I have been using a Continuous Glucose Monitoring Sensor for almost 4 months (in India). As the name suggests, it measures Glucose continuously. I am using the one sold by Ultrahuman, an advanced metabolic fitness platform. Ultrahuman’s service consists of an arm-mounted sensing hardware (a disc-shaped sensor) — which is replaced every two weeks. You can swim, shower and workout having this sensor on. It is also accompanied with an app to visualize your blood glucose data, and delivering intelligent alerts and actionable nudges. You pair each new sensor with the app to continue tracking. It very slightly pierces your skin and is invasive, but not to worry, it hardly feels like an ant bite. It is a sensor that can be applied by the user itself and is very simple to put on. It comes with its own DIY applicator. The sensor is FDA approved and is made by another company (Abbott). The sensor pairs with Ultrahuman’s app via an NFC scan. For this sensor, you would require an NFC compatible phone. 

A CGM is not actually measuring the glucose levels in the blood, it’s measuring the glucose levels in the interstitial fluid. It’s able to impute what is the glucose level in the blood without actually having to sample the blood. Your CGM connects to your phone and at every scan, it provides a reading of your glucose levels. These levels are represented in a glucose graph on the app, providing you a live understanding of how your body’s blood glucose looks like at every scan. Ultrahuman’s platform provides important insights on metrics such as average glucose, glucose variability and time in target range. Specifically, time in target range refers to staying within the recommended glucose range of 70-110 mg/dL. As per the researches, this is considered ideal.

In last 24 hours I’ve averaged about 90 milligrams per deciliter. My Glucose variability was 6 milligrams per deciliter.

We regularly use many terminologies when we talk nutrition, science and health. What exactly do they mean or define. Read here a comprehensive list with their definitions.

Glucose Variability is the measure of oscillations (“ups and downs”) in your glucose levels. It also represents the quality of fuel and oxidative stress on the body. Keeping a low glucose variability helps lower oxidative stress, optimizing for longevity. Consuming foods that give you a stable response, getting quality sleep and reducing overall stress helps optimize this biomarker. Maintaining glucose variability of 12% and lower is considered ideal.

The body produces glucose from the food we eat. Glucose is absorbed directly into the blood from the intestines, which results in a rapid increase in blood glucose or blood sugar. It is then transported through the bloodstream to generate energy for all the cells in the body. Our cells cannot use glucose without the help of insulin, a hormone that allows cells to absorb it. Thus, the body depends on glucose to keep all its mechanisms functioning effectively, giving us the energy to go about our day-to-day activities.

Glucose levels often go unnoticed when they are within the ideal range. However, when these levels in the blood are too high or low, our normal functioning is affected. There is a complex system in place for keeping glucose within a healthy range, metabolizing it into fuel or storing it for later use. Insulin plays a crucial role in this process. Optimising blood glucose levels through regular monitoring can have various benefits in terms of controlling metabolism, managing weight, understanding your ideal diet and improving athletic performance.

Peter Attia mentions in one of his blogs, “Higher glucose variability and higher (and more) peak glucose levels are each independently associated with accelerated onset of disease and death, even in non-diabetics. Prospective studies show that higher glucose variability in non-diabetics is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, frailty, cardiovascular death, cancer death, and death from any cause compared to lower glucose variability. Other prospective studies show similar trends for higher compared to lower peak glucose levels and several human experiments demonstrate that high glucose peaks induce endothelial dysfunction in healthy non-diabetic individuals, and higher postprandial glucose levels are also associated with higher carotid intima-media thickness, suggesting higher glucose peaks may accelerate the development of atherosclerosis, even in those with normal glucose tolerance.”

When I started wearing CGM, it was 90% “insight” and 10% behavioural. After a few months, the situation has changed. I now have a good idea of what triggers the spikes, but it has become a remarkable accountability tool. It’s simultaneously a behavioural and analytical tool that can track and uncover strategies and tactics, which can actually save an enormous amount of time and money by preventing bad outcomes in the future. Over the 4 months, I have been using the CGM I have found that some of the ‘healthy’ foods were not healthy for me like sweet potato. I even noticed Paneer purchased from market spikes my glucose higher than paneer made at home. I also found a way to manage my sweet tooth. If I ate my dessert along with food rich in high fibre, say, a plate of leafy salad and green veggies, the GI effect of the dessert would substantially reduce. Another way to blunt sugar spike was to take a glass of lemon water or even cinnamon in food. Glucose monitoring is a useful tool not just for diabetics people but for non-diabetics and those who want to optimise their food to manage focused work and exercise. I also found that every time I did some intense work my glucose would spike and with few physiological sighs I could manage it better. It’s not just a tool for people with diabetes, it’s a tool for anybody who’s interested in improving their health because it gives you the best real-world insight into these three metrics:

And with this knowledge you can find ways to manage the spikes and your health better.

You can keep your blood glucose levels at an optimum range in a number of ways. A good first step is becoming aware of where your levels stand. Glucose monitoring can provide you with great insights such as glucose variability. Keeping your blood glucose variability under 12 percent is considered ideal.

Sleep: Sleep and glucose metabolism go hand in hand. Lack of sleep can increase circulating cortisol (stress hormone) leading to production of glucose from non carbohydrate sources. Also, sleep duration affects hormones associated with appetite, including leptin (which soothes hunger) and ghrelin (which stimulates it). Sleep deprivation offsets the difference between the two hormones, potentially causing metabolic irregularities that can lead to changes in food intake and cause problems like diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Target to sleep 7-9 hours every day. We had a special issue on sleep and you can check it out here

Stress: The sympathetic nervous system controls the body’s response to danger – real and perceived. Stress stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, which releases cortisol. Besides regulating blood pressure and blood sugar levels, cortisol is the body’s natural alarm system. As a result of increased glucose levels as an immediate energy source, cortisol inhibits insulin sensitivity in stressful situations. Chronic stress and chronically elevated glucose levels cause the pancreas (which produces insulin to lower glucose levels in the blood) to become less effective at responding to a high glucose stimulus. We had carried a tool kit to manage stress in the second issue of newsletter and you can access here

Exercise: Exercise can help us to maintain our glucose levels and also our metabolic flexibility, the ability to use both fat and glucose as energy sources, depending on what type of workout is being performed. High-intensity anaerobic workouts like high-intensity interval training (HIIT), resistance training or low/moderate-intensity exercises use different fuel sources and thus can have varying effects on our glucose levels. In most people, the switch in energy use from glucose to fats happens when endurance exercise is moderate or about 60% of maximum oxygen capacity (VO2 max). However, in high-intensity anaerobic activities, which usually tend to be above 80% VO2 max, glucose usually becomes the predominant fuel source. While HIIT enhances cardiometabolic metrics and bone formation, aerobic exercise is associated with fat metabolism.  We have extensively covered about exercises in our newsletters.

Food. What, how and when we eat effects blood glucose. Eating minimally processed whole foods helps to keep glucose in range. It is also important to avoid high levels of sugary foods and drinks, trans fats and simple carbohydrates or foods with a high GI and glycemic load. Eating mindfully and chewing properly will help managing glucose variability. We have had extensive issues about food and four issues ( 13 to 16) were dedicated completely on food.

Ultrahuman has a long waitlist and for the subscribers of this newsletter, if you want to jump the queue and want to deep dive into your glucose variability and health you can use this link

A little awareness about own health can bring one’s attention towards health. Usually, people get aware about health when they are either hit by illness or they get an alarm, waking them up regarding their current health situation.

In India, we are aware about our own feelings, emotions, mental breakdown and ways to improve mental health. I would like to bring your focus on the stigma of mental health. When a person becomes consciously aware about the condition of mental health. Then the work starts for maintaining and improving mental health. Just like physical illness, for example, cough and cold, we may often get mentally ill. Generally, people focus only on that, it may not happen with me or if something as such like low mental health identify on our part then we don’t feel comfortable to share about it with others

 We have counsellors, psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health practitioners. We have to create a mentally healthy society. But it’s not enough for one sided effort by mental health practitioners only. With the healers, the society has to play its role as an individual and in groups to prosper mental health of one and all. So, we are all together in this. A proper diagnose or identification of psychological issue is halfway to healing the lives. It will be really amazing that with ample of knowledge & awareness about mental health we can break the stigma.

1.     Reduce Negativity– Your emotions, feeling and environment have a huge impact on your mental health. If your environment is full of negativity, it will then begin to transfer into other parts of life. Increasing positivity is the best way to reduce negativity.

2.     Daily Journaling– Journaling helps both your memory and mental health. Everyday write out your to do list, daily gratitude and affirmations. Practicing gratitude will change how you look at your life. When you write down, it is best way to vent out thoughts and feelings. 

3.     Focus on self-care – spend some ‘ME’ time by following your passion and hobbies. Self-care has been defined as providing adequate attention to one’s own physical and psychological wellness.

4.     Reduce Screen Time– Read more books as books open our mind and enables us to grow and change as individuals. Sometimes we find the answers of questions that wander in our minds. Self help category of books proved helpful for good mental health.

5.     Seek professionals– In few cases, the personal efforts are not enough for improving and maintaining mental health then seek counselling psychologists or psychiatrist for better recovery. 

Dr. Neha Das is a counselling psychologist. She has done Ph.D in Psychology & is a certified counselor. She has published numerous research papers in national and international journals. Presently she is working as School Child Care Counselor at Sri Aurobindo Centre of New Education, Jodhpur and is founder of Serene Psychology Clinic where she does private practice of counselling. She was thrice awarded as best academic head at state level. You can find her on Twitter at @drnehadas

Face massage can reduce puffiness by clearing congested fluid, one example is blocked pores from makeup, which the skin of the face must clear.

Through a series of gentle and rhythmical movements you can use the direction in the image to help move toxins through the face.

Lymph nodes are bean-shaped organs that are found all over our body. Large groups or chains of lymph nodes can be found in our neck, under our arms, and in your groin. Swelling from damaged lymph nodes and vessels is called lymphedema. Through a series of gentle and rhythmical movements you can use the direction in the image to help move toxins through the face.

Follow each direction relating to the arrows on the diagram.

Try this exercise daily, every morning

In 1955, President Dwight D Eisenhower suffered a massive heart attack while playing golf. What happened next brought on the BIGGEST obesity epidemic the world has ever seen.

While playing golf on in Colorado, President Eisenhower felt like he was experiencing strong indigestion. Throughout the day, his indigestion continued to worsen and his family worried that something was seriously wrong. Ike was rushed to the hospital for a diagnosis.

At Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, Ike’s indigestion was declared a heart attack. The president was out of the oval office for a total of 10 days. The stock market plummeted and lost $14 billion in value. This was the worst single day for markets since the start of WWII.

Heart attacks were becoming increasingly common amongst middle-aged American men and nobody could figure out why. The nation was in shock and the public was desperate for answers.

It is important to note that in the 1950s – 1960s, cigarette consumption was the highest it’s ever been. Eisenhower himself was smoking upwards of 4 packs of cigarettes per day at the time.

To support this, Keys organized a study of Saturated Fat consumption amongst various countries around the world to prove if there was a correlation to heart disease. Keys strategically chose 6 countries to study: US, Canada, Australia, England & Wales, Italy, and Japan.

When you look at the graph, it looks like there is an exact linear correlation between Saturated Fat and heart disease.

BUT…What if I told you there weren’t just 6 countries…But 22 instead.

Keys cherry-picked 6 countries that would show a perfect correlation between Saturated Fat consumption and Heart-Disease related deaths. When you plug in the remaining 15 countries, there is no correlation at all. Keys knew it was a HYPOTHESIS and cherry-picked his data.

The public did not know this however because the 6 countries shown on the graph were the only published countries released during this study. Keys recommended that a diet low in Saturated Fat was what Americans should be following.

Eisenhower himself started implementing Keys’ recommendations for a low-fat diet and Cholesterol became the boogeyman overnight. Even though it has been proven that raising LDL cholesterol from diet does not translate to heart attacks and death.

It is also important to note that Keys had a fiery personality and was willing to argue with anyone, anytime, anywhere. He was able to maneuver his way onto the board of the American Heart Association (AHA).

In 1961, the AHA came out with the first advice EVER to cut back on Saturated Fat to prevent heart attacks. Up until this point, Americans consumed almost 50% of their calories from fat and were relatively slim.

The sugar industry also did not want to be blamed for heart disease and metabolic disfunction. In 1965, the sugar industry paid off Harvard Researchers to produce 2 articles to exonerate sugar and blame saturated fat for cardiovascular disease.

To seal the deal, in 1977, a select Senate committee recommended The Low-Fat Diet to the nation (against scientists’ pleas). Their argument was: “We cannot afford to wait for evidence on Saturated Fat.”The senators were literally warned by scientists and they ignored it.

By 1980, the first US Dietary Guidelines were released and the campaign against fat officially began. They recommended 7 – 11 servings of bread everyday and 50-55% of your calories coming from carbohydrates (mostly grains). Saturated Fat consumption was decimated to 10%.

So what did we do when we took the fat out of our food? We supplemented with sugar and vegetable oils that were “fat-free.”Marketing companies spend millions convincing consumers that sugar and vegetable oils were “low-fat” and therefore “healthier” than Fat.

Americans obediently listed and cut back on red meat, whole milk, eggs, and butter.The result? Some of the highest obesity rates the world has ever seen.

Currently in America:

Americans consume over 130 Ibs of sugar per year and over 1,095 tablespoons (4 gallons) of inflammatory Vegetable oils every single year. We know that Chronic inflammation caused by refined sugars, grains, and vegetable oil is far more dangerous than Saturated Fat ever could be

You are responsible for being the CEO of your own health.Experiment with REAL FOOD as your medicine. Find medical practitioners that want to help you be metabolically healthy and not just treat disease

Magic was founded by Mr. RB Batra who was a refugee from Pakistan and started with a small book binding unit in narrow lanes of old delhi in an area called, Chitli Qabar. With persistant determination and years of hard work across 3 generations, his efforts have turned Magic to be one of the finest book printing business in Asia. Today the business is led by a professional team with an in-depth experience in book manufacturing and paper stationery items such as Notebooks, Pads and Envelopes. Our Infrastructure include an array of printing presses, automated bindery and finishing machines to produce books, matching to international standards.

Magic has been consistently ranked as one of the top book printing presses and has been working with some of the finest publishers and retail stores across the world for books, notebooks and envelopes. 

The Infrastructure at Magic, include an array of printing presses, automated bindery and finishing machines to produce books matching to international standards. They operate from a state of the art factory spread across 300,000 square feet employing a team of 400 skilled personal. The production facility conform to ISO 9001-2000 quality standards and function on an oracle based ERP system to manage world class efficiencies. 

You can visit their website here

FITStar of the week – Kishore Chinta

Former IAF fighter pilot, Kishore Chinta, who now flies business jets, wears a motley hat. He is an air crash survivor, a family man to the core, adrenaline junky and a gourmet who loves his single malt. The captain feels his participation in 100Day Challenge last year helped him overcome the covid delta variant after effects. 

His fitness agenda includes getting off the diabetes and asthma meds and feel healthy naturally. With 100 day challenge 2.0, Capt. Chinta wants to resume his fitness regime and get back on track. For those who are still struggling to get into a fitness discipline. Captain Chinta has succinct mantra- “Just make a start and keep pushing yourself to do a little better than yesterday.”