A recent BBC news article (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-68452019) has questioned the Zoe experiment as it gains popularity over the last few months. I get asked about this a lot, and I’ve had comments of the amount of people (Mainly in the gym) that are using these devices to monitor their blood sugar levels.
My thoughts:
Any information about your system and how it’s functioning is good information to have. If you can learn how your body is interacting with it’s food and what is being stimulated and when, you can make more informed choices. The not-so-good news about this is that people are making dietary choices around what their body is supposed to do after a meal! It’s natural for our blood sugars to rise after a meal, our body is doing it’s job. It’s only if these levels peak excessively and repeatedly, then there could be a problem – and I use the term “could”. Diabetic patients have these monitors to help monitor their blood sugar and know if they are hypo (too low) or hyper (too high) glycemic, which can then cause unwanted symptoms.
So are these CGM devices worth it if you’re not diabetic? Can they help you lose weight? Well, the device in itself can’t. It’s what you do with the information and the advice you’re given. Ultimately it’s down to you to change the decisions you’re making about food. If one of these devices motivates you to do that, then great.
I can see how someone could get obsessed with this and start making the wrong choices about their food. This is when the education piece around these devices is critical. People have to understand what they are looking at and why the data is showing what it is. The Zoe experiment take into account data from other tests too, not just the CGM device.
The other thing that I find interesting, is that the Zoe experiment seems to be popular with people who are already aware of their health and are wanting to change it for the better (i.e. seeing these devices on people at the gym more than anywhere else, but I suppose that could be because there are more arms exposed at the gym!). The problem is reaching the people that don’t already know about the dangers of what’s lurking in the food they consume, they need this education brought to them.
Let me know what you think!
