CGM devices are everywhere. They're great...if you're diabetic. But is there any benefit to using them if you don't have diabetes or any issues with insulin resistance?
Diabetic here: I just cant wrap my head around the fact that there are healthy people out there wanting to monitor the blood glucose!!!!😮 I dream of not knowing what mine is. Not having to monitor it 24/7. Not having to worry and consider everything I eat. Not having to think about what stress, illness and activity levels are going to do to it. Yet there are folk out there putting themselves through it out of there own acord 💀
Well to play devils advocate for them, if you thought monitoring yourself before you had to meant you could have avoided becoming diabetic wouldnt you have chosen to do that? Youd be able to moderate yourself without having it be a genuine 24/7 stress because its a preventative measure instead of a necessary life altering measure, right? My brother isnt diabetic or even prediabetic but theres a good chance he could become with his lifestyle, he was warned so by his doctor and the cgm was a huge wake up call for him actually seeing it laid out where ue couldnt ignore it or pretend it wasnt so bad. A little bit like how I want to eat healthy and excerise now and not after a sedentary lifestyle has weaked my muscles and capabilities then I dont have to struggle to get back into it, its already part of my lifestyle. I cant fully comprehend why everyone thinks its so horrible that people want more awareness and preventative measures or more importantly, just less sugar.
type 1 diabetic here. For us it would have never been preventative, as we have an autoimmune disease. I would love to give my sensors, pump, insulin, tubing, everything, to these idiots, along with my type 1 diabetes.
@@smileygirl622 Not to assume OP is T1D, but monitoring before having to won’t prevent type 1. It wouldn’t prevent someone from having an autoimmune response that can cause T1D to develop.
@@smileygirl622 You're completely correct, these diabetics are weird to me. It's as if they need to gatekeep this technology for no reason other than to have special access to it. As if supply and demand for these types of products couldn't possibly make it as cheap as OTC medication or test strips one day - no, let's make them an extremely limited access technology. Just ridiculous nonsense. This is coming from someone who is diabetic himself.
I'm worried about high blood pressure - it goes up every time i see an ad for the Zoe monitoring device. So sick of it! Thank you for your rational explanation Dr. K ❤ Edit: OMG I just got a Zoe ad after this video!
"Blood glucose is like a moody teenager, affected by everything and impossible to tell what's going to make it act up." Sir, that is the best description I've ever heard. My husband uses a CGM and pump and I wish he could have gotten them years ago. It's been such a big help in controlling his diabetes.
Same here, when I first got type one diabetes, my A1C was 9.9% 84.7 mmol, it wasn't until I got the Libra when it first came out I was able to understand what was going on. Fast forward to today my A1c is 5.3% 34.4 mmol. Because I could see what adjustments I needed to make inorder get the insulin to work how it should.
I'm diabetic and my cgm is amazing, it's lowered my ha1c, from 8-10 to 5.4-6.7 (under a 7 is amazing for a diabetic) I recommend it to any DIABETIC, but I wouldn't do so to anyone who's not diabetic or at least prediabetic, healthy people using diabetic meds and such are making it harder for those of us who actually NEED it to survive and thrive
The sad part is that these devices can be life changing for Type 1 diabetics like myself but they are so ridiculously expensive (especially here in the US) that many of us just can’t afford them. They have saved my life many times by alerting me when my blood sugar gets extremely low in my sleep.
I have T1 and my husband has T2, both on insulin. I was just saying how it would be good if he could use a cgm like the one I'm wearing because stress sometimes makes him rollercoaster. Our insurance will pay for a good portion of my equipment but they won't pay anything for him. It's so frustrating. And now people are just using them for dieting?! This has got to be a rich privilege thing & it's just insane.
@@Selene13zz Think of it this way... more attention on the product creates more competition, which will cheapen the prices for Type 2 diabetics. Also Type 2 is such a crazy epidemic in places like the USA that literally tens of millions will benefit from reduced prices for these products.
When I was a summer camp nurse, I was so thankful for these for my T1DM kids. 10 years ago, having a diabetic kid at camp meant constantly poking and checking in and making sure they understood every step along the way. But these days all I need to do is get the carb counts each meal and do a quick check in. The freedom it gives diabetics is incredible
CGM were designed for 1. type-I diabetics who need the CONTINUOUS glucose reading for dosing their insulin throughout the day. and 2. for their Endocrinologist to prescribe insulin treatment by providing a database of the diabetic's daily continuous glucose readings. They are a vital part of the A-I technology built into next generation insulin pumps. For the Medtronic Insulin pump system, the Guardian-4 CGM "talks" to my husband's MiniMed 780G insulin pump adjusting his basal and correction insulin rates minute by minute by what the sensor (interstitial) glucose reading is. CGMs are meaninless for nondiabetic people that have a normally functioning pancreas. Their pancreas adjusts insulin secretion naturally as soon as the body detects a normal glucose spike after eating anything with carbohydrate in it. Maybe a CGM might be used to make you aware of what foods have carbs in it to guide your eating choices but just read the labels! The scam was for Libre CGM to expand their market to non-diabetics to get health conscious people to measure something they dont have any control over, their pancreas does the work for them secreting insulin as needed.
@@zohrehbenn6634 Hi, which CGM have you been offered? As someone who takes care of a T1 diabetic and knows people who have had gestational diabetes they are often helpful, but sometimes they can be inaccurate (some brands you can calibrate them and make them more accurate by adding a finger prick reading) but thats usually uncommon. Some CGMs are a bit shitty tho.
CGMs can also be used for patients with Addison's disease as they are at risk of nocturnal hypoglycemia. So should be prescribed for non diabetics sometimes but again for genuine medical reasons only.
@@mikeg8276 definitely for those who are taking insulin, but if you're able to maintain your sugar through diet or medication, it's probably not worth it.
I read ALL food labels and still got fooled by a couple that were allowed to have "sugar free" on their labels but really were not. They had maltodextrin in them, which caused huge spikes in my blood sugar. Without a cgm, I wouldn't have known. One was a "sugar free" jam I'd been using for years and never knew. So you can't trust labels.
I don’t have diabetes, and diabetes doesn’t run in my family, but a CGM was life saving for me. I have a rare condition that causes sudden severe hypoglycemic episodes that my doctors missed. If it wasn’t for a cgm I would have never received a diagnosis before my condition became life threatening
I'm type 1 diabetic since I was 8, I'm 24 now and I've been using the Freestyle Libre since I was 16, which it appears it's the one you used. Makes me glad to know that I knew most of this information you presented. Even how interstitial fluid works. I never understood why a healthy person would use a CGM without a medical reason, but I guess it's part of how rampant misinformation goes nowadays. If you're reading up to this point you might be interested in CGM's so I will give you my only piece of advice since our beloved Doctor here said pretty much everything. Regarding CGM's is that MAKE SURE YOU INSTALL THEM PROPERLY, read the instructions well and install exactly where it tells you to, otherwise your readings might say that you're low all day or it won't work at all, also never install it before a shower, the temperature will mess it up. And always compare your readings with a capilar, CGM's are not a replacement, they're support
@@zohrehbenn6634 I do the finger prickin' when I don't quite trust what the CGM has to say, 90% of the times it's because it says I'm low but I know I'm not low, but in my experience when it says I'm high, I'm definitely high. You're not stupid for trusting your CGM at all, because it's such an easy way to measure yourself it's easy to get comfortable and forget about double checking, I personally barely do it these days unless I'm on the first 24 hours of applying the Freestyle Libre since it's a bit more chaotic within that timeframe. I can only talk from my experience because everyone's case is different. But double checking is always good Also I remembered another tip about the Freestyle Libre is try not to sleep pressing the sensor against the bed, try to sleep on the "sensorless" arm, in my experience it sometimes distorts the readings. Sorry if the long and chaotic comment didn't fully address your question, I try to talk only about the things I know about...
as someone with t1d who should be wearing one of these regularly but can't afford to, it makes me so mad to see people who don't need them acting like they're a fun new health toy. i hope the extra demand doesn't drive the price even higher. also ya the accuracy of them is SO dicey. was given a libre trial from my clinic and just turned off alerts and ignored it halfway through use because it was so inaccurate it wasn't even useful. if you want an accurate cgm, you NEED to be calibrating it with finger-pricks at least a few times a day, which i'm willing to bet none of these health influencers are doing, if their cgms allow calibration at all. even the best cgms that i've used and loved and wouldn't be helpful without calibration. I've also found that the accuracy varies depending on how long i've had it on, less accurate at the start, more accurate mid-way after it's calibrated a bunch and gotten into the groove, and then less accurate again towards the end of it's life. there's so much that can influence your bg as is that these people are ignoring, but also so much more that influences how your cgm reads.
I don’t think gaining knowledge about how certain foods affect people is a bad thing. I agree it’s probably not good to be obsessive about it, but I don’t understand why it couldn’t be useful. I do understand it’s a totally different issue for people with Diabetes type one who unfortunately don’t have a choice.
Dexcoms have been way more accurate than Libres for me (also t1d) Also, if you're in the US and you have health insurance, try getting them to bill your CGM as Durable Medical Equipment (DME) instead of as a prescription- it might take more off of the cost or even make your insurance cover them completely
They're expensive in the US because they can be. It has nothing to do with the supply of them. People exploring alternate avenues and creating new CGMs that are available to everyone is exactly how you lower the price and advance the technology enough to be able to break into the market and force competitors to lower their own prices.
I’m in a program for type 2 diabetics to get off insulin (down to 30 units from 177 and still working at getting off completely). Anyway, I agreed to be in an additional study using a CGM (basically to see if participants accurately reported their readings vs having a Bluetooth monitor that sent the readings for you. I constantly knocked the dang thing off so many times I ended up having to wrap medical tape around my arm to keep it on for the whole two weeks each time.
I am SO glad to see you talking about this Dr Karan.... I smelled bullsh*t on this as soon as I saw Zoe & Dr Spector on 'diary of a ceo'... As someone that's been living with disordered eating for my whole life, I've spent most of those years vulnerable to these snake oil salespeople, Now having woken up from it and focussing on long term, holistic, steady health approaches, It makes me fear for the 100'000k's vulnerable people getting sucked into these schemes and lining the pockets of these so called influencers!
The reason why cgms are so popular suddenly is very simple Karan. 30 million Americans are diabetic and 100 million are prediabetic. The UK probably has similar stats. You should make a video on why thats the case
As a T1D who haaates the cgm trend, I do appreciate it being more easily available for women with gestational diabetes. I have never heard such confused statements (I met one woman who thought cheese was a carb). Pregnancy is killer on glucose levels, the women are stressed and scared and basically tossed into diabetes hard mode right out the gate. I think it would be comforting and informative for them
If someone has gestational diabetes they have dysregulated metabolism so they’d also fall under the bracket of medical use. I’ve stated throughout this video it’s not for Normal physiology. Gestational diabetes isn’t normal physiology
I’m type 1 diabetic and been diabetic for 35 years. I’ve used these freestyle CGMs and there are some more information you can add. 1) If you sleep with your arm (where the sensor is) is in or outside of the bed duvet at night. It can alter the reading. I tested this over a month and found it can alternate between to high and to low. 2) depending upon where you attach it also makes a difference in the reading. About 2 years ago, I changed to a new insulin pump (tandem) and it has a counter part of a CGM which the pump uses to regulate my blood glucose. However, because the reading of the CGM can be out by +/- 2.5 or more, every morning and every night I have to recalibrate the insulin pump to make sure it is as close to each other as possible. I will also point out, that with my old pump, which relied upon me doing blood tests several times a day, I was able to get my blood glucose between 6.0 and 6.5 mmol/L which is what someone who isn’t diabetic should be (throughout the day, not after meals), with this new system with the CGM, I have found it no where near as reliable and have found the pump and CGM to try and keep my blood glucose levels about 10.0 to 12.0 mmol/L which is double what I am able to keep it at. I personally would not recommend CGM’s even for diabetics as they are not accurate enough and if you are not a veteran diabetic like myself and know diabetes inside and out, they can cause more harm than good. What infuriates me is you have all these idiots who say they make better health from social media etc, who have no medical back ground or even experience in things like Diabetes, so recommend these things and for those who they do work for, then have to pay more for what they need for their health. A good example is if you have IBS and suddenly these same people said to go on a gluten free diet and suddenly all the IBS food shot up in price making it impossible for some to even be able to afford them. So don’t listen to internet influencers, as most talk out their rear ends and wouldn’t know a healthy diet if it slapped them in the face. Oh and Dr Karan, can you do a video on IBS etc and the FODMAP diet, I think this will help a lot of people, and also in the video touch on things like Guar Gum and Xantium Gum which is worse than eating a full box of wheatabix for people with IBS. Thanks in advance
Hey Doc, can you make an in-depth video regarding weight loss, including the aspects of diet and exercise? Because there are SO MANY false rumors going around about weight loss, like willpower is essential for weight loss, not your anabolic and catabolic rates; Subway diet is effective; consume less carbs and exercise even more, and so on. I, as an obese person, and many others would appreciate that!
People using diabetic supplies for artificial weight loss and social media acceptance drives me crazy. As a type 1 diabetic, these supples are essential and extremely expensive. All these pharmaceutical companies are just laughing all the way to the bank. This stuff should be going down in price, but they have no incentive to do that with these muppets buying this stuff for the wrong reasons.
I started using one and I'm not diabetic. My a1c has been creeping up for a few years now and both my parents have type 2. After just 5 days or so, I started seeing patterns. My gastroparesis is apparently wreaking havoc on my numbers. And my gastroparesis is only mild! But when I have food sitting in my stomach all night long, my numbers just kind of stay up. Not crazy high, but like 120 all night long. I also have hypo episodes that trigger me to overeat. So I started intermittent fasting to give my stomach a chance to be fully empty for at least a few hours every day (which goes against the "standard" gastroparesis advice to eat mini meals 6 times a day, spread out), and I can catch the hypo episodes before they get really bad. My numbers already look better and it's only been like 11 days. I don't know that I'll need it long term, but I should've done this years ago. You don't have to be diabetic to benefit from some extra info about how your diet is affecting you.
I only know of one situation where someone without diabetes has benefit of wearing a glucose monitor. It was my professor that is a diabetes specialist. She always wears the new glucose monitors herself. It makes her aware of the comfort and (lack of) hassle to wear one and check multiple times a day. She said the statistics were really boring because she has a normal body so the glucose is always within normal range. So that is the main thing. If you don’t have diabetes glucose levels will stay relatively stable
I'm very much in favour of healthy people using CGMs. Why? Well, frankly it's up to them whether they want to take action to slow their glucose responses, or just use it as a point of information. That's for them to decide. But for me, a diabetic, lots of people using CGMs means costs will come down, and I'm very much behind that. My condition isn't severe enough to justify prescription of CGMs. I've considered buying them to help me control and slow the glucose spikes that are actually harmful to me, but the cost puts me off. If the makers can pass on reduced costs of production in volume - hey, we can hope! - it'll benefit everyone: diabetic or currently healthy.
Yes whilst everyone has a choice to do whatever they want - drink alcohol, smoke, even use CGMs when they aren’t required…the reason CGM shouldn’t be used by healthy people to “slow their glucose response” is because that statement in itself is superfluous. A person with a normally functioning pancreas and insulin response doesn’t need to slow their glucose response - it has ZERO clinical effect.
@@DrKaran I disagree. Someone with a 'good average glucose response' from high glycemic foods might still be spiking their insulin to very high levels to keep that glucose within good control. That is not a good thing and it is also difficult to accurately measure even from the commonly used OGTT. A small insulin bump is good but not a big spike. Continually high levels of insulin cause future problems. I agree that a CGM should probably not be used indefinitely by a non-diabetic (although their choice), but can be good for a period of time as a learning tool. I have never personally used a CGM, but I have done lots of finger prick tests and 'reversed' my pre-diabetes by having better dietary habits. By the way, I'm not a Zoe or Dr Spector fan. I don't agree with a lot of his opinions.
I wear a CGM. I learned the order in which I eat my food MATTERS. Protein first, then everything else. Carb always last. That apple spiked you, yes, but you need to eat it with a protein to avoid that spike. And yes, I confirm the CGM by doing finger stick. I love CGM’s! I’ve been able to avoid injecting insulin by the constant monitoring and listening to my body.
As stated in the video for diabetics food order , checking CGM is all very very useful. It’s just not for people who don’t have issues with glucose regulation
@@DrKaranbut diabetes takes longer to develop. So what is wrong with people who have not been diagnosed yet using something that could help them avoid diabetes in the first place?
I got one of these two days ago for managing my random hypoglicemias. I don't have diabetes, I have never in my life have gotten high blood sugar, I tend to go low at least once a day and I didn't know. I developed nerve damage that I thought it was from an autoinmune disease and this might be the actual reason. I'm kind of excited because I started feeling hunger in just two days.
No you won’t. These things cost hundreds of dollars for the uninsured. 99% of people won’t ever buy one, the other 0.99% will buy a single one for the novelty. Y’all use 2 every month and 24 a year, something like 7 healthy people in all of the US will be willing to dish out thousands for that amount. Manufacturers will easily keep up with the demand.
Not to mention I’m pretty sure it’s not even legal otc in the US. People are smuggling it from other countries. It’s not going to be a huge market rush. People aren’t generally that committed to getting an expensive gadget.
I’ve been a 1-on-1 nurse for a T1D kid the last 2 years and it ticks me off to see people who don’t need to buy CGMs or use Ozempic. I didn’t even know people were buying CGMs to do this until now! The point you brought up about disordered eating is probably the scariest part of this to me… this tech should not be readily available for people to buy… Influencers pushing this need to lose their followers.
Some people need to know the “why” before they can make changes. If these weren’t readily available, as a prediabetic I really have been in the dark about the magnitude of how different factors are impacting my glucose (sleep, cooked vs raw/lightly steamed veggies, exercise, eating slowly). Everyone can misuse a tool, doesn’t mean tools should all be locked up.
Don't you think it's worth it for people at risk of developing diabetes to use these tools to prevent it? By the time you find out, in most cases, it's too late. Now you have to treat a disease you could have prevented for the rest of your life. Which only gets progressively worse if you don't take care of yourself. I wish these had been available 15+ years ago. I might not be a diabetic today.
@@Carol120454 it’s fine if people are prediabetic and need to monitor, but that’s not what this video or comment are about. This is about influencers pushing this and diet culture.
CGMs are good if you know how to use them. People are vastly metabolically sick, healthy individuals don't have high blood sugar spikes. High glucose in the blood is not a good thing.....how come it is a bad thing to measure that? Getting my levels in check indeed changed my life and I was never even prediabetic - I now have energy, 4years now with NO headaches (that is amazing to me), no joint pain, a lot better bloodwork, ect... Know how to use the technology and get healthy!
Reminds me of the trap some people fall into of treating their weight like it's the sole measure of their health. Health is just too complicated and too individualistic to be boiled down to a single "health number".
Thank you Dr. Karan! This was very helpful. I appreciate your balanced perspectives on health. Tbh I stay away from most health and wellness schtick now. Creating food anxiety (or any health anxiety) is one way wellness influencers get away with peddling useless (and/or harmful) overpriced supplements and unsupported ideologies. I don’t doubt that most of them are just spreading their own anxieties, which makes it incredibly difficult get across to them the fallacy of their gimmick of choice. To an anxious person it will feel like you’re ripping the floor out from under them. They just cling harder (until they find a replacement crutch).
My blood sugar spiked so high when I was severely dehydrated and in the ER (and they did a blood panel). It scared me, but I was assured it was perfectly normal for it to be like that in response to my illness, and it went right back to normal after. I know some people (who do not have diabetes or pre-diabetes) with health anxiety that get even more anxious when they're monitoring their blood sugar, and it probably goes into a bad feedback loop!
I definitely don't think people without diabetes need to be using CGMs. By this information, I wonder how good it is even for diabetes. I had one dialysis patient that I did recommend use a CGM, but that is because he absolutely did not manage his diabetes because he refused to stick his fingers or do any testing. He kept going in and out of the hospital with low glucose levels. I managed to get him a small supply of CGMs and it helped him a little. But I definitely agree the price needs to drop. $55 for a single 2 week monitor is too much.
Many people hate sticking their fingers, and it takes time. It's also very inconvenient at work or public places. I'm lucky to have 5 minutes to go to the bathroom, and that's not to do a finger stick. My CGM has been a godsend. All I had time for was one finger stick in the morning, and that really didn't tell me what was happening during the day or how I responded to food, medication, exercise etc. I won't go back to not using one. Former Medical Lab Technologist and 15+ years a diabetic.
Thank you! I'm in perimenopause and struggling to lose weight. I keep seeing all these articles to about glucose and I just can't get behind wearing a monitor (or taking Ozempic) because I'm not diabetic. I also know I'll become obsessive (I have a history of eating disorders).
I think Ronnie Coleman’s quote on bodybuilding parallels these shortcuts to good health: 'Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy-a$$ weights.'
I'm glad you mentioned about exercise and elite athletes. In cycling, the recent monitoring of blood glucose has lead to an understanding of mid race nutrition that flips everything traditionally done on its head. Ten years ago most Tour de France cyclists would consume about 30g to 60g of carbohydrates per hour and no more for fear of excessive weight gain (they make themselves as lean and as light as physically possible because lighter is faster, especially riding up hill). However after multiple studies shown that to maintain the intensity levels required to compete they should be at 90 to 120g per hour (1.5 to 2g of carbs per kg of body weight). When a couple of the top racers started this nutrition technique they started dominating races, the rest of the professional riders took notice.
As someone who has worked in glucose monitoring (the device I worked on was for the ICU), I find stuff like this annoying. We do our best to create devices to help diabetics and those recovering from surgery, etc... Then people do this. hmmmpth.
I feel you’re missing the point! Dr Karan is simply stating that glucose monitors don’t provide a true picture of what is going on! Hence the apple, KFC comparison! It’s like saying all fats are the same, it all proteins are the same!
@@helenstaniskov4570 I think the original poster meant that they are annoyed by healthy people using CGMs - not by Dr. Karans Video. Or did I misunderstand?
@@bingewatchforever1587 I think you understood correctly, I just wanted to put my 2 cents worth in, meaning if we’re a healthy unprocessed whole food diet, you wouldn’t need glucose monitor (obviously not for those who have diabetes already)!
I want one but I only take oral dm meds. I think every diabetic should be able to have one as it does help change eating habits to better manage or resolve dm for patients.
I'm confused I've seen adverts for these things I thought they were for diabetics, why the hell would anyone else want to monitor their blood sugar its irrelevant if your healthy.
It's the same as full body scans for healthy people. Except for well studied screening tests, they don't help and may even be harmful if done for no health related reason.
I guess security cameras are a scam as they don’t completely eliminate all the crimes in the world. I have seen some wacky RUclips videos but this one tops it in terms of lacking a common sense and logic. Also it scares me that we have doctors like this treating real patients if his bio is correct. Oh and give me back three minutes of my life.
This is so ridiculous. Has a type 1 I use a cgm ONLY to know when I need insulin or my sugar is too low I may end up going to the hospital. You think I enjoy wearing an expensive device every 10 days and wish there was pill that could solve all my problems? And the only reason I lost weight is because I can’t eat just anything. I wouldn’t wish being diabetic 1 or 2 on anyone because it truly sucks.
I’m now diabetic type 1 so this is fundamental for me, but before getting the disease I used cgms for health and they were very useful to me for keeping me accountable with what I ate, my mom had spare ones as a type 1 diabetic herself and I used those.
What a Ridiculous argument! CGM is the best thing that ever happened to diabetic people for the simple reason that the device keeps them updated on their glucose level and decide what to do next. What is wrong with that?
Yeah, but modern fruit cultivars contain a lot more sugar than heritage species. Apples in particular have been selectively ‘bred’ for sweetness for hundreds of years in the UK.
I have to say, while I’m glad that I’m not using a CGM for the long term, it did help me initially track and reduce my blood glucose levels in my initial weeks as a diagnosed diabetic. I found myself avoiding the bulk of fast food and focusing on grocery shopping for healthy sources of fiber and protein, as well as drinking less soda and more water and tea, combined with a balanced exercise routine. I lost 17 lbs in 2 months, and to this day, my blood glucose has been in a healthy range when I test with my finger stick in the morning and evening.
I can see a good use of a CGM for non-diabetics for a period of time (even just 2 weeks) to help them make better food choices and stop them becoming diabetics. I'm not diabetic but have had pre-diabetic glucose levels in the past. I never used a CGM (too expensive) but I have pricked my fingers 10+ times in a day to get an idea about the negative effect of some foods and various eating habits. It helped me work out what not to eat. These days I very rarely go above 120 (6.6) and typically have a post-prandial of less than 110 (6.0). The single worst 'health' food I ever found for prolonged spiking of my glucose was oats, irrelevant of whether steel cut or whole. Sugar had less of an effect on me. Edit to add: For all you folks that eat high glycemic foods and have good blood glucose, please consider what your insulin is doing. You can't measure that very easily or accurately, and your insulin could be bursting at ridiculously high levels to keep your glucose low.
I have never seen anyone on youtube saying that monitoring blood glucose is end-all-be-all of health. Ive also never heard them advice to eat a lot of fat. I can see how CGM can be helpful to not just pre-diabetics, but also to those whose Fasting Glocose is slowly creeping up to 100.
These were developed for DIABETIC patients because it is critical for their health to know where their blood sugars are because the glucose spikes are higher and the overall BG level are higher, either because their pancreas no longer makes insulin, or they have become insulin resistant. Healthy people get no benefit from these devices. For a while, it was hard for diabetics to get these devices and the supplies that then need to use them. Now it's the GLP-1 agonist drugs like Ozempic. Diabetics are having a hard time filling those prescriptions, now.
I am so happy that you did this video. I like your content in general, As well as your approach. OK I’m going to admit it, I wore a CGM, And I am not diabetic. My functional medical doctor suggested that I do so. I found myself scratching my head a lot during the process. One week my blood sugars were within a certain range, healthy range. The next week they rose up a bit, Though I was eating pretty much the same diet. I found that my blood sugars would go up while I was working, I am a professional body worker/Manual therapist. That is using my muscles all day while I’m working. You would think that my blood sugar levels would have decreased during that time. I just assumed that perhaps there’s the stress of working. Also, I did notice that my blood sugar levels would raise after I had had a particularly bad night of sleep. There were a couple times during the night , When my blood sugar levels tanked but I couldn’t imagine the reason why and I never happened again. I did get the chance to experiment with some things that I would normally eat to see how my blood sugar would respond, and that seems somewhat helpful, but I think that in order to really know you would have to wear a monitor for a while and keep trying these foods at least a few times more to see if you have the same response. My general take away from this was that there’s a lot of information that isn’t all that useful, and probably isn’t all that accurate.
Well yes, but again if you’re diabetic you’ll be checking it as part of your daily routine. If you’re not diabetic, it’s unlikely you’ll have a dramatically low blood sugar because your physiology will correct this
Type 1 Diabetic here, my CGM has been a nightmare. Random aberrant readings such as 6 then 18 then 5, CGMs randomly turning off and transmitters giving up early. Dexcom ONE has been one of the experiences of all time that's for sure. Still better than a finger prick but it isn't by much for me.
As an diabetic I've found the CGM to be a great tool getting me off GLP-1 meds. With careful eating I limit spikes to around 180. Just for information, if I had a cheeseburger with a bun I would pass 250 for hours! I've found the Libre 3 to be very accurate although it's running average hides spikes in the graph. Non diabetics using CGM is crazy as taking GLP-1 to loose weight!
@@jenniferwells2291 It must be the Medicare plan you have. I have Blue Cross Medicare Advantage and mine is covered. I've had it since last April. I would switch plans if mine didn't cover it. It's too useful a tool to go without, in my opinion. It does require a doctor's prescription.
Are you a diabetic? I would guess not. I really like my CGM. It allows me to see what food and medication and exercise to to my blood sugar. I've changed my diet to Keto, I've limited carbs, and it's made a big difference. I do realize that stress, etc. Can make glucose go up. I want my blood sugar under control, I don't want complications. We don't need carbs to be healthy. Yes, I've been diabetic for 15 years, and its only now that I feel like I'm in control. Non diabetic people's glucose never gets to dangerous levels. However, people can have pre diabetes or diabetes for years and not know. The sooner you know, the sooner you can prevent pancreas damage and type 2 diabetes.
With two pre-diabetic parents, mildly elevated glucose, and poor general health, I've really enjoyed working with a CGM + app affiliated nutritionist. With this product you are instructed to calibrate it with fasting glucose and I've compared it to lab tests as well. I have some severe GI problems that have caused me to rely on many refined carbs because I don't tolerate fiber or a lot of protein, and I was suffering from unintentional weight loss. Food order, resistant starch and minimizing oatmilk at dinner has already made a big change on my energy levels which is critical for dysautonomia and CFS, since post parandial malaise is often worse with higher carb meals. I probably won't use it forever, but finding ways to stabilize my glucose with my restricted diet and poor exercise tolerance to prevent becoming prediabetic is a win for me.
You are not understanding the whole picture. THE key to controlling blood sugar is knowing your blood sugar levels. That’s just step one! CGMs should be issued to all diabetics. You MUST obsess about what you eat! Just about everything you have said is misleading and really not facts. STOP DISCOURAGING DIABETICS FROM USING CGMS.
Think if hospitals give doctors 10 minutes for each patient? They do, unfortunately here in England. I have never seen it in 3 countries that I lived. Not to mention GPs. I can see the king easier than I can see a GP
I'm happy to say that I don't listen to any influencers, the only medical advice I can trust comes from you; I'm in the process of looking for a new GP because mine is incompetent and has overlooked at least 3 times, serious medical emergencies. I can't even take him seriously but I also can't find a new GP because I take an opioid for 2 chronic degenerative diseases and no Dr will take me as a patient. So, thank you Dr. Karan for being my go-to Doctor for trustworthy medical advice.
I got Type 1 diabetes, with the help of a CGM and a great diet my HbA1c has fallen to 5.6% (that's a healthy level) and it warned me before hypoglycemia kicked in many times so it's awesome if you're diabetic but why the hell would you want to wear this thing when you're healthy! Just change your diet and your golden!
My CGM tracks more than spikes. It comes with an app that shows trends. I can see the time of day that I am typically high vs low. I also always know what my glucose level is very easily. I used to have to carry the monitor with me and often only tested twice a day. A manager/mentor once told me that in order to win at anything you must always know the score. Then you can adjust your strategy accordingly.
A nurse tried to sell me on one a year and a half ago, even though I'm not diabetic or close, she also said I shouldn't eat oats in the morning but broccoli. Wow! Did that set my Ed off?
Thank you Dr. Karan for helping lift the veil on CGM's and their efficacy. I've also heard that berberine is something that can help lower cholesterol and blood sugar. What's your take on it?
i never was comfortable with these monitors from the perspective that a needle is bloody in my body 24x7 and I am somewhat scared as I am active person, who moves a lot, works out. Its just weird to have that in me. I am not afraid of needles as in synringes as I have had to take plenty over the years sometimes a tetanus hot, typhoid shots, rabies shots etc. but that needle doesn't stay in my body.
I had issues with being hypoglycemic. My doctor gave me a cgm. My bf yelled at me because I kept dropping into the 60s all day. I rarely got above 100, even after eating.
As long as you are not obsessive, you are fine. My wife is using one. She is type 2 pre diabetic. She was full blown diabetic and brought her down to pre diabetic with trial and error in food selection and pricking herself 3 times a day. Without medication. Now the CGM It is helping her stop the guessing game about which food spikes her more than others. It has been an eye opener for her. So not the demon you are suggesting the CGM is.
Carbs, absolutely are my enemy, after six years of eating extremely low carbs. I can tell you that after a lifetime of being very overweight, now I’m just a bit overweight. And not even going low-fat high fiber non- processed foods vegan for three years did that for me.
I have one and I’m diabetic. It alerts me to highs and lows. I have also learned what triggers spikes. My A1c is much improved now. The other day it alerted me that I was having a fast low because I was out in the heat and sweating a lot. I guess it could be healthy for someone who is non-diabetic to possibly prevent it in the future especially the people who diabetes runs in the family
Blood glucose also spikes harder based on the ease of digestion of a food. The faster you can get from solid object you ate to that foods sugar in your blood also matters (at least in regards to the apple) KFC is more complex for you to break down and apples are easier. So yeah more apple would hit the blood faster so bigger spike. That's high school level bio chem. Now what is really disturbing: people are using cgms for some inaccurate "health' trend and bringing a bad name to cgm when these devices are INCREDIBLE for people who actually need them
Great for diabetics. It has been alife changer for me. I have gotten to see how much exercise affects my blood sugar. Works better and quicker than insulin after a meal. It helps me learn how much to exercise whether I need 20 minutes or 40. Am I exercising intensely enough or not. I so agree with you regarding healthy people. The cgms can make you totally self-centered too. So obsessed with blood sugar numbers when your body is totally okay.
Carbs do effect your ability to lose weight, as well as other things in your body. Instead of using a CGM, just cut out the carbs. Because carb spikes are what you want to worry about. They are what really end up damaging the body, so that's what you want to limit.
Sugar is the main thing that us diabetics keep an eye on. All of the beautiful fruits are loaded with natural sugar which then transforms into glucose. This fact has really made me sad because I LOVE fruit.
I'm diabetic, and take metformin. And control my diet. Check-ups show my blood sugar is under control. I always carry apples with me for a quick energy boost when I'm out and sbout.
What I want to know is how people are paying for these things! I was talking with a friend about looking into a cgm (we are both type 2 diabetics controlled by medication), and she said that she had talked to her doctor and our insurance will NOT pay for it unless you are taking insulin. This shit is crazy expensive! Why pay $100-$200 a month when if you are that concerned you can pay about $25 for a regular blood glucose monitor and another $20 bucks a month for the strips? Sounds like its less about monitoring your health and instead about advertising your income status.
T2D whose A1C has gone 11.3 to 6.5 back to 8.3, now 6.7using CGM. I’m grateful for it but would love if I were totally healed to never need it again. Btw carbs absolutely impact my A1C.
The problem is too high blood glucose damages your bodies cells. The question is how high damages them? I've heard all the way from 125-180 is where the damage occurs.
I'm T1 and finally agreed to a CGM and regret my decision to use one. I used to sleep all night, now the damn CGM wakes me numerous times notifying me I'm low then as it rises notifies me I'm approaching my low alert number (if I dropped below it and ate something to bring it up.) No kidding. I've already eaten something to take care of the low. I've gotten out of bed and tested against my meter and the numbers can be 20 points different with the blood glucose reading being in a safe range. It is frustrating and now I wake exhausted. The doctors push them onto patients. My A1C was 4.9 before using the CGM. I feel worse since starting it over 2 months ago. This is with a Dexcom G7. I switched from a Freestyle Libre where the first 5 failed during the first 12 hour window. The rep. I spoke with told me one of his customers had 20 sensors fail on him in a row so the companies know how poorly made they are. Some of the influencers tell of the problems while others who aren't diabetic falsely just rave about them. Thank you for this video. I think they should be taken off the market until they are accurate.
I disagree that they should be taken off the market, because a lot of people benefit of those devices. It obviously does not work for everyone. But no one can force you to use it, right? And a difference of 20 points against the blood glucose meter is "normal" when the blood sugar level is changing fast, because the CGM measures the tissue glucose level, which changes slower. Also, as you probably know, you can adapt the alarm (chose at which gluce level it goes off). Sorry if my english sounds weird (not a native speaker).
@@bingewatchforever1587 I disagree with your thinking they should remain on the market at this time. If the single rep. I spoke to had 20 consecutive failed sensors for an individual and 5 sensors that failed for me within the first 12 hours of applying there is too many errors that cost consumers huge sums of money. Perhaps this is why they cost as much as they do because the manufacturer has to cover the cost of every unit they replace for "free," I understand the difference between tissue glucose levels and blood levels but the huge differences can happen when glucose is not actually rapidly changing or due to compression lows a person isn't aware of during sleep.. I've been diabetic for over 50 years so I trust my blood reading more than the CGM but newer diabetics may rely on the CGM readings believing they are accurate causing them to treat for a reading or readings that should not be trusted. Have you followed any of the influencers that point out the problems with CGMs? ruclips.net/video/0YEP83AYoQI/видео.html ruclips.net/video/yChszq4Y5P4/видео.html ruclips.net/video/4R-4I09A1ME/видео.html Starting at the 2 min. mark. ruclips.net/video/BzobomAPDfY/видео.html Read the comments too for general consumers who have problems with the sensors. Your English is good. I do appreciate your addressing CGMs
The only time you really need to worry about blood sugar is if you are Diabetic or otherwise sick. A healthy person blood sugar rises and fall with meals and thats... NORMAL. Just eat a balanced diet and don't fret about the occasional little treat. We all going to kick the bucket in the end when we get old. Enjoy life a little.
Can you do one on blood pressure? I have dysautonomia and so does my friend. She and I both have acute spikes, but nothing I say allays her worries that she might be experiencing something more serious than a temporary spike. She has numerous er bills piling up and is too afraid to start any meds or treatments her doctor recommends.
With regards to the point about when the indicators of success something become used as a target/set-point they then become unreliable as indicators, it's important to keep this in mind for other things such as fiber intake. This video talked bout how eating more fiber can result in better health outcomes, but if people focused on getting more fiber that might potentially introduce some issues. Namely what came to my mind is the consumption of candied rasins and rasin/candied-rasin cereal (bran flakes with rasin cereal). Those bran flakes cereals can have just as much sugars as junky cereals like Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and have starches on top of that. Overall those might have a negative impact on health compared to not eating them at all. But maybe not. Obviously rainless and non-candied rasin and no-sugar-added versions of these cereals would be healthiest, but that is aside from my point of focusing on adding fiber.
It does a lot to “learn” what you eat and how it responds. So good enough for me. If people would be able to get it without paying half a salary during pre-diabetes, it might save billions!!
I disagree that you can't tell what will cause glucose to go out of whack. For a couple years I enagaged in detailed record-keeping for my stepson's T1d, tracking every variable data point to learn how different inputs affected his glucose levels. In time, we had lowered his A1c from 9.8 to 5, and he did not miss out on holiday or special occasion foods - we just learned that the Glycemic index was super important to know well, as well as being able to eyeball portions accurately. We would adjust insulin doses based on what kind of food in addition to how much food, as well as whether he was sick etc - he had only been dosing insulin based on simplistic estimation of how many carbs per meal, not exact measurements plus adjustments recognizing fats, fiber/inulin and sugar alcohols as a factor. FYI: we also learned that blueberries in particular increased his insulin sensitivity so if he had a meal with them we'd reduce to .75 the usual dose. (Tracks; I found clinical studies confirming same.)
Dude... the "lucious red apple" is a far cry from apples in the day of Johnny Appleseed, which were smaller and far less packed with sugar. That's right, apples have been bred to be sweeter. A truly healthy diet: 1) Don't eat so much! By far the greatest problem behind America's obesity is that food is everywhere. Stop eating out! It will save you the price of a new car over your lifetime, too. 2) Don't eat so often. Two to three times a day is enough. You SHOULD feel hungry between meals. That's your signal your body is vacillating between satiety and hunger - where is SHOULD be. 3) Ditch ALL processed foods. Salt, sugar and poison. Sorry, food industry, but my health is more important than your fat-cat profits. 4) Ditch foods from the Nightshade Family as they contain lectins, which are toxic. 5) Eat Organic foods to the maximum extent possibly. 6) Meats: wild-caught fish, free-range poultry, grass-fed beef. 7) Leafy Green Vegetables: Eat a wide variety of them! Minimize Spinach, which is high in oxalates, as are other "healthy" foods. 8) Eat a wide variety of other fruits, vegetables, seafood, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, eggs, and dairy. Minimize the grains, as they're largely inflammatory to the body.
The Keto craze has led to a crazy focus on flat lining blood glucose when the pancreas is built to deal with some spiking. We are SUPPOSED to have ups and downs (in the same way that we need to have regular exercise.) It is about not having spikes that are the equivalent of being on the world’s biggest rollercoaster vs the ups and downs of going sailing on a pleasant day.
Flat lining as to prevent fluctuations. The spikes are bad for your system but the dips are what you feel the most. Also you miss the main focus of keto as the name hint. That is ketosis which is more efficient (or dense) method of energy production. You switch from glucose to fat as main source of energy by not eating carbs (or drastic reduction). In ketosis you glucose dont fluctuate at all, cause you not burning it. If i remember only liver and brain need glucose for certain things, something like 15g a day. Which body can synthesize from fat by glycogenesis. You dont have ups and downs and constant energy and stamina true the day. Its going to be almost a year in few weeks since i switch to carnivore. Only regret that i did not read about keto earlier. I know about it but even i was affected whit the propaganda and dismiss it without looking deeper. Also food producers make a mess by promoting term as net carbs. Selling and promoting foods with 200-300g of carbs a day. When you start on keto you go under 50 ideal under 20g a day. So that apple or that KFC with 5 serving in container will put me over the limit.
1:12 I think the real problem is you are a doctor eating an apple. Everyone knows an apple a day keeps the doctor away
lol!
😂
They've recently decided that apples are so good for you that that may be partially true!
Got em 😂
Wit in its essence, well done, Sir!
Diabetic here: I just cant wrap my head around the fact that there are healthy people out there wanting to monitor the blood glucose!!!!😮
I dream of not knowing what mine is. Not having to monitor it 24/7. Not having to worry and consider everything I eat. Not having to think about what stress, illness and activity levels are going to do to it.
Yet there are folk out there putting themselves through it out of there own acord 💀
Well to play devils advocate for them, if you thought monitoring yourself before you had to meant you could have avoided becoming diabetic wouldnt you have chosen to do that? Youd be able to moderate yourself without having it be a genuine 24/7 stress because its a preventative measure instead of a necessary life altering measure, right? My brother isnt diabetic or even prediabetic but theres a good chance he could become with his lifestyle, he was warned so by his doctor and the cgm was a huge wake up call for him actually seeing it laid out where ue couldnt ignore it or pretend it wasnt so bad.
A little bit like how I want to eat healthy and excerise now and not after a sedentary lifestyle has weaked my muscles and capabilities then I dont have to struggle to get back into it, its already part of my lifestyle. I cant fully comprehend why everyone thinks its so horrible that people want more awareness and preventative measures or more importantly, just less sugar.
type 1 diabetic here. For us it would have never been preventative, as we have an autoimmune disease. I would love to give my sensors, pump, insulin, tubing, everything, to these idiots, along with my type 1 diabetes.
@@smileygirl622 Not to assume OP is T1D, but monitoring before having to won’t prevent type 1. It wouldn’t prevent someone from having an autoimmune response that can cause T1D to develop.
@@smileygirl622 You're completely correct, these diabetics are weird to me. It's as if they need to gatekeep this technology for no reason other than to have special access to it. As if supply and demand for these types of products couldn't possibly make it as cheap as OTC medication or test strips one day - no, let's make them an extremely limited access technology. Just ridiculous nonsense. This is coming from someone who is diabetic himself.
Amen!!!
I'm worried about high blood pressure - it goes up every time i see an ad for the Zoe monitoring device. So sick of it! Thank you for your rational explanation Dr. K ❤
Edit: OMG I just got a Zoe ad after this video!
Haha
wasn't the zoe creator on a podcast with dr k?
❤ 😂
"Blood glucose is like a moody teenager, affected by everything and impossible to tell what's going to make it act up." Sir, that is the best description I've ever heard.
My husband uses a CGM and pump and I wish he could have gotten them years ago. It's been such a big help in controlling his diabetes.
Yep, for diabetes. It’s great!
Yes for someone WHO IS SICK!! it's a game changer.... But normal healthy people need to stop all this stupid stuff
Same here, when I first got type one diabetes, my A1C was 9.9% 84.7 mmol, it wasn't until I got the Libra when it first came out I was able to understand what was going on. Fast forward to today my A1c is 5.3% 34.4 mmol. Because I could see what adjustments I needed to make inorder get the insulin to work how it should.
Controlling it ? Why don't you get rid of it all together ?
@@adelarsen9776 Wow. Why didn't we think of that? Silly us! We'll get on that pronto!
I'm diabetic and my cgm is amazing, it's lowered my ha1c, from 8-10 to 5.4-6.7 (under a 7 is amazing for a diabetic) I recommend it to any DIABETIC, but I wouldn't do so to anyone who's not diabetic or at least prediabetic, healthy people using diabetic meds and such are making it harder for those of us who actually NEED it to survive and thrive
For diabetics, as stated in this video - it is very useful
It’s almost like you missed the docs entire point, rushing to comment
@@01SaltyWitch or, it's almost as if I was agreeing with the doctor, go away
@@DrKaran yes, I agree with you, just sharing my experience
@@01SaltyWitch I was agreeing with him, go away
The sad part is that these devices can be life changing for Type 1 diabetics like myself but they are so ridiculously expensive (especially here in the US) that many of us just can’t afford them. They have saved my life many times by alerting me when my blood sugar gets extremely low in my sleep.
I have T1 and my husband has T2, both on insulin. I was just saying how it would be good if he could use a cgm like the one I'm wearing because stress sometimes makes him rollercoaster. Our insurance will pay for a good portion of my equipment but they won't pay anything for him. It's so frustrating. And now people are just using them for dieting?! This has got to be a rich privilege thing & it's just insane.
@@Selene13zz Think of it this way... more attention on the product creates more competition, which will cheapen the prices for Type 2 diabetics. Also Type 2 is such a crazy epidemic in places like the USA that literally tens of millions will benefit from reduced prices for these products.
Medicare now pays for them, at least since last summer, for T2. Other insurances will follow.
When I was a summer camp nurse, I was so thankful for these for my T1DM kids. 10 years ago, having a diabetic kid at camp meant constantly poking and checking in and making sure they understood every step along the way. But these days all I need to do is get the carb counts each meal and do a quick check in. The freedom it gives diabetics is incredible
They're going over the counter
CGM were designed for 1. type-I diabetics who need the CONTINUOUS glucose reading for dosing their insulin throughout the day. and 2. for their Endocrinologist to prescribe insulin treatment by providing a database of the diabetic's daily continuous glucose readings. They are a vital part of the A-I technology built into next generation insulin pumps. For the Medtronic Insulin pump system, the Guardian-4 CGM "talks" to my husband's MiniMed 780G insulin pump adjusting his basal and correction insulin rates minute by minute by what the sensor (interstitial) glucose reading is. CGMs are meaninless for nondiabetic people that have a normally functioning pancreas. Their pancreas adjusts insulin secretion naturally as soon as the body detects a normal glucose spike after eating anything with carbohydrate in it. Maybe a CGM might be used to make you aware of what foods have carbs in it to guide your eating choices but just read the labels! The scam was for Libre CGM to expand their market to non-diabetics to get health conscious people to measure something they dont have any control over, their pancreas does the work for them secreting insulin as needed.
@@zohrehbenn6634 Hi, which CGM have you been offered? As someone who takes care of a T1 diabetic and knows people who have had gestational diabetes they are often helpful, but sometimes they can be inaccurate (some brands you can calibrate them and make them more accurate by adding a finger prick reading) but thats usually uncommon. Some CGMs are a bit shitty tho.
CGMs can also be used for patients with Addison's disease as they are at risk of nocturnal hypoglycemia. So should be prescribed for non diabetics sometimes but again for genuine medical reasons only.
Type 1.5s and 2s should in many cases use CGMs too. It’s not just for type 1.
@@mikeg8276 definitely for those who are taking insulin, but if you're able to maintain your sugar through diet or medication, it's probably not worth it.
I read ALL food labels and still got fooled by a couple that were allowed to have "sugar free" on their labels but really were not. They had maltodextrin in them, which caused huge spikes in my blood sugar. Without a cgm, I wouldn't have known. One was a "sugar free" jam I'd been using for years and never knew. So you can't trust labels.
I don’t have diabetes, and diabetes doesn’t run in my family, but a CGM was life saving for me. I have a rare condition that causes sudden severe hypoglycemic episodes that my doctors missed. If it wasn’t for a cgm I would have never received a diagnosis before my condition became life threatening
Exactly! There’s nothing wrong with being empowered to take your health into your own hands.
God bless you. Pray you have a healthy & happy future.
@@CharleneTruncerIf prayer worked then we wouldn't need medicine would we,think about it😢.
I'm type 1 diabetic since I was 8, I'm 24 now and I've been using the Freestyle Libre since I was 16, which it appears it's the one you used.
Makes me glad to know that I knew most of this information you presented. Even how interstitial fluid works.
I never understood why a healthy person would use a CGM without a medical reason, but I guess it's part of how rampant misinformation goes nowadays.
If you're reading up to this point you might be interested in CGM's so I will give you my only piece of advice since our beloved Doctor here said pretty much everything.
Regarding CGM's is that MAKE SURE YOU INSTALL THEM PROPERLY, read the instructions well and install exactly where it tells you to, otherwise your readings might say that you're low all day or it won't work at all, also never install it before a shower, the temperature will mess it up.
And always compare your readings with a capilar, CGM's are not a replacement, they're support
Good info!
@@zohrehbenn6634 I do the finger prickin' when I don't quite trust what the CGM has to say, 90% of the times it's because it says I'm low but I know I'm not low, but in my experience when it says I'm high, I'm definitely high.
You're not stupid for trusting your CGM at all, because it's such an easy way to measure yourself it's easy to get comfortable and forget about double checking, I personally barely do it these days unless I'm on the first 24 hours of applying the Freestyle Libre since it's a bit more chaotic within that timeframe.
I can only talk from my experience because everyone's case is different. But double checking is always good
Also I remembered another tip about the Freestyle Libre is try not to sleep pressing the sensor against the bed, try to sleep on the "sensorless" arm, in my experience it sometimes distorts the readings.
Sorry if the long and chaotic comment didn't fully address your question, I try to talk only about the things I know about...
as someone with t1d who should be wearing one of these regularly but can't afford to, it makes me so mad to see people who don't need them acting like they're a fun new health toy. i hope the extra demand doesn't drive the price even higher. also ya the accuracy of them is SO dicey. was given a libre trial from my clinic and just turned off alerts and ignored it halfway through use because it was so inaccurate it wasn't even useful. if you want an accurate cgm, you NEED to be calibrating it with finger-pricks at least a few times a day, which i'm willing to bet none of these health influencers are doing, if their cgms allow calibration at all. even the best cgms that i've used and loved and wouldn't be helpful without calibration. I've also found that the accuracy varies depending on how long i've had it on, less accurate at the start, more accurate mid-way after it's calibrated a bunch and gotten into the groove, and then less accurate again towards the end of it's life. there's so much that can influence your bg as is that these people are ignoring, but also so much more that influences how your cgm reads.
I don’t think gaining knowledge about how certain foods affect people is a bad thing. I agree it’s probably not good to be obsessive about it, but I don’t understand why it couldn’t be useful. I do understand it’s a totally different issue for people with Diabetes type one who unfortunately don’t have a choice.
Dexcoms have been way more accurate than Libres for me (also t1d)
Also, if you're in the US and you have health insurance, try getting them to bill your CGM as Durable Medical Equipment (DME) instead of as a prescription- it might take more off of the cost or even make your insurance cover them completely
They're expensive in the US because they can be. It has nothing to do with the supply of them. People exploring alternate avenues and creating new CGMs that are available to everyone is exactly how you lower the price and advance the technology enough to be able to break into the market and force competitors to lower their own prices.
I’m in a program for type 2 diabetics to get off insulin (down to 30 units from 177 and still working at getting off completely). Anyway, I agreed to be in an additional study using a CGM (basically to see if participants accurately reported their readings vs having a Bluetooth monitor that sent the readings for you. I constantly knocked the dang thing off so many times I ended up having to wrap medical tape around my arm to keep it on for the whole two weeks each time.
I am SO glad to see you talking about this Dr Karan.... I smelled bullsh*t on this as soon as I saw Zoe & Dr Spector on 'diary of a ceo'...
As someone that's been living with disordered eating for my whole life, I've spent most of those years vulnerable to these snake oil salespeople, Now having woken up from it and focussing on long term, holistic, steady health approaches, It makes me fear for the 100'000k's vulnerable people getting sucked into these schemes and lining the pockets of these so called influencers!
Yes I’d stay away from *most* podcasters who try to sell health products!
The reason why cgms are so popular suddenly is very simple Karan. 30 million Americans are diabetic and 100 million are prediabetic. The UK probably has similar stats. You should make a video on why thats the case
Psst, its carbs. But dont tell anybody.
As a T1D who haaates the cgm trend, I do appreciate it being more easily available for women with gestational diabetes. I have never heard such confused statements (I met one woman who thought cheese was a carb). Pregnancy is killer on glucose levels, the women are stressed and scared and basically tossed into diabetes hard mode right out the gate. I think it would be comforting and informative for them
If someone has gestational diabetes they have dysregulated metabolism so they’d also fall under the bracket of medical use. I’ve stated throughout this video it’s not for Normal physiology. Gestational diabetes isn’t normal physiology
I’m type 1 diabetic and been diabetic for 35 years. I’ve used these freestyle CGMs and there are some more information you can add.
1) If you sleep with your arm (where the sensor is) is in or outside of the bed duvet at night. It can alter the reading. I tested this over a month and found it can alternate between to high and to low.
2) depending upon where you attach it also makes a difference in the reading.
About 2 years ago, I changed to a new insulin pump (tandem) and it has a counter part of a CGM which the pump uses to regulate my blood glucose.
However, because the reading of the CGM can be out by +/- 2.5 or more, every morning and every night I have to recalibrate the insulin pump to make sure it is as close to each other as possible.
I will also point out, that with my old pump, which relied upon me doing blood tests several times a day, I was able to get my blood glucose between 6.0 and 6.5 mmol/L which is what someone who isn’t diabetic should be (throughout the day, not after meals), with this new system with the CGM, I have found it no where near as reliable and have found the pump and CGM to try and keep my blood glucose levels about 10.0 to 12.0 mmol/L which is double what I am able to keep it at.
I personally would not recommend CGM’s even for diabetics as they are not accurate enough and if you are not a veteran diabetic like myself and know diabetes inside and out, they can cause more harm than good.
What infuriates me is you have all these idiots who say they make better health from social media etc, who have no medical back ground or even experience in things like Diabetes, so recommend these things and for those who they do work for, then have to pay more for what they need for their health. A good example is if you have IBS and suddenly these same people said to go on a gluten free diet and suddenly all the IBS food shot up in price making it impossible for some to even be able to afford them.
So don’t listen to internet influencers, as most talk out their rear ends and wouldn’t know a healthy diet if it slapped them in the face.
Oh and Dr Karan, can you do a video on IBS etc and the FODMAP diet, I think this will help a lot of people, and also in the video touch on things like Guar Gum and Xantium Gum which is worse than eating a full box of wheatabix for people with IBS. Thanks in advance
I wish I could upvote you twice.
As someone with PCOS and POTS I found CGM very helpful for which foods make me feel terrible from getting reactive hypoglycemia after eating them
i wish i got help with that. my blood sugar drops like crazy due to my pcos. my docs dont even give a damn
@@meirin5316 yeah mine don't care either so I'll just continue to be my own doctor 🙄
@@JH-lz4dh wow. this is just horrible
Dropping glucose can be from insulin resistance. Your body over produces insulin. Look into it.
Same, I have ME/CFS and very possible POTS also and used Zoe to try and help
Hey Doc, can you make an in-depth video regarding weight loss, including the aspects of diet and exercise?
Because there are SO MANY false rumors going around about weight loss, like willpower is essential for weight loss, not your anabolic and catabolic rates; Subway diet is effective; consume less carbs and exercise even more, and so on.
I, as an obese person, and many others would appreciate that!
People using diabetic supplies for artificial weight loss and social media acceptance drives me crazy. As a type 1 diabetic, these supples are essential and extremely expensive. All these pharmaceutical companies are just laughing all the way to the bank. This stuff should be going down in price, but they have no incentive to do that with these muppets buying this stuff for the wrong reasons.
I started using one and I'm not diabetic. My a1c has been creeping up for a few years now and both my parents have type 2. After just 5 days or so, I started seeing patterns. My gastroparesis is apparently wreaking havoc on my numbers. And my gastroparesis is only mild! But when I have food sitting in my stomach all night long, my numbers just kind of stay up. Not crazy high, but like 120 all night long. I also have hypo episodes that trigger me to overeat. So I started intermittent fasting to give my stomach a chance to be fully empty for at least a few hours every day (which goes against the "standard" gastroparesis advice to eat mini meals 6 times a day, spread out), and I can catch the hypo episodes before they get really bad. My numbers already look better and it's only been like 11 days. I don't know that I'll need it long term, but I should've done this years ago. You don't have to be diabetic to benefit from some extra info about how your diet is affecting you.
I only know of one situation where someone without diabetes has benefit of wearing a glucose monitor. It was my professor that is a diabetes specialist. She always wears the new glucose monitors herself. It makes her aware of the comfort and (lack of) hassle to wear one and check multiple times a day. She said the statistics were really boring because she has a normal body so the glucose is always within normal range. So that is the main thing. If you don’t have diabetes glucose levels will stay relatively stable
Nice. The Titanic only blowing smoke out of the first 3 funnels. The 4th was just for symmetry. I’ll get my coat…
Lool
I'm very much in favour of healthy people using CGMs. Why? Well, frankly it's up to them whether they want to take action to slow their glucose responses, or just use it as a point of information. That's for them to decide.
But for me, a diabetic, lots of people using CGMs means costs will come down, and I'm very much behind that. My condition isn't severe enough to justify prescription of CGMs. I've considered buying them to help me control and slow the glucose spikes that are actually harmful to me, but the cost puts me off. If the makers can pass on reduced costs of production in volume - hey, we can hope! - it'll benefit everyone: diabetic or currently healthy.
Yes whilst everyone has a choice to do whatever they want - drink alcohol, smoke, even use CGMs when they aren’t required…the reason CGM shouldn’t be used by healthy people to “slow their glucose response” is because that statement in itself is superfluous. A person with a normally functioning pancreas and insulin response doesn’t need to slow their glucose response - it has ZERO clinical effect.
@@DrKaran I disagree. Someone with a 'good average glucose response' from high glycemic foods might still be spiking their insulin to very high levels to keep that glucose within good control. That is not a good thing and it is also difficult to accurately measure even from the commonly used OGTT.
A small insulin bump is good but not a big spike. Continually high levels of insulin cause future problems.
I agree that a CGM should probably not be used indefinitely by a non-diabetic (although their choice), but can be good for a period of time as a learning tool.
I have never personally used a CGM, but I have done lots of finger prick tests and 'reversed' my pre-diabetes by having better dietary habits.
By the way, I'm not a Zoe or Dr Spector fan. I don't agree with a lot of his opinions.
I wear a CGM. I learned the order in which I eat my food MATTERS. Protein first, then everything else. Carb always last. That apple spiked you, yes, but you need to eat it with a protein to avoid that spike. And yes, I confirm the CGM by doing finger stick. I love CGM’s! I’ve been able to avoid injecting insulin by the constant monitoring and listening to my body.
As stated in the video for diabetics food order , checking CGM is all very very useful. It’s just not for people who don’t have issues with glucose regulation
@@DrKaranbut diabetes takes longer to develop. So what is wrong with people who have not been diagnosed yet using something that could help them avoid diabetes in the first place?
How about stop pouring exogenous carbohydrates down your neck?
I got one of these two days ago for managing my random hypoglicemias. I don't have diabetes, I have never in my life have gotten high blood sugar, I tend to go low at least once a day and I didn't know. I developed nerve damage that I thought it was from an autoinmune disease and this might be the actual reason. I'm kind of excited because I started feeling hunger in just two days.
Oh great. Now us Type 1 Diabetics are going to run out of CGMs that our lives depend on 🙄
Hopefully not!
Your life doesn’t depend on CGM’s but on insuline. CGM’s only makes our lives, especially our fingers, better 😀
@@helenaweremans7769 ... I'm *reeeeealy* hoping this is a "/s" thing... 😐
No you won’t. These things cost hundreds of dollars for the uninsured. 99% of people won’t ever buy one, the other 0.99% will buy a single one for the novelty. Y’all use 2 every month and 24 a year, something like 7 healthy people in all of the US will be willing to dish out thousands for that amount. Manufacturers will easily keep up with the demand.
Not to mention I’m pretty sure it’s not even legal otc in the US. People are smuggling it from other countries. It’s not going to be a huge market rush. People aren’t generally that committed to getting an expensive gadget.
I’ve been a 1-on-1 nurse for a T1D kid the last 2 years and it ticks me off to see people who don’t need to buy CGMs or use Ozempic. I didn’t even know people were buying CGMs to do this until now! The point you brought up about disordered eating is probably the scariest part of this to me… this tech should not be readily available for people to buy… Influencers pushing this need to lose their followers.
yes about disordered eating. t1d made me so disordered that I needed therapy. total headfuck.
At least loose any monetization!
Some people need to know the “why” before they can make changes. If these weren’t readily available, as a prediabetic I really have been in the dark about the magnitude of how different factors are impacting my glucose (sleep, cooked vs raw/lightly steamed veggies, exercise, eating slowly). Everyone can misuse a tool, doesn’t mean tools should all be locked up.
Don't you think it's worth it for people at risk of developing diabetes to use these tools to prevent it? By the time you find out, in most cases, it's too late. Now you have to treat a disease you could have prevented for the rest of your life. Which only gets progressively worse if you don't take care of yourself. I wish these had been available 15+ years ago. I might not be a diabetic today.
@@Carol120454 it’s fine if people are prediabetic and need to monitor, but that’s not what this video or comment are about. This is about influencers pushing this and diet culture.
CGMs are good if you know how to use them. People are vastly metabolically sick, healthy individuals don't have high blood sugar spikes. High glucose in the blood is not a good thing.....how come it is a bad thing to measure that? Getting my levels in check indeed changed my life and I was never even prediabetic - I now have energy, 4years now with NO headaches (that is amazing to me), no joint pain, a lot better bloodwork, ect...
Know how to use the technology and get healthy!
Reminds me of the trap some people fall into of treating their weight like it's the sole measure of their health. Health is just too complicated and too individualistic to be boiled down to a single "health number".
Thank you Dr. Karan! This was very helpful. I appreciate your balanced perspectives on health. Tbh I stay away from most health and wellness schtick now. Creating food anxiety (or any health anxiety) is one way wellness influencers get away with peddling useless (and/or harmful) overpriced supplements and unsupported ideologies. I don’t doubt that most of them are just spreading their own anxieties, which makes it incredibly difficult get across to them the fallacy of their gimmick of choice. To an anxious person it will feel like you’re ripping the floor out from under them. They just cling harder (until they find a replacement crutch).
My blood sugar spiked so high when I was severely dehydrated and in the ER (and they did a blood panel). It scared me, but I was assured it was perfectly normal for it to be like that in response to my illness, and it went right back to normal after. I know some people (who do not have diabetes or pre-diabetes) with health anxiety that get even more anxious when they're monitoring their blood sugar, and it probably goes into a bad feedback loop!
I definitely don't think people without diabetes need to be using CGMs. By this information, I wonder how good it is even for diabetes. I had one dialysis patient that I did recommend use a CGM, but that is because he absolutely did not manage his diabetes because he refused to stick his fingers or do any testing. He kept going in and out of the hospital with low glucose levels. I managed to get him a small supply of CGMs and it helped him a little. But I definitely agree the price needs to drop. $55 for a single 2 week monitor is too much.
Many people hate sticking their fingers, and it takes time. It's also very inconvenient at work or public places. I'm lucky to have 5 minutes to go to the bathroom, and that's not to do a finger stick. My CGM has been a godsend. All I had time for was one finger stick in the morning, and that really didn't tell me what was happening during the day or how I responded to food, medication, exercise etc. I won't go back to not using one. Former Medical Lab Technologist and 15+ years a diabetic.
I think this dr. Is misleading people.
Thank you! I'm in perimenopause and struggling to lose weight. I keep seeing all these articles to about glucose and I just can't get behind wearing a monitor (or taking Ozempic) because I'm not diabetic. I also know I'll become obsessive (I have a history of eating disorders).
I think Ronnie Coleman’s quote on bodybuilding parallels these shortcuts to good health:
'Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy-a$$ weights.'
Everybody wants to be healthy, but nobody wants to cut out the junk food
I'm glad you mentioned about exercise and elite athletes. In cycling, the recent monitoring of blood glucose has lead to an understanding of mid race nutrition that flips everything traditionally done on its head. Ten years ago most Tour de France cyclists would consume about 30g to 60g of carbohydrates per hour and no more for fear of excessive weight gain (they make themselves as lean and as light as physically possible because lighter is faster, especially riding up hill). However after multiple studies shown that to maintain the intensity levels required to compete they should be at 90 to 120g per hour (1.5 to 2g of carbs per kg of body weight). When a couple of the top racers started this nutrition technique they started dominating races, the rest of the professional riders took notice.
As someone who has worked in glucose monitoring (the device I worked on was for the ICU), I find stuff like this annoying. We do our best to create devices to help diabetics and those recovering from surgery, etc... Then people do this. hmmmpth.
Yep!
I feel you’re missing the point! Dr Karan is simply stating that glucose monitors don’t provide a true picture of what is going on! Hence the apple, KFC comparison! It’s like saying all fats are the same, it all proteins are the same!
@@helenstaniskov4570 I think the original poster meant that they are annoyed by healthy people using CGMs - not by Dr. Karans Video. Or did I misunderstand?
@@bingewatchforever1587 I think you understood correctly, I just wanted to put my 2 cents worth in, meaning if we’re a healthy unprocessed whole food diet, you wouldn’t need glucose monitor (obviously not for those who have diabetes already)!
@@helenstaniskov4570 True.
I want one but I only take oral dm meds. I think every diabetic should be able to have one as it does help change eating habits to better manage or resolve dm for patients.
I'm confused I've seen adverts for these things I thought they were for diabetics, why the hell would anyone else want to monitor their blood sugar its irrelevant if your healthy.
It's the same as full body scans for healthy people. Except for well studied screening tests, they don't help and may even be harmful if done for no health related reason.
Yes
I guess security cameras are a scam as they don’t completely eliminate all the crimes in the world. I have seen some wacky RUclips videos but this one tops it in terms of lacking a common sense and logic. Also it scares me that we have doctors like this treating real patients if his bio is correct. Oh and give me back three minutes of my life.
Video followed with an ad for "energy " and "detox" supplements 🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️ ugh, RUclips
Bloody hell haha
Yup, I also got an ad for supplements.
This is so ridiculous. Has a type 1 I use a cgm ONLY to know when I need insulin or my sugar is too low I may end up going to the hospital. You think I enjoy wearing an expensive device every 10 days and wish there was pill that could solve all my problems? And the only reason I lost weight is because I can’t eat just anything. I wouldn’t wish being diabetic 1 or 2 on anyone because it truly sucks.
Miracle cure is in the vegetable isle.
An island of vegetables?
I’m now diabetic type 1 so this is fundamental for me, but before getting the disease I used cgms for health and they were very useful to me for keeping me accountable with what I ate, my mom had spare ones as a type 1 diabetic herself and I used those.
Thank you, Dr Karan! You are a good person and professional. ❤
:)
What a Ridiculous argument! CGM is the best thing that ever happened to diabetic people for the simple reason that the device keeps them updated on their glucose level and decide what to do next. What is wrong with that?
Yeah, but modern fruit cultivars contain a lot more sugar than heritage species. Apples in particular have been selectively ‘bred’ for sweetness for hundreds of years in the UK.
Regardless of whether that is true or not - That doesn’t necessitate people without diabetes using CGMs
@@DrKaranwhat about people with reactive hypoglycaemia, fasting hypoglycaemia, adrenal insufficiency? All those conditions can cause low blood sugar.
I have to say, while I’m glad that I’m not using a CGM for the long term, it did help me initially track and reduce my blood glucose levels in my initial weeks as a diagnosed diabetic. I found myself avoiding the bulk of fast food and focusing on grocery shopping for healthy sources of fiber and protein, as well as drinking less soda and more water and tea, combined with a balanced exercise routine. I lost 17 lbs in 2 months, and to this day, my blood glucose has been in a healthy range when I test with my finger stick in the morning and evening.
I can see a good use of a CGM for non-diabetics for a period of time (even just 2 weeks) to help them make better food choices and stop them becoming diabetics.
I'm not diabetic but have had pre-diabetic glucose levels in the past. I never used a CGM (too expensive) but I have pricked my fingers 10+ times in a day to get an idea about the negative effect of some foods and various eating habits. It helped me work out what not to eat. These days I very rarely go above 120 (6.6) and typically have a post-prandial of less than 110 (6.0).
The single worst 'health' food I ever found for prolonged spiking of my glucose was oats, irrelevant of whether steel cut or whole. Sugar had less of an effect on me.
Edit to add: For all you folks that eat high glycemic foods and have good blood glucose, please consider what your insulin is doing. You can't measure that very easily or accurately, and your insulin could be bursting at ridiculously high levels to keep your glucose low.
I have never seen anyone on youtube saying that monitoring blood glucose is end-all-be-all of health.
Ive also never heard them advice to eat a lot of fat.
I can see how CGM can be helpful to not just pre-diabetics, but also to those whose Fasting Glocose is slowly creeping up to 100.
These were developed for DIABETIC patients because it is critical for their health to know where their blood sugars are because the glucose spikes are higher and the overall BG level are higher, either because their pancreas no longer makes insulin, or they have become insulin resistant. Healthy people get no benefit from these devices. For a while, it was hard for diabetics to get these devices and the supplies that then need to use them. Now it's the GLP-1 agonist drugs like Ozempic. Diabetics are having a hard time filling those prescriptions, now.
Thank you Dr. Karan for speaking on this. May share this with families of the patients on my pediatrics floor with new type 1 diabetics
Please feel free to
I am so happy that you did this video. I like your content in general, As well as your approach. OK I’m going to admit it, I wore a CGM, And I am not diabetic. My functional medical doctor suggested that I do so. I found myself scratching my head a lot during the process. One week my blood sugars were within a certain range, healthy range. The next week they rose up a bit, Though I was eating pretty much the same diet. I found that my blood sugars would go up while I was working, I am a professional body worker/Manual therapist. That is using my muscles all day while I’m working. You would think that my blood sugar levels would have decreased during that time. I just assumed that perhaps there’s the stress of working. Also, I did notice that my blood sugar levels would raise after I had had a particularly bad night of sleep. There were a couple times during the night , When my blood sugar levels tanked but I couldn’t imagine the reason why and I never happened again. I did get the chance to experiment with some things that I would normally eat to see how my blood sugar would respond, and that seems somewhat helpful, but I think that in order to really know you would have to wear a monitor for a while and keep trying these foods at least a few times more to see if you have the same response. My general take away from this was that there’s a lot of information that isn’t all that useful, and probably isn’t all that accurate.
My diabetic father and brother used this. My dad stopped but my brother still uses it
You are unhelpful!
Metabolic disorder is a SUPER common killer...dissuading people from understanding their bodies is criminal.🎉
Low blood sugar is also a problem
Well yes, but again if you’re diabetic you’ll be checking it as part of your daily routine. If you’re not diabetic, it’s unlikely you’ll have a dramatically low blood sugar because your physiology will correct this
If you aren't diabetic you can fix it by eating.
Please do a video on the supplements or treatments for menopause management when she chooses not to use HRT.
Type 1 Diabetic here, my CGM has been a nightmare. Random aberrant readings such as 6 then 18 then 5, CGMs randomly turning off and transmitters giving up early. Dexcom ONE has been one of the experiences of all time that's for sure. Still better than a finger prick but it isn't by much for me.
As an diabetic I've found the CGM to be a great tool getting me off GLP-1 meds. With careful eating I limit spikes to around 180. Just for information, if I had a cheeseburger with a bun I would pass 250 for hours! I've found the Libre 3 to be very accurate although it's running average hides spikes in the graph. Non diabetics using CGM is crazy as taking GLP-1 to loose weight!
I'm a diabetic living in the U.S. My doctor has prescribed me a CGM but Medicare refuses to cover it
@@jenniferwells2291 It must be the Medicare plan you have. I have Blue Cross Medicare Advantage and mine is covered. I've had it since last April. I would switch plans if mine didn't cover it. It's too useful a tool to go without, in my opinion. It does require a doctor's prescription.
The irony of me getting an ad for a cgm halfway through this video 😂
Are you a diabetic? I would guess not. I really like my CGM. It allows me to see what food and medication and exercise to to my blood sugar. I've changed my diet to Keto, I've limited carbs, and it's made a big difference. I do realize that stress, etc. Can make glucose go up. I want my blood sugar under control, I don't want complications. We don't need carbs to be healthy. Yes, I've been diabetic for 15 years, and its only now that I feel like I'm in control. Non diabetic people's glucose never gets to dangerous levels. However, people can have pre diabetes or diabetes for years and not know. The sooner you know, the sooner you can prevent pancreas damage and type 2 diabetes.
11:34 - Moment of truth. But remember it for someone who is 'Diabetic' or 'Pre-diabetic' and in general for someone trying to be healthy.
With two pre-diabetic parents, mildly elevated glucose, and poor general health, I've really enjoyed working with a CGM + app affiliated nutritionist. With this product you are instructed to calibrate it with fasting glucose and I've compared it to lab tests as well. I have some severe GI problems that have caused me to rely on many refined carbs because I don't tolerate fiber or a lot of protein, and I was suffering from unintentional weight loss. Food order, resistant starch and minimizing oatmilk at dinner has already made a big change on my energy levels which is critical for dysautonomia and CFS, since post parandial malaise is often worse with higher carb meals. I probably won't use it forever, but finding ways to stabilize my glucose with my restricted diet and poor exercise tolerance to prevent becoming prediabetic is a win for me.
I am a T1 diabetic, and I'm not sure I could do it without a cgm. It's revolutionary.
You are not understanding the whole picture. THE key to controlling blood sugar is knowing your blood sugar levels. That’s just step one! CGMs should be issued to all diabetics. You MUST obsess about what you eat! Just about everything you have said is misleading and really not facts. STOP DISCOURAGING DIABETICS FROM USING CGMS.
Think if hospitals give doctors 10 minutes for each patient? They do, unfortunately here in England. I have never seen it in 3 countries that I lived. Not to mention GPs. I can see the king easier than I can see a GP
So early butt bots are still here
lol yep
Actual comments from real people get deleted, butt (pun intended) not the bots
When i pressed to start this video, a video for a CGM started before it! But they did specify that it was for use in diabetes. Thank god
The problem with fried chicken is the flour in the breading.
Well, Dr. Karan himself admits doctors don’t get much nutrition training, so he’s probably going by on what he learned in medical school.
@@nicopadilla8082 Garbage in garbage out, at least he is consistent. Also i tent to not trust fat nutrition doctors as clearly they dont have a clue.
I'm happy to say that I don't listen to any influencers, the only medical advice I can trust comes from you; I'm in the process of looking for a new GP because mine is incompetent and has overlooked at least 3 times, serious medical emergencies. I can't even take him seriously but I also can't find a new GP because I take an opioid for 2 chronic degenerative diseases and no Dr will take me as a patient. So, thank you Dr. Karan for being my go-to Doctor for trustworthy medical advice.
Thanks for watching!
I got Type 1 diabetes, with the help of a CGM and a great diet my HbA1c has fallen to 5.6% (that's a healthy level) and it warned me before hypoglycemia kicked in many times so it's awesome if you're diabetic but why the hell would you want to wear this thing when you're healthy! Just change your diet and your golden!
Kellanova: I hate CGMs.
AZN: I wish we also have CLDLMs. All doctors will praise it.
My CGM tracks more than spikes. It comes with an app that shows trends. I can see the time of day that I am typically high vs low. I also always know what my glucose level is very easily. I used to have to carry the monitor with me and often only tested twice a day. A manager/mentor once told me that in order to win at anything you must always know the score. Then you can adjust your strategy accordingly.
A nurse tried to sell me on one a year and a half ago, even though I'm not diabetic or close, she also said I shouldn't eat oats in the morning but broccoli. Wow! Did that set my Ed off?
Thank you Dr. Karan for helping lift the veil on CGM's and their efficacy. I've also heard that berberine is something that can help lower cholesterol and blood sugar. What's your take on it?
Most of the studies done on berberine is in animal models - I wouldn’t read too much into it just yet!
i never was comfortable with these monitors from the perspective that a needle is bloody in my body 24x7 and I am somewhat scared as I am active person, who moves a lot, works out. Its just weird to have that in me. I am not afraid of needles as in synringes as I have had to take plenty over the years sometimes a tetanus hot, typhoid shots, rabies shots etc. but that needle doesn't stay in my body.
I had issues with being hypoglycemic. My doctor gave me a cgm. My bf yelled at me because I kept dropping into the 60s all day. I rarely got above 100, even after eating.
Stop eating all carbs and it will drop like a stone.
As long as you are not obsessive, you are fine. My wife is using one. She is type 2 pre diabetic. She was full blown diabetic and brought her down to pre diabetic with trial and error in food selection and pricking herself 3 times a day. Without medication. Now the CGM It is helping her stop the guessing game about which food spikes her more than others. It has been an eye opener for her. So not the demon you are suggesting the CGM is.
Carbs, absolutely are my enemy, after six years of eating extremely low carbs. I can tell you that after a lifetime of being very overweight, now I’m just a bit overweight. And not even going low-fat high fiber non- processed foods vegan for three years did that for me.
I have one and I’m diabetic. It alerts me to highs and lows. I have also learned what triggers spikes. My A1c is much improved now. The other day it alerted me that I was having a fast low because I was out in the heat and sweating a lot. I guess it could be healthy for someone who is non-diabetic to possibly prevent it in the future especially the people who diabetes runs in the family
Blood glucose also spikes harder based on the ease of digestion of a food. The faster you can get from solid object you ate to that foods sugar in your blood also matters (at least in regards to the apple) KFC is more complex for you to break down and apples are easier. So yeah more apple would hit the blood faster so bigger spike. That's high school level bio chem. Now what is really disturbing: people are using cgms for some inaccurate "health' trend and bringing a bad name to cgm when these devices are INCREDIBLE for people who actually need them
Bet the ER is having fun with that
Great for diabetics. It has been alife changer for me. I have gotten to see how much exercise affects my blood sugar. Works better and quicker than insulin after a meal. It helps me learn how much to exercise whether I need 20 minutes or 40. Am I exercising intensely enough or not. I so agree with you regarding healthy people. The cgms can make you totally self-centered too. So obsessed with blood sugar numbers when your body is totally okay.
Carbs do effect your ability to lose weight, as well as other things in your body. Instead of using a CGM, just cut out the carbs. Because carb spikes are what you want to worry about. They are what really end up damaging the body, so that's what you want to limit.
Sugar is the main thing that us diabetics keep an eye on. All of the beautiful fruits are loaded with natural sugar which then transforms into glucose. This fact has really made me sad because I LOVE fruit.
I'm diabetic, and take metformin. And control my diet. Check-ups show my blood sugar is under control. I always carry apples with me for a quick energy boost when I'm out and sbout.
What I want to know is how people are paying for these things! I was talking with a friend about looking into a cgm (we are both type 2 diabetics controlled by medication), and she said that she had talked to her doctor and our insurance will NOT pay for it unless you are taking insulin. This shit is crazy expensive! Why pay $100-$200 a month when if you are that concerned you can pay about $25 for a regular blood glucose monitor and another $20 bucks a month for the strips? Sounds like its less about monitoring your health and instead about advertising your income status.
I got a Dexcom CGM ad before this video.
However, I am also type 1 diabetic who uses Dexcom.
T2D whose A1C has gone 11.3 to 6.5 back to 8.3, now 6.7using CGM. I’m grateful for it but would love if I were totally healed to never need it again. Btw carbs absolutely impact my A1C.
The problem is too high blood glucose damages your bodies cells. The question is how high damages them? I've heard all the way from 125-180 is where the damage occurs.
I'm T1 and finally agreed to a CGM and regret my decision to use one. I used to sleep all night, now the damn CGM wakes me numerous times notifying me I'm low then as it rises notifies me I'm approaching my low alert number (if I dropped below it and ate something to bring it up.) No kidding. I've already eaten something to take care of the low. I've gotten out of bed and tested against my meter and the numbers can be 20 points different with the blood glucose reading being in a safe range. It is frustrating and now I wake exhausted. The doctors push them onto patients. My A1C was 4.9 before using the CGM. I feel worse since starting it over 2 months ago. This is with a Dexcom G7. I switched from a Freestyle Libre where the first 5 failed during the first 12 hour window. The rep. I spoke with told me one of his customers had 20 sensors fail on him in a row so the companies know how poorly made they are. Some of the influencers tell of the problems while others who aren't diabetic falsely just rave about them. Thank you for this video. I think they should be taken off the market until they are accurate.
I disagree that they should be taken off the market, because a lot of people benefit of those devices.
It obviously does not work for everyone. But no one can force you to use it, right?
And a difference of 20 points against the blood glucose meter is "normal" when the blood sugar level is changing fast, because the CGM measures the tissue glucose level, which changes slower.
Also, as you probably know, you can adapt the alarm (chose at which gluce level it goes off).
Sorry if my english sounds weird (not a native speaker).
@@bingewatchforever1587 I disagree with your thinking they should remain on the market at this time. If the single rep. I spoke to had 20 consecutive failed sensors for an individual and 5 sensors that failed for me within the first 12 hours of applying there is too many errors that cost consumers huge sums of money. Perhaps this is why they cost as much as they do because the manufacturer has to cover the cost of every unit they replace for "free," I understand the difference between tissue glucose levels and blood levels but the huge differences can happen when glucose is not actually rapidly changing or due to compression lows a person isn't aware of during sleep.. I've been diabetic for over 50 years so I trust my blood reading more than the CGM but newer diabetics may rely on the CGM readings believing they are accurate causing them to treat for a reading or readings that should not be trusted.
Have you followed any of the influencers that point out the problems with CGMs? ruclips.net/video/0YEP83AYoQI/видео.html ruclips.net/video/yChszq4Y5P4/видео.html ruclips.net/video/4R-4I09A1ME/видео.html
Starting at the 2 min. mark. ruclips.net/video/BzobomAPDfY/видео.html Read the comments too for general consumers who have problems with the sensors.
Your English is good. I do appreciate your addressing CGMs
@@bingewatchforever1587 Sorry in my response to you it sounded like I was thanking you for the video when I meant to thank Dr. Karan.
The only time you really need to worry about blood sugar is if you are Diabetic or otherwise sick. A healthy person blood sugar rises and fall with meals and thats... NORMAL. Just eat a balanced diet and don't fret about the occasional little treat. We all going to kick the bucket in the end when we get old. Enjoy life a little.
Can you do one on blood pressure? I have dysautonomia and so does my friend. She and I both have acute spikes, but nothing I say allays her worries that she might be experiencing something more serious than a temporary spike. She has numerous er bills piling up and is too afraid to start any meds or treatments her doctor recommends.
OMG! The filter scared me!😂😂😂😂😂
With regards to the point about when the indicators of success something become used as a target/set-point they then become unreliable as indicators, it's important to keep this in mind for other things such as fiber intake.
This video talked bout how eating more fiber can result in better health outcomes, but if people focused on getting more fiber that might potentially introduce some issues. Namely what came to my mind is the consumption of candied rasins and rasin/candied-rasin cereal (bran flakes with rasin cereal). Those bran flakes cereals can have just as much sugars as junky cereals like Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and have starches on top of that. Overall those might have a negative impact on health compared to not eating them at all. But maybe not. Obviously rainless and non-candied rasin and no-sugar-added versions of these cereals would be healthiest, but that is aside from my point of focusing on adding fiber.
" When a measure becomes a target it ceases to be a good measure. Wow. Perfect. Stealing that
It does a lot to “learn” what you eat and how it responds. So good enough for me. If people would be able to get it without paying half a salary during pre-diabetes, it might save billions!!
I got an ad for a CGM on this video. Should I stick to finger pricks?
I disagree that you can't tell what will cause glucose to go out of whack. For a couple years I enagaged in detailed record-keeping for my stepson's T1d, tracking every variable data point to learn how different inputs affected his glucose levels. In time, we had lowered his A1c from 9.8 to 5, and he did not miss out on holiday or special occasion foods - we just learned that the Glycemic index was super important to know well, as well as being able to eyeball portions accurately. We would adjust insulin doses based on what kind of food in addition to how much food, as well as whether he was sick etc - he had only been dosing insulin based on simplistic estimation of how many carbs per meal, not exact measurements plus adjustments recognizing fats, fiber/inulin and sugar alcohols as a factor.
FYI: we also learned that blueberries in particular increased his insulin sensitivity so if he had a meal with them we'd reduce to .75 the usual dose. (Tracks; I found clinical studies confirming same.)
Dude... the "lucious red apple" is a far cry from apples in the day of Johnny Appleseed, which were smaller and far less packed with sugar. That's right, apples have been bred to be sweeter.
A truly healthy diet:
1) Don't eat so much! By far the greatest problem behind America's obesity is that food is everywhere. Stop eating out! It will save you the price of a new car over your lifetime, too.
2) Don't eat so often. Two to three times a day is enough. You SHOULD feel hungry between meals. That's your signal your body is vacillating between satiety and hunger - where is SHOULD be.
3) Ditch ALL processed foods. Salt, sugar and poison. Sorry, food industry, but my health is more important than your fat-cat profits.
4) Ditch foods from the Nightshade Family as they contain lectins, which are toxic.
5) Eat Organic foods to the maximum extent possibly.
6) Meats: wild-caught fish, free-range poultry, grass-fed beef.
7) Leafy Green Vegetables: Eat a wide variety of them! Minimize Spinach, which is high in oxalates, as are other "healthy" foods.
8) Eat a wide variety of other fruits, vegetables, seafood, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, eggs, and dairy. Minimize the grains, as they're largely inflammatory to the body.
The Keto craze has led to a crazy focus on flat lining blood glucose when the pancreas is built to deal with some spiking. We are SUPPOSED to have ups and downs (in the same way that we need to have regular exercise.) It is about not having spikes that are the equivalent of being on the world’s biggest rollercoaster vs the ups and downs of going sailing on a pleasant day.
Flat lining as to prevent fluctuations. The spikes are bad for your system but the dips are what you feel the most. Also you miss the main focus of keto as the name hint. That is ketosis which is more efficient (or dense) method of energy production. You switch from glucose to fat as main source of energy by not eating carbs (or drastic reduction). In ketosis you glucose dont fluctuate at all, cause you not burning it. If i remember only liver and brain need glucose for certain things, something like 15g a day. Which body can synthesize from fat by glycogenesis. You dont have ups and downs and constant energy and stamina true the day. Its going to be almost a year in few weeks since i switch to carnivore. Only regret that i did not read about keto earlier. I know about it but even i was affected whit the propaganda and dismiss it without looking deeper. Also food producers make a mess by promoting term as net carbs. Selling and promoting foods with 200-300g of carbs a day. When you start on keto you go under 50 ideal under 20g a day. So that apple or that KFC with 5 serving in container will put me over the limit.