Among the social media trends catching dietitian Nancy Oliveira's eye are people wearing continuous glucose monitors, tiny devices that track blood sugar (glucose) levels 24 hours a day. But these people don’t have diabetes. They just want insight into how their eating and exercise patterns affect blood sugar fluctuations.
Upshot? Monitoring blood sugar could be useful for some people even in the event that they don't have diabetes — and being mindful of glucose levels can assist everyone get through the day more easily, helping to battle issues like fatigue, cravings and mood swings.
“I can understand why people with prediabetes or diabetes would want to check their blood sugar, because Americans have more unhealthy habits than healthy ones,” she says. “Although genes play a role in the development of prediabetes or diabetes, it can still develop entirely from unhealthy lifestyle habits — food choices, stress, sleep and exercise — that can all affect how our bodies process sugar.”
Blood sugar basics
Prediabetes — meaning blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes — is on the rise, affecting a couple of in three American adults and half of those 65 and older, Oliveira says. It's an insidious condition that typically doesn't produce warning signs.
Although obesity plays a big role in its development, a fraction of individuals diagnosed with prediabetes are quite healthy, says Oliveira. “Stress, being too sedentary, not sleeping well—those are other things that cause blood sugar to not act optimally,” she says.
Menopause could be an especially likely time to develop prediabetes, as low estrogen and progesterone levels promote abdominal fat storage. “The location of this fat is associated with insulin resistance,” Oliveira explained. “We're making insulin, but our bodies don't use it as efficiently.”
Meanwhile, diabetes rates have also been on the rise over the past 25 years, increasing significantly, based on the CDC. About 12% of individuals within the United States have diabetes, as do greater than 29% of individuals age 65 and older. The American Diabetes Association recommends that each one adults age 35 and older, no matter risk aspects, be screened for prediabetes and diabetes no less than once every three years. This often involves a straightforward blood test.
Blood sugar variables
If you're otherwise healthy, you don't must formally monitor your blood sugar beyond periodic screenings along with your doctor, Oliveira says. But monitoring blood sugar levels on a broader basis can make it easier to with many healthy goals, from avoiding the “afternoon crash,” to boosting mood and managing your weight, to avoiding the “afternoon slump,” and managing your weight.
To reap these advantages, it helps to know how our bodies react to different foods. When we eat a carbohydrate-heavy meal, for instance, blood sugar spikes—after which spikes again shortly after, leaving us feeling drained. But by eating balanced meals and snacks that include protein, fat and carbohydrates, we maintain stable blood sugar levels, keeping energy levels constant.
However, blood sugar levels aren't only a function of what we eat. Chronic stress or lack of sleep can even develop them, Oliveira says. “People always look at food as the only reason for high blood sugar, but it may not be food,” she says. And junk food and snack times can even result in topsy-turvy blood sugar levels.
“The best way to manage cravings and mood swings is to have a narrow blood sugar range, where it's never too high or too low,” says Oliveira. “If it gets too low, and you eat too much later because you're so hungry, then it can swing too high, which can hurt your mood.”
“You can then get a 'crash,' which makes you feel tired,” he added. Too much variability “can also affect your weight by altering your metabolism.”
Striving for balance
Oliveira recommends these strategies to maintain blood sugar levels stable:
Time to your meal. Eating at regular intervals — ideally every three hours — should prevent extreme blood sugar fluctuations. “If you're not eating for five hours a day, and then you suddenly eat a lot, that causes your blood sugar to fluctuate wider,” she says.
Practice portion control. “Regular meal times as well as sensible serving sizes” are two things which are your best bet for more consistent blood sugar inside a narrow range, says Oliveira. “
Give preference to healthy foods. Oliveira advocates a Mediterranean-style food regimen wealthy in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seafood and lean chicken. These foods will keep you full and minimize blood sugar swings, which you're more prone to experience after eating ultra-processed foods.
Be energetic. Aim for half-hour or more of moderate or vigorous exercise no less than five days per week. “Like food, it's best when exercise is consistently spaced,” she says. “Exercise enables your body to use the insulin it makes.”
Avoid smoking. Smoking can affect blood sugar not directly by increasing insulin resistance and inspiring other unhealthy habits, comparable to poor food selections.
Keep a log. Either on paper or an app, track what you eat and when. “When people start logging in, they're always a little surprised by the amount or variety of food they actually eat,” she says.
Can a Common Diabetes Drug Promote Longevity?A recent study co-authored by Dr. Manson suggests that there could also be. Published in July 2025 Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciencesit showed that older women with diabetes who used no less than a 10-minute appointment were much less prone to die before age 90 than individuals with diabetes who used an older class of diabetes drugs called sulfonylureas. The researchers examined data from the Women's Health Initiative, a big, national study that tracked nearly 162,000 participants ages 50 to 79 for greater than 30 years. The evaluation focused on 438 women aged 60 and older who were newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and had not used any diabetes medication before starting treatment. Half was taking metformin and half, a sulfonylurea. The researchers also took into consideration the participants' age, lifestyle habits, diabetes, other health conditions (comparable to hypertension, heart disease, lung disease, or cancer), body weight, and every other medications they were taking. The study was observational, meaning it didn’t randomly assign treatment and couldn’t prove that taking metformin prolonged life, only that an association existed. Dr. Manson says the difference in results between the 2 drugs could be attributed to several aspects. Evidence shows that metformin increases insulin sensitivity and reduces levels of growth aspects involved in cancer risk. “There is some evidence that metformin can reduce inflammation and slow down something called cellular senescence, where cells stop dividing and replicating,” she says. Dr. Manson envisions a future where even people without diabetes can take metformin due to its potential effects on longevity—with a caveat. “If it has a benefit in extending lifespan, it would likely be recommended to slow biological aging,” she says. “We're not there yet—we still need large-scale clinical trials.” “The take-home message is that metformin looks like a promising but still unproven approach to extending healthy longevity,” he added. “I recommend that anyone with diabetes discuss the pros and cons of the various medications available with their doctor.” |
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