I’ve been wearing a continuous glucose monitor for a few months. It’s a sensor on the back of my upper arm that I scan with my phone using an app that analyzes data.

I enter what I eat and when.

I was curious about how glucose affected me. Apparently people can’t tell when their glucose is too high, unlike when it’s too low. And with so many people being prediabetic or diabetic, I wanted personal information.

Things I’ve learned:

It’s all about carbs/sugars/starches — whatever you call it, it’s converted to glucose.

Warm roasted potatoes make my glucose spike high. Cold potatoes not so much, and I presume that other starchy foods like cold rice or pasta salads would be the same. Better cold than hot.

(Another benefit: I understand many grains and starchy veggies, when served cold, create resistant starch, which feeds gut bacteria.)

Half a serving of warm potatoes doesn’t spike it nearly as much. Same with a banana. Half is better — you still get some carbs but keep glucose levels down.

I’ve read that not everyone responds the same. Some people may be able to eat warm potatoes and not have their glucose spike as high as mine did.

I haven’t tested popcorn yet and am curious.

You want your glucose to come back to baseline within 2-3 hours after eating.

One staple of my diet, at least in summer, is a large salad of greens, cucumber, bell pepper, tomato, green onions, black olives, capers, walnuts, and sprouts, with half a filet of wild salmon or some chicken sprinkled across the top, drenched in a balsamic vinaigrette I make with olive oil.

It does not budge my blood sugar.

Walking or otherwise exercising after eating lowers glucose because you’re burning it as energy, especially if you eat carbs.

You want to keep glucose levels between 70 and 140, with your daily average below 105.

Fasting glucose is measured two hours after waking up and not eating anything. Eating dinner and/or drinking alcohol closer to bedtime raises it. Try to eat your last meal at least 3 hours before bedtime.

That’s a key indicator of future health. Here’s more info on levels, from Levels, another CGM company (that has a wait list).

Also, you may understand from this why intermittent fasting (eating within a 4-8 hour window) makes such a difference in health.

If you don’t want to use a CGM device, you can use the finger prick method of obtaining your fasting glucose level two hours after waking. Research shows that a fasting glucose reading of 86 is ideal for health and longevity purposes.

That, and keeping it steady from day to day, are the best and easiest ways to optimize healthy blood sugar levels.

NutriSense is the company I used. I had access to a dietitian for free the first month.

If you want to try it with $25 off your first month, use this: https://nutrisense.io?code=MARYANNR