In the realm of nutrition and health, understanding the impact of our dietary choices on metabolic health is crucial.

Introduction

In the realm of nutrition and health, understanding the impact of our dietary choices on metabolic health is crucial. Vively’s latest advancement in this field is the introduction of our upgraded Meal Score feature within the app. This enhancement is a testament to our commitment to advancing metabolic wellness, even after the 14 days of your CGM, you are provided with continuous and detailed insights. Our integrative scoring system combines glucose responses with food quality to provide deeper understanding of individual responses to dietary habits and metabolic health.

This article delves into the significance of food quality, the impact of alcohol on glucose levels, and the importance of understanding the impact of ultra-processed foods. With Vively Health's innovative approach, users are now equipped with the tools to make informed decisions for a healthier lifestyle, underscoring the importance of quality nutrition and its effects on our overall well-being.

Key Take-Aways

• Vively’s updated meal score adds comprehensive insights with the combination of a Glucose Score and a Food Quality Score
• We have upgraded our Glucose Score to factor in area under the curve, time in target as well as peak glucose levels
• Understanding how food quality impacts your metabolic responses provides great insights, beyond just wearing a CGM.
• Gain greater clarity around the impact of alcohol and ultra-processed foods of metabolic responses.

Vively is committing to continually advancing metabolic health. We are thrilled to introduce a substantial upgrade to our Meal Score feature in the Vively Health app. We firmly believe that equipping individuals with the right tools empowers them to make healthier lifestyle choices. This enhancement integrates glucose response and food quality into a single, comprehensible score ranging from 1 to 10, providing users with a more holistic understanding of their metabolic well-being.

Many factors influence glucose responses. We realised that evaluating glucose responses alone wasn’t enough as you could get a great score from processed foods or even a shot of tequila due to the fact that your glucose maintained a stable reading - obscuring the genuine impact of these individual ingredients on your body. So, to that end we needed to come up with a different approach which would really break it down and more detailed insight.

The Glucose Score

The Glucose Score is a metric designed to evaluate how your body responds to the foods you eat, specifically in terms of blood glucose levels. This score typically ranges from 0 to 10 and is based on several key factors:

• Stability - This aspect of the score assesses how stable your glucose levels are after eating. Ideally, your blood sugar should remain relatively stable.
• Peak Glucose Levels: This factor measures the highest point your blood sugar reaches after a meal. Lower peak levels are generally better, as high peaks can indicate a rapid and significant rise in blood sugar.
• Duration of Glucose Response: This part of the score considers how long your blood sugar levels remain elevated after eating. A shorter duration is generally preferred, as it indicates that your body is efficiently processing and utilising glucose.

The optimal glucose range is between 4-6mmol/L, emphasising the importance of maintaining steady glucose levels for optimal metabolic health. Now, glucose level movement is completely normal. We understand that not everyone will fall within the optimal range at the start of their metabolic journey. Recognising the importance of minimising glucose spikes, even when they're still high, is a crucial step in achieving optimal glucose levels. This approach acknowledges progress, encourages continued effort, and is tailored to individual responses, ultimately contributing to better long-term health outcomes.

At Vively, instead of aiming for a high/fast metabolism, we strive for a highly adaptive metabolism — one that can respond to one’s needs. After doing research, we realised how important a food score is in the Vively community, being a main motivator for those to make lifestyle changes.

Food Quality Score

Nutrition is key to better metabolic health, that we understand. What we choose to eat has a direct impact on our glucose levels, our metabolism, blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Our Food Quality Score is to help you evaluate your meal, gain better understanding of the nutritional value and the level of processing involved in the ingredients, and identify if there is any alcohol in the meal.

Like the Glucose Score, the Food Quality Score is based on a scale out of 10. It's certainly okay to dip below every now and then, we all deserve a treat, but the optimal score is above 9. We provide labels on the ingredient level to help you understand whether you can enjoy the food as much as you like, moderate it as part of a healthy diet, or limit the intake on it. Making sure that you’re getting all the important data even without a CGM.

Recognising the significance of meal quality, we have implemented barcode scanning, allowing users to instantly access nutritional information for over 20,000 branded products in Australia. Additionally, our enhanced food search features a vast database of over 30,000 foods, providing comprehensive nutritional information and serving sizes—a threefold improvement on the previous database for greater specificity in insights.

The new insights banner offers a user-friendly, clickable feature that expands to give you a detailed, real-time analysis of your meals. Every food log comes with tailored, actionable insights, providing you with a deeper understanding of the specific impact each food and ingredient has on your health. This feature enhances your knowledge with more precise details, making it easier to make informed dietary choices.

Ultra-Processed foods and why these matter

Ultra-processed foods are significant in the context of glucose levels and overall metabolic health. These foods are typically high in added sugars, unhealthy fats, refined grains, and artificial ingredients, while being low in nutritional value and also can be quite good hiding in our ingredients. Ultra-processed foods can negatively impact glucose levels by causing rapid blood sugar spikes, contributing to insulin resistance, and leading to weight gain. The lack of nutritional value and contribution to inflammation and oxidative stress further exacerbate these issues. A diet focusing on whole, unprocessed foods is generally recommended for better glucose control and overall health.

The impact of alcohol

Going back to that shot of tequila. Alcohol has significant short-term and long-term effects on glucose levels and metabolic health. Alcohol impacts glucose levels and metabolic health both short-term and long-term. Initially, it can lower blood sugar, leading to hypoglycemia (low glucose levels) with symptoms like dizziness. Over time, it contributes to insulin resistance, liver damage, and increased risk of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Reducing alcohol intake can improve insulin sensitivity, weight management, mood, and sleep, enhancing overall health. Alcohol also depletes essential nutrients and causes oxidative stress. Good sleep and healthy habits are key for metabolic health, highlighting the importance of moderating alcohol consumption.

Conclusion

Our upgraded Meal Score system represents a significant leap forward in personal health management. By integrating both the Glucose Score and the Food Quality Score, the app now provides users with a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of how their dietary choices impact their metabolic health. This system empowers users to make informed decisions about their diet, taking into account not only the glucose response but also the quality of the food they consume. Our commitment to a highly adaptive metabolism, rather than just a fast one, aligns with the latest research in metabolic health.