What determines if we are skinny as a rail or as wide as a hula hoop?
Sure, if my daily diet includes ice cream, donuts, three bagels, 2 liters of pop, two bottles of wine- then I will approach hula hoop status- unless I ride my bike for 50 miles a day or swim 15 miles routinely.
But, why is it when folks eat properly- or choose that new, high protein, high fat diet (ketogenic diet- that has additional merit, by the way, in precluding the need for dialysis), eliminating carbohydrates from our food- we still don’t get “skinny”.
It turns out the proper, healthy diet is not truly a universal rule. Like our new goal for medicine (personal medicine), our best diet depends on who we are. At least that’s the story that DayTwo wants us to adopt.
This woman-led, four-year old Israe-li firm provides its customers a personalized diet- aimed at minimizing blood glucose levels. (You do recall I said the ketogenic diet is considered a great choice for pre-dialysis patient- many of whom also suffer from diabetes.)
But, it’s still an early stage company, trying to raise money in a Series B offering. (The 3 stages in venture founding are Series A [the very first bucks a firm obtains], Series B [the firm has achieved certain milestones, and needs more cash to finish the development or market introduction], and Stage C [money to scale the company quickly; the firm is ready for the world at this point in time.)
Lihi Segal is commercializing the research her husband, Dr. Eran Segal (along with Dr. Eran Elinav) developed at Weizmann Institute of Science. (Weizmann, considered to be Israe-l’s MIT, as the technology developer, get royalties from DayTwo.) The concept involves determining your microbiome (the microbial population characteristics in our body, such as those in our gut) and our lifestyle.
The system uses AI (artificial intelligence) to predict the blood sugar response to any ingested food. And, given our different microbiome characteristics, each of our responses to the same food can be vastly different.
How does the process work? It starts with a stool sample. (No, not like Cologuard– that test is looking for colon cancer, not determining what microbial populations exist in our gut). Plus, blood tests (including HbA1c [glycated hemoglobin, a.k.a., hemoglobin that is bonded to glucose]- and the completion of a questionnaire.
Over the next few weeks, the detected microbes are sequenced and a dietitian (a real one, not one who plays the role on TV) explains the results and introduces the subject to the DayTwo app (on smartphones). The app is responsible to recommending the best foods and meals to minimize sugar spikes (which are deadly for diabetics and pre-diabetics).
Right now, DayTwo finds its customers from self-insured employers, registered dietitians, primary care docs, endocrinologists, and health care insurers. And, it’s making its way to America.
Maybe even to your gut and smartphone?
Hmmm, that’s interesting. I’m on what I call a healthy eating plan, not a diet. I’ve been doing well since I started last July but I just can’t get to the exercising routine. I’ve never been big on following the fad diets.
And, your healthy diet may not work for me. (I use a healthy diet plan, too. The trick is to stop staying up until 3:30 AM- since I get hungry around 3 AM!!)
This is interesting because my husband went to the ER yesterday and is hospitalized with a definite diagnosis of aFib (which runs in his family) and he is going to have to go on a blood thinner and make certain dietary changes (in the meantime, they can’t get him out of it). I think we can both use something like this appbut I dread the cost, especially as when I retire we both have to go on Medicare. So, if I understand this correctly, they are in operation? Interesting you don’t list “people paying for this themselves” which screams “expensive” to me.
Yes, this firm is operating right now. The price is reasonable (compare to Weight Watchers and those of that ilk.)
Hopefully, they chose the right blood thinner for him. (There are choices besides rat poison- warfarin- nowadays.)
Problematic, for married people or people with families, if other members would be healthier on other plans. Still, it’s intriguing! Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I wouldn’t be surprised if my GP suggested it sometime soon.
Marian Allen recently posted..Chicken and Rice Bowl #food
Yes, that’s certainly true. i don’t see a bunch of folks making a series of meals for each feeding. Hopefully, they can find a happy medium, Marian
Roy, I get hungry again at night, too (I read your comment to Martha). I am a night owl, too, as I’m sure you know. This is interesting, because I do believe that there can’t be a one-size-fits-all approach to getting healthy or losing weight or eating what is right for you.
Yup. And, given our predilection for all night fun, we have to be even more diligent!