Thanksgiving stuffing. Holiday cookies. Your aunt’s famous pecan pie. A cozy morning with coffee before everyone else wakes up… Food is a big part of what makes the holiday season feel special, and enjoying it shouldn’t come with a side of guilt.
At the same time, the holidays tend to shake up our usual wellness routines. We may eat different foods, eat at different times, sleep less, exercise less, travel more, and experience more stress.
All of these things can affect your blood sugar, but supporting healthy blood sugar doesn’t have to mean skipping all the foods you love. In fact, the holiday season can be a great opportunity to learn more about how your own body responds to them.
Why Pay Attention to Blood Sugar?
After you eat, your body breaks carbohydrates down into glucose, which enters the bloodstream and provides energy for your cells. Your pancreas releases insulin to help move that glucose where it needs to go.
Some rise in blood sugar after eating is completely normal. The goal isn’t a perfectly flat glucose line or avoiding carbohydrates altogether.
What can be helpful is understanding your own patterns.
Maybe you’ve noticed that you get “hangry” if you go too long without eating. You might experience an afternoon energy crash, feel shaky or uncomfortable when you’re hungry, have a history of gestational diabetes, or have concerns about prediabetes or diabetes. Or perhaps you’re simply curious about how your everyday habits affect your glucose.
Understanding those patterns can give you useful information to discuss with your healthcare provider.
Enjoying Holiday Meals While Supporting Steadier Blood Sugar
You don’t need to completely change your Thanksgiving plate to be mindful of blood sugar.
Instead, think about what you can add to your meal. Pairing carbohydrates with sources of protein, fiber, and healthy fats can help slow digestion and moderate the rise in blood glucose after eating.
Even the order in which you eat may make a difference. Research suggests that eating vegetables and protein before carbohydrate-rich foods can reduce the post-meal glucose response compared with eating carbohydrates first.
And don’t underestimate the value of a little movement. A walk after a holiday meal is a great opportunity to catch up with family while also supporting post-meal blood sugar.
None of this means you can’t have the mashed potatoes or pie. It simply gives you a few tools for supporting your health while still enjoying the meal.
What If You Could Actually See How Your Body Responds?
General nutrition recommendations can be helpful, but everyone’s glucose response is a little different.
That’s where a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) can provide interesting information.
A CGM measures glucose throughout the day and night, allowing you to see how your levels change over time. Instead of wondering whether taking the sugar out of your coffee makes a difference, how your body responds to rice, or whether going for a walk after dinner affects your glucose, you can actually see your own patterns in real time.
You may even discover that some of the foods you were worried about have less of an effect than you expected—or that a small change in how you eat them makes a noticeable difference.
The point isn’t to label foods as “good” or “bad.” It’s to better understand your body.
Meet Stelo: Glucose Monitoring Without a Prescription
IMCNC now carries the Stelo Glucose Biosensor by Dexcom, an over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor that does not require a prescription.
The small sensor is worn on the body and continuously tracks glucose, sending the information to the Stelo app on your smartphone. Each sensor can be worn for up to 15 days, and a box of two provides up to 30 days of glucose monitoring.
Stelo is designed for adults who are not using insulin and can be helpful for people who want to better understand how food, exercise, and other everyday behaviors affect their glucose.
Patients can also share their Stelo data with IMCNC through Dexcom’s provider portal. This allows you and your provider to look at your glucose trends together and put what you’re seeing into the context of your overall health.
It’s important to remember that a CGM is a tool, not a diagnosis. Stelo should not be used to diagnose diabetes or prediabetes, and readings shouldn’t be used to make medication changes without talking with a healthcare provider.
A Healthier Holiday Season Doesn’t Have to Mean Missing Out
Supporting your health and enjoying the holidays aren’t mutually exclusive.
Pile on your Thanksgiving dinner plate. Dig into the pie you wait all year for. Enjoy the family recipes that mean so much to you.
And if you’re curious about your blood sugar, use that curiosity to learn rather than restrict. Pay attention to how you feel, add foods and habits that help support you, and remember that what you do consistently matters much more than one holiday meal.
If you’d like to learn more about your glucose patterns, Stelo Glucose Biosensors are available for purchase at IMCNC for $99 for a box of two sensors, providing up to 30 days of wear. No prescription is required.
If you’re an IMCNC patient and would like to share your CGM data with our clinic, visit connect.dexcom.com, sign in with your Dexcom account, and enter clinic code IMCNorthCarolina.
Talk with your IMCNC provider if you have questions about your blood sugar or whether glucose monitoring could be useful for you.
