In honor of November being National Diabetes Awareness Month, this blog is going to be solely focused on Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM), but here’s the thing, CGM isn’t just for diabetics anymore. CGM can be extremely insightful for anyone to learn more about balancing their blood sugar and what personally affects their blood sugar regulation.
Did you know what you eat, when you eat, your movement, your sleep, and your stress all play a part in your blood sugar? The facts are that 1 out of 3 adults in America are pre-diabetic, and that’s a pretty high number. Just because your blood sugar is dysregulated does not mean you automatically have diabetes, but does increase your chance of developing diabetes in the future. Blood sugar is important for us all in understanding our bodies better and controlling it is key to feeling better overall.
So, what is blood sugar exactly? Blood sugar is the energy your body uses that’s made from glucose and blood sugar is impacted by what you eat and drink. Consuming sugar in the form of junk food, candy, or drinks as well as foods high in carbohydrates can spike your blood sugar and make you feel far from your best. High blood sugar increases your inflammation levels along with your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, and obesity. Learning how to control your blood sugar helps reduce your risk of disease.
So, what is Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) and the importance of doing so to control your blood sugar? CGM is a tool to monitor your glucose levels at specific times of the day…before you eat, after you eat, and throughout the night. The monitor is one that you can wear for 14 days on your arm and can be scanned by your phone (with a connected app) to read your blood sugar levels throughout the day. The CGM takes the place of the original fingerstick readings and has the potential to give even more accurate results. Readings are taken every 5 minutes throughout the day and are stored in the database of the app in which you can view your glucose levels via a personalized graph on your phone. The readings captured all day long will be shown in the graph as trending towards hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) or hyperglycemia (high blood sugar). Keeping your blood sugar within a target range throughout the day is your overall goal and a habit that can be worked on over time once you begin to understand how your actions are affecting your blood sugar highs and lows.
Learning how to use a CGM is important in addition to using one. Education of why your provider is requesting you use a CGM as well as how to use it is key to learning how to control your blood sugar on a more personalized level. In addition to using CGM as a tool, focusing on diet and lifestyle all the time is important to regulating your blood sugar levels on a day to day basis. CGM will give you an insider’s view on what your blood sugar is up to and how it is affected by your choices each day, but it isn’t a tool you can use all the time. Focusing on getting daily movement, quality sleep, and managing stress along with eating real, whole foods is huge in controlling your blood sugar and are habits you can pay attention to fine tuning each day. If you’re interested in learning more about your blood sugar and how you can control it please contact us at Enhanced Wellness Living to see how we can help you Live Life Well!
