Automatic Calorie Counting via Blood Glucose Monitoring

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The_Enginerd
The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
edited February 16 in Health and Weight Loss
So, I came across this:

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/healbe-gobe-the-only-way-to-automatically-measure-calorie-intake

It purports to automatically monitor your calorie intake via blood glucose levels. I don't have enough knowledge in physiology, but at first look I'm skeptical. I'd be interested to know if the science of this has any merit. Automatic blood glucose levels would be important and convenient for diabetics, but do they really correlate to calorie intake, especially of fats and protein, not to mention different types of carbohydrates?

Replies

  • Mischievous_Rascal
    Mischievous_Rascal Posts: 1,791 Member
    Bumping!
  • lilawolf
    lilawolf Posts: 1,690 Member
    Well, it sure promises a lot doesn't it? I'm skeptical that it can "see" the glucose in your cells. I am also skeptical that it wants to use heart rate and an accelerometer for estimating calories from weightlifting. I'm MOST skeptical that it isn't saying that it is "estimating" but that it is completely accurate.

    Hmmm... I wills say that if it does work, I want one. The stress,sleep, hydration, calories, intake, and all of the pretty graphs! Way cool.
  • richardheath
    richardheath Posts: 1,276 Member
    Interesting...

    The idea of a wearable, continuous glucose monitor is certainly nice. No more needles; knowing the area under the curve etc etc...

    But your body regulates the amount of glucose in your blood to maintain homeostasis. I'm very skeptical of how that could accurately indicate calorie flow.
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
    Bumping to see if someone with more knowledge can confirm/deny calorie vs. blood glucose relationship.
  • lilawolf
    lilawolf Posts: 1,690 Member
    No one knows?
  • scubasuenc
    scubasuenc Posts: 626 Member
    Saw the same initial posting, but I'm very skeptical. Not only is blood glucose trying to get into balance, different foods affect blood glucose in different ways. For example, fats do not raise blood glucose, so how could this figure out how much fat you are eating from monitoring blood glucose. Take a serving of pistachios, about 160 calories I know that will affect my blood glucose levels differently than 160 calories of table sugar.

    On top of that everyone's body chemistry is different. Type 2 diabetics like myself are more sensitive to sugars in foods, so our blood sugar rises higher and faster than a non-diabetic. And even as a diabetic the response I have from a food can vary for many reasons. How could it correlate at 20pt raise in blood glucose levels to a specific amount of calories ingested?

    If it can monitor my blood glucose levels accurately and continuously without skin pricks and expensive test trips, then the device would have great value. However the fact that they are promoting it as the 'Holy Grail' of biometric information makes me very suspicious. I'd want to see some serious testing and reviews of a device like this before they got my money.
  • richardheath
    richardheath Posts: 1,276 Member
    Just doing a little browsing... here is a story from a recent Science on the state-of-the-art tech in continual glucose monitors.

    http://www.sciencemag.org/content/343/6167/133.full

    It should be noted though that, from what I've read, the FDA is reluctant to allow these to replace needle sticks due to slow response and possible errors. Even the thing from the OP mentioned that, and, if I read it correctly, doesn't actually make glucose numbers available to the user.

    I've yet to find anything about this translates to calorie intake/usage...
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