steady, whereas the identical smoothie after 9 p.m. triggered extra spikes.
“In relation to blood sugar administration, we see that within the morning our physique normally 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. Should you wait too lengthy to eat, extra cortisol can create irritation and likewise produce bigger glucose spikes whenever you do eat,” defined Fitton.
Fitton additional defined that, conversely, within the night, the sugar administration methods in our our bodies begin powering down and should 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 may most likely see blood sugar go up and look forward 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 increased could make an actual distinction.
