Are you worried about how your blood sugar reacts after eating a meal? This has become a hot topic — so much so that numerous companies have released tools to help check your blood sugar after a meal. This so-called micromanaging of blood sugar is done typically using a continuous glucose monitor (CGM).
Blood sugar monitoring offers a wealth of information to the person with diabetes giving them insight regarding how their blood sugar reacts to food, exercise, stress, lack of sleep, illness and really all the everyday stuff that we do. The traditional method is to use a blood glucose meterand lancing device to obtain a droplet of blood, generally from the finger, to check the blood sugar level. It’s a super useful tool for diabetes management.
However, micromanaging of blood sugar is being done for personal health optimization in healthy adults. Is checking your blood sugar after every meal and snack a good way to determine your health? Top registered dietitians specializing in blood sugar control, diabetes and pre-diabetes weigh in.
[READ: Tips for Monitoring and Controlling Blood Sugar Levels.]
Why Is Blood Sugar Monitoring Trendy?
Closely monitoring how your blood sugar reacts after eating food is very trendy as demonstrated by ads and posts across social media by influencers touting various types of blood glucose monitoring devices. The consumption of sugar has been top of mind for many people for several decades. But how did we jump from obsessing about sugar consumption to blood sugar monitoring?
There are several reasons why closely monitoring your blood sugar has become so popular. According to Toby Smithson, Senior Manager of Nutrition and Wellness at the American Diabetes Association, “I’m not sure what motivated this concern other than that the technology now exists to monitor blood glucose (blood sugar) levels and many other health indicators.”
“Since it’s easier than ever to find and use continuous glucose monitors, it’s made tracking blood sugar just like another tool in your health metric toolbox, like step counting and sleep tracking,” says Jackie Newgent, RDN, culinary nutritionist and author of “The Plant-Based Diabetes Cookbook.” She adds that influencers on social media promote the idea that managing blood sugar can help you stay healthier, and as such, many people follow suit.
[READ: Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Diabetes]
Who Can Benefit From Blood Sugar Monitoring?
There are three groups of individuals that may choose to monitor their blood sugar:
— People living with diabetes
— People with pre-diabetes
— Healthy adults
Registered dietitian experts weighed in on each of these populations to determine if monitoring blood sugar is called for.
People living with diabetes
For someone living with diabetes “a glucose monitor or a continuous glucose monitor can give you so much valuable feedback,” says registered dietitian Jill Weisenberger, author of “Prediabetes: A Complete Guide, Second Edition” and creator of “The Prediabetes Meal Planning Crash Course.”
Weisenberger explains that she likes her clients living with diabetes to know how various meals, meal timing, sleep schedules, exercise and other factors affect their blood sugar levels. When her clients measure blood sugar right before a meal and two hours later, they can gain much information. The difference between the numbers measured right before a meal and two hours later hints at the effect of the meal.
People with pre-diabetes
“If you have prediabetes, one of the most valuable things you’ll learn from a continuous glucose monitor is whether your blood sugar is high during fasting, after eating or both,” Weisenberger says.
Knowing this information can help you tailor your management strategies. Working with a registered dietitian nutritionist can help understand what techniques can be used with regards to food, exercise and other habits to help manage blood sugar.
Healthy individuals
For healthy individuals, the consensus among the experts was that monitoring blood glucose levels isn’t necessary and your body is really good at regulating blood sugar all on its own. However, there are pros and cons for doing so.
[SEE: Best Blood Glucose Monitors]
Pros and Cons of Micromanaging Blood Sugar If You’re Healthy
Pros
One huge pro Weisenberger points out is that using a blood sugar monitor can identify someone with diabetes or prediabetes that might otherwise go undetected for a while. The standard for checking blood glucose levels is to wait two hours after consuming a meal or snack. Blood glucose rising after eating a meal and staying elevated for too long can be an indicator of prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes, but a person would need to see a health care professional to discuss a diabetes diagnosis.
In addition, Smithson says that micromanaging blood sugar can be helpful for a woman who is pregnant and at risk for developing gestational diabetes (seen through the laboratory blood glucose results) as these individuals can benefit from knowing how their blood glucose levels are trending.
Lastly, Newgent points out that it may be helpful for elite athletes who are trying to achieve peak performance. Knowing how the body responds to different foods and activities can be useful with guidance from a registered dietitian nutritionist.
Cons
Monitoring how your blood glucose is trending may just be data and knowledge overload without a purpose.
“For people who do not have diabetes, using a CGM is like taking your temperature every 5 minutes. If someone sees that their temperature or blood glucose slightly fluctuates, there is not much intervention to be done because this is normal for our bodies. Our temperature and our blood glucose levels will fluctuate,” explains Smithson.
Weisenberger’s biggest concern in healthy individuals monitoring their blood sugar is putting so much emphasis on a single health measure.
“I’ve heard people change their diets and cut carbs because their blood sugar levels rise after eating.” However, Weisenberger points out that these fluctuations are perfectly normal and worries when people cut out wholesome carb-containing foods like whole grains, beans, lentils and fruit because their blood sugar went up after eating. “When you cut out these important foods, you’re also cutting out the critical phytonutrients that help shield your body from chronic disease, including diabetes.”
Newgent points out that monitoring blood sugar in a healthy individual may create added stress and fixation over what’s considered normal blood sugar fluctuations. Plus, these tools (like a continuous glucose monitor) can be very pricey.
[READ: How to Calculate Net Carbs in Your Diet.]
Managing Blood Sugar Without Tools
If you’re looking to keep your blood sugar stable throughout the day, here are several recommendations provided by experts:
Eat all your meals
Newgent points out that you do not want to skip your meals and you don’t want to go more than five daytime hours without something to eat. This means you should plan nourishing snacks as needed to help keep blood sugar stable throughout the day.
Fill half of your mealtime plates or bowls with non-starchy veggies
This includes vegetables like cucumbers, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and tomatoes. By doing so, you’re boosting the nutrient quality, volume and color of your meals while helping you keep starchy carb portions in check.
Pair your carbs
Complementing your carbohydrates during a meal or snack with protein, healthy fats and dietary fiber to help slow down glucose absorption and keep blood sugar steadier.
If you’re still worried about your blood sugar, Smithson recommends waiting two hours after consuming food to check your blood glucose. It is expected to fluctuate after eating. However, if you’re seeing a trend of your fasting blood glucose at 126 or above, make an appointment with your doctor and ask for bloodwork. Plus, Smithson says to “be aware of other life stressors that can temporarily raise blood glucose levels, including intense exercise, poor sleep, mental stress, some medications or dealing with an infection.”
Bottom Line
There are pros and cons of monitoring blood sugar when you’re not living with diabetes or pre-diabetes. However, you don’t need to monitor your blood sugar as your body has a built-in mechanism to do it on its own rather efficiently. If you’re trying to keep your blood sugar stable throughout the day, there are several dietary techniques you can use that can be helpful.
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Should You Be Micromanaging Your Blood Sugar? originally appeared on usnews.com
