CGM devices are everywhere. They're great...if you're diabetic. But is there any benefit to using them if you don't have diabetes or any issues with insulin resistance?
Diabetic here: I just cant wrap my head around the fact that there are healthy people out there wanting to monitor the blood glucose!!!!😮 I dream of not knowing what mine is. Not having to monitor it 24/7. Not having to worry and consider everything I eat. Not having to think about what stress, illness and activity levels are going to do to it. Yet there are folk out there putting themselves through it out of there own acord 💀
Well to play devils advocate for them, if you thought monitoring yourself before you had to meant you could have avoided becoming diabetic wouldnt you have chosen to do that? Youd be able to moderate yourself without having it be a genuine 24/7 stress because its a preventative measure instead of a necessary life altering measure, right? My brother isnt diabetic or even prediabetic but theres a good chance he could become with his lifestyle, he was warned so by his doctor and the cgm was a huge wake up call for him actually seeing it laid out where ue couldnt ignore it or pretend it wasnt so bad. A little bit like how I want to eat healthy and excerise now and not after a sedentary lifestyle has weaked my muscles and capabilities then I dont have to struggle to get back into it, its already part of my lifestyle. I cant fully comprehend why everyone thinks its so horrible that people want more awareness and preventative measures or more importantly, just less sugar.
type 1 diabetic here. For us it would have never been preventative, as we have an autoimmune disease. I would love to give my sensors, pump, insulin, tubing, everything, to these idiots, along with my type 1 diabetes.
@@smileygirl622 Not to assume OP is T1D, but monitoring before having to won’t prevent type 1. It wouldn’t prevent someone from having an autoimmune response that can cause T1D to develop.
@@smileygirl622 You're completely correct, these diabetics are weird to me. It's as if they need to gatekeep this technology for no reason other than to have special access to it. As if supply and demand for these types of products couldn't possibly make it as cheap as OTC medication or test strips one day - no, let's make them an extremely limited access technology. Just ridiculous nonsense. This is coming from someone who is diabetic himself.
I'm diabetic and my cgm is amazing, it's lowered my ha1c, from 8-10 to 5.4-6.7 (under a 7 is amazing for a diabetic) I recommend it to any DIABETIC, but I wouldn't do so to anyone who's not diabetic or at least prediabetic, healthy people using diabetic meds and such are making it harder for those of us who actually NEED it to survive and thrive
I just finished a paper on the efficacy of CGMs for my microbiology, molecular, and biomedical sciences degree (mmbs). In all of the studies i have found, both individuals in healthy bmi range and obese bmi range with no prior health issues had practically no monitoring difference despite diet. One person with a healthy bmi ate a donut and got a spike. One ate an apple and had an even higher spike than the donut. If you are healthy, you really dont need a CGM.
The thing is you may not be as healthy as you think, I sulin levels are not measured in the standard panels. It can be considerably elevated for nearly two decades and cause all sorts of malice before the blood glucose start to be high and push the alarm.
Each person is unique. How can you know which foods you normally take actually push you towards insulin resistance? How will you know if it's true for you that if you put butter on your toast instead of jam (or whatever) it reduces the spike drastically? How will you know how fast glucose is cleared for each food/drink combo? What happens if you take a 10min walk 3x/day or just a one-time 30min walk? The trend is far more important than the individual data points. Seeing the trend of how high and how long the clearance is for each type of food, coupled with exercise, proper sleep, stress management, BP monitoring, weight management, quarterly blood tests to confirm your experiments with macros proportions... there's so many things that you can do with the CGM charts and you don't need to be sick first.
I'm worried about high blood pressure - it goes up every time i see an ad for the Zoe monitoring device. So sick of it! Thank you for your rational explanation Dr. K ❤ Edit: OMG I just got a Zoe ad after this video!
"Blood glucose is like a moody teenager, affected by everything and impossible to tell what's going to make it act up." Sir, that is the best description I've ever heard. My husband uses a CGM and pump and I wish he could have gotten them years ago. It's been such a big help in controlling his diabetes.
Same here, when I first got type one diabetes, my A1C was 9.9% 84.7 mmol, it wasn't until I got the Libra when it first came out I was able to understand what was going on. Fast forward to today my A1c is 5.3% 34.4 mmol. Because I could see what adjustments I needed to make inorder get the insulin to work how it should.
The sad part is that these devices can be life changing for Type 1 diabetics like myself but they are so ridiculously expensive (especially here in the US) that many of us just can’t afford them. They have saved my life many times by alerting me when my blood sugar gets extremely low in my sleep.
I have T1 and my husband has T2, both on insulin. I was just saying how it would be good if he could use a cgm like the one I'm wearing because stress sometimes makes him rollercoaster. Our insurance will pay for a good portion of my equipment but they won't pay anything for him. It's so frustrating. And now people are just using them for dieting?! This has got to be a rich privilege thing & it's just insane.
@@Selene13zz Think of it this way... more attention on the product creates more competition, which will cheapen the prices for Type 2 diabetics. Also Type 2 is such a crazy epidemic in places like the USA that literally tens of millions will benefit from reduced prices for these products.
When I was a summer camp nurse, I was so thankful for these for my T1DM kids. 10 years ago, having a diabetic kid at camp meant constantly poking and checking in and making sure they understood every step along the way. But these days all I need to do is get the carb counts each meal and do a quick check in. The freedom it gives diabetics is incredible
I don’t have diabetes, and diabetes doesn’t run in my family, but a CGM was life saving for me. I have a rare condition that causes sudden severe hypoglycemic episodes that my doctors missed. If it wasn’t for a cgm I would have never received a diagnosis before my condition became life threatening
I’m type 1 diabetic and been diabetic for 35 years. I’ve used these freestyle CGMs and there are some more information you can add. 1) If you sleep with your arm (where the sensor is) is in or outside of the bed duvet at night. It can alter the reading. I tested this over a month and found it can alternate between to high and to low. 2) depending upon where you attach it also makes a difference in the reading. About 2 years ago, I changed to a new insulin pump (tandem) and it has a counter part of a CGM which the pump uses to regulate my blood glucose. However, because the reading of the CGM can be out by +/- 2.5 or more, every morning and every night I have to recalibrate the insulin pump to make sure it is as close to each other as possible. I will also point out, that with my old pump, which relied upon me doing blood tests several times a day, I was able to get my blood glucose between 6.0 and 6.5 mmol/L which is what someone who isn’t diabetic should be (throughout the day, not after meals), with this new system with the CGM, I have found it no where near as reliable and have found the pump and CGM to try and keep my blood glucose levels about 10.0 to 12.0 mmol/L which is double what I am able to keep it at. I personally would not recommend CGM’s even for diabetics as they are not accurate enough and if you are not a veteran diabetic like myself and know diabetes inside and out, they can cause more harm than good. What infuriates me is you have all these idiots who say they make better health from social media etc, who have no medical back ground or even experience in things like Diabetes, so recommend these things and for those who they do work for, then have to pay more for what they need for their health. A good example is if you have IBS and suddenly these same people said to go on a gluten free diet and suddenly all the IBS food shot up in price making it impossible for some to even be able to afford them. So don’t listen to internet influencers, as most talk out their rear ends and wouldn’t know a healthy diet if it slapped them in the face. Oh and Dr Karan, can you do a video on IBS etc and the FODMAP diet, I think this will help a lot of people, and also in the video touch on things like Guar Gum and Xantium Gum which is worse than eating a full box of wheatabix for people with IBS. Thanks in advance
As a Diabetic who’s had this for 16 years (and counting) Thank you for exposing these people and brands like Zoe. They really needs to be a strict gatekeeping for diabetic technology strictly for diabetics and not to people to have it for “funsies”
Strictly speaking, there's some evidence that blood glucose monitoring is useful for adrenal insufficiency, and we're definitely seeing improvements from using essentially identical pump technology to the same. But of course, that's another "your endocrine system doesn't adequately produce a required hormone" disorder, and one that directly feeds in to insulin response (higher cortisol makes less insulin response, low amplifies insulin response and thus reduces blood sugar to potentially dangerous levels.) Measuring blood glucose makes a viable proxy for measuring cortisol, and we don't have any other proxy to measure beyond "how do I feel" that's as accessible.
As I've commented elsewhere (as a fellow diabetic), reduced costs of production in increased volume could benefit us. CGMs aren't a resource-limited technology: they're not like semaglutide, which diabetics have difficulty getting because the worried wealthy well are soaking up all the supply.
Not everyone can get a diagnosis easily. I'm happy that my friend fighting to be seen for his health issues, has access to this tech. Gatekeeping health tech is dangerous
In my country nobody would buy this if they don't need it for a medical concern. I really don't understand why anybody who's healthy would want to monitor their blood sugar. It' really a weird phenomenon
CGM were designed for 1. type-I diabetics who need the CONTINUOUS glucose reading for dosing their insulin throughout the day. and 2. for their Endocrinologist to prescribe insulin treatment by providing a database of the diabetic's daily continuous glucose readings. They are a vital part of the A-I technology built into next generation insulin pumps. For the Medtronic Insulin pump system, the Guardian-4 CGM "talks" to my husband's MiniMed 780G insulin pump adjusting his basal and correction insulin rates minute by minute by what the sensor (interstitial) glucose reading is. CGMs are meaninless for nondiabetic people that have a normally functioning pancreas. Their pancreas adjusts insulin secretion naturally as soon as the body detects a normal glucose spike after eating anything with carbohydrate in it. Maybe a CGM might be used to make you aware of what foods have carbs in it to guide your eating choices but just read the labels! The scam was for Libre CGM to expand their market to non-diabetics to get health conscious people to measure something they dont have any control over, their pancreas does the work for them secreting insulin as needed.
@@zohrehbenn6634 Hi, which CGM have you been offered? As someone who takes care of a T1 diabetic and knows people who have had gestational diabetes they are often helpful, but sometimes they can be inaccurate (some brands you can calibrate them and make them more accurate by adding a finger prick reading) but thats usually uncommon. Some CGMs are a bit shitty tho.
CGMs can also be used for patients with Addison's disease as they are at risk of nocturnal hypoglycemia. So should be prescribed for non diabetics sometimes but again for genuine medical reasons only.
@@mikeg8276 definitely for those who are taking insulin, but if you're able to maintain your sugar through diet or medication, it's probably not worth it.
I read ALL food labels and still got fooled by a couple that were allowed to have "sugar free" on their labels but really were not. They had maltodextrin in them, which caused huge spikes in my blood sugar. Without a cgm, I wouldn't have known. One was a "sugar free" jam I'd been using for years and never knew. So you can't trust labels.
I am SO glad to see you talking about this Dr Karan.... I smelled bullsh*t on this as soon as I saw Zoe & Dr Spector on 'diary of a ceo'... As someone that's been living with disordered eating for my whole life, I've spent most of those years vulnerable to these snake oil salespeople, Now having woken up from it and focussing on long term, holistic, steady health approaches, It makes me fear for the 100'000k's vulnerable people getting sucked into these schemes and lining the pockets of these so called influencers!
Wearing a glucose monitor shows how my body reacts to certain food and how long it takes for my glucose levels to return to my normal. Knowing this helps keep me on track and has motivated me to lose 50 lbs. It always shows me how the dawn phenomenon and cortisol spikes in the morning and how long it takes to get back to my normal.
I'm type 1 diabetic since I was 8, I'm 24 now and I've been using the Freestyle Libre since I was 16, which it appears it's the one you used. Makes me glad to know that I knew most of this information you presented. Even how interstitial fluid works. I never understood why a healthy person would use a CGM without a medical reason, but I guess it's part of how rampant misinformation goes nowadays. If you're reading up to this point you might be interested in CGM's so I will give you my only piece of advice since our beloved Doctor here said pretty much everything. Regarding CGM's is that MAKE SURE YOU INSTALL THEM PROPERLY, read the instructions well and install exactly where it tells you to, otherwise your readings might say that you're low all day or it won't work at all, also never install it before a shower, the temperature will mess it up. And always compare your readings with a capilar, CGM's are not a replacement, they're support
@@zohrehbenn6634 I do the finger prickin' when I don't quite trust what the CGM has to say, 90% of the times it's because it says I'm low but I know I'm not low, but in my experience when it says I'm high, I'm definitely high. You're not stupid for trusting your CGM at all, because it's such an easy way to measure yourself it's easy to get comfortable and forget about double checking, I personally barely do it these days unless I'm on the first 24 hours of applying the Freestyle Libre since it's a bit more chaotic within that timeframe. I can only talk from my experience because everyone's case is different. But double checking is always good Also I remembered another tip about the Freestyle Libre is try not to sleep pressing the sensor against the bed, try to sleep on the "sensorless" arm, in my experience it sometimes distorts the readings. Sorry if the long and chaotic comment didn't fully address your question, I try to talk only about the things I know about...
as someone with t1d who should be wearing one of these regularly but can't afford to, it makes me so mad to see people who don't need them acting like they're a fun new health toy. i hope the extra demand doesn't drive the price even higher. also ya the accuracy of them is SO dicey. was given a libre trial from my clinic and just turned off alerts and ignored it halfway through use because it was so inaccurate it wasn't even useful. if you want an accurate cgm, you NEED to be calibrating it with finger-pricks at least a few times a day, which i'm willing to bet none of these health influencers are doing, if their cgms allow calibration at all. even the best cgms that i've used and loved and wouldn't be helpful without calibration. I've also found that the accuracy varies depending on how long i've had it on, less accurate at the start, more accurate mid-way after it's calibrated a bunch and gotten into the groove, and then less accurate again towards the end of it's life. there's so much that can influence your bg as is that these people are ignoring, but also so much more that influences how your cgm reads.
I don’t think gaining knowledge about how certain foods affect people is a bad thing. I agree it’s probably not good to be obsessive about it, but I don’t understand why it couldn’t be useful. I do understand it’s a totally different issue for people with Diabetes type one who unfortunately don’t have a choice.
Dexcoms have been way more accurate than Libres for me (also t1d) Also, if you're in the US and you have health insurance, try getting them to bill your CGM as Durable Medical Equipment (DME) instead of as a prescription- it might take more off of the cost or even make your insurance cover them completely
They're expensive in the US because they can be. It has nothing to do with the supply of them. People exploring alternate avenues and creating new CGMs that are available to everyone is exactly how you lower the price and advance the technology enough to be able to break into the market and force competitors to lower their own prices.
Checking a bodily function over and over again is dangerous and harmful, when not necessary. My son, while being investigated for Marfan syndrome, along with other blood test abnormalities such as kidney and cortisol functions, was told to take his blood pressure every two hours by a doctor. We did it. He was just 15 years old. Every other doctor thought it was insane to be doing this. And, most importantly, it was not good at all for my son. You might say, it’s only taking your blood pressure, no harm. Nope. He was pulled out of class regularly for 3 months and worried constantly that he was dying. After all kinds of tests, including genetic, turned out that he was just a very tall, thin boy. Because he was very tall (6’5”) and thin, the paediatric tests were always “wrong” because he was “adult” sized. That was two years we could have done without.
That's insane. So sorry you went through that. Also, Marfan is genetic. Why not just test that? And...he could get a blood pressure monitor for 3 days, so he could have gone along his day normally. I mean...3 months is long. But still. Very sorry they put you through this
My 13 yo daughter got so scared she was going to have cancer bc of tests she was undergoing. No matter how much I tried to tell her they didn't think she had cancer it was just one of the standard tears they ran. It's taken her ages to recover from the tests.
@@lisastenzel5713 Eventually he did have genetic testing. It’s just the system of health care in the country we live 🙄 Same with the blood pressure monitoring. Everything took time, too long really, so they did what they thought was correct and helpful until the genetic testing.
Dr Karan, thank you so much for this! I’m prediabetes and was looking at these devices. You just saved me a small fortune and tons of time processing useless information. You’re the best!
They are very helpful for showing you how you personally react to various foods. Tips to blunt glucose spikes: 1 TB of vinegar in water before meals, eat leafy greens at the start of a meal, walk for 15 min. After eating, avoid flour, sugar and processed foods. Best of luck to you!
This is a good device for diabetics and pre-diabetics. You don't have to wear it for months. 2 to 4 weeks would probably be enough for you to learn how your body interacts with your daily intake of food. You might want to check out Ben Bikman. Knowing what food spikes your sugar can give you the chance to lower your metabolic syndrome score.
The information is not useless, and if you're prediabetic, you're at risk of developing diabetes. The cgm is useful, it could help you avoid it. I've lowered my A1C with mine by beginning careful about what I'm eating, and that's led to weight loss. Nothing else has enabled me to have this much control. Type 2 meds don't provide this much control. They either work or they don't. You can't really customize them either.
My 7yo daughter has T1 diabetes and I was surprised the first months after adopting a cgm how sugar fluctuates, it’s really not just food that influences the numbers!!
A strong emotion, like fear, double the sugar level in minutes. A missing night of sleep will keep the sugar values higher than expected. Physical pain also raise the blood sugar. Also, the digestive system follow its own sleep pattern, which can cause hypoglycemia in the early morning.
Seriously, I started to be able to predict fairly accurately if my patient would be out sick the following day depending on how his sugars fluctuated throughout, and one of my coworkers said her son’s BG would go haywire when he had a loose tooth!
Thank you so much for making this video. I've been incredibly angry at these uneducated fools using something that wasn't made for you. This little this is one of the few things that's happened for us and we unless you have done the same, puncturing your finger 6-10 times a day is exhausting but there's never been an option. I've been type 1 efor 30 years and tho im not a doctor, fitness freak or a nutritionist but being type 1 is like having a full time job on top of whatever you do in life. I can never take a break from this and being able to calculate carbs, fat, sugars isn't a choice but part of what we have to be able to do because we are doing the job the pancreas does. If you have a pancreas, then our bodies doesn't work the same way. Just like type 1 and 2 are NOT the same tjing. Both groups of people have to be in control,e ducate themselves because there's NO ONE to do it for you. It's a horrible thing to live with but it makes me so happy that the things that are crucial for me to stay alive can help people loose weight or be completely used wrong while actually not understanding what its for so your fitness journey is better 😂
I'm glad to see that there are people out there who want to take charge of their health and try to prevent type2 diabetes and all its nasty complications. I don't begrudge them using modern tech to achieve this goal. Too many people don't care to take responsibility. My daughter is a pharmacist/ diabetes educator and runs into this a lot. A lot of them say, just give me a pill. Drugs don't fix everything and aren't the answer to everything. I'd rather see people taking control of their health than having that attitude.
As a T1D who haaates the cgm trend, I do appreciate it being more easily available for women with gestational diabetes. I have never heard such confused statements (I met one woman who thought cheese was a carb). Pregnancy is killer on glucose levels, the women are stressed and scared and basically tossed into diabetes hard mode right out the gate. I think it would be comforting and informative for them
If someone has gestational diabetes they have dysregulated metabolism so they’d also fall under the bracket of medical use. I’ve stated throughout this video it’s not for Normal physiology. Gestational diabetes isn’t normal physiology
I only know of one situation where someone without diabetes has benefit of wearing a glucose monitor. It was my professor that is a diabetes specialist. She always wears the new glucose monitors herself. It makes her aware of the comfort and (lack of) hassle to wear one and check multiple times a day. She said the statistics were really boring because she has a normal body so the glucose is always within normal range. So that is the main thing. If you don’t have diabetes glucose levels will stay relatively stable
Hey Doc, can you make an in-depth video regarding weight loss, including the aspects of diet and exercise? Because there are SO MANY false rumors going around about weight loss, like willpower is essential for weight loss, not your anabolic and catabolic rates; Subway diet is effective; consume less carbs and exercise even more, and so on. I, as an obese person, and many others would appreciate that!
I don’t know if my case is different, but I have actually found the opposite to be true from what you were saying. For a long time I’ve had slightly high triglycerides, a little bit high LDL, and low HDL. Everything has always been in the place where I can reasonably make the choice to try to change diet or try statin. My A1c is between 5.7 and 5.9, which again slightly elevated but not in the medication range. My fasting glucose however usually is 95 to 98 in blood results. with a 3 to 6 month. In between blood test, it is often really hard for me to see what isn’t isn’t working. I asked the doctor to prescribe a CGM, and the amount that I’ve learned about how my body response to different foods and the order that I eat food has been fantastic. Also, seeing how when I eat at certain times of the day it changes things, and so much more. I can’t get all those other metabolic tests as often as I would need to get that type of data, but the glucose seems to be a decent surrogate for learning that information. I’m not sure that around my study to show how CGM affects health would actually work in this case, as it depends a lot on how that individual patient is using the data. I certainly can see your concern about too much data or too much emphasis on one data point being an issue, but I also think we need to question diet advice when people following the American heart Association diet are seeing an increase in heart attacks. I think the better study would be to see if glucose spikes, the size of them, and how often people get them, have any correlation to heart disease. they could randomly assign people to change the order in which they are eating, low-carb, diets, keto style diets, low-fat diets.
I'm very much in favour of healthy people using CGMs. Why? Well, frankly it's up to them whether they want to take action to slow their glucose responses, or just use it as a point of information. That's for them to decide. But for me, a diabetic, lots of people using CGMs means costs will come down, and I'm very much behind that. My condition isn't severe enough to justify prescription of CGMs. I've considered buying them to help me control and slow the glucose spikes that are actually harmful to me, but the cost puts me off. If the makers can pass on reduced costs of production in volume - hey, we can hope! - it'll benefit everyone: diabetic or currently healthy.
Yes whilst everyone has a choice to do whatever they want - drink alcohol, smoke, even use CGMs when they aren’t required…the reason CGM shouldn’t be used by healthy people to “slow their glucose response” is because that statement in itself is superfluous. A person with a normally functioning pancreas and insulin response doesn’t need to slow their glucose response - it has ZERO clinical effect.
@@DrKaran I disagree. Someone with a 'good average glucose response' from high glycemic foods might still be spiking their insulin to very high levels to keep that glucose within good control. That is not a good thing and it is also difficult to accurately measure even from the commonly used OGTT. A small insulin bump is good but not a big spike. Continually high levels of insulin cause future problems. I agree that a CGM should probably not be used indefinitely by a non-diabetic (although their choice), but can be good for a period of time as a learning tool. I have never personally used a CGM, but I have done lots of finger prick tests and 'reversed' my pre-diabetes by having better dietary habits. By the way, I'm not a Zoe or Dr Spector fan. I don't agree with a lot of his opinions.
I’ve been a 1-on-1 nurse for a T1D kid the last 2 years and it ticks me off to see people who don’t need to buy CGMs or use Ozempic. I didn’t even know people were buying CGMs to do this until now! The point you brought up about disordered eating is probably the scariest part of this to me… this tech should not be readily available for people to buy… Influencers pushing this need to lose their followers.
Some people need to know the “why” before they can make changes. If these weren’t readily available, as a prediabetic I really have been in the dark about the magnitude of how different factors are impacting my glucose (sleep, cooked vs raw/lightly steamed veggies, exercise, eating slowly). Everyone can misuse a tool, doesn’t mean tools should all be locked up.
Don't you think it's worth it for people at risk of developing diabetes to use these tools to prevent it? By the time you find out, in most cases, it's too late. Now you have to treat a disease you could have prevented for the rest of your life. Which only gets progressively worse if you don't take care of yourself. I wish these had been available 15+ years ago. I might not be a diabetic today.
@@Carol120454 it’s fine if people are prediabetic and need to monitor, but that’s not what this video or comment are about. This is about influencers pushing this and diet culture.
I got one of these two days ago for managing my random hypoglicemias. I don't have diabetes, I have never in my life have gotten high blood sugar, I tend to go low at least once a day and I didn't know. I developed nerve damage that I thought it was from an autoinmune disease and this might be the actual reason. I'm kind of excited because I started feeling hunger in just two days.
I'm pre-diabetic, but only recently diagnosed. I've started monitoring my blood glucose lately (not with a CGM) and discovered that I have severe spikes and crashes. Those spikes also correlate with fatigue and makes emotional regulation much harder. Some of those spikes are technically not in diabetic blood glucose levels, but still affect me. I have no clue how long I've been pre diabetic, but I guarantee you this is a problem that's been going on undetected for years. I don't see anything wrong with people wanting to monitor their own health or see how they personally respond to different foods. People also take their own temperature and blood pressure at home. If it was known this was a problem earlier I could have gone to my doctor with some evidence and asked for help instead of rely on a stranger that might just tell me that I'm making it up.
As a pre-diabetic who is insulin resistant and pregnant the cgm has been a game changer for me. I can see what affects my blood sugar the most and stay away from it. I mostly see that ultra processed foods and sugar spike my glucose way too high.
No you won’t. These things cost hundreds of dollars for the uninsured. 99% of people won’t ever buy one, the other 0.99% will buy a single one for the novelty. Y’all use 2 every month and 24 a year, something like 7 healthy people in all of the US will be willing to dish out thousands for that amount. Manufacturers will easily keep up with the demand.
Not to mention I’m pretty sure it’s not even legal otc in the US. People are smuggling it from other countries. It’s not going to be a huge market rush. People aren’t generally that committed to getting an expensive gadget.
Reminds me of the trap some people fall into of treating their weight like it's the sole measure of their health. Health is just too complicated and too individualistic to be boiled down to a single "health number".
I remember Anne Reardon using one to show the science of pasta. I remember how she mentioned it wasn't always accurate, but that it was good enough to visualize what the studies already proved.
@@DrKaran yes, she mentioned that, too. Her point of using it was to show a visual graph to debunk cold pasta as a superfood (if I recall, it could have been another food). The point of the graph was to show how, yes, freshly cooked pasta does have a much higher glucose spike, but the cold pasta spike fell more gradually which also needed to be accounted for in measuring the glucose intake, then backed it up with other research data to conclude the same thing. I believe she posted the video about the same time that you posted a short on the same topic with the same conclusion. I meant my comment to be an agreement with your message, not a contradiction. I apologize if it came out differently.
Thank you Dr. Karan! This was very helpful. I appreciate your balanced perspectives on health. Tbh I stay away from most health and wellness schtick now. Creating food anxiety (or any health anxiety) is one way wellness influencers get away with peddling useless (and/or harmful) overpriced supplements and unsupported ideologies. I don’t doubt that most of them are just spreading their own anxieties, which makes it incredibly difficult get across to them the fallacy of their gimmick of choice. To an anxious person it will feel like you’re ripping the floor out from under them. They just cling harder (until they find a replacement crutch).
I wear a CGM. I learned the order in which I eat my food MATTERS. Protein first, then everything else. Carb always last. That apple spiked you, yes, but you need to eat it with a protein to avoid that spike. And yes, I confirm the CGM by doing finger stick. I love CGM’s! I’ve been able to avoid injecting insulin by the constant monitoring and listening to my body.
As stated in the video for diabetics food order , checking CGM is all very very useful. It’s just not for people who don’t have issues with glucose regulation
@@DrKaranbut diabetes takes longer to develop. So what is wrong with people who have not been diagnosed yet using something that could help them avoid diabetes in the first place?
I think Ronnie Coleman’s quote on bodybuilding parallels these shortcuts to good health: 'Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy-a$$ weights.'
I definitely don't think people without diabetes need to be using CGMs. By this information, I wonder how good it is even for diabetes. I had one dialysis patient that I did recommend use a CGM, but that is because he absolutely did not manage his diabetes because he refused to stick his fingers or do any testing. He kept going in and out of the hospital with low glucose levels. I managed to get him a small supply of CGMs and it helped him a little. But I definitely agree the price needs to drop. $55 for a single 2 week monitor is too much.
Many people hate sticking their fingers, and it takes time. It's also very inconvenient at work or public places. I'm lucky to have 5 minutes to go to the bathroom, and that's not to do a finger stick. My CGM has been a godsend. All I had time for was one finger stick in the morning, and that really didn't tell me what was happening during the day or how I responded to food, medication, exercise etc. I won't go back to not using one. Former Medical Lab Technologist and 15+ years a diabetic.
Thank you for this amazing video Dr Karan. I have been a slave to ketogenic diet and blood glucose monitoring. I have lost over 60 pounds and I’m off all diabetic medication but I’m learning that it is ok to eat some complex carbohydrates ❤
As a former pre-diabetic, with a family of diabetics. I have used CGM on a diet program monitored by a doctor & dietician for an year. The CGM was only used twice, 15 days at a time, at the start and end of the course. I have successfully come out of the pre-diabetic zone. CGM readings were scary and mostly inaccurate in relation to finger-pricked glucose meter readings. At the same time, the graphs were insightful to understand how body responds to exercise, sleep and fasting. Specially useful when it's not possible to prick your finger. Things that helped me: 1. Exercise 2. Introduction of Complex Carbs in diet 3. Balanced diet (in all meals of the day) 4. Introduction of Nuts & Seeds 5. Yoga & Therapy to reduce stress 6. More sleep 7. Nitro Dump (10 min) exercise post meal - to control spikes in case I ate high GI food It was more like an experiment through an year. I understand how this could go wrong when CGM is just handed over to a non-diabetic person, and they draw their own conclusions. For me, I continue to focus on reversal of insulin resistance. I avoid sugar at all costs, except for dark chocolates once in a while. Interesting find : Bitter Gourd magically reduces your blood glucose levels. Be careful, it can even cause hypoglycemia. I am not a doctor.
@@emilysha418 here's an excerpt from Healthline Bitter melon is linked to lowering the body’s blood sugar. This is because the bitter melon has properties that act like insulin, which helps bring glucose into the cells for energy. The consumption of bitter melon can help your cells use glucose and move it to your liver, muscles, and fat. The melon may also be able to help your body retain nutrients by blocking their conversion to glucose that ends up in your blood stream. Bitter melon isn’t an approved treatment or medication for prediabetes or diabetes despite the evidence that it can manage blood sugar. Several studies have examined bitter melon and diabetes. Most recommend conducting more research before using any form of the melon for diabetes management. There’s no medically approved way to consume bitter melon as a treatment for diabetes at this time. Bitter melon may be eaten as part of a healthy and varied diet. Consuming bitter melon beyond your dinner plate may pose risks.
I'm confused I've seen adverts for these things I thought they were for diabetics, why the hell would anyone else want to monitor their blood sugar its irrelevant if your healthy.
As someone who has worked in glucose monitoring (the device I worked on was for the ICU), I find stuff like this annoying. We do our best to create devices to help diabetics and those recovering from surgery, etc... Then people do this. hmmmpth.
I feel you’re missing the point! Dr Karan is simply stating that glucose monitors don’t provide a true picture of what is going on! Hence the apple, KFC comparison! It’s like saying all fats are the same, it all proteins are the same!
@@helenstaniskov4570 I think the original poster meant that they are annoyed by healthy people using CGMs - not by Dr. Karans Video. Or did I misunderstand?
@@bingewatchforever1587 I think you understood correctly, I just wanted to put my 2 cents worth in, meaning if we’re a healthy unprocessed whole food diet, you wouldn’t need glucose monitor (obviously not for those who have diabetes already)!
Get your HbA1c, C-peptide, HOMA-IR, or fasting insulin tests. If the results from two labs show elevated levels within a 6-month period, it's time to consult your doctor and take immediate action.
This is so ridiculous. Has a type 1 I use a cgm ONLY to know when I need insulin or my sugar is too low I may end up going to the hospital. You think I enjoy wearing an expensive device every 10 days and wish there was pill that could solve all my problems? And the only reason I lost weight is because I can’t eat just anything. I wouldn’t wish being diabetic 1 or 2 on anyone because it truly sucks.
Finally! I am so glad you made this broadcast! These things wind me tf up! I have watched a few interviews about these CGMs and the foods that were to be avoided...I knew then and there it was all a load of sh*te! Certain influencers ought to be ashamed of themselves....getting rich off the back of quack science. Disgusting.
When I was first diagnosed diabetic with an A1C of 11.3, I committed to a food log for 90 days to understand how individual foods were impacting me. I took readings the old fashioned way at 2 hours after the start of any meal or snack. When i tracked my numbers, I also included comments about other medications taken, hydration values/types, my anxiety and overall mood, exercise, sleep, mental tasks, and if I had any concurrent health issues like fever, constipation, congestion, etc. This showed me how food impacted me at different times of the day as well as the other things influencing my blood sugar readings. I was also able to learn exactly what it felt like when my blood sugar spiked or dropped too fast. Using tools, methods, dietary aids and other great measures are dangerous if you aren't studying how they impact you. What works out not for one diabetic isn't a solution for every single diabetic. I can eat a banana as an evening snack as long as I'm getting at least 10 hours overnight without having that "dawning" spike. My coworker can only eat bananas mid-morning or mid-day. Over the years, I've studied my overall health and am more attuned to it's fluctuations. My A1C currently sits between 5.9 and 6.4, which is fantastic. Your A1C is a more reliable number in my opinion because it generates a picture over 3 months to show you how your management of blood sugar may still be leaving you open to the dangers high sugars take on your body over time. Of course, I still do the finger prick if I'm feeling too high or low so I can dial in my diet to support my targeted range, but I'm not a slave to it after every meal anymore not will I allow a monitor to freak me out every single time a predetermined number for the populace triggers a caution or alarm. Most importantly, I have an excellent rapport with my primary physician and we discuss my labs, lifestyle, and options every 3-6 months. Way better than relying on an influencer. And, Dr. Karan, it would be nice if non-diabetic individuals would leave enough rybelsus on the shelves so I don't have 2-6 week lapses and see my A1C spike back in the 8s or 9s. So i really appreciate your attempts to put this into context. You're straightforward and easy to understand. Your truth regarding the dangers of these scams might just save a life! 📖😉🇺🇸
If you're a person whose body already has a functioning blood sugar management system, CGM is like wearing a life jacket on a treadmill. If you have a condition where you need to intervene to keep your blood sugar from putting you in a coma from too high or two low, it's wearing a life jacket in a canoe on the Atlantic. Considering the moody T1D teen in my life hates the CGM as one would a babysitter at that age, it boggles the mind that anyone would willingly wear that for no medical benefit.
People using diabetic supplies for artificial weight loss and social media acceptance drives me crazy. As a type 1 diabetic, these supples are essential and extremely expensive. All these pharmaceutical companies are just laughing all the way to the bank. This stuff should be going down in price, but they have no incentive to do that with these muppets buying this stuff for the wrong reasons.
My blood sugar spiked so high when I was severely dehydrated and in the ER (and they did a blood panel). It scared me, but I was assured it was perfectly normal for it to be like that in response to my illness, and it went right back to normal after. I know some people (who do not have diabetes or pre-diabetes) with health anxiety that get even more anxious when they're monitoring their blood sugar, and it probably goes into a bad feedback loop!
Well, i figured out that a lot of my anxiety attacks started when my blood sugar started dropping rapidly. My Dr. even said she thought everyone should wear one for a couple months just to see how food affected their sugar. So even though i have to pay cash for my sensors, they are definitely worth it to me.
Yeah, but modern fruit cultivars contain a lot more sugar than heritage species. Apples in particular have been selectively ‘bred’ for sweetness for hundreds of years in the UK.
I started using one and I'm not diabetic. My a1c has been creeping up for a few years now and both my parents have type 2. After just 5 days or so, I started seeing patterns. My gastroparesis is apparently wreaking havoc on my numbers. And my gastroparesis is only mild! But when I have food sitting in my stomach all night long, my numbers just kind of stay up. Not crazy high, but like 120 all night long. I also have hypo episodes that trigger me to overeat. So I started intermittent fasting to give my stomach a chance to be fully empty for at least a few hours every day (which goes against the "standard" gastroparesis advice to eat mini meals 6 times a day, spread out), and I can catch the hypo episodes before they get really bad. My numbers already look better and it's only been like 11 days. I don't know that I'll need it long term, but I should've done this years ago. You don't have to be diabetic to benefit from some extra info about how your diet is affecting you.
Honestly people should only have these if they're diabetic. The only situation where I could imagine that people should buy something to monitor their blood sugar outside of diabetes is either if they have a condition that also need you to have a stable blood sugar for some reason, or someone suspects they may be diabetic but haven't had that many symptoms, and for some reason don't want to go to the doctor. This trend is genuinely a problem, though. I almost didn't have enough sensors for when I went on vacation, but luckily my mom found a lady who was willing to give us enough for us to actually go on our full vacation.
Thank you! I'm in perimenopause and struggling to lose weight. I keep seeing all these articles to about glucose and I just can't get behind wearing a monitor (or taking Ozempic) because I'm not diabetic. I also know I'll become obsessive (I have a history of eating disorders).
It's the same as full body scans for healthy people. Except for well studied screening tests, they don't help and may even be harmful if done for no health related reason.
I'm glad you mentioned about exercise and elite athletes. In cycling, the recent monitoring of blood glucose has lead to an understanding of mid race nutrition that flips everything traditionally done on its head. Ten years ago most Tour de France cyclists would consume about 30g to 60g of carbohydrates per hour and no more for fear of excessive weight gain (they make themselves as lean and as light as physically possible because lighter is faster, especially riding up hill). However after multiple studies shown that to maintain the intensity levels required to compete they should be at 90 to 120g per hour (1.5 to 2g of carbs per kg of body weight). When a couple of the top racers started this nutrition technique they started dominating races, the rest of the professional riders took notice.
I purchased the kit from Zoe, which includes the monitor. I have yet to use it, and really dont think I will now. A few hundred pounds down the drain 🙄
I might try it, just for the sake of using it lol. I know I was to get 3 months support regarding diet etc. I haven't been well with depression and it all seemed like too much work.
The revommendations from jesse 'glucose goddess' are very helpful for those with metabolic syndrome/prediabetes. A little more nuance around that would have been helpful, just as you mention towards the end of your video.
With two pre-diabetic parents, mildly elevated glucose, and poor general health, I've really enjoyed working with a CGM + app affiliated nutritionist. With this product you are instructed to calibrate it with fasting glucose and I've compared it to lab tests as well. I have some severe GI problems that have caused me to rely on many refined carbs because I don't tolerate fiber or a lot of protein, and I was suffering from unintentional weight loss. Food order, resistant starch and minimizing oatmilk at dinner has already made a big change on my energy levels which is critical for dysautonomia and CFS, since post parandial malaise is often worse with higher carb meals. I probably won't use it forever, but finding ways to stabilize my glucose with my restricted diet and poor exercise tolerance to prevent becoming prediabetic is a win for me.
Well yes, but again if you’re diabetic you’ll be checking it as part of your daily routine. If you’re not diabetic, it’s unlikely you’ll have a dramatically low blood sugar because your physiology will correct this
I have to say, while I’m glad that I’m not using a CGM for the long term, it did help me initially track and reduce my blood glucose levels in my initial weeks as a diagnosed diabetic. I found myself avoiding the bulk of fast food and focusing on grocery shopping for healthy sources of fiber and protein, as well as drinking less soda and more water and tea, combined with a balanced exercise routine. I lost 17 lbs in 2 months, and to this day, my blood glucose has been in a healthy range when I test with my finger stick in the morning and evening.
My older brother is a Type 1 Diabetic, and between these influencers buying up CGMs and pharma companies trying to rebrand diabetic medications like ozempic as weight loss drugs, diabetics across the country (at least here in the USA) are having trouble getting their meds and supplies. LEAVE THE CGMs AND DIABETES MEDS FOR THE DIABETICS WHO ACTUALLY NEED THEM!!
my first thought with these (for someone without a diabetes diagnosis) would be that it would ONLY be useful info if the glucose spikes went into diabetic ranges, and that prompting someone to make an appointment
I'm happy to say that I don't listen to any influencers, the only medical advice I can trust comes from you; I'm in the process of looking for a new GP because mine is incompetent and has overlooked at least 3 times, serious medical emergencies. I can't even take him seriously but I also can't find a new GP because I take an opioid for 2 chronic degenerative diseases and no Dr will take me as a patient. So, thank you Dr. Karan for being my go-to Doctor for trustworthy medical advice.
CGM is for diabetic patients to monitor their glucose levels. In theory the sensors help avoid hyper- and hypoglycaemia. Judging foods based on constant glucose levels is like trying to do weather forecast based on wind (or lack thereof). My girlfriend is a diabetes educator. Her first sentence is, a CGM gives back a level of glucose 20 minutes prior. It is how it works. If you want on-demand, on-point levels, draw blood from your arteries. I'll go further saying that people not diagnosed with diabetes, or prediabetes, do not need CGMs. Unless a health professional deems them necessary - no need to put one up.
Once, I started using my cgm, changed my life. I very rarely picked my fingers , I hated it. It was a game changer. I went from 10.0 to 5.9, and continuing my downward trend. I will continue to use my. I’m a diabetic.
I used a CGM and found out that my blood glucose after initially rising was dropping after meals down as 50 mg/dL causing the faintness that I was experiencing, hypoglycemia. My fasting A1c and blood glucose were always in the normal range. The fact is how do you know that you are perfectly healthy unless you run tests? Answer you don't know. That is why we get colonoscopies, mamograms, etc
I'm so sick of those health gurus telling people that 300 kcal from a donut and 300 kcal from veggies are equal and that it's better to have cookies after a big dinner than have an apple in the middle of the day because iT sPiKeS yOuR bLoOd SuGar.
As if non-diabetics are not only taking Ozempic from diabetics but now also CGMs?? That's insane, leave these important things to the people who need it??!!
I have never seen anyone on youtube saying that monitoring blood glucose is end-all-be-all of health. Ive also never heard them advice to eat a lot of fat. I can see how CGM can be helpful to not just pre-diabetics, but also to those whose Fasting Glocose is slowly creeping up to 100.
I can see a good use of a CGM for non-diabetics for a period of time (even just 2 weeks) to help them make better food choices and stop them becoming diabetics. I'm not diabetic but have had pre-diabetic glucose levels in the past. I never used a CGM (too expensive) but I have pricked my fingers 10+ times in a day to get an idea about the negative effect of some foods and various eating habits. It helped me work out what not to eat. These days I very rarely go above 120 (6.6) and typically have a post-prandial of less than 110 (6.0). The single worst 'health' food I ever found for prolonged spiking of my glucose was oats, irrelevant of whether steel cut or whole. Sugar had less of an effect on me. Edit to add: For all you folks that eat high glycemic foods and have good blood glucose, please consider what your insulin is doing. You can't measure that very easily or accurately, and your insulin could be bursting at ridiculously high levels to keep your glucose low.
People like you are a breath of fresh air when I come across Drs having meltdowns because their blood sugar spiked after a few grapes. She even said that fruit is evil. Others have meltdowns about grains. There is just so much fear around food. However, these meltdowns are great entertainment. I love seed oils. in the Uk a few decades ago even potato's were fattening.
Not being on TikTok or Instagram has been one of the best choices I made in my life. When I was a kid I thought it was weird the adults didn't care to 'keep up with the cool shit that's going on'. But now I'm old and I get it. So many lies. So much bull.
These were developed for DIABETIC patients because it is critical for their health to know where their blood sugars are because the glucose spikes are higher and the overall BG level are higher, either because their pancreas no longer makes insulin, or they have become insulin resistant. Healthy people get no benefit from these devices. For a while, it was hard for diabetics to get these devices and the supplies that then need to use them. Now it's the GLP-1 agonist drugs like Ozempic. Diabetics are having a hard time filling those prescriptions, now.
The problem is too high blood glucose damages your bodies cells. The question is how high damages them? I've heard all the way from 125-180 is where the damage occurs.
I have one and I’m diabetic. It alerts me to highs and lows. I have also learned what triggers spikes. My A1c is much improved now. The other day it alerted me that I was having a fast low because I was out in the heat and sweating a lot. I guess it could be healthy for someone who is non-diabetic to possibly prevent it in the future especially the people who diabetes runs in the family
