Ep. 132 Continuous Glucose Monitors: Why They’re Not Just for Diabetics Anymore with Kara Collier

We are excited today to have Kara Collier joining us as our guest. Kara is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Certified Nutrition Support Clinician with a background in clinical nutrition, nutrition technology, and entrepreneurship. After becoming frustrated with the traditional healthcare system, Kara helped start the company NutriSense, where she is now the Director of Nutrition. She is the leading authority on the use of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) technology, particularly in non-diabetics for health optimization, disease prevention, and reversing metabolic dysfunction. Kara oversees the health team and product development and has personally interpreted thousands of complex glucose datasets.

Part of Kara’s frustration with the Western medical mindset is that in a hospital or clinical setting, the priority is usually to medicate and treat people as quickly as possible and then get them out. People are in and out of the hospital all the time, and they are suffering because the root cause of their problem, which is usually their lifestyle, is not getting addressed. In this episode, Kara talks about blood sugar levels and explains why CGMs (continuous glucose monitors) are useful for everyone and not just diabetics. Be sure to stay tuned to learn how food influences your blood sugar and how you can make the best nutritional choices for your health and wellness. 

Show highlights:

• Kara explains what it was about the traditional Western medicine mindset related to food and nutrition that prompted her to second guess what she was doing.
• Kara defines normal in terms of what we would ideally like to see for a fasting glucose level.
• What people need to be concerned about regarding their hemoglobin A1C.
• Kara discusses where she prefers to see the ranges for fasting insulin.
• Some of the things that can influence someone's postprandial reading.
• Kara explains what happens in our bodies when our blood sugar values are not where they should be.
• Kara discusses what she is seeing in terms of the impact on glucose from certain types of diets, like keto and vegan.
• The differences between men and women.
• What a CGM is.
• Why should everyone wear a CGM, not just diabetics.
• How different types of exercise impact your blood sugar values.
• The benefits of fasting and the impact of fasting on your blood sugar.

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Connect with Kara

On the NutriSense website