Blood Sugar Balance Matters
Why should you care about blood sugar? Blood sugar balance is incredibly important to our overall health. It serves as fuel for our cells and affects our overall health in many ways. Blood sugar levels naturally fluctuate like a wave, rising and falling throughout the day. The height and speed of this wave depend on factors such as food intake, stress levels, diet quality, and physical activity. The key is keeping blood sugar balanced. We want to avoid excessive spikes and the accumulation of sugar in the bloodstream.
Unfortunately, most Americans are far from balanced when it comes to blood sugar. In fact, only 12% of Americans are metabolically healthy—and that number continues to decline. Recent estimates suggest that approximately 98 million Americans have prediabetes, and alarmingly, 81% of them are unaware of it. Chronically elevated blood sugar is linked to weight gain, heart disease, stroke, hormonal imbalances, certain types of cancer, depression, anxiety, and dementia, essentially negatively affecting our overall health.
Beyond chronic disease, too much sugar is often the root cause of many everyday worsening health symptoms such as headaches or migraines, acne, bloating, hormonal issues, memory problems, digestive troubles, insomnia, weight gain, and fatigue. When you think about blood sugar as being fuel to our cells, the quality of that fuel truly does matter.
The good news is that all of this is largely preventable—and often reversible—through lifestyle and nutrition strategies that help balance blood sugar.
How To Use a Stelo CGM to Improve Your Overall Health
Balancing blood sugar is much more complex than simply reducing the amount of sugar in your diet. Blood sugar is influenced by a variety of factors beyond food, including sleep, stress, and physical activity. It’s also highly individualized, and effective management begins with establishing a baseline awareness of it and its influence of your overall health.
At STAT Wellness, one of our favorite tools for monitoring blood sugar trends is the Stelo Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM). The Stelo CGM is a small, flexible sensor that is inserted just under the skin—typically on the abdomen or the back of the arm—and measures interstitial glucose levels.
The sensor wirelessly transmits data to the Stelo app on a compatible smartphone, providing real-time glucose readings along with trends and patterns. The app also includes helpful features such as spike detection, and allows for logging of activities and nutrition to better understand how lifestyle factors affect your glucose levels.
Benefits of a Stelo CGM In Stabilizing Blood Sugar
Wearing a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) like the Stelo CGM can benefit anyone by providing data-driven insights into how nutrition, exercise, stress, and sleep impact blood sugar. These insights empower more personalized lifestyle choices and support better metabolic health.
Metabolism refers to how the body converts food into energy, with glucose serving as a primary energy source. When glucose enters the bloodstream, the pancreas releases insulin—a storage hormone that helps transport glucose into the cells for energy or storage. Carbohydrates have the greatest impact on blood glucose levels, causing them to rise and fall more significantly than other nutrients.
Understanding how to eat a balanced mix of macronutrients—such as protein, healthy fats, and fiber-rich carbohydrates—is key to maintaining stable blood sugar. This balance can help reduce cravings, enhance energy, and improve mental focus, and in turn improve your overall health.
Because metabolism is complex and highly individualized, we recommend using a CGM in partnership with a knowledgeable provider who can help interpret your glucose trends and offer personalized recommendations to optimize your metabolic health.
How to get started with a Stelo CGM
You can purchase a Stelo CGM at any of our STAT Wellness locations or online here—no prescription needed! The cost is $99 for one month of use, which includes two sensors.
If you’re interested, feel free to reach out to us. We also encourage you to book an appointment with one of our nutritionists or providers to review your CGM data and get personalized recommendations based on your results.
Bonus for Oura Ring Users:
Stelo has recently partnered with Oura, allowing you to view your glucose data alongside other key health metrics in the Oura app. This integration offers a more comprehensive view of your metabolic health.
Whether you use a Stelo or not, here are 10 Tips for Keeping Blood Sugar Balanced and Improving Overall Health
Whether you’re ready to start with a CGM or not, here are some simple, effective tips to help you begin balancing your blood sugar:
- Prioritize whole foods.
Choose complex carbohydrates from whole food sources, which have a slower, more stable impact on glucose levels. - Minimize simple carbs and processed foods.
These can cause rapid spikes in blood sugar and energy crashes, which affects you overall day to day. - Pair carbs with protein, healthy fats, and fiber.
Aim for approximately 30g of protein at your first meal—this is one of the most powerful strategies to reduce cravings and sustain energy throughout the day. Remember the types of fuel you are providing your body with matters. - Stick to three balanced meals a day.
Avoid grazing and aim for at least 12 hours between dinner and breakfast to allow for metabolic rest. - Move your body regularly.
Exercise helps clear glycogen from muscles, making room for more glucose storage. Even a 5–10 minute walk after meals can significantly reduce post-meal blood sugar spikes. - Limit exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
Compounds like BPA (commonly found in plastics) and toxins in personal care products can increase insulin resistance. - Try apple cider vinegar.
Mix 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar with 6–8 ounces of water before meals to help blunt blood sugar elevations. - Stay hydrated.
Dehydration reduces blood volume, which can concentrate blood sugar levels. Drink plenty of water throughout the day. To help your body perform more optimally. - Prioritize sleep.
Aim for 7–8 hours of quality sleep each night. Poor sleep can elevate blood sugar levels even before your first bite of food. - Manage stress.
Elevated cortisol and adrenaline (stress hormones) can cause increases in blood sugar. Incorporate stress-reducing practices like deep breathing, mindfulness, or light movement.
Interested in learning more about how to balance your blood sugar to improve your overall health? Or to know what the right next steps for you are? Book an appointment with our Functional Nutritionist and Health Coach Amelia Cremin
Sources:
Holzer R, Bloch W, Brinkmann C. Continuous Glucose Monitoring in Healthy Adults-Possible Applications in Health Care, Wellness, and Sports. Sensors (Basel). 2022 Mar 5;22(5):2030. doi: 10.3390/s22052030. PMID: 35271177; PMCID: PMC8915088.
https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/communication-resources/1-in-3-americans.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://www.stelo.com/oura-ring
