This blog is written by Dr Andrew Fisher and Dr Angus Tallini. At the Longevity Docs we are not sponsored or influenced by any company. We purchased Lingo devices with no reduction, payment or sponsorship from Abbott Pharmaceuticals.
Lingo is a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) using AI for analysis that has been created by the drug company Abbott. It monitors your glucose levels constantly for a 2 week period. A sensor attached to your upper arm communicates via Bluetooth to your phone and the Lingo app provides recommendations on behaviours (eg. Go for a walk or do some squats!) based on whether your blood sugar is spiking. The cost is an affordable £69 and it can be purchased directly from Abbott. Importantly, it does not require an ongoing subscription. We have previously trialled the freestyle libre 2, Abbott’s predecessor to Lingo, so this blog gives insights on some new features different to the previous version.
Lingo is well packaged in an attractive navy and silver box (see red arrow below). It is simple to set up.
I’m not diabetic, so why should I bother doing this ?
Well, the post-prandial (after eating) glycemic response in individuals without diabetes is consistently being shown to be of importance; It is likely to be involved in the development of the majority of age related diseases that limit our healthspan.
Repeated glucose spikes are associated with an increased risk of most of the leading causes of death:
• Cardiovascular Disease
• Cancer (particularly lung, colon, pancreatic, breast)
• Infection
(Including COVID-19)
• Alzheimer's
• Diabetes
• Liver Disease
And increase the risk of or severity of many non-lethal diseases....
• Obesity
• Metabolic Syndrome
• Neurological and
Psychological Diseases (Depression, Cognitive Decline, Migraine)
• Immune Disease
• visual problems
(Retinopathy, Cataracts)
• PCOS (polycystic ovarian symptom)
• Menopause Symptoms
• Infertility
• Amputation
• Periodontitis (gum disease)
• Acne
So what is it like to wear one?
Wearing a CGM feels like developing a seventh sense! A glimpse into what is really happening in your body rather than just your brain's interpretation of events. Lingo delivers this painlessly and accurately, and the clarity from a continually bluetoothed reading joins the data together to show you the landscape of your blood sugar in everyday reality. Two weeks ensures you won't just be on your best behaviour and can get to grips with all your day to day habits, even the ones you aren't proud of.
It also offers its own interpretation, through the Lingo score, a composite of the rate and duration of any glucose spikes (even if within the normal range) and the context of what you have logged (whether a meal, snack or exercise event.) The higher the score, the more you accelerate to your daily limit and, in our cases, often overshooting it!
Lingo has some advanced tools that were not present with the freestyle libre 2- such as an analysis of your glucose variability (see screenshot below)
Below we have compiled both insights and drawbacks from using a Lingo monitor:
Insight 1:
Dr Tallini found eating breakfast hurriedly after an overnight 12 hour fast spikes glucose higher than eating a meal not as quickly or hungrily or multi-tasking.
Insight 2:
Protein sources such as peanuts, walnuts or Chia seeds work to counteract the glucose spiking effects of carbohydrates from porridge/muesli.
Insight 3:
So does red wine (not with breakfast!) It flattens the spike from the same size of bowl of pasta when compared with or without wine.
Insight 4:
Even a gentle walk covering the period of time 1 hour after eating flattened any glucose spike, even after a high carb (eg large bowl of spaghetti) meal.
Insight 5:
Focusing on a single dimension biometric such as glucose creates blindspots and paradoxes: Dr Tallini found that snacks such as a cream tea with clotted cream and jam came out "ok" in terms of a low glucose spike, but only because he wasn't wearing a continuous blood lipid monitor!
Similarly, alcohol might prevent glucose from spiking, but due to its negative effects on sleep quality and brain/liver functioning in the long term, we cannot be relied on too heavily as a "solution".
Insight 6:
For Dr Tallini, even nights where he felt he had slept normally, the glucose trace was turbulent (albeit in the normal range between 4-7) in a wave form cycling from lower to higher throughout the night. Whether this represented more intense dreams, processing stressful events, or other sleep disturbance even if not to the extent of waking up, it is worth noting the importance of sleep hygiene on metabolism. This overshadows the following day by influencing your appetite control hormones ghrelin and leptin.
Dr Fisher however found that glucose overnight was stable, only arising in the event of waking up suiting the night. This highlights the individual response.
So what are the drawbacks?
Drawback 1:
While the Lingo score has been developed to provide you with a target, to some it can feel like a penalty, a negative telling-off for even quite minor offences. Dr Tallini found it to be distracting and disengaging, like a parent or teacher who nit picks all day long without balancing with one or two encouragements.
Drawback 2:
An early wake up can raise your cortisol levels and glucose , which can cause a spike beyond your control leading to some frustration! See the chart for Dr Fisher below after a 4.30am wake up before eating that morning.
If you worry over too much health data then a continuous glucose monitor may not be for you, so here are our top 2 takeaways any individual can use to help stabilise their glucose control if a lingo is not something they wish to pursue:
try and incorporate protein in each snack and main meal you have.
Exercising 30 minutes to 1 hour after a meal can have a profound effect on controlling any glucose rise. Even a 10 minute walk has a significant effect.
We hope you have enjoyed this summary of the use of a continuous glucose monitor and the insights one can gain. If you are interested in gaining a further opinion on your lingo data or any aspects of optimising your health then please do not hesitate to book in at thelongevitydocs.com
Dr Andrew Fisher and Dr Angus Tallini
November 2024
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