If you have diabetes (either type 1 or type 2), a continuous glucose monitor (CRM) can be exceptionally useful, especially to reduce hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is low blood sugar. Mild hypoglycemia leads to symptoms like shakiness and sweating. More severe hypoglycemia leads to seizures and loss of consciousness. This is because the brain requires a constant supply of glucose to function optimally. So, for individuals with diabetes, using a CRM avoids the need for continuous blood testing for blood glucose levels to prevent hypoglycemia.
Now, what about everyone else? It is more of an expensive toy. CRMs were developed to prevent hypoglycemia, but in 2024, the FDA approved them for individuals without diabetes. This is a far bigger market, with estimated sales projected to reach $30 billion in 2030 (1). This is because the device requires approximately $100 per month in patches to monitor blood glucose levels. The marketing pitch is that by monitoring your blood glucose level, you can lose weight. A recent review indicated that any weight loss with CRMs in non-diabetics was not significant (1).
Even in diabetics, the reduction of HbA1c (the standard marker of severity of diabetes) was only 0.3 percent, which is at the level that the FDA considers to be clinically meaningful. Keep in mind, the medical definition of being diabetic is having an HbA1c level of greater than 6.5 percent.
For individuals who don’t have diabetes, their problem is hyperinsulinemia, which the CRM doesn’t address. If you consume excess carbohydrates, the pancreas produces more insulin to lower blood glucose levels. This means you can have normal blood glucose levels, but now you have excess insulin levels. This is also known as insulin resistance, which is a major driving force for the development of a wide range of chronic disease conditions, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease, infertility, and Alzheimer’s.
Is there a better and less expensive way to control blood sugar levels to lose weight, gain lean body mass, and treat diabetes? It’s called the Zone diet. I patented the Zone diet in 2000 to treat hyperinsulinemia (2). It’s been shown to completely reverse both prediabetes and type 2 diabetes (3, 4, & 5). In fact, in type 2 diabetics, their HbA1c level decreased by over two percentage points, compared to the 0.3 percent drop that the FDA considers clinically meaningful (5).
Before considering a CRM that costs $100 per month to use, consider following the Zone diet. You can expect even better results if you add omega-3 fatty acids and polyphenols to the Zone diet. Why? Each dietary component acts synergistically with the others to activate AMPK, the master regulator of your metabolism. That is the key to a longer and better life (6, 7).
References
- 1. Hutchins KM, Betts JA, Thompson D, Hengist A, Gonzalez JT. Continuous glucose monitor overestimates glycemia, with the magnitude of bias varying by postprandial test and individual – a randomized crossover trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2025 May;121(5):1025-1034. doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2025.02.024.
- 2. Sears, B. “Method of and nutritional and pharmaceutical compositions for reduction of hyperinsulinemia.” U.S. Patent No. 6,140,304 (2000)
- 3. Stentz FB, Brewer A, Wan J, Garber C, Daniels B, Sands C, Kitabchi AE. Remission of pre-diabetes to normal glucose tolerance in obese adults with high protein versus high carbohydrate diet: randomized control trial. BMJ Open Diabetes Res Care. 2016 Oct 26;4(1):e000258. doi: 10.1136/bmjdrc-2016-000258.
- 4. Stentz FB, Mikhael A, Kineish O, Christman J, Sands C. High protein diet leads to prediabetes remission and positive changes in incretins and cardiovascular risk factors. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2021 Apr 9;31(4):1227-1237. doi: 10.1016/j.numecd.2020.11.027.
- 5. Stentz FB, Lawson D, Tucker S, Christman J, Sands C. Decreased cardiovascular risk factors and inflammation with remission of type 2 diabetes in adults with obesity using a high protein diet: Randomized control trial. Obes Pillars. 2022 Dec 1;4:100047.
- 6. Sears B, Saha AK. Dietary control of inflammation and resolution. Front Nutr. 2021 Aug 10;8:709435. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2021.709435.
- 7. Sears B, Perry M, Saha AK. Dietary technologies to optimize healing from injury-induced inflammation. Antiinflamm Antiallergy Agents Med Chem. 2021;20(2):123-131. doi: 10.2174/1871523019666200512114210.
