What I Learned From Wearing A Constant Glucose Monitor

I recently had a very comprehensive health check (something I’m going to make an annual appointment now that I’m in my fifties). All my results were within healthy ranges, except for my HBA1C.  HbA1c (short for Haemoglobin A1c) is a blood test that shows average blood sugar levels over the past 12 weeks. A high HBA1C result means there’s too much sugar in the blood, which is something to be concerned about. 

When I saw my HBA1C result , I was initially taken aback - I’d given up alcohol for almost a year, I eat plenty of good, healthy food and I’m very active and I exercise regularly.  I was curious to learn why my result was high and more importantly, what I needed to do lower it. 

Since I’m not a fan of guesswork when it comes to my health, I decided it was time to invest in a constant glucose monitor (CGM). If you’re not familiar with CGMs, it’s a small device which you insert on the back of your arm. It keeps track of your blood sugar levels with real time readings. The results are synced with an app on your phone so you can see the peaks and dips in your blood sugars throughout the day. 

I got mine from Lingo www. https://www.hellolingo.com/uk. I ordered it online and paid £59 for a two week plan. The device is little round patch which is easy to attach to the back of your arm. The app was also simple to set up. So I was good to go to see where I was going wrong with my blood sugar levels.

You know as well as I do that eating a lot of sugar is going to cause blood sugar spikes.  I generally try to avoid the obvious sugary foods such as sweets, biscuits, cakes, soft drinks and juices. However, I do have a naturally sweet tooth so I find it hard to resist snacking on “healthy sugar”, such as dried fruit and those Nakd bars. So that was probably the first main change I made, cutting right back on those kinds of sweet things or if I did have them, making sure I added some healthy fat or protein (which helps limit the blood sugar spike). I did the same with fresh fruit. I also tried to switch my usual sweet tasting fruit based snacks for something more savoury, such as veggies and hummus.

Here are some of the other changes I made and things I noticed while wearing my CGM:

Swapping to savoury breakfasts

Switching my breakfast to a more savoury option - such as eggs and avocado on wholegrain sourdough, instead of granola, yoghurt and fruit - resulted in far less of a blood sugar spike in the morning. Alas my beloved porridge and overnight oats caused fairly big spikes, so I’ve learned I need to limit those.

Zero alcohol doesn’t always mean zero sugar

I don’t usually drink alcohol but I had an interesting insight comparing my blood sugar spikes after drinking a small glass of rose wine versus a 0% beer. The small glass of rose actually generated a much lower spike than the non alcoholic beer. And the time I opted for a zero alcohol cocktail, the spike was massive!!

For me, the best non alcoholic option is a naturally fruit flavoured sparkling water or even a low sugar FeverTree tonic. And it’s reassuring to know that on the occasions when I do have a glass of wine, it’s not going to create havoc with my glucose levels.

Nuts and seeds for snacks

With the exception of nuts and seeds or veggies and hummus, pretty much any time I had a snack between meals resulted in a blood sugar spike. The extent of the spike depended on what I’d eaten - on the days when I really felt like something a bit more substantial, a couple of oatcakes with some cottage cheese or peanut butter were the most CGM friendly. 

On the day I went for a coffee morning and had some of my neighbour’s gorgeous homemade cake, you can probably guess what happened…but life is for enjoying so the odd blip is fine!

Walking after eating - and not training in a fasted state

This was the biggest revelation for me - going for a 20 minute walk after eating was a sure fire way to bring my blood sugar down and to stabilise until the next meal. It’s also a great way to make sure I hit my 10,000 steps each day. 

On the flip side, one morning I went to the gym to do a workout and I suddenly felt very weak and shaky. When I looked at my CGM, my blood sugars had dropped quite low. I realised that it was because I’d not had any carbs the night before nor had I had anything to eat before going to the gym. So I now make sure I have a coffee protein shake made with some almond milk and chia seeds before I hit the gym in the morning.

Sauna spikes

I’ve recently started using a sauna and I was surprised to see that my blood sugar shot up after one session. A quick Google search revealed that this is normal, which is a relief!

Keeping on track

I plan to have my HBA1C re-tested in a few months to see if the changes I made as a result of my CGM experiment have had long-lasting effects. I’ll let you know how I get on!

What changes you can make

Even if you don’t fancy wearing a CGM, it is worth thinking about how your lifestyle might be affecting your blood sugars and in turn, how that might be making you feel. A lot of weight gain, fatigue and sluggishness can be down to poor metabolic health. Making some small changes such as cutting back on sweet foods, limiting snacks and going for a walk after every meal could make a difference to the way you feel. 

For more glucose hacks

For loads more glucose hacks and education, I highly recommend Jessie Inchauspe aka the Glucose Goddess. You can check her out on Instagram @glucosegoddess or on her website www.glucosegoddess.com.