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Are there any benefits for healthy people to track their blood sugar levels?
Blood glucose measurements also added sleep and exercise tracking to the wellness trend. Some longevity experts argue that reducing variability throughout the day can help protect against heart disease, even those who do not suffer from diabetes.
A continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, is a small device that tracks blood sugar in real time, allowing the wearer to tell how the body is responding to stress, food, sleep, or exercise. The new version is attached to the user's arm and can be paired with a smartphone to provide blood glucose readings throughout the day. First approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1999, CGM has traditionally been prescribed only for diabetic patients.
More recently, the FDA has approved two blood glucose monitors for over-the-counter use, making them available to anyone without a prescription. As a result, people who don't have diabetes are increasingly promoting themselves on social media sites such as Reddit to help them lose weight and monitor the benefits of exercise.
Shannon Sackley, 30, a Los Angeles real estate agent, does not have diabetes, but has been wearing a blood sugar tracker for months after seeing her diabetic friend use it.
“I find it exciting and it's amazing to see how food affects your body,” she said. “I think it's really worth having.”
Previously, diabetics had to monitor their glucose levels in finger stabs, painful, and repeated procedures. A finger stab gives a drop of blood that enters the machine to read blood sugar levels.
Nyu Langone Health and Diabetes Endocrinologist Dr. Michael Natter compared the finger stab wound to “blindfolding and flying the plane.”
“I know you're in the sky, you know you're going somewhere nearby, but you don't know your direction or how fast,” he said. “The continuous glucose monitor is a great, innovative device.”
What is normal blood sugar?
Blood glucose levels can change throughout the day and are lowered in the morning before eating, as monitored by a test normally called “fasting blood sugar.”
Dr. Vijaya Surampudi, an endocrinologist and nutrition expert at UCLA Health, says normal blood glucose readings when fasting is usually 70-100 milligrams (mg/dl) per 70-100 milligrams.
After we eat, our bodies break down food into carbohydrates, proteins and fat components. Carbohydrates found in large quantities of foods such as bread, rice, and pasta are converted directly to sugar or glucose and absorbed into the bloodstream.
It's completely normal for people to have blood sugar levels to rise after eating, Nutter said. However, if the number is too high, it can be a problem.
Surampudi said, “If someone is not diabetic, those under 140 are acceptable.” For people with diabetes, the ideal level should be below 180, she added.
It's not just what we eat. High levels of stress can destroy a person's blood sugar balance and are associated with diabetes. According to the National Sleep Foundation, sleep is “complicated” to blood sugar levels. In a 2022 study in patients without diabetes, researchers found that higher blood sugar levels in CGM resulted in less total sleep.
“If we don't get enough sleep, it puts our bodies under some level of stress,” Nutter said.
That stress can lead to high levels of stress hormones such as cortisol and epinephrine, which ultimately leads to increased blood sugar levels.
Should I worry about blood sugar spikes?
Nutter said there is not much research yet about the value of tracking blood sugar spikes in people who do not suffer from diabetes. He noted that the devices were not designed or tailored for non-diabetic populations, making it difficult for healthy people to know what measurements should be.
“I don't think I know enough about how small variations of glucose cast factors for optimal performance,” he said.
It is normal for healthy people to change sugar levels all day. Being too aware of blood sugar spikes can be a source of anxiety.
“Blood glucose is the dynamic value we see,” Nutter said. “It's not supposed to be 100 all day.”
In a recent study using CGMS on diabetes-free patients, researchers at Boston University were surprised by the daytime blood sugar spikes.
“We saw glucose levels that were much higher than we expected from people without diabetes,” said Nicole Spartano, a researcher specializing in diabetes and weight management at Boston University's Chovanian & Avevezian School of Medicine, who specializes in diabetes and weight management, as the lead author of the study.
Specifically, we found that even participants without diabetes spent three hours a day with blood sugar levels above 140. For 15 minutes a day, the number exceeds 180.
In other words, it is not yet clear whether even healthy people can have high sugar spikes, pose long-term risks.
“As these devices become more accessible, people wear them and people can see really high glucose levels and be really worried about it,” Spartano said. “Hopefully people can look at our data and compare their data to what they find within themselves.”
Are there any proven health benefits?
Experts agree that there is a great possibility that the monitor is available through the counter. Catch previously diabetes cases for people with family history or for those who may potentially prevent them. Monitors can help users learn which foods cause blood sugar spikes and cut them out from their diet.
“Pre-diabetics may be really interested in using this because they are trying to prevent the onset of diabetes,” Surampudi says.
It is not uncommon for diabetes to be diagnosed late. Estimates suggest that 240 million people worldwide have diabetes and are unaware. In the US alone, an estimated 9 million people met the diabetes standards, but they didn't know about it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Diabetes is fatal if not treated in a timely manner without diagnosis. Leaving it untreated can lead to nerve damage, kidney failure, and even severe wounds that require amputation.
Monitors can also help women with polycystic ovarian syndrome, a hormonal disorder often associated with infertility, weight issues, irregular or missed periods.
“Women who struggle with PCOS suffer from insulin resistance,” Surampudi said. “They are trying to learn what foods they can eat and which foods don't raise blood sugar levels.”
Sackley said he feels that using the device will help him make healthier lifestyle choices.
“I cut out the date to make my glucose spikes surprisingly high because the sugar and the 'healthy' protein bars are so high,” she said. Other changes include walking after meals and fine-tuning the order in which you eat different food groups.
Fighting her lifelong sleep problems, she discovered that avoiding sugar spikes late in the evening improved her sleep and energy levels the next day.
Research shows that eating vegetables and protein before carbohydrates can reduce sugar spikes. It is believed to be to prevent high levels of sugar from being absorbed quickly into the bloodstream because it is slow to empty the stomach.
