Lifestyle+ — 16

The idea of a one-size-fits-all universal diet—one that is optimal for all people—is naive. Each of us is biologically and physiologically unique with respect to our genome, metabolism, gut microbiome, and environment. Our food intake is, at least in part, determined by our genetic makeup, with specific genomic variants linked to food type preferences. There are hundreds of known gene variants that interact with our food intake, such as milk in preventing type 2 diabetes in people who have a lactose deficiency variant. While we’ve known about the potential merits of an individualized diet, it would require crunching billions of pieces of data for each person, such as analyzing the forty trillion bacteria from about one thousand species that reside in our gut, along with our medical conditions, diet, exercise, sleep, medications, and many other layers of data, like the three billion letters of our genome and over twenty-six thousand chemicals found in foods.

If you have pronounced spikes in your blood glucose after eating, you are at higher risk for cardiometabolic disease—even if you have a normal fasting sugar level. These spikes can be accurately measured with a continuous glucose wearable sensor placed on the arm or abdomen. In response to the exact content and amount of food intake at the same time ingested, there is marked variability from one person to another with respect to these glucose spikes. That makes glucose a window into an individual’s nutritional health. An increasing number of healthy people are trying wearable continuous glucose monitor (CGM) sensorsI that can be placed on the arm or belly and give accurate measurements for one to two weeks. That was reinforced with the FDA approval of CGMs for direct-to-consumer purchase, when until 2024 they had required a doctor’s prescription. From CGM data, most people will discover they experience glucose spikes of varying magnitude in relation to what they eat and drink, how they exercise and sleep, and their stress levels. While such data help people learn their individual triggers for spikes, we do not yet have clear data that avoiding spikes means fewer cases of type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, or other health outcomes. Nevertheless, the idea of avoiding glucose spikes has set off a craze with influencers like Jessie Inchauspé, known as the Glucose Goddess, and many companies, such as Level and Signos, promoting CGM use.