Beach Bi-Weekly #37
Continuous glucose monitors, Leon Bridges and revenge bedtime procrastination
🚨 Update: I started this newsletter in March 2020 as an outlet for my curiosity during quarantine.
I enjoy it, but it is something that I want to end with a bang and not a dribble. I am planning on writing these until January 19, 2023, which will be the 75th Beach Bi-Weekly. If you know someone who might want to join on the journey to 75, they can sign up here.
I have been tracking my glucose levels for the past 2 weeks and will continue tracking until early October. Continuous glucose monitors (CGM's) are compact medical devices with a needle to insert in your arm. It tracks your glucose all day, every day.
Originally made for people with diabetes who are more susceptible to upward or downward spikes in their blood sugar levels. They are surprisingly new, having only gotten FDA approval in 1999. However, CGM's are becoming more popular in recent years, as people without diabetes, want to get more personalized insights into their health.
I've heard about continuous glucose monitors for years. I have been intrigued by the potential insights they may offer into how my body responds to food. According to a study, from the Weizmann Institute, people who ate the exact same food had significantly different glucose responses. Dr. Segal, who helped conduct the study said, "Our results point to personalized eating choices being more likely to help people stay healthy than universal dietary advice." The chart below shows the glucose responses of two participants to a cookie and a banana. Essentially, one was fine with the cookie, but not the banana and the other participant had a reverse reaction.
I got a new primary care doctor in April and during my standard check-up, I asked him if he would write me a prescription for a CGM. I mentioned I was noticing dips in my energy levels throughout the day, and, I wanted to see how my body reacted to certain foods. He replied, "Yeah if you want to biohack yourself with a continuous glucose monitor, I'll write you a note, however, I think a food diary is just as effective".
I went down to my local CVS with my pink doctor slip and paid for the CGM. Since I don't have diabetes, insurance doesn't cover the devices. I have five kits that each last two weeks. For the first device, I had Jenny insert the needle into my right tricep. After wearing it for 20 minutes, I forget I had it on.
After a week of wearing the continuous glucose monitor, I’m in a routine of checking my glucose every few hours. A few days in, my friends Alison and Sam invited me to do a hot yoga class with them. I was excited to see how the heat and exercise would affect my glucose. Sadly, I didn't find out. We were 40 minutes into the class and I had built up a good sweat when we moved into crow pose (see below).
I call the teacher over to give me feedback on my pose. After 30 seconds of her instruction, my sweaty right arm slips against my sweaty right knee, and we hear a clink, clink, clink on the ground. My CGM had popped out of my arm! The instructor looks at the small white disk that had slid across the room and then looks back at me and confusedly asks if I am okay. I ensure her I am fine and go grab my CGM and throw it away. As much as I wanted to know my glucose levels, I wasn't about to reinsert a potentially dirty needle into my arm.
I noticed when I would walk after a meal for 15-20 minutes that it really helped my digestion. My glucose barely rose, despite having a fairly heavy meal. I want to do more self-experimentation with how exercise before and at certain parts of the day impacts my glucose. It typically takes my body about 15-45 minutes to see a spike in my glucose. Quick-acting sugars like a cookie will spike my glucose in 15 minutes while a big dinner might be a steadier build to the peak glucose.
Here is a screenshot of my glucose levels yesterday.
A few surprising findings from the data over the first two weeks:
My blood sugar dropped during sleep after a night of drinking at a wedding. Glucose levels naturally drop at night, but it was surprising to see my glucose dropping below my healthy range.
I dropped below the "healthy range" 80-130 mg/dl almost as much as I shot above the "healthy range".
I quickly forgot that I had the CGM in my arm.
I am glad I got a CGM, but I am less bullish on it revolutionizing our personalized health care. I had data to back up that my afternoon cookie wasn't good for stabilized energy levels, but I still found it hard to break the habit. Next week, I'll keep a food diary, which my doctor recommended. I think that a healthier lifestyle will still come from a positive environment, cooking>eating out, forming good habits.
Revenge bedtime procrastination
The term comes from the Chinese word “bà ofùxìng áoyè", which roughly translates as revenge bedtime procrastination. It comes from people who don't have control of their daytime, relishing in the freedom during the night.
Music video I am enjoying
Leon Bridges Motorbike. Leon Bridges is a soul singer with a throwback 60-70s vibe. Motorbike is one of the hit songs on his new album Gold Diggers Sound. The music video is made by Anderson Paak and packs a lot of storytelling into 3.5 minutes. Especially the last minute.
Pic of the Week
My good friend Dan Dozark got married to Jen Margulis in NYC this past weekend.
Dan decided to keep the tradition from Alex's wedding in 2019 for the three of us to play basketball the morning of his wedding. It was fun to get outside and play basketball again with these two. I expect the hard-fought basketball games between us will continue for years.