Add Doctors Question Science behind Blood Sugar Diet Trend

Doctors-Question-Science-behind-Blood-Sugar-Diet-Trend.md

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+<br>Blood sugar monitors are unnecessary for people without diabetes and could, in extreme cases, fuel eating disorders, leading doctors have warned. They are part of a personalised diet trend,  [Glyco Caresberberine blood sugar support](https://ideahubb.com/glyco-care-revolutionizing-diabetes-management/) promoted on social media and spearheaded by companies including ZOE. But NHS national diabetes advisor Prof Partha Kar said there is no strong evidence the [gadgets](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gadgets) help people without the condition. ZOE said research is at an early stage but is "cutting edge". In people with diabetes, blood sugar - also known as blood glucose - can remain high for several hours after eating. At very high levels this can cause organ damage if it's not monitored and kept in check. ZOE - previously involved with the Covid symptom-tracking app - is one of the main companies selling the blood sugar monitors to people without the condition. Now it offers a programme, starting at around £300, which it advertises widely, including across social media platforms.<br>
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+<br>Participants log their food intake and wear a continuous [Glyco Carenatural glucose support](https://longlive.com/node/61541) monitor (CGM) for two weeks to measure blood sugar levels after eating. In separate tests, they also have their responses to fat, and their gut bacteria tested. It suggests this could guide individual food decisions. But other researchers argue that what, if anything, those numbers mean - including bigger spikes and dips in blood sugar within the non-diabetic range - is still not properly understood. Dr Nicola Guess, a dietitian and diabetes researcher at the University of Oxford, said the majority of evidence linking high, and highly varied, blood sugar to health problems is based on glucose levels only seen in people with diabetes or prediabetes. High blood sugar is a symptom, not directly a cause, of diabetes, she explains. Type 1 diabetes is when an individual's pancreas stops producing insulin, so regular injections are needed. Type 2 diabetes is more common and occurs when the cells in the body become resistant to insulin and so more is needed to keep blood glucose levels within a normal range.<br>
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+<br>It can usually be controlled through diet, exercise and close monitoring. In people without diabetes, Prof Kar said "the evidence base is nothing" for understanding what the swings in blood sugar mean. ZOE points to some evidence, external - including some very small studies, external - suggesting that even before it reaches prediabetic or diabetic levels, having higher blood sugar, external and big variations, external through the day may be linked to some worse outcomes. Most data is still in diabetic patients, though. It says it is investigating gut bacteria and starting to see links between gut microbes, diet and health. ZOE's chief scientist Dr Sarah Berry told the BBC its programme used "decades" of existing nutrition research, and their own studies on links between blood sugar and health. But she acknowledges that "we don't have all of the evidence". But given the risks of poor diet we already understand, she said, "it would actually be irresponsible to wait" decades to understand long-term outcomes like heart disease and death.<br>
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+<br>Dr Ran Crooke, a GP who founded a company providing health services to start-ups, praised the company for trying to gather the evidence, and said not having all the evidence on blood sugar shouldn't be "stifling innovation". He and others, including some of ZOE's critics, agree CGMs could potentially be a helpful tool for some people to motivate them and change their diet. However, people have been sounding the alarm over diet-related illness for decades. Yet hundreds of diet programmes have failed to resolve the challenge of getting people to stick to habits when their environment - a modern prevalence of high-sugar foods, for example - and  [GlycoCares Health Guideberberine blood sugar support](https://www.xijing.org/bbs/home.php?mod=space&uid=26396&do=profile&from=space) biology seems to be stacked against them. And they aren't without risks themselves. But Dr Guess is concerned she is seeing patients who use ZOE's products cutting out foods she believes are good for  [Glyco Carenatural glucose support](https://shamrick.us/mayx8857930343/cinnamon-glucose-support2000/wiki/It%27s-not-Just-Blood-Sugar%2C-High-Blood-Pressure-Matters-Too) their health, because they seem to spike their blood sugar.<br>