Are you a glucose 'dipper'? Here's how to fix those blood sugar highs and lows

A continuous glucose show helps group way their humor sweetener spikes and dips. filadendron/E+/Getty Images hide caption

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filadendron/E+/Getty Images

By each measurements, Judy Freeman, property 76, is successful awesome health. She doesn't person glucosuria aliases bosom disease. She's not overweight. She stays active.

"I effort to locomotion astatine slightest 4 aliases 5 times a week," says Freeman, who's a well-known potter successful Alpine, Texas. "I besides activity astir 20 hours successful nan studio."

But successful nan past twelvemonth aliases so, Freeman hasn't felt for illustration herself. She's been much tired and sluggish. And she has had much problem shedding a small other weight. "I effort and I can't suffer it," she says.

So Freeman decided to research pinch a caller exertion for a fewer weeks: a continuous glucose monitor.

It's a mini spot that inserts a needle into your skin. The instrumentality estimates your humor sweetener each fewer minutes and sends nan worth to an app connected your phone. You tin way really various foods you eat change your humor sugar.

Freeman wondered if nan other accusation astir her humor sweetener mightiness springiness her penetration into why she felt truthful sluggish and stuck successful her weight loss.

Judy Freeman is an creator successful Alpine, Texas. She wanted to cognize if monitoring her humor sweetener could amended her health. Michaeleen Doucleff/For NPR hide caption

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Michaeleen Doucleff/For NPR

On nan first day, she uncovered a large clue: About 2 hours aft lunch, her humor sweetener nosedived beneath her baseline levels.

Dips trigger overeating 

Studies have shown conclusively that these monitors greatly help group negociate diabetes. But successful 2024, the FDA approved the first continuous glucose monitors for group without diabetes. Now, 2 companies, Dexcom and Abbott, waste and marketplace nan devices to anyone who wants to way their humor sugar. They costs astir $50 and past for a mates of weeks.

But scientists are still trying to fig retired if — and really — these monitors could thief group without diabetes. Can nan information motivate group to eat a healthier fare by helping them study really nutrient affects their bodies?

One of nan scientists starring this effort is Sarah Berry, a nutritionist at King's College London. She's besides main intelligence astatine nan company Zoe, which sells personalized nutrition plans that incorporated these devices.

In collaboration pinch Massachusetts General Hospital and Stanford University, Berry and her colleagues led two ample studies successful which thousands of group without glucosuria deterioration continuous glucose monitors while they eat tens of thousands of meals.

After analyzing each of their data, Berry says 1 uncovering stands out: "A large proportionality of group are what we telephone dippers," she says.

If you're a dipper, your humor sweetener sometimes acts successful a circumstantial way: After eating carbohydrates, it rises quickly, and past astir 2 to 3 hours later, it sometimes plummets low, beneath your baseline, aliases fasting, level.

"So you'll person this large summation followed by this large crash," Berry says. "Not everyone gets these dips, but we spot that rather a precocious proportionality of group do."

These dips tin trigger overeating, their study found, truthful it whitethorn make it harder to suffer weight.

"If you are dipping, past you consciousness more quiet much quickly, and connected mean you thin to eat 80 calories much astatine nan adjacent repast and 320 calories much complete a full day," she says.

But eating much wasn't nan only problem pinch dips. Berry's squad has recovered that nan sweetener crashes besides correlated pinch a person's mood. During a dip, group tended to consciousness little alert and much fatigued, she and her colleagues reported successful nan journal Nature Metabolism.

These conclusions statement up pinch erstwhile studies connected group pinch diabetes, says Dalia Perelman, who's a investigation dietitian astatine Stanford University and wasn't progressive successful this research.

"When your humor sweetener is high, group thin to beryllium lethargic, fatigued, and thirsty," Perelman says. "You're conscionable like, ugh."

When your humor sweetener is low, you're jittery. You tin person bosom palpitations. And you go ace hungry. "Low humor sweetener gives your assemblage very beardown signals," she says. "You really consciousness terrible," which brings america backmost to Judy Freeman successful Alpine, Texas.

The first time Freeman wore nan glucose monitor, she ate luncheon arsenic usual. About 2 hours later, she started to consciousness horrible. "I had this really sinking feeling. It was a benignant of worry aliases depression. I felt for illustration if I don't get up, I'm conscionable going to extremity breathing and die. It was truthful overpowering," Freeman says.

When Freeman glanced astatine nan monitor, she could hardly judge what she saw: "My humor sweetener had changeable up astatine immoderate point, and past it plummeted down to nan lowest point."

This sinking emotion wasn't caller to Freeman. She's had it from clip to time. "I conscionable never, ever thought it was successful immoderate measurement correlated pinch what I ate aliases thing for illustration that."

If you are concerned that your humor sweetener whitethorn beryllium fluctuating wildly and you want to moreover things out, present are 3 things you tin try:

1. Put immoderate apparel connected those carbs

Don't eat meals and snacks that dwell mostly of carbohydrates, Perelman says. "Don't eat naked carbs."

Instead, eat them pinch macromolecule and patient fats. That intends oils from vegetables, seeds and nuts, but besides fats from fish. So adhd eggs to breakfast, canned food for luncheon aliases tofu for dinner.

On apical of that, adhd much fiber — lots more. For that, nan go-to constituent is beans, says nutritionist Mindy Patterson astatine nan Texas Woman's University. "You really person to eat beans to get capable fibre successful your diet," she says. (Chia seeds are different awesome root of fiber.)

"Fiber and macromolecule together put a velocity bump on your digestion," says objective nutritionist Karen Kennedy. "They really stabilize your humor sugar."

2. Sprinkle nan carbs passim nan day

To forestall dips, you want your gut to slow drip carbs into your blood, not douse it pinch a deluge of sugars, Perelman says. So don't eat a bunch of carbohydrates each astatine 1 meal.

For preventing dips, "it doesn't matter really galore carbs you ate passim nan day," she says. "It matters really galore carbs you've had astatine each meal."

3. Pay attraction to what you eat first astatine a meal

With food, bid matters, too. Eat nan protein, fibre and fat first astatine a repast and nan carbs last, Kennedy says.

Say you're having a steak, crockery and baked murphy for dinner. "If you eat nan crockery and nan steak first, and past nan potato, you'll spot that you don't person arsenic overmuch of a spike successful humor sweetener aliases arsenic overmuch of a driblet afterwards," she says.

If your humor sweetener keeps a much moreover keel, past your temper and hunger will do nan same.

And here's nan awesome part: You don't request to bargain a glucose show to fig this out, says Sarah Berry astatine King's College London. Simply salary attraction to really you consciousness astir 2 hours aft a meal. If you get moody, anxious aliases ace hungry, you're astir apt a dipper.

Edited by Jane Greenhalgh