A little-known technology that Fitbit and Apple are exploring could be the answer to healthy eating and peak performance

• Eating well and maintaining a healthy body weight can be challenging for many people, in part because nutrition advice changes so often.
• Fitbit, Apple, and Google are investing in continuous glucose monitors that let people track their blood sugar and see how food affects their body.
• Usually used only by diabetics, the devices could provide key insight to other people who want to eat better, lose weight, and even improve athletic performance.
• Recently, Fitbit gave $US6 million to a San Francisco startup called Sano, which is creating a CGM without a needle.

Geoffrey Woo hasn’t gone back to Burger King since he saw the numbers.

The trim 30-year-old was at the airport one afternoon when he strayed from his healthy diet and ordered an old-time favourite: a Whopper, fries, and a Coke. Everything seemed fine until a few hours later, when he checked a device usually used only by people with diabetes.

The trend lines on the small square display, which tracked Woo’s blood-sugar levels, normally stayed fairly flat. But after the Burger King meal, they spiked to three times their normal levels.

Woo doesn’t have diabetes, but he says being without that device, known as a continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, feels like losing an organ. Read more

Erin Brodwin - Business Insider Australia - 4 Feb 2018