Food, fitness & glucose: How real-time data is shaping personal health decisions

The way we understand food and fitness today is shifting—less about trends and more about personalized data.

- NEERAJ KATARE

Scientific studies, like the one by Zeevi et al. (2015), have shown that individuals can have drastically different responses to the same meal, depending on factors such as gut microbiota, lifestyle, stress, and sleep. What balances one person's blood sugar might spike another's, revealing the limitations of one-size-fits-all dietary advice.

Further supporting this, a 2019 NIH study led by Kevin Hall found that ultra-processed foods led to increased calorie intake and metabolic disruption, even when nutrient content matched whole-food alternatives. These effects often go unnoticed unless tracked in real-time, such as through continuous glucose monitors (CGMs).