How to Hack Your Glucose Levels (and Why You Should Care)

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Today’s Read: 2 minutes, 23 seconds

Monitoring your blood glucose levels helps you avoid energy crashes—very demure, very mindful. Keep things steady, keep things zen.

Glucose 101: WTF is a CGM?

Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) allow you to watch how certain foods (and drinks) affect your body - it’s a tiny patch that sticks to your arm.

The diabetic were gatekeeping CGMs for years until this year's brat summer when they were finally made available over-the-counter - Dexcom (10 day free trial) and Levels. Now you can just roll into your local plug pharmacy and grab one. No prescription needed. Welcome to the future.

Why do you care? Everyone's body is different, but CGMs make it easy to learn about yours. Plus, it’s hard to ignore data that’s literally sticking to your arm. You can see in real time how dining hall scrambled eggs or frat party juice is messing with you.

Why Glucose Spikes Suck

Here’s the deal. When your glucose spikes—like when you pound an All-Star Special at Waffle House Home—your pancreas releases insulin to bring those levels back down. If this keeps happening, your body gets worse at responding. That’s called insulin resistance, and it’s a one-way ticket to chronic inflammation, and type 2 diabetes.

Short term, big glucose spikes make you feel like Dumbledore drinking that poisoned water (fatigue, sugar cravings, and weight instability). Long term, they cause chronic inflammation which leads to, stroke, heart disease, liver disease, and type 2 diabetes. But don’t worry—you’re reading The Renewal. Help is next up.

Top 5 Glucose Hacks

1. Start Savory
   Ditch the sugary breakfast and start your day with some protein - avoid anything sweet except whole fruit. A savory breakfast will keep your glucose levels steady for the whole day and reduce cravings.

   Not sure where to start with a savory breakfast? Try these:

   - Two-egg omelette with tomatoes and feta

   - Toast with smoked salmon and cream cheese

   - Mushrooms on toast

   - Shakshuka

   - Unflavored Greek yoghurt, nut butter, seeds and wholefruit.

   - Chia seed pudding

2. Drink Vinegar (Healthy shots!)
   Just a tablespoon of vinegar before a meal can reduce your glucose spike by up to 30%. It slows down the breakdown of carbs and makes your muscles sponge up glucose faster. 

   - Pour one tablespoon of vinegar (apple cider vinegar is my recommendation) in a tall glass of water

   - Try mixing with sparkling water, ice cubes, or a dash of lemon

   - Drink it about 10 minutes before a big meal

3. Veggies First
   Eat your veggies first. The fiber in veggies creates a "mesh" in your gut that slows down glucose absorption, which means smaller spikes and less fatigue. Just please don’t eat your broccoli butt-end first.

   

4. Get Moving After Meals
   After you eat, do something—anything—that involves moving your body. Go for a brisk walk, clean your room, try this sport that adds 10 years to your life. Movement helps your muscles soak up extra glucose, which means fewer spikes and crashes.

5. Delay Your Coffee
   Caffeine on an empty stomach is a big no-no. It makes you have rocket poop. It spikes your glucose and messes with your insulin sensitivity. Instead, eat first, then get your caffeine fix. Less glucose spikes = stable body in the short and long run. You’ll be more stable than a chicken head.

If you want to learn more about how food affects your blood glucose levels, check out the Glucose Goddess - a French biochemist who is blowing up on social media.

Random Glucose Facts to Impress Your Friends

• Alcohol tends to keep glucose low in the short term because your liver focuses on breaking down the alcohol instead. So your glucose looks low, but not in a good way. Alcohol generally is not a great health choice, but that’s usually not what it’s used for anyways.

• There’s something called the "dawn effect" where your glucose naturally rises in the morning. It’s your body getting ready to face the day, thanks to a cortisol boost.

In high school, my friend Chase went to the doctor's for a stomachache and came back with an insulin pump. Lesson learned: don't go to the doctor's for a stomachache or you'll get diagnosed with diabetes.

Blood glucose monitoring is a tool for anyone who wants to avoid energy crashes and future-proof their health. If that’s you, stay tuned for next Tuesday.

Over and out,

Jacob & The Renewal team

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