I Wore Freestyle Libre CGM & Now Eat Bread (weird and true)

Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) are used to manage diabetes, but anyone interested in disease prevention and overall health can benefit from a two-week experiment wearing one of these devices.

Learn How Foods Impact Your Unique Body

You’ve no doubt heard of low glycemic and high glycemic foods, but you might not know that your unique gut bacteria and metabolism respond differently. This means that a piece of fruit might be a great, low glycemic food for one person, and it might send someone else’s blood sugar into a spike. Individual difference vary wilding, and this is one of the key things you can learn from wearing a CGM. How does your blood sugar respond to your typical foods?

Stress & Sleep

Your body can respond to emotional stress and poor sleep with a cascade of hormonal changes that can lead to blood sugar spikes—even if you haven’t eaten anything. It’s common for people to sleep poorly and wake up with blood glucose levels similar to someone with prediabetes. Identifying sleep and stress problems is just one part of the process toward balance, of course, but when you see the effects in numbers, it can often give you the motivation needed to seek out new solutions.

Energy Balance

There are many factors that contribute to your experience of energy throughout the day, but your blood glucose levels play a key role. If your levels are spiking high and then dropping low again and again—which is extremely common—you might feel fits and spurts of energy followed by lethargy and brain fog. Learning to manage your own blood sugar can, in some cases, help you achieve steady state energy and focus throughout the day.

How to Buy a CGM?

Glucose monitors are medical devices and fall under strict regulation. There are only two commercial manufacturers of devices: Dexcom and Abbott Labs Freestyle Libre devices. Dexcom is too expensive and not as easy to obtain, so you’ll want to purchase a Freestyle Libre 2 or 3. They are available online and from most pharmacies around the world.

• Expect to pay $75 / sensor, sensors last 2 weeks
• Freestyle Libre 2 or 3 are both great options
• Say this to your doctor: “There is type II diabetes in my family. I’d like to do everything I can do for prevention, so I’d like to wear a CGM for 2-4 weeks.” If your doctor gives you a prescription, it may or may not be covered by insurance.
• In some countries (like USA) you’ll need a prescription to purchase online or offline. In all cases, you can still find them for online purchase.
• If you live in a country were CGMs require a prescription, you can either order from overseas or else use a 3rd party vendor like Veri, Levels, or Nutrisense (they sell the same device, but the cost is 20-50% more).

VIDEO CONTENTS
00:00 Continuous glucose monitors
01:17 Disclaimer
01:28 My Story
02:46 I Eat Bread?
07:04 Which Device to Get?
07:45 How to Get a CGM
09:10 How to Use It?

DISCLAIMER – I have *no affiliation* with FreeStyle Libre or Abbott Labs. This customer review is based on personal experience.

WANT MORE?

Got a question? Please post down below.

#GlucoseMonitor #FreestyleLibre #Diabetes #CGM

[mihaeladog]

I had these on my arm for a while now and I’ve learned that it’s not only the food as an item . Everything works together, the pairing of the foods, the environment and the body ability to handle stress . Human body is complex and not fully discovered .
I was out on a very hot and humid day eating my low carb high protein lunch . I got the highest spike ever, i was shocked . It was the heat not the food and it was the cortisol .
Carbs are not all so bad, sugar once in a while as a desert won’t kill you .But stress will kill you .

[Atheria]

Years ago when my hypoglycemia was SEVERE and debilitating, a 24/7 glucose monitor was very revealing about how my body responded to food. A diabetes counselor helped me and noticed that I did better if I ate fats with carbs. She ended up mandating that I eat carbs with fats...avoid carbs without fats. That goes against what many teach, but my body is my body. A "healthy" low fat vegan meal of a bean sandwich with a salad (no oils) makes my blood sugar go into the 200s!

[kristicullison]

I started with a CGM three days ago. The craziest thing is that plain, unsweetened whole oatmeal in almond milk made my glucose level jump from 103 to 206 while grapes barely registered any increase. I've also learned that I can eat just about anything as long as I pair it with a sufficient amount of protein.

[starpartyguy]

Eating some protein first will get your digestive system filled with low carb food. Then if you eat some carbs, the spikes should be tempered. Today I had a western omelette, 2 slices of rye toast, and home fries (1/2 portion). Eating most of the eggs first worked well. After all that, my sugar didn't go above 150. In the past, my numbers often hit 300. Now, I'm in range (70-170) 80% of the day. I'm using Libre 3

[wendypeacock]

Hi. I followed a programme called Zoe who also utilised this CGM and other tools and learned what foods affect my blood glucose, fat reaction and biome. The CGM has evolved since you did the video and you don’t even need to swipe it. Also your advice re “spike” control is mirrored by the Glucose Goddess (a French biochemist) so would suggest you guys all get on a podcast together. Great work by you and your team.

[vossigake]

Hi Lukas, thank you very much for this video. I also ordered a CGM a few days after your report and have been wearing it for 10 days now.
I was very interested in seeing how my glucose levels are affected by sports activities, especially running. It is very exciting to see how my body reacts to different foods.
My almost daily unsweetened porridge makes me rise from 90 to 150, but then unfortunately also quickly drops back down to 85. Bread and rolls, on the other hand, make the level rise slowly and last a long time, as does dark chocolate.
An apple after weight training makes quite a spike with an equally quick drop.
Overall, however, I have only minor fluctuations every day, I am almost always between 90 and 110 (except for short bursts after eating).
Twice I've been hypoglycaemic at night, but on those days I had eaten too little overall and had a long run in the morning - that won't happen to me again.

All in all, this means that I pay much more attention to what I eat and also change some things.
E.g. replace fine oatmeal with grainy oatmeal + a little oil/nutbutter in porridge for slower digestion.
Instead of an apple after weight training, I now have a cucumber and something protein-packed.

My husband has also been wearing the sensor for a few days now and even some of my colleagues at work. You've got us all hooked. Thank you!

[KrackerJack]

Excellent video! I can attest that a CGM has value outside of the diabetic world albeit I'm a type 1 diabetic who can't live without my Eversense 180 CGM. Since my CGM lasts for 180 straight days soon to be a whole year later in 2024, I can follow what each and every food, exercise, health and stress events play on my blood sugar. Although it is truly life and death for me it is valuable info for my wife who is an active chef and health enthusiast. She actually changed her eating habits based on how foods effect me and she has found her own health benefitting along with improved sleep. I love videos like this that people like yourself thinks outside the box to better their own lives while helping others...Kudos!!!

[mgrimes]

Great post. More people need to hear this information so they can try it for themselves. Everyone should try this for 2-4 weeks.

[Atheria]

I met this diabetic woman years go who was married to a fellow type 2. Interestingly, one of them had his/her blood glucose respond great to beans, but not rice. The other person was the opposite. I joked, "Well, at least between the two of you, you can go out for Mexican food!" Ha! People are indeed unique individuals!

[nospikyspiky]

Nospikyspiky loves this! So insightful. As a T1 Diabetic, I agree - everyone should wear one for 2 weeks to see how their body reacts to food! I wear one all the time and it has taught me a lot!!! Thanks for the video!

[schottjo]

Absolutely spot on with utilizing a CGM for heatlthspan / lifespan. The data has helped me to manage stress, order/timing of eating foods and impacts to sleep to flatten out the glucose roller coaster . Also, you had stated different companies offering the Abbott CGM, is is noteworthy that you are paying for different software/apps. Some give basic data, while others are paired with diet / exercise logs. Do your research and you will find one that gives you the best data.

[SMarkGee]

@yogabody I had to comment, I have the 3/4am sweats and some hypoglaeicimic events too!!! ! I used the same sensor (supersapiens uses Freestyle Libre) and now AVOID bread (which I love) when I want to avoid spiking. It's interesting how the same foods can affect us differently. I love mangos but haven't tested how they affect me yet. all the tips you give about front-loading and avoiding carb-only is also correct (IMHO). the supersapiens app is good as you can see your continuous graphy with workout and food events overlain

[kimmuller]

I have heard about these for a few years now but just didn't feel I could afford one when I saw how much they cost to purchase. Thanks for showing a way to make it much more affordable and attainable!

[fdehkuq]

Thank you! This is terrific information and well explained as always.🙏

[kavindrachetna]

Just yesterday, I got myself a CGM and found my sugar level graphs are astonishing (disturbing). And the CMG device 'discovered' that I had a low sugar (58) at 4am in the morning while I was asleep, and it red-flagged it automatically. And now seeing your video, I could recall that I had couple of episodes of severe sweating in the night probably due to Hypoglycaemic event. I also discovered today morning that the fresh juice cocktail (Orange, Amala, Carrot) also spikes my sugar from 100 to 150 in no time. It's only the second day today and 13 more to go, but thats a ton for your video that is so crisp and clear.

[Ripplesinthewaters]

I’m on the Freestyle 3 for PCOS and Insulin Resistance. I’m seeing that fruits, like apples and bananas, are the worst but strawberries are best. I can’t eat cereal or oatmeal. I’m not sure about bread. I do know that a Big Mac Meal doesn’t touch me! How odd! Movement helps me. Good thing I’m a dancer. Now, I’m working on my food choices and meal plans. I want my fasting glucose to be under 100 and my A1C to be 5.6 or lower. I’ll wear the CGM as long as I need to so I can see results. Thanks for the review!

[Sapwolf]

If looking for a low glycemic bread, the Ezekiel Sprouted Bread (orange label in frozen bread section) is great. 1) hack it with butter or cheese or avocado, 2) toast it first, 3) dip in cold first press olive oil, eat portein/fat/fibre before getting to the bread. It works for me and I never go over 150 glucose on my first meal of the day.

[SarahJEveryday]

I am a Type 1 diabetic, and I have to use the sensor. The sensors are invaluable for Type 1 diabetics due to taking insulin. Your description of fruits giving you a rush and dip is expected. I appreciate your video and insight for non-diabetic people on how to monitor their sugars.

[sheeralim]

After wearing my CGM as a T2D, I discovered that the healthy steel cut oatmeal and blueberries with soymilk was actually causing my blood glucose to spike very high. In fact, I found that all whole grains (barley, sorghum, millet, etc.) caused spikes. Adding protein doesn't help significantly. Bananas, other fruits, and bread hardly raise my levels at all. Weird, but very instructive. Thanks to the CGM, I've been able to make changes to flatten the curve.

[jeffy]

Finally a clear explanation of the different devices and their uses! I had been doing a lot of research in the past few days but your video is by far the best and made me move ahead and I got my first Libre 2! Thank you!