Blood Sugar Challenges Library

We created a whole library of challenges to help you explore how you respond to everyday food and lifestyle choices you make!

The library is built around different concepts — some of these scientifically proven, others are still under investigation and you'd contribute your data to help further science and find the answers for everyone.

Each experiment includes two meals to try on two separate occasions. You'll be able to compare your blood sugar curves to these meals.

Browse through the different categories below and choose the ones that interest you. You'll find step-by-step instructions below to guide you how to do the challenges.

Same Food, Different Form

When it comes to food, the little details matter. Small changes in how a food is processed can have big impacts on your blood sugar responses. In this library you'll see foods that seem quite similar, but there's more than what just meets the eye when it comes to blood sugar.

Which of these will you try?

Challenge	Meal 1	Meal 2	Meal 1 Suggested Quantity	Meal 2 Suggested Quantity
1	Sweetened full fat fruit yogurt	Plain whole full yogurt with fresh fruit	8oz fruit yogurt	8oz plain yogurt with 6oz berries
2	Instant oatmeal (served plain)	Steel cut oats oatmeal (served plain)	1 packet prepared	1 cup prepared
3	Oatmeal with jam	Oatmeal with berries	1 cup oatmeal with 1 tbsp jam	1 cup oatmeal with 1/4 cup berries
4	Fruit salad	Smoothie	1 cup fruit	1 cup fruit blended with ice
5	Hummus with carrots and cucumbers	Chickpeas with carrots and cucumbers	1/4 cup hummus with handful of carrots and cucumbers	1/2 cup chickpeas with handful of carrots and cucumbers
6	Mango	Dried mango	1/2 cup mango	1/4 cup dried mango
7	Oranges	Orange Juice	2 oranges	12 fl oz orange juice

Food Combinations

Have you ever noticed certain food combinations help you feel more satisfied and maybe even avoid that afternoon slump?

There's a real power to combining foods. Pairing the right nutrients together can be a great way to sustain your blood sugar levels. Test and learn how these combinations affect your responses. We think this is a great strategy to make all the foods you love work for you.

Challenge	Meal 1	Meal 2	Meal 1 Suggested Quantity	Meal 2 Suggested Quantity
1	Oatmeal	Oatmeal with Chia Seeds	1 cup oatmeal	1 cup oatmeal with 1 oz chia seeds
2	Tortilla chips	Tortilla chips with guacamole	2 oz tortilla chips	2 oz tortilla chips with 1/4 cup guacamole
3	Rice cake	Rice cake with tahini	4 rice cakes	4 rice cakes with 3 tbsp tahini
4	Pretzels	Pretzels with peanut butter	2 oz pretzels	2 oz pretzels with 2 tbsp peanut butter
5	Banana	Banana with yogurt	1 banana	1 banana with 1 cup yogurt
6	Bread roll	Bread roll with olive oil and salad	2 bread rolls	2 bread rolls with 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 cup salad
7	Cheese crackers	Cheese crackers with almonds	1/2 cup cheese crackers	1/2 cup cheese crackers with 1 oz almonds
8	Pineapple	Pineapple and cashew	1/2 cup pineapple	1/2 cup pineapple with 1 oz cashew nuts
9	Spaghetti and tomato sauce	Spaghetti and tomato sauce with vegetables and chicken	1 cup spaghetti and tomato sauce	1 cup spaghetti and tomato sauce with 1 cup of cooked vegetables and 3 oz grilled chicken
10	Grapes	Grapes and eggs	1/2 cup grapes	1/2 cup grapes and 2 boiled eggs
11	Mango	Mango and cheddar cheese	1/2 cup mangoes	1/2 cup mangoes and 1 oz cheddar cheese
12	High carb meal (e.g. Jelly Donut)	High carb meal (e.g. Jelly Donut) with water	1 serving	1 serving with 11 fl oz water

Simple Swaps

It's not about ditching food groups and restriction. Sometimes, all it takes is a simple swap of one ingredient, and the shape of your curve can totally change. Are there new ingredients you'd like to try?

Challenge	Meal 1	Meal 2	Meal 1 Suggested Quantity	Meal 2 Suggested Quantity
1	Salmon with couscous	Salmon with lentils	1 salmon fillet with 1 cup cooked couscous	1 salmon fillet with 1 cup cooked lentils
2	Chili with white rice	Chili with brown rice	1 cup chili with 1 cup cooked white rice	1 cup chili with 1 cup brown rice
3	Chicken or vegetable curry with rice	Chicken or vegetable curry with cauliflower rice	1 cup curry with 1 cup cooked white rice	1 cup curry with 1 cup cooked cauliflower rice
4	Pizza	Pizza with cauliflower crust	1 cheese pizza	1 cauliflower base cheese pizza (same quantity)
5	Plain yogurt	Sweetened yogurt	1 cup plain greek yogurt, full fat	1 cup fruit flavored yogurt, full fat
6	Milk chocolate	Dark chocolate	2 oz milk chocolate	2 oz dark chocolate
7	Bagel	Pumpernickel bread	1 bagel	2 slices pumpernickel bread
8	Granola and yogurt	Walnuts and yogurt	1/4 cup granola with 1 cup plain yogurt	1/4 cup walnuts with 1 cup plain yogurt
9	Toast with jam	Toast with egg and cheese	2 slices bread with 2 tablespoons jam	2 slices bread with 2 eggs and 2 slices of cheddar cheese
10	Salad with baked sweet potato	Salad with avocado	1 medium baked sweet potato with 2 cups salad	1 medium avocado with 2 cups salad
11	Chicken with white rice	Chicken with bulgar	1 chicken breast with 1 cup cooked white rice	1 chicken breast with 1 cup cooked bulgar
12	Fish with boiled potatoes	Fish with pearl barley	1 fish filet with 1 cup boiled potato	1 fish filet with 1 cup pearl barley

Activity

Activity can have profound effects on your curve - and it doesn't even have to be an intense spin class! Take your pick, and test the effects that even a brisk walk can have on your curve.

Challenge	Meal 1	Meal 2	Meal 1 & 2 Suggested Quantity
1	Cereal	Cereal then exercise	1 bowl cereal
2	Muffin	Muffin then exercise	1 muffin
3	Banana	Banana then exercise	1 banana

Food Sequencing

Some science shows that the order in which we eat our foods can actually have effects on blood sugar responses. We're excited about exploring this with our citizen scientists! Though our ZOE scores do not yet account for this, this is an opportunity for you to both experiment and help further science.

Leave at least 10 minutes between the two parts of the meal when you are experimenting with sequencing.

Challenge	Meal 1	Meal 2	Meal 1 & 2 Suggested Quantity
1	Orange juice then eggs	Eggs then orange juice	12 oz orange juice 2-3 egg omelet
2	Orange juice then Greek yogurt	Greek yogurt then orange juice	12 oz orange juice 1 cup Greek yogurt
3	Mashed potatoes then sausages	Sausages then mashed potatoes	1/2 cup mashed potatoes 3 oz sausages
4	Rice then salmon	Salmon then rice	Rice (1 cup cooked) 1 salmon filet
5	Bread then chicken and salad with olive oil dressing	Chicken and salad with olive oil dressing then bread	3 oz bread 3 oz chicken 2 tbsp olive oil 1 cup salad
6	Mango as a starter	Mango as dessert	1/2 cup mango
7	Cookie as a snack	Cookie after dinner	1 medium size cookie

Added Ingredients

Some science suggests that having certain ingredients before a meal can affect how your blood sugar levels respond. Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) and Cinnamon are ones that are being studied. The jury is still out on that one and our ZOE scores don't take them into account, but our citizen scientists are welcome to experiment and help contribute to finding the answer.

Challenge	Meal 1	Meal 2	Meal 1 Suggested Quantity	Meal 2 Suggested Quantity
1	Cake	ACV then cake	1 slice cake	20g ACV in 40g water then 1 slice cake
2	Bagel	ACV then bagel	1 bagel with 20g butter	20g ACV in 40g water then
3	Chicken and rice	ACV then chicken and rice	1 cup chicken with 1 cup cooked white rice	20g ACV in 40g water then 1 cup chicken with 1 cup cooked white rice
4	Spaghetti and meat sauce	ACV then spaghetti and meat sauce	1 serving spaghetti and meat sauce	20g ACV in 40g water then 1 serving spaghetti and meat sauce
5	Oatmeal	Oatmeal with cinnamon	1 cup oatmeal	1 cup oatmeal with 2.5 tsp cinnamon

Meal Timing

Your body has an internal clock telling all your organs the time of day. Your metabolism may be more capable of metabolizing foods earlier rather than later in the day. This is new and exciting science we are investigating.

Challenge	Meal 1	Meal 2	Meal 1 & 2 Suggested Quantity
1	Spaghetti and sauce for lunch	Spaghetti and sauce for dinner	1 cup spaghetti and sauce
2	Chicken and rice dish for lunch	Chicken and rice dish for dinner	1 chicken breast and 1 cup cooked rice
3	Your favorite dessert for breakfast	Your favorite dessert for dinner	1 serving
4	Your favorite breakfast meal for breakfast	Skip breakfast, and have your favorite breakfast for lunch	1 serving

Cooking States

Did you know that whether certain carbohydrate-rich foods are freshly cooked or cooled down then reheated can cause changes in their internal structures? These changes affect how well the foods are metabolized by the body and influence blood sugar curves. Though not in our scores yet, we thought it might intrigue you.

Challenge	Meal 1	Meal 2	Meal 1 Suggested Quantity	Meal 2 Suggested Quantity
1	Freshly cooked pasta	Reheated pasta	Freshly cooked pasta (1 cup cooked)	Cooked white pasta (1 cup) that is refrigerated for 24 hours then reheated
2	Freshly boiled potato	Reheated boiled potato	Freshly boiled potato (1 cup)	Boiled potato (1 cup) that is refrigerated for 24 hours then reheated
3	Freshly cooked rice	Reheated rice	Freshly cooked rice (1 cup cooked)	Cooked rice (1 cup) that is refrigerated for 24 hours then reheated

Step-by-step guide for how to do the extra credit blood sugar challenges

Preparing for your challenges:

Choose your blood sugar challenge
Prepare the ingredients needed for both meals for the challenge
Before you do your challenge, make sure you are fasted for at least 3 hours

Doing your blood sugar challenge:

Fast for at least 3 hours
Log the meal into the app
Eat your meal
You can have plain water, black tea or black coffee
Fast for 3 hours
Look at your blood sugar readings
Repeat Steps 1-6 whenever you like for the second meal in the experiment, and compare your blood sugar curves. Notice, which one is flatter?

So which tests will you do?

There's no right or wrong — feel free to mix and match and tweak the challenges to make them truly your own!