Sugar alters hormones and metabolism, sets stage for obesity and diabetes
The CDC says 34% of US adults have pre-diabetes, and of those, 88% are undiagnosed[1]. Yes, about 29% of US adults have un-diagnosed pre-diabetes, or about 74 million people.<p>I think a significant cause is that testing blood glucose is thought of as something that only diabetics do, and as a result, most people have no idea how their bodies respond to meals they&#x27;d consider normal. The feedback loop is completely open. A typical Chipotle burrito has ~115 grams of carbs, often consumed in 20 minutes[2]. For some people, that&#x27;s fine, and for others it&#x27;s not, but the only way to know (other than waiting for problems) is to actually measure one&#x27;s own blood glucose an hour later.<p>Until blood glucose testing is either (a) thought of more as data collection without fear or stigma, like a bathroom scale, or (b) made blood-less and automatic, like is rumored about the Apple Watch[3], many people won&#x27;t learn the answer to that question until a symptom of pre-diabetes appears.<p>If you&#x27;re reading this and haven&#x27;t had your fasting blood glucose tested as part of a regular checkup, get that done. It&#x27;s not nearly as informative as post-meal testing, but it&#x27;s much better than nothing.<p>Also, if you&#x27;re a diabetic who created a side project&#x2F;hack because you wanted it, and at scale, that project could mitigate the public health impact of diabetes, feel free to contact me. I&#x27;d consider helping make it mainstream[4]. My interest is improving societal health (this will be a massive problem in 20 years if nothing happens now), not personal or financial.<p>[1]: CDC National Diabetes Statistics report, 2017: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;cdc.gov&#x2F;diabetes&#x2F;pdfs&#x2F;data&#x2F;statistics&#x2F;national-diabetes-statistics-report.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;cdc.gov&#x2F;diabetes&#x2F;pdfs&#x2F;data&#x2F;statistics&#x2F;national-diabet...</a> (page 7)<p>[2]: Chipotle nutrition calculator: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.chipotle.com&#x2F;nutrition-calculator" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.chipotle.com&#x2F;nutrition-calculator</a><p>[3]: &quot;Apple CEO Tim Cook test-drove a device that tracks his blood sugar&quot;: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cnbc.com&#x2F;2017&#x2F;05&#x2F;18&#x2F;apple-ceo-tim-cook-test-drove-glucose-monitor.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cnbc.com&#x2F;2017&#x2F;05&#x2F;18&#x2F;apple-ceo-tim-cook-test-drov...</a><p>[4]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;troyd&#x2F;status&#x2F;920747116703518720" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;troyd&#x2F;status&#x2F;920747116703518720</a>, <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;troyd&#x2F;status&#x2F;921409373661884416" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;troyd&#x2F;status&#x2F;921409373661884416</a>