ZDNET's key takeaways The Abbott Lingo is a $49 continuous glucose monitor that tracks your blood sugar for two weeks, and right now it's on sale for 15% off
It can help people understand how their diets impact their glucose levels and make changes accordingly
The app's suggestions and recommendations could be more insightful to promote daily use. View now at Lingo
The Abbott Lingo is 15% off when you use the code SUMMER15 at checkout on the Lingo website. This takes the $49 CGM down to around $42.
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There are plenty of meal-tracking apps that help you understand your diet. But logging three meals daily, assessing your caloric intake, and reflecting on how your nutrition impacts your overall health can only go so far. After all, apps such as MyFitnessPal or Lose It! aren't hooked up to your body and don't monitor the minute details of how your food impacts your energy or sleep.
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These apps don't sense the sugar in your bloodstream and detail your blood sugar's rise and fall throughout the day. A continuous glucose monitor (CGM) does, though.
How CGMs work
It's almost silly to call a CGM a meal tracker. But at its core, that's what it does. CGMs were designed for prediabetics and diabetics to track their blood sugar levels and alert them of spikes or lows. However, the device is increasingly used by fitness and health enthusiasts to understand body chemistry and nutrition. Olympic marathoner Abdi Nageeye told Reuters he used a CGM to monitor his body's energy ahead of last summer's Paris Olympics.
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Glucose influences everything from your mood, weight, and sleep to energy levels and disease predisposition, and research shows a connection between low glucose levels and disease prevention. "It is clear managing glucose levels could benefit the general population. This inspired Abbott to develop a product that would bring our glucose monitoring technology to an audience that traditional healthcare companies don't usually target -- the healthy -- to help them stay healthy," Pamela Nisevich Bede, global nutritionist for Abbott's Lingo business, wrote in an email to ZDNET.
Dexcom Stelo, the first over-the-counter (OTC) CGM, was approved last year, paving the way for other OTC CGMs, like the Abbott Lingo, to follow suit. As a health wearables enthusiast, all this CGM buzz from athletes and body optimizers made me curious about testing one for myself.
So, when Abbott sent me its Lingo, a CGM designed for people aged 18 and up without diabetes interested in tracking their blood sugar, I decided to try it out. I wore the CGM on my arm for two weeks to understand what this wearable could do for the average fitness enthusiast and whether the device could replace my smartwatch or smart ring. Keep reading to find out.