vly x Hello Inside: The Blood Sugar Experiment

We dared the experiment and measured our blood sugar with Hello Inside for two weeks. Here we show you what got our blood sugar soaring, which food hacks helped flatten the blood sugar curve and what surprised us the most.

👉 Still new to the topic? You can read about blood sugar here .

Who is Hello Inside?

Hello Inside is a metabolic health platform. Using blood glucose measurements (through CGM), they want to encourage people, especially women, to understand what's going on inside them and what their bodies are telling them.

June 19: The experiment begins

We got blood glucose meters from Hello Inside and we attach them to our upper arms. A total of 16 vly colleagues are taking part. Everyone also downloads the Hello Inside app right away. This is where our blood sugar curve will be read for the next two weeks and we can see exactly how different foods affect our blood sugar levels.

Instagram: We'll take you with us

To share our experiences with our community we use our Instagram account @vlyfoods and together with @helloinsideofficial we publish various posts with our experiments and insights.

Why is blood sugar so important?

Nicolas from vly and Marie-Luise from Hello Inside talk about the importance of blood sugar control in everyday life. Marie-Luise explains that in addition to the long-term effects, unbalanced blood sugar levels can also have short-term effects on our health and well-being. We can, therefore, experience strong blood sugar fluctuations, also known as a blood sugar roller coaster, very quickly, e.g. B. Midday slumps, food cravings and concentration problems.

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A post shared by Hello Inside (@helloinsideofficial)

What exactly is happening here? The body allows the blood sugar level to rise more than is necessary for energy requirements. If, as a result, a lot of insulin is released, the blood sugar level drops sharply again. Now we notice this, for example by getting tired or having difficulty concentrating.

Experiment 1: Coffee with oat milk leads to blood sugar spikes?

We heard in the "Fast & Curious" podcast that oat milk is supposed to raise blood sugar. Of course we have to test that and compare two different milk alternatives in coffee, here oat milk and our vly Barista.
Two different days, same time, same coffee size - and the assumption is confirmed : While Nicolas' blood sugar at the vly Barista rises by less than 15 mg/dl, the value with the oat milk coffee goes from around 80 to around 110 mg/dl .

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A post shared by Hello Inside (@helloinsideofficial)

Why is that?

Marie-Luise (Hello Inside) explains:

“The oat milk, as the name suggests, is made from oats. […] That means an oat drink has a very high carbohydrate content. The vly Barista contains a lot less carbohydrates and also [has] a higher proportion of protein - you can see that in the blood sugar curve”

Experiment 2: Time to put our vly natural yoghurt to the test

We saw in the live test that low carbohydrates and lots of protein help keep blood sugar levels low. But what if we eat protein with something very sugary? Doesn't your blood sugar go up afterwards? Said and done. Nicolas takes the test and eats pure fruit one day and fruit together with our vly natural yoghurt the next.

While the blood sugar rises from around 100 to 148 mg/dl with pure fruit, it hardly changes at all with fruit with vly Natur and remains relatively constant at 111 mg/dl.

Should we therefore give up fruit?

Of course, we can continue to eat fruit without a guilty conscience. But it makes sense to combine this with something that's high in protein. This keeps the blood sugar level more stable and we prevent possible ravenous appetite attacks or energy lows.

Food hacks you should know

What can we do in everyday life to avoid blood sugar spikes?

Marie-Luise and Nicolas talk about different blood sugar tricks, but we also ask our community in an Instagram story about their favorite hacks that we can use to counteract a breakout in blood sugar levels.

All food hacks summarized:

1. Make sure to also eat protein, fiber and fats when you eat carbohydrates.
2. Avoid products with added sugar.
3. Eat vegetables before your meal.
4. Take a walk after eating.
5. Don't snack between meals, instead eat sweets after your meal.
6. Make yourself a hearty breakfast.
7. Consume 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar before or after your meal.

In addition, the Instagram account of Jessie Inchauspé ( @glucosegoddess ) was recommended by our community. You can find more information and tips on the subject of blood sugar here.

July 15: End of the experiment and what we learn from it

In the past few weeks we have let our blood sugar ride quite a roller coaster. Overall, the Hello Inside experiment showed us the importance of monitoring our blood sugar levels and making conscious dietary choices.

We now know how best to combine foods and what tricks we can use to still enjoy our favorite snacks while keeping blood sugar stable.
Because the goal shouldn't be to stop eating carbohydrates or sugar at all - instead, we combine them with the right balance of protein, fiber and healthy fats and enjoy everything in moderation. So the key is to find the right balance.

Is that it?

The self-experiment made us even more curious. That's why we will continue to deal with the topic of blood sugar in the future and take you with us!

👉 Feel free to stop by and join us @vlyfoods .