What would you do if you learned that you could improve your health by understanding and optimizing one important factor?
Intriguing, right? Well, it turns out this exists — and measuring it can help you get to know your metabolic health.
The answer you’re looking for is glucose. If you haven’t heard about it before, you’re not alone. According to our State of Wellness 2025 report, there’s a “glucose gap” that you may fall into: Four out of five Americans don’t see glucose as relevant to their health goals1 when in fact, glucose is a key measure of metabolic health and an indicator of long-term health risks like cardiovascular disease,2 Alzheimer’s disease,3 type 2 diabetes4 and some cancers.5
Here’s what you need to know about glucose and metabolic health.
How Can You Measure Metabolic Health?
From a clinical perspective, measuring metabolic health can involve looking at a number of factors,6 such as:
While your physician can help you understand your numbers from the list above, you should know that you’re able to get insights about your metabolic health outside of the doctor’s office if you decide to work on understanding your glucose levels.
Your metabolic health isn’t set in stone, and neither is one of the most important components: glucose.
Glucose fluctuates throughout your day based on what you do and eat. It’s normal to see your glucose levels move, and it’s important to know that how they move is entirely unique to you. Because glucose is a key factor to metabolic health, you can analyze it and ultimately learn how certain choices and activities are impacting your metabolic health.
What Does Glucose Have to Do with Metabolic Health?
Whether you’re lifting weights more or changing your diet, it can be a challenge to understand if your body is reacting positively to the healthy habits you’re trying. You can attempt to rely on physical signals and make assumptions (“If I’m sweating, it’s working, right?”), but your body’s glucose levels are a more powerful and reliable indicator.
A quick rundown of what glucose is: It’s a fuel for your body that circulates 24/7 and can come from foods you eat or what you already have stored in your body. Your body works hard to keep your glucose within a certain range. As your glucose level rises, your muscles use what they need. When it decreases, your body can tap glucose reserves. However, if there is excess, it can be stored as fat or glycogen. Every person’s body is different, so some people don’t tolerate their glucose increasing as well as others.
You can’t look into a mirror and immediately know your glucose levels. You might recognize how you’re feeling after certain activities or meals, though: Maybe you’re feeling energized after you walk your dog for half an hour or feeling sluggish after you eat the lunch you packed for work.
Those experiences are your body communicating with you about your metabolic health, and the translator you need to understand where you’re at on the metabolic health “spectrum” is glucose.
In the United States, 88% of people have room to improve upon their metabolic health, experiencing symptoms like excess weight and fatigue that could increase the risk of serious disease over time.7,8 That’s a lot of people who could potentially benefit from knowing more about their glucose, especially given that healthy and steady glucose levels are associated with benefits like improved weight management9,10,11,12 and better sleep.13
Biowearables, Like CGMs, Help Bridge ‘The Glucose Gap’
The connection between glucose and metabolic health is clear. The next step is gaining a better understanding of how your body’s glucose levels are affected by nutrition, exercise and life’s daily stressors.
Introducing: Biowearables. Nearly one in five Americans say they lacked the knowledge, data or personalized feedback needed to reach their health goals in the past year,1 and biowearables, such as our Lingo glucose monitoring system, can track your glucose so you can connect the dots between your nutrition, exercise and stress on your overall health.
With the help of Lingo, you gain a real-time feedback loop. The biosensor captures and stores your metrics, sending the data to the Lingo app where it’s translated. This ultimately allows you to track your progress, make changes to maintain or improve your health metrics, and then the loop continues. In fact, three out of four people using Lingo say glucose tracking has been effective in helping them reach their health goals.14
If you know, you know. And in this case, knowing and tracking your glucose is the key to unlocking meaningful healthy lifestyle changes.
References
1Lingo State of Wellness Report. Ipsos National Survey. 1,031 consumers in the U.S. 2024 Nov 15-17. Data on file, Lingo by Abbott
2Levitan EB, et al. Is nondiabetic hyperglycemia a risk factor for cardiovascular disease? A meta-analysis of prospective studies. Arch Intern Med. 2004 Oct 25;164(19):2147-55. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15505129/
3An Y, et al. Evidence for brain glucose dysregulation in Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimers Dement. 2018 Mar;14(3):318-329. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29055815/
4Ceriello A, et al. Guideline for management of postmeal glucose. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2008 May;18(4):S17-33. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18501571/
5Tsujimoto T, et al. Association between hyperinsulinemia and increased risk of cancer death in nonobese and obese people: A population-based observational study. Int J Cancer. 2017 Jul; 141(1):102-111. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28390156/
6National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (2022, May 18). What is Metabolic Syndrome? https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/metabolic-syndrome
7Araújo J, et al. Prevalence of Optimal Metabolic Health in American Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009-2016. Metab Syndr Relat Disord. 2019 Feb;17(1):46-52. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30484738/
8Swarup S, Ahmed I, Grigorova Y, Zeltser R. Metabolic Syndrome. 2024 Mar 7. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan–. PMID: 29083742. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29083742/
9Wyatt P, et al. Postprandial glycaemic dips predict appetite and energy intake in healthy individuals. Nat Metab. 2021 Apr;3(4)523-529. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33846643/
10Page KA, et al. Circulating glucose levels modulate neural control of desire for high-calorie foods in humans. J Clin Invest. 2011 Oct;121(10):4161-9. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21926468/
11Chekima K, et al. Utilising a Real-Time Continuous Glucose Monitor as Part of a Low Glycaemic Index and Load Diet and Determining Its Effect on Improving Dietary Intake, Body Composition and Metabolic Parameters of Overweight and Obese Young Adults: A Randomised Controlled Trial. Foods. 2022 Jun 15;11(12):1754. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35741952/
12Zahedani AD, et al. Digital health application integrating wearable data and behavioral patterns improves metabolic health. NPJ Digit Med. 2023 Nov 25;6(1):216. doi: 10.1038/s41746-023-00956-y. Erratum in: NPJ Digit Med. 2024 Jan 12;7(1):9. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38001287/
13Yoshimura E, et al. Relationship between intra-individual variability in nutrition related lifestyle behaviors and blood glucose outcomes under free-living conditions in adults without type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2023 Feb; 196:110231. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36565723/
14Lingo Member Survey. 845 Lingo members in the U.S. 2024 Nov 15 Dec 16. Data on file, Lingo by Abbott
Important safety information
LINGO GLUCOSE SYSTEM
The Lingo Glucose System is intended for users 18 years and older not on insulin. It is not intended for diagnosis of diseases, including diabetes.
The Lingo program does not guarantee that everyone will achieve the same results as individual responses may vary. Consult your healthcare professional before making changes to your diet or exercise regimen or if you have an eating disorder or a history of eating disorders.
U.K. Disclaimer
The Lingo system is not for medical use and intended for users 18 years and older. Lingo is not intended for diagnosis or management of any disease including diabetes.
The Lingo programme does not guarantee that everyone will achieve the same results as individual responses may vary. It is best to speak to your doctor for advice on starting any diet or exercise regime or if you have an eating disorder or a history of eating disorders.
The Lingo Glucose System is available in the U.S. and the U.K. only.
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