Tracking blood sugar is the next step in the quantified self.
I often get low around lunchtime if I haven’t eaten much beforehand, which was the case today. Typically, I expect to spike after lunch on days like this, but it doesn’t always work that way. Today, around 11:45AM, I ate a high-fat, moderate-carb lunch and took a normal dose of insulin for it. By 12:30PM, I had fallen to 52 mg/dL, interrupting the work call I was on with the “urgent low” alarm that Dexcom offers no way to disable.
With that goal in mind, the app feeds you insights when you log some foods. It told me bagels were “glucose spikers.” Another day, it told me I should avoid oatmeal because it’s a refined carbohydrate. “Try chia pudding instead,” the app said.Today is an ambitious day: my girlfriend and I are planning a 25-ish-mile bike ride to and from a pizza place in the suburbs of Chicago.
Exercise can lower blood sugar because the activity helps cells more effectively pull glucose out of the bloodstream. Levels encourages exercise; every time there’s a blood sugar spike, it nudges a user to go for a walk. “There are a few different things that can help most of us when it comes to glycemic control,” Mike DiDonato, the head of member success at Levels,” told me. “One of them is just the power of being active: going for a walk, doing some air squats, whatever is good for you.
I’m getting low, which is frustrating and seemingly unpredictable. I need to bike to my next meeting soon, so I eat the rest of my cookies, don’t take any more insulin, and wait around for my blood sugar to rebound. I’m a few minutes late.I eat one of the chocolate chip cookies I made the other day . I feed the recipe into an online nutritional calculator, and it tells me each serving has 18 carbs. The Levels app chides me for my choice. “Processed food is harmful to the body,” it warns.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
A $4 desalination system provides continuous clean drinking water for a familyA team of scientists from MIT developed a new, $4 method for solar-powered desalination that stops the build-up of salt seen in similar devices.
Read more »
Tracking Colorado’s mass shootings: 57 have died in 10 incidents since 1993UPDATED: Last night, Colorado had another mass shooting where 5 people were killed. That makes 57 deaths in 10 mass shootings since 1993 in Colorado.
Read more »
The Pixel Watch just got slightly better at sleep trackingIt doesn’t fix the Pixel Watch’s issues, but it’s a step in the right direction
Read more »
Sign Language in Virtual Reality Actually Looks Kinda AwesomeMembers of the deaf community are taking advantage of sophisticated hand tracking to use sign language in virtual reality.
Read more »
10 Apps And Programs You Should Join Before You Start Holiday ShoppingGet organized, save money and stock up with these browser extensions, apps and tools.
Read more »
Chicago embraces warmup after winter-like weekendTime to start thawing!
Read more »