I read a book called Glucose Revolution recently and it got me motivated to order a continuous glucose monitor to measure my blood glucose levels. My motivation for this experiment was to see:

• if I can improve my energy during the day by reducing glucose spikes
• if my headaches are correlated with high/low blood sugar
• build an understanding and intuition about food I eat on regular basis and its impact on my blood sugar

We learn best by doing and there have been interesting takeaways. I paid $55 for the sensor and it needs to be renewed after 14 days. It has a very small thin needle that you don’t feel when sticking into your arm. It was painless. Once the sensor is in, you can read blood sugar levels using your phone, by touching the sensor to your phone and using their iPhone/Android app.

Day 1 – Learned how much sugar one piece of cake can have!

Day 2 – Learned sweets can result in dips in blood sugar due to too much insulin

Day 3 – Learned that a 30-min run can lower my blood sugar

Day 4 – There’s a recurring drop in my sugar around ~7 AM. I believe this is my circadian rhythm kicking in (I woke up at 9 AM)

Day 5 – 20 min walk after a meal does lower the spike

Day 6 – Liquids are absorbed faster (~30 min). A cob of corn is high in carbohydrates!

Day 8 – No spike after eating dinner: eggplant, yoghurt and chicken

Day 9 – Apparently blood sugar can rise during a 30 min run. Muscles needs energy

Day 10 – I better replace chocolate with a healthier snack

Day 11 – Medjool dates are very high in sugar. Bread in iskender kebap is high in carbs. White nectarine is relatively low sugar.

Day 12 – White rice, french fries, pasta … All pretty high in carbs

Day 13 – Again, running on an empty stomach resulted in significant rise in blood sugar, possibly due to glycogen breakdown by the liver and muscles

To recap, my blood sugar was within range the whole time, mostly around ~100 mg/dL and wouldn’t go above 150 mg/dL or below 80 mg/dL which was good. I discovered that my headaches are not related to sugar but my intestines.

I learned some pretty interesting things about my body, like how my blood sugar regularly drops around 7 AM during sleep due to my circadian rhythm or how running on an empty stomach causes glycogen breakdown by the liver and muscles and results in a temporary rise in blood sugar.

The benefit of walking for 20 minutes after lunch was pretty clear in the graphs, which I will continue to do after a big meal. I realized how bad white rice, corn, potatoes and dates are for blood sugar, I will consume in moderation. Seeing how quickly drinks are absorbed, don’t drink your calories makes more sense now.

Overall, I learned so much during this experiment, and plan on repeating with different foods next time!