{"id":16646,"date":"2026-06-20T14:31:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T14:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16646"},"modified":"2026-06-20T14:31:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T14:31:33","slug":"can-wearing-a-glucose-monitor-make-you-healthier-heres-what-happened-to-students-who-did","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=16646","title":{"rendered":"Can wearing a glucose monitor make you healthier? Here\u2019s what happened to students who did"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Adam Van Voorhees used to eat orange chicken three times a week \u2014 until\u00a0a round white patch on his arm told him not to.<\/p>\n

Read more Acen Jimenez, Makena Cook honored by OC Sports Commission<\/a><\/p>\n

Like most 22-year-olds, Van Voorhees didn\u2019t pay much attention to what he ate until the alarm on his continuous glucose monitor went off. It told him his blood sugar spiked into prediabetic range after eating at Panda Express. Now he packs his lunch.<\/p>\n

Van Voorhees is not diabetic. But he\u2019s wearing a monitor that\u2019s usually worn by people with Type 1 diabetes for a class he\u2019s taking at UC San Diego.<\/p>\n

These monitors were once a prescription-only device, but Mary Boyle, a cognitive science professor at UCSD, was convinced the technology could reshape how ordinary people understand their own bodies.<\/p>\n

So, when San Diego\u2019s Dexcom started marketing its over-the-counter monitor, Stelo, to the health-obsessed and weight-conscious, Boyle enlisted her students to help study how CGMs could help influence healthier habits.<\/p>\n

CGMs offer a window into how our bodies respond to our environment and choices. In real time, someone can see their blood sugar spike after eating a candy bar, and settle after taking a five-minute walk.<\/p>\n

The idea is that seeing your body\u2019s response to your choices will lead people to make healthier ones.<\/p>\n

This device has proven to be highly effective for diabetics. But the stakes \u2014 lost limbs and shortened lives \u2014 make behavior change a matter of survival.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Now Boyle\u2019s class, Metabolic Health Analytics, is collecting pilot data for a potential clinical study to see if that logic carries over to healthy individuals, \u201cand the results were pretty surprising,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Intuitively, most of the data makes sense \u2014 \u201cPanda Express isn\u2019t good for you,\u201d she laughed.<\/p>\n

But many people are surprised by what their unhealthy decisions actually look like. \u201cA brain affected by Type 2 diabetes is almost indistinguishable from one with Alzheimer\u2019s,\u201d said Boyle. When brain cells become resistant to insulin, they can no longer absorb glucose properly. \u201cThe neurons are starving and portions of the brain begin to die.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just food that has deleterious effects on your metabolism and mind.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Sleep, exercise and stress all impact the body and therefore the brain.<\/p>\n

Researchers have been studying these variables in diabetics for a long time. But as for healthy individuals, \u201cthere\u2019s no research yet,\u201d said Dr. Robert Thomas, an academic endocrinologist and clinical investigator at UC San Diego. \u201cIt\u2019s worth studying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each student was given three monitors to test a personal hypothesis \u2014 an approach scientists call an N-of-1 experiment. While conventional studies pool large populations to answer a single question, this personalized study was the whole point.<\/p>\n

A recent class began with one student unboxing a small plastic Stelo disk. She peeled back the cap to reveal a small silver needle and pushed it into the soft flesh of her upper arm.<\/p>\n

In less than a minute, her phone synced to the device and illuminated a line chart that would measure her blood sugar for 14 days. Two Stelo monitors retail for $99, but students didn\u2019t have to pay for the devices because Boyle had a grant from Dexcom.<\/p>\n

In front of the class, Boyle called on the students to share their experiences.<\/p>\n

Some of the 27 students reported seeing their blood sugar drop in the afternoon. The monitors could see that they were hungry before they felt it.<\/p>\n

Being \u201changry\u201d isn\u2019t just in your head, some of the students joked, but it\u2019s an actual biological\u00a0reaction to fuel deprivation.<\/p>\n

Student Katie Lam raised her hand.<\/p>\n

When Boyle called on her, she started to speak at the pace of her heartbeat \u2014 fast.<\/p>\n

Read more Angels squander 7-run lead, lose to A\u2019s in 10th inning<\/a><\/p>\n

Lam was measuring how stress impacted her glucose because her anxiety had woken her up at 4 a.m.<\/p>\n

That day, she faced a high-stakes exam and an interview; she was stressed and couldn\u2019t sleep. Not only could she feel that fight-or-flight anxiety \u2014 she could see her monitor turn red.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good reminder to take a deep breath,\u201d she laughed. Lam found that taking steps to relax, whether it be meditation or a five-minute walk, helped her calm down. And when she did, her monitor glowed green.<\/p>\n

Boyle then explained how hormones and metabolism go hand-in-hand. For example, even before breakfast, blood sugar surges in the morning because your body emits cortisol \u2014 which increases glucose production.<\/p>\n

The hormonal impact is another pet project Boyle is working on. Besides college students, she has given monitors to the perimenopausal and postmenopausal women on her rowing team.<\/p>\n

Boyle is an evangelist when it comes to blood sugar.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnderstanding this mechanism helps us better understand ourselves,\u201d she said. \u201cExpecting people to change their behavior without seeing what our body is doing is a bit like trying not to go into debt without seeing your bank statement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another student, Jaidy Leyva, ate three chocolate cakes in one day, for the sake of science, of course.<\/p>\n

Her brother\u2019s homemade dessert and the cake from Costco didn\u2019t spike her blood sugar, but the Applebee\u2019s triple chocolate meltdown sent her glucose sky high.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoyed all three cakes the same,\u201d she said. \u201cBut my body didn\u2019t like Applebee\u2019s,\u201d she told her classmates.<\/p>\n

This is the second year Boyle has conducted this student experiment. Some students fall back into old vices, but many have come back to tell her that they\u2019ve formed healthier habits.<\/p>\n

For example, students no longer look at smoothies or late-night snacking the same way, she said, because after seeing the monitor turn red, you are reminded in real time of the inflammation your body is experiencing.<\/p>\n

Sometimes these constant reminders of inflammation\u00a0are stressful, said student Rithika Muttukuru.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely gives you anxiety. You close the app, and it will sometimes set off alarms. It makes sense for someone with diabetes, if they are hypoglycemic, but to have this alarm going off at like 2 in the morning,\u201d said Muttukuru, \u201cisn\u2019t great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas calls this \u201cdevice burden.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t measure something unless you\u2019re going to do something with it,\u201d he said. \u201cI try not to burden people with extra tools and technology without also giving them what are you going to do about it when you get this data.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas doesn\u2019t believe that people need to wear a monitor all the time, but if they are particularly health-conscious or prediabetic, they could benefit from a once-a-year, monthlong trial.<\/p>\n

On the bench outside of Malk Hall, one student was scrolling through her TikTok. Between the blur of dance videos and cats were sponsored posts for supplements, gym routines and knock-off GLP-1s.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much advice out there\u2026 from doctors, Instagram, everywhere,\u201d said Leyva. But information alone didn\u2019t change her behavior. \u201cWhat made a difference for me was seeing the CGM show exactly how my choices affect my body\u2026 It\u2019s being able to have a relationship with these variables rather than just being told this does that. I can see the effect in real time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more U.S. Open: Wyndham Clark builds 4-shot lead with 36-hole Shinnecock record<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This device has proven to be highly effective for diabetics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nCan wearing a glucose monitor make you healthier? 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