Some thoughts on Continuous Glucose Monitors
Low carb, paleo, Atkins, the Whole 30, keto… And now continuous glucose monitors (CGM’s), all have one thing in common; the goal to help you eat less sugar and have a more stable blood glucose. Look close enough at any fad diet since the 70’s and you’ll see an avoidance of grain and sugar. Why? Because excess sugar and refined carbohydrates are catastrophic for your body . It’s really that simple. And yet; the diet industry is a multibillion-dollar a year enterprise and we are experiencing higher rates of non-communicable diseases than ever before in human history. Why? Because they are very, very good at selling things and horrible about outcomes. And, our government is exceedingly good at supporting a destructive food system. These, it turns out, really piss me off.
It also turns out I have a challenging relationship with fad diets and can get swept up in the idea of ‘this will help me’ despite my education and experience. The most recent incidence of this is believing I needed to know what a CGM would tell me and that somehow this ‘personalized’ experience would help me understand my cravings and give me the information I needed to be healthier. Which carbs could I eat? Was I healthy ‘enough’? How could I manipulate the system (AKA my body) so that I could continue eating things I like to eat? The human brain is a fantastic organ that spends an inordinate amount of time rationalizing behavior and this was quite the cerebral workout. I became hyper-vigilant about my blood glucose; checking readings every hour, stressing about how eating a favorite food would affect those readings, and ultimately gaining a significant amount of weight in a short amount of time as I tried to keep my glucose low by swapping healthy carbs for fats and being constantly stressed.
CGM’s were designed to ease the challenges of diabetes and reduce the need to poke ones finger throughout the day (huzzah!). Then biohackers realized they could use them and started selling to non-diabetic folks. Seemingly overnight companies were selling CGM’s and advertising that through technology there is longevity. There are now countless articles, social media posts, and new books that tout the need to use one and the ‘surprising’ and ‘revelatory’ way they are helping people eat better (spoiler; all of the surprises are high glycemic foods). It has become fashionable to sport a small round disk on one's tricep despite each fourteen-day disk costing nearly a hundred dollars.
There can be some interesting information to be gleaned from using a CGM, or rather information that again, supports what we already know. Refined carbohydrates and high glycemic fruits and vegetables can spike your blood glucose, you are more or less insulin resistant at different times of your menstrual cycle, stabilizing your glucose helps you feel better, sleep through the night, think more clearly, have better energy, and reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Balancing blood glucose is also at the heart of supporting a healthy menstrual cycle and women's health in general. But it is only one piece of information in a multi-faceted and dynamic picture. Yes, we need each tree, but we also need the entire forest and the ecosystem that the forest lives in.
While I agree (and the data supports) the importance of eating for glucose stabilization, the push for non-diabetic folks to use CGM’s is another way for companies to make money while reinforcing social hierarchy, capitalism, and the strained idea of personal responsibility in the face of chronic disease. And yet - the core knowledge of how to care for ourselves and our communities around glucose stabilization is quite basic and does not involve any more data than we already possess. You don’t need a CGM. You need to eat for nutrient density.
Ready to move towards balance? Here are some of my own action steps.
