There are a remarkable number of blood glucose monitors available on the market and the options seem to increase almost daily. I’ve listed a two options here but if you want to poke around some places like Reddit you can get a good sense of what the newest gizmos are and how they stack up to one another.
Precision Xtra Glucose+Ketone meter
If you get a glucose meter might as well get one that can also check ketones. The meters themselves are generally not that expensive, but they do get you on the purchase of the test strips, particularly the ketone strips. If you look around you can find glucose and ketone strips for a tiny fraction of what you pay at a pharmacy. Amazon also has some decent options, like this one.
Dexcom Continuous Glucose monitor
A very cool option, particularly for the Seven Day Carb Test, is a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) like the Dexcom model. CGM’s are typically worn on the arm for a few weeks at a time and take a blood glucose level once every minute. You can get a remarkable amount of data from these platforms and you will not need to stick your finger with each meal like you do with something like the Precision Xtra described above. I wore a CGM for two weeks during the writing of this book and it was easy and incredibly insightful. Now, for the downsides: You will find it problematic to get a CGM from your doctor UNLESS you are diabetic or pre-diabetic. Without some kind of diagnosis you may find it hard to get your doctor to write a prescription for a CGM at all, and it will NOT be covered by insurance. Due to the complete lack of market signaling (to say nothing of Moral Hazard) in a 3-party payer medical system, CGMs should cost about $50 but instead can bill for upwards of $1,000-$2,000. So, as cool as these are, you may find it tough to get one, but if you are persistent, you might find a doc that will at least write a script.
