Data-driven fasting, or how I stopped eating bananas in the morning
- 1 minSome time ago, in an excellent book Rebel Ideas: The Power of Diverse Thinking by Matthew Syed, I learnt that according to the latest reasearch on personalised nutrition, a one-size-fits-all dietary recommendations that we usually find even in reputable sources simply don’t work. The thing is, it turns out, people react very differently to the same food due to various factors, including genetics, lifestyle, and gut microbiota. In particular, the level of glucose in blood, after people consume the same food, vary significantly from person to person.
Glucose levels, or blood sugar levels, refer to the concentration of glucose (a type of sugar) in the bloodstream. Glucose is a primary source of energy for the body’s cells and plays a crucial role in determining our energy levels. Maintaining stable glucose levels within a normal range is essential to promote overall health and well-being. Elevated blood sugar levels are a major risk factor for diabetes and obesity. Moreover, rapid spikes in blood sugar are often followed by subsequent crash in blood sugar, which usually makes you feel drousy and sleepy and can cause other symptoms suchs as shakiness, irritability, and difficulty concentrating.
“The huge differences that we found in the rise of blood sugar levels among different people who consumed identical meals highlights why personalised eating choices are more likely to help people stay healthy than universal dietary advice.”
When I read it, of course, I wanted to see how my body would react to bananas and cookies. To do so, I got a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) to track my blood sugar levels almost in real time.
My blood sugar levels skyrocketed after I had a banana!
Viktoriia Oliinyk
Building Responsible AI