Would be interested to hear how you use it and how it’s changed things for you.
Thanks!
I’m keeping a record and I’ll definitely post some first hand experiences. I’m going through the active recover week before the build phase so it’ll definitely begin to get interesting!
Any particular experiments you wish you could run on yourself?
Right now, I can tell there is a bit of time lag from what your body is actually going through vs what is coming off the reader. This is because your measurements of blood glucose is off interstitial fluid/peripheral circulation which isn’t exactly the straight tap to bloodstream. Maybe when I gather enough data and can show you what blood sugars look like for a normal healthy person during a workout you’ll be able to relate to yourself and adjust accordingly.
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Yeah, as I understand it the interstitial glucose levels lag the blood levels by a few minutes. That’s OK. Being able to see the trend over the course of a workout would still be helpful in preventing unexpected lows. Unfortunately, I’ve experienced very different effects from the same workout, with the same pre-workout and mid-workout fueling strategy. It’s a maddening disease. So many variables affect how things work.
Oof that sucks. I knew a female athlete with type 1 diabetes and the menstrual cycle also wreaks havoc on predictability. Sometimes we’d look at the data and it just didn’t make sense.
So I went through one of the sensors I’ve had and it was pretty interesting. It helped me figure out a tighter timeline of when to take in carbs before a workout and has really helped me crush some of the harder ones. I don’t find it as useful for real time adjustments but did find it really helpful for explaining how I felt after the fact and then made adjustments for the next workout.
Other things I learned about my body with it is that I am practically bullet proof for breakfast and can eat anything without going through a rollercoaster ride of glucose/insulin spikes. I do my workouts in the afternoon and it seemed like it was really important when and what I ate for lunch as that dictated how I felt prior to the workout.
There’s this little southwest themed frozen vegan bowl from costco that consisted of quinoa, beans, corn and salsa that was like a little superfood bowl for me. Didn’t spike the blood sugar that much while keeping me super satiated. Vietnamese pho and generally any vietnamese dish that used rice noodles caused the highest spikes in blood glucose and also left me feeling pretty lethargic. After a workout though, I can see pho being ok, but not so great for me before.
I didn’t do any structured experiments and just wanted to go through the experience at least once before planning things. The adhesive threatened to fail but didn’t. Next time I’ll probably do some more prep work for getting the thing to stay stuck as I do sweat a lot a lot.
Thanks for the tip! I already got something similar, along with pre cut patch to go over the sensor to keep it on. I…sweat a lot…lol
@Minty_One - what was the cost of the sensors (and what country are you in)? I’ve not seen any cost info for the US.
I am a insuline dependent Type1 Diabetic as well, wearing a Dexcom G6 sensor all the time patched to my body.
Yes, it is a big step up from traditional blood measuring and it gives you a complete picture where your body roughly is at.
Somehow I find it weird that somebody healthy would voluntarily patch themselves with a CGM. I would be happy to not be dependent on it.
And btw: it does not tell you your blood sugar this very minute but lags 20+ minutes behind. I can have a high blood sugar now, sit on the bike and work it off in 15min high intensity. The CGM would still show me high values after those 15min… only after 20-30 min it would start to fall.
It is able to project your curves using the right App (XDrip), but.also there it is based on your input of insuline injections and mathematical calculations.
I tell the app, what amount of carbs I have eaten, what amount of insuline (and which kind)) I injected… even some data on your liver activity can be defined to make the calculations more precise…
and then the XDrip App based on CGM data is able to calculate the blood sugar levels roughly for the next hours… !!all things being equal!!
But already walking up couple of floors changes this calculations drastically and the sensor/software cant take this into account.
Again: the sensor will tell you that only 20min later.
It can then send you alarms if the rise/fall of sugar levels is too quick, but also with loads of delay. It can alarm you at night if you are close to a tough undersugar. (At night sleeping your body is rather stable in energy consumption, so here the prediction really works, and is the main reason why I have this thing)
How many times have I been woken up by the CGm already half dizzy and shaky to be forced to eat sugar stuff at 3am to be able to think clearly again)
I dont really see the value for a healthy person here… for me as a diabetic it is a life saver and saved life actuall already
I found a nice watch which works with the Dexcom G6 independently of a phone - beauty! And very cheap. If anybody is interested drop me a message.
EDIT:
Having taken a shower and thinking about it I’d be even a bit more pronounced: anybody healthy thinking of buying (very expensive) CGM just to (maybe) get some more data to (maybe) become a bit faster… donate the CGM to a diabetic kid who cant afford it - it will save life!
And that should give such a moral boost that you might actually become mentally energized and… faster!
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Anyone taking an SGLT2 inhibitor (canagliflozin, dapagliflozin, and empagliflozin)?
Expensive but effective at stopping the kidneys from absorbing excess glucose that endurance athletes (diabetic or not) consume.
I’m in the US and bought my sensors on ebay. They were nearly expired and less than $50. I’m a lab scientist so I’m pretty comfortable working with sensors past expiration dates and saving a bit of money. I see sensors with further out dates that are in the $80-$90 range on the regular. They tend to sell quickly on ebay. I do a little linearity validation and QC to make sure the sensor stays within the advertised levels of accuracy. Also as a healthy individual our goal is not so much absolute accuracy as it is relative accuracy.
I would hypothesize that devices like these will be one of the most instrumental pieces of technology for the health conscientious and eventually improve the lives of millions of people. Type 2 diabetes and the associated complications (kidney disease) affect millions of people. Insulin insensitivity is a real risk for the general population and as a type 1 diabetic your risk insulin insensitivity is even higher. Managing diet remains one of the most effective, cheapest and attainable goals, all of which is made more manageable with a CGM…and proper coaching 
To say these types of devices should only exist for type 1 diabetics is like saying the technologies we develop for space travel should only exist for space travel. This particular generation of sensor (freestyle libre) is a trickle down and far cheaper than the dexcom series.
No one stays healthy forever and it is only a matter of time before they succumb to time and death. The human body and the modern diet of first world countries are at ends. If you are unlucky (genetics), it may be only be a matter of time before you become insulin insensitive. For others, it may never become a problem. What everyone is susceptible to is a suboptimal diet and the damage that may occur when eating foods that make it harder for your body to manage, from a glucose level perspective.
As a healthy individual I watched my body struggle to manage glucose levels when I eat a massive burrito and just stay inactive. I probably shouldn’t do that too often. If done day after day, year after year, it would undoubtedly lead to metabolic disease. I can also see how I can, on another day, eat the same massive burrito but time it with activity and watch my body maintain homeostasis, probably through non insulin dependent pathways. Being able to visualize these interactions are a powerful feedback mechanism. At the moment all we have is measuring weight, or body composition metrics which are lagging indicators. There is no immediate feedback. With this technology we can get much more granular and be more specific about how you are handling what you eat, get more immediate feedback, then allow you to modify your diet accordingly.
There is so many more possibilities as this becomes cheaper and more available.
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As a healthy person your body tells you when you blood sugar is going crazy. As a type 1 you barely feel that anymore - you eventually just faint. Thats where the CGM helps a lot.
I did not say this should be only for type1 - it certainly could be used for anybody who wants to be alert about their health.
But a healthy person who seriously thinks about ptching a CGM to the body and actually be able to afford it, I guess: these people should rather get a health/diet coach and learn about Burritos.
My original argument to the original discussion about using CGM for sports:
I find it weird that at this point where these devices are not cheap and technically not yet prepared for it at all (delay of data) they are considered by some as a way to maybe make them faster on the bike.
To put it into perspective: some folks and I collect insuline and sensors to send them here from Europe worldwide to people who cant afford it, many of those, many many, are in rhe US. Also the Libre is too expensive for many.
Maybe for the 50$ you bought the Libre of Ebay some kid might not have them now, but would need them. Is it worth it? That is the reality, also in the US.
So as long as the mass of diabetics cant afford insuline or CGM - which save life - I would again say: donate and support, or invest the money into a coach for sports or your diet.
And dont waste money into something what might hypothetically make you “faster”
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The delay of data is not a problem because what one is looking for as a healthy person is a way of validating their diet choices and to help figure out nutrition timing. It is about analyzing how you reacted in the past and how you can reliability plan for the future. The way you get faster on the bike is by making sure you are properly fueled for the workout to achieve the most you can, day in and day out. To maintain that consistency and to drive your body fat% to the lower levels of your limits when you need to for competition. What’s very interesting is that we are seeing individualized responses to the same foods. How one person responds to a glass of mango juice is different to how another person does. We don’t know why this occurs but it is observable. It leaves room for a lot of personalization of ones diet and a lot of improvement to be made. Sure you may be able to find out what works for you without such a device but it takes time. Using a CGM can help you save time with your nutrition self experimentation. Ultimately a great selling point about many consumer goods is that you are buying a time machine and different people value their time differently.
I don’t buy the argument that this device cost+availability follows a zero sum game where the purchase of one deprives someone else of the device. It’s not how the economics of this works. In fact, the more people that buy into tech like this drives down the costs for everyone. So, in fact, you would want everyone in the world to begin to purchase these. It distributes the R&D cost and decreases prices overall, thus creating a more sustainable progress.
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I never said it does not make sense for somebody hopeing to understand their bodies reactions to get some kind of cgm. I think though it would make more sense for these people to first invest into some knowledge about food and body reaction in general.
I am sitting in many trainings for diabetics where they learn how to use their cgm. Data you get from your cgm need to be evaluated. Unfortunately most people there dont even understand the most basic categories of diet/food/etc, not much help there by a cgm other than waking them up at night to inject insuline.
Better would be not to eat burritos at 10pm at the first place.
I am arguing that unless so many people (in the US) with life threatening diseases like Type1 dont have access to or funds for these kinds of treatments I would myself shy away to use it as a healthy person, who should rather go learning about their bodies and the damage they do to themselves every day. For that you do not need a cgm, but a book, some interesting websites, maybe a coach. Not much more.
True, one day this will and should be accessible to a broader public and thus make these products maybe cheaper. Why not. If it helps the truely sick people and maybe can prevent others from falling sick. But lets me frank: we all know that some more education and moreover fighting the sugar industry would be much more important in the first place.
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@Minty_One: $50 on ebay isn’t unreasonable. Having worked in the medical device field, near expiration is a non-issue, but I do wonder where they came from.
@airteluser: i think you’re making good points, but to the wrong audience. Non-diabetic athletes who are spending money to see how their body reacts to fueling & workouts aren’t in need of education to not eat a burrito at 10PM. They are likely to know pretty well the broad consequences of poor food choices, and even the day-to-day consequences. The data they’re looking for is much more nuanced, and for those seeking the last couple percent of performance gains, can make a real difference. You can certainly argue that for many, that money is better spent elsewhere for the same or better gains.
As for the economics of CGM’s, i’d love nothing more than if affluent athletes decided that a CGM was the best training tool since the power meter. Nothing drives prices down (in the long term) for new technology like high demand. Look at what happened with power meters. Right now the medical market for CGM’s is small, compared to that for training equipment. And it’s highly regulated. Both drive prices up, a lot.
If a significant sports-focused market emerged for CGMs, it wouldn’t take long for the medical companies to introduce sensors marketed to athletes. Initially, they’d be the same sensors as for the medical market, because it’s cheaper to just rebrand what you already have. Later, (if the market grows) there would be some sport specific versions created, free of the medical device regulation infrastructure, and thus cheaper. If the market gets big enough, there will be competition, and thus lower prices.
Ultimately, diabetics will figure out how to use the sports focused version for their own use (the key features for athletes and diabetics align nicely), and when the out-of-pocket cost for the sports version is lower than the insurance copay, there will be a mass-migration to these devices. This will benefit everyone.
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Good points, thx. My burrito at 10pm argument was aimed at those who hope to better their health by looking at their cgm. There I would rather first like to see some investment into better understanding of nutrition. As I said, i know plenty of folks wearing a cgm and not understanding at all what is going on in their bodies.
Athletes mostly understand very well.
Just lighting up this thread (as I’ve just found it). I have been using the Supersapiens app with the Abbott Libre Glucose Sensor (NOTE: this is a different sensor from the medical version). I am not elite athlete but I am getting great value out of the data in terms of understanding (and seeing) the impact of my diet on my glucose levels. Visualising this helps keep me accountable. I’m down 6kgs since starting to use it, because I’m more aware of my diet (something I always struggled with). I’m now moving to try and understand more about fuelling strategies - which is where the product is targetted. Finding the journey and learnings fascinating. I’m in the UK. If anyone has questions about the system more than happy to try and answer them, but I’m not expert just a user.
- Yes, they aren’t cheap
- Yes, I’m a geek
- Yes, they won’t appeal to everyone
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I started with mine and I’m delighted with jt so far. Surprising to me is how some foods, like wholegrain crackers, send me off the scale. As i expected, although much maligned low carbists, fruit, especially apples, really normalise my levels.
During workout data is also priceless for me. How i tanked after one hard interval was funny to see.
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Hi,
I have a question regarding the integration with Garmin devices. According to the Supersapiens website the data field for the glucose level is available only for certain sport watch lines. Is there any way to get that data field on a bike computer?
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I think what was interesting is also how you can use it to validate your in competition nutrition. In that last world record everesting, they talk about how it was used. Basically your goal is to stay fed, keep your blood glucose level higher in that 150mg/dL range because for an effort like that, you’re just trying to outrun the energy deficiency before it eventually catches up. So nutrition was an integral part to that attempt.
This will be a time saver for the serious athlete and they’ll be able to use it to dial in and validate their nutrition faster than trial and error.
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Supersapiens have just released support for the Garmin Edge devices. This article: Connect IQ Store | Free Watch Faces and Apps | Garmin
list 1030+, 830 and 530 devices
NOTE: This does currently require the beta firmware on the Garmin device to enable it.
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@jongeorg In terms of being more aware of your diet, do you mean that you monitor BG and make the decision to eat or not (and what to eat) based off that measurement? I have no idea about normal values during or outside of workouts off the top of my head, so I’m making the number up, but would a value of 100 mean you eat a “healthier” food that normally boosts you to 150? Then a value of 50 would mean you’re much hungrier and you’d eat a less nutrient dense (or more calorically dense) food to get to that same 150? It seems that with some experimentation, that sort of method could be getting close to a gold standard in weight loss, so it’s pretty cool stuff!