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 |
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) |
5 | Bread then chicken and salad with olive oil dressing | Chicken and salad with olive oil dressing then bread | 3 oz bread |
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 | 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!