5 ms·

In what way? Nondiabetic folks self regular glucose just fine on their own.

by malfist 2mo ago

simmerup 2mo ago
In the same way a step counter encourages people to walk more, a glucose monitor on your watch could discourage you from eating that extra donut
- malfist 2mo ago
  Does a step counter do that? All studies I've seen say they don't cause people to adapt their behavior
  - cj 2mo ago
    This study says otherwise: https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2007/11/pedometers-help-people-count-steps-to-get-healthy.html https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2007/11/pedometers-he... Even if it doesn’t increase steps on average, it will absolutely still work with someone who’s self-motivated and not just looking for a quick fix.
jimbobimbo 2mo ago
That's what I thought too, until I got my last bloodwork results and started wearing one of the OTC continuous glucose monitors. That device helped a lot to switch diet habits.
- robbiep 2mo ago
  Can you be specific about what your bloodwork results showed and what special insights your CGM gave you and what behavioural changes it led to? My anecdotal experience from doctor colleagues giving CGM to patients is that it does 3/5ths of fuck all to everyone except those with actual insulin dependent diabetes (T1 or T2) because when you get down to it the insights aren’t that great and most people actually aren’t that invested in shifting the dial on their health that much. But I’m fascinated by examples to the contrary
  - sroussey 2mo ago
    I did it for a month and learned what kinds of things led to spikes and what did not and it wasn’t always obvious without the monitor.
  - RHSeeger 2mo ago
    Seeing just how much rice can impact your blood sugar is eye opening. Sticking to a "half the normal amount" of rice when eating Indian/Asian food can help a lot with blood sugar. And keeping blood sugar in check _seems_ to have a fair amount of researching backing up the idea that it's healthier and makes you feel better
    - malfist 2mo ago
      Sure it impacts it. But what does that matter? Your body is very efficient as self regulating
      - owebmaster 2mo ago
        > Your body is very efficient as self regulating Yet the mind of most people is terrible at that, we love to overeat our body regulations.
      - jimbobimbo 2mo ago
        It is very efficient until it's not. When it's not, it sucks. You don't have to have full on diabetes to experience the suck.
      - RHSeeger 2mo ago
        It matters because high blood sugar isn't great for the body (nor is low blood sugar). A normal, non-diabetic's blood sugar might spike to 120/130 after a balanced meal. But that same person's blood sugar might spike up to 160/170 after something carb-heavy. So sure, the body corrects for it - but it would be healthier if it didn't go into that higher range at all.
  - jimbobimbo 2mo ago
    My story is: I had a really bad crash after eating a chocolate, which never happened before. That prompted the bloodwork, which shown that A1c was not where it's supposed to be. I bought CGM myself, without any doctor's input. Didn't know they exist before reading some selfhelp book which my wife found. Echoing another poster, it's eye opening how some of the foods you'd never think of, are spiking glucose levels. Overall, after both me and my wife adjusted diet, much better energy through the day, no crashes.
dredmorbius 2mo ago
Diabetes (as with much else) is a continuum. Many people are prediabetic, or experience periods of high or low blood sugar. There are also multiple types of diabetes, not just the generally-known Type I / II split, but gestational (affecting pregnant women), Type 5, malnutrition-related, and others. (See Wikipedia for a listing: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes#Types https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes#Types>.) Other factors can also influence blood sugars, including infections, physical activity, and stress.
al_borland 2mo ago
I know, logically, that if I eat a bunch of carbs or sugar my blood sugar will rise. I know if I go for a walk right after a meal it will help blunt the rise. Eating fiber at the start of a meal is also supposed to help avoid the spike. However, I can’t quantify any of these things, so it feels too abstract. If I was able to see numbers and real-time impacts of my actions, it seems like it would do wonders for adherence to various protocols. It seems like it could also provide a warning signal if levels are chronically elevated due to diet and lifestyle factors, which would eventually lead to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes if left unchecked.
joelthelion 2mo ago
High blood glucose causes a host of bad health issues even in non-diabetic people: visceral fat, liver fat, inflammation, cardiac disease... You don't need to wait to be diabetic to embrace good dietary habits, and a glucose monitor would go a long way helping people make that transition.

In what way? Nondiabetic folks self regular glucose just fine on their own.

by malfist 2mo ago

In what way? Nondiabetic folks self regular glucose just fine on their own.

In the same way a step counter encourages people to walk more, a glucose monitor on your watch could discourage you from eating that extra donut

malfist 2mo ago
Does a step counter do that? All studies I've seen say they don't cause people to adapt their behavior
- cj 2mo ago
  This study says otherwise: https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2007/11/pedometers-help-people-count-steps-to-get-healthy.html https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2007/11/pedometers-he... Even if it doesn’t increase steps on average, it will absolutely still work with someone who’s self-motivated and not just looking for a quick fix.

jimbobimbo 2mo ago

That's what I thought too, until I got my last bloodwork results and started wearing one of the OTC continuous glucose monitors. That device helped a lot to switch diet habits.

robbiep 2mo ago
Can you be specific about what your bloodwork results showed and what special insights your CGM gave you and what behavioural changes it led to? My anecdotal experience from doctor colleagues giving CGM to patients is that it does 3/5ths of fuck all to everyone except those with actual insulin dependent diabetes (T1 or T2) because when you get down to it the insights aren’t that great and most people actually aren’t that invested in shifting the dial on their health that much. But I’m fascinated by examples to the contrary
- sroussey 2mo ago
  I did it for a month and learned what kinds of things led to spikes and what did not and it wasn’t always obvious without the monitor.
- RHSeeger 2mo ago
  Seeing just how much rice can impact your blood sugar is eye opening. Sticking to a "half the normal amount" of rice when eating Indian/Asian food can help a lot with blood sugar. And keeping blood sugar in check _seems_ to have a fair amount of researching backing up the idea that it's healthier and makes you feel better
  - malfist 2mo ago
    Sure it impacts it. But what does that matter? Your body is very efficient as self regulating
    - owebmaster 2mo ago
      > Your body is very efficient as self regulating Yet the mind of most people is terrible at that, we love to overeat our body regulations.
    - jimbobimbo 2mo ago
      It is very efficient until it's not. When it's not, it sucks. You don't have to have full on diabetes to experience the suck.
    - RHSeeger 2mo ago
      It matters because high blood sugar isn't great for the body (nor is low blood sugar). A normal, non-diabetic's blood sugar might spike to 120/130 after a balanced meal. But that same person's blood sugar might spike up to 160/170 after something carb-heavy. So sure, the body corrects for it - but it would be healthier if it didn't go into that higher range at all.
- jimbobimbo 2mo ago
  My story is: I had a really bad crash after eating a chocolate, which never happened before. That prompted the bloodwork, which shown that A1c was not where it's supposed to be. I bought CGM myself, without any doctor's input. Didn't know they exist before reading some selfhelp book which my wife found. Echoing another poster, it's eye opening how some of the foods you'd never think of, are spiking glucose levels. Overall, after both me and my wife adjusted diet, much better energy through the day, no crashes.

dredmorbius 2mo ago

Diabetes (as with much else) is a continuum. Many people are prediabetic, or experience periods of high or low blood sugar. There are also multiple types of diabetes, not just the generally-known Type I / II split, but gestational (affecting pregnant women), Type 5, malnutrition-related, and others. (See Wikipedia for a listing: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes#Types https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes#Types>.) Other factors can also influence blood sugars, including infections, physical activity, and stress.

al_borland 2mo ago

I know, logically, that if I eat a bunch of carbs or sugar my blood sugar will rise. I know if I go for a walk right after a meal it will help blunt the rise. Eating fiber at the start of a meal is also supposed to help avoid the spike. However, I can’t quantify any of these things, so it feels too abstract. If I was able to see numbers and real-time impacts of my actions, it seems like it would do wonders for adherence to various protocols. It seems like it could also provide a warning signal if levels are chronically elevated due to diet and lifestyle factors, which would eventually lead to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes if left unchecked.

joelthelion 2mo ago

High blood glucose causes a host of bad health issues even in non-diabetic people: visceral fat, liver fat, inflammation, cardiac disease... You don't need to wait to be diabetic to embrace good dietary habits, and a glucose monitor would go a long way helping people make that transition.