I’ve been on a health kick since the year began, looking for new ways to take care of my mind, body, and spirit. That’s included a drastic increase in exercise, seeing a therapist to help manage stress and anxiety, fighting like hell to go to bed just a little earlier (I’m a work in progress there…), and working with a dietitian to be more thoughtful about how I eat. But did I need to track the sugar I’m consuming?
The idea came about when Abbott Laboratories, known for its nutritional products and medical devices, announced its latest innovation: the Lingo. This over-the-counter biowearable uses a biosensor that rests just beneath the skin to consistently track glucose levels in the body.
You might think, If you’re not prediabetic or diabetic, why track it? Because glucose has a bigger impact on how we feel throughout the day than we often realize.
“Glucose is very dynamic, so it changes across your day,” said renowned nutritionist Pamela Nisevich Bede. “It’s very responsive, so it responds to our foods, our exercise, our stress, our genetics, and so much more.”
“It looks like what our mood looks like, what our cognition looks like, what our energy looks like, how well we slept, how well we performed at the gym,” she continued. “Long term, the way our glucose is moving—whether it’s a high level, whether it’s spiking or crashing throughout the day—connects to our health. So risks for Alzheimer’s Disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, it all comes back to glucose.”
The more you know.
I was invited in June to test the device during a lunch at La Mercerie in NYC with Bede and a group of journalists. Upon arrival, I was asked if I wanted to actually wear the Lingo. As the event drew near, the idea seemed a bit daunting. But once there, I asked myself: Can you really experience something if you don’t actually use it? With Bede’s help, I opened the biosensor, wiped the back of my upper arm with an alcohol swab, and used the applicator to press the device firmly into place on my skin. After all that hesitation, I felt nothing at all.
Then we began to eat—citrus pickled beets, trout roe, and smoked Kendall Farms Crème Fraiche to start. For lunch, we had a first course featuring shrimp, avocado, and grapefruit. My main was heritage chicken with green beans, and dessert was a massive cookie to-go.
We began with vegetables, then moved on to protein and fat—choices that slow digestion. What I noticed as the experience went on was that by starting with vegetables before consuming anything heavier (including bread, i.e., carbohydrates), my glucose numbers didn’t spike. This “veggie first” mindset helps the body slow down sugar absorption in the bloodstream, reducing the likelihood of a spike. Vegetables also aid digestion and increase satiety, which can help you eat less overall. I left the restaurant feeling good—not full, not sleepy, just satisfied and ready to take on the afternoon.
After the event, I wore the device for nearly two weeks. I showered in it, exercised with it, and received continuous data updates via the Lingo app. (I even got some questions about it from a gas station attendant.) I could see how workouts influenced my glucose levels, how different meals caused shifts, and I could note how doing things a certain way gave me more energy, as well as which snack choices left me crashing. The app’s coaching helped me understand what my numbers meant. It’s all designed to help you improve your metabolic health, both now and in the future.
So, who wears Lingo?
“Someone who’s motivated to change their health journey,” Bede shared. “So maybe you’re on a health journey where you’re looking to optimize. You’re looking to perform better at work or at the gym or just for your general health. Maybe you’re just starting that health journey, and you’ve got a family history that you want to sidestep, and you want your story to end differently. Glucose is really at the center of that conversation, and that’s where Lingo comes into play.”
If you’ve noticed an energy crash after eating—a real hurdle in a busy day—it’s useful to see how your glucose spikes and crashes based on what and how you eat.
If you’ve stuck to the same meals and workouts but your body isn’t responding anymore, the issue could be glucose-related.
If you eat your favorite lunch and find yourself back at your desk, struggling to focus—yep, that could be glucose too.
And if you think you’re hungry when you’re not, maybe it’s just how your glucose is reacting to your food choices throughout the day.
The goal of a device like this is to help you make smarter choices—ones that improve how you feel in the moment and support long-term health. You can wear it for a few weeks to get a sense of what changes might help, then take it off. A two-week sensor experience is $49; four weeks (two sensors) is $89; and a 12-week program (six sensors, delivered every four weeks) costs $249.
In full transparency, I didn’t wear mine for the entire two weeks. After childbirth, I’ve found my skin has become much more sensitive. Well into week two, the adhesive started to irritate the area, making it itchy. I was also informed that presently, this app is just available to iOS users, but will be available for Android users too, soon. Still, even with a shorter run, I gained a lot from the insights and can see the potential benefits for anyone looking to make meaningful lifestyle shifts—not just to stave off future health concerns, but to feel better right now.
My verdict? Given the flexibility of the program and everything you can learn about yourself from even the briefest trial, I think it’s definitely worth a try.
Learn more at hellolingo.com.