Stelo by Dexcom Review: The Future of Glucose Monitoring for Everyone
The Stelo by Dexcom is one of the latest inventions for monitoring health and wellness at home. As the first FDA-approved over-the-counter glucose sensor, Stelo makes continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) accessible to the average person, not just those with diabetes. Whether you’re looking to optimize your fitness, improve energy levels, or make smarter food choices, Stelo offers invaluable insights into your body’s glucose response. Here’s our honest review of the Stelo Glucose Sensor.
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What is the Stelo Glucose Sensor?
Stelo is a sleek, wearable glucose sensor that tracks your blood sugar levels in real time and delivers the data to your smartphone via an app. Unlike traditional CGMs, which require a prescription, Stelo is designed for non-diabetic users and available over the counter. It received FDA clearance mid-2024 and hit the market soon after.
The device attaches to your upper arm and continuously monitors your glucose levels, providing insights into how your body reacts to food, exercise, and other daily activities. It’s an exciting development for anyone interested in optimizing their metabolic health.
Setting it up was extremely easy and surprisingly painless. We were a little nervous since it does involve a small needle, but the whole process was incredibly user-friendly. Importantly, you don’t interact with the needle directly! And then it is super intuitive to monitor your glucose with the app, which features live readings every 15 minutes and personalized insights. An example of one of our readings where you can see an increase in glucose after dinner.
We’re used to health tracking having used both an Apple Watch and Fitbit over the years. So we’re pretty used to these apps and still found Stelo to be clear and informative.
The Stelo app also provides personalized insights and recommendations on how to manage your glucose levels. Our favorite feature is the spike detection - a feature where the app alerts you to any rapid increases in your blood glucose. Here’s an example report that we received:
However, the one thing we would knock is the adhesive cover. We had one sensor malfunction and we think part of it is due to the ineffective cover. If you’re interested in trying out Stelo, we recommend buying an additional transparent film dressing to keep it in place.
Why Glucose Monitoring Matters
Keeping your glucose levels in check isn’t just important for people with diabetes. It’s essential for everyone. Blood sugar spikes and crashes can affect your energy, focus, mood, and even long-term health. Here’s why understanding your glucose response is valuable:
Mitigate Diabetes Risk: Type 2 diabetes is a preventable disease and a huge part of getting ahead of risk is understanding how your body operates so you can develop your own personalized routine.
Optimize Energy Levels: Stable blood sugar levels prevent the fatigue and “crashes” that can follow carb-heavy meals.
Support Weight Management: Learning how your body reacts to certain foods can help you make smarter choices that promote fat loss or prevent weight gain.
Improve Longevity: Chronic blood sugar imbalances are linked to inflammation. Monitoring glucose helps reduce these risks.
Maximize Fitness: Glucose monitoring can show how your workouts affect your metabolism, helping you fine-tune your exercise routine.
What We Learned from Using Stelo
After testing Stelo, we were blown away by the actionable insights it provided. Here are some of the biggest takeaways from using the device:
Portion Sizes Matter: Even healthy foods can cause glucose spikes if eaten in large quantities. Portion control became a key focus after seeing the real-time impact of bigger servings.
The Value of Exercise: A 10-minute walk after meals can drastically reduce glucose spikes. It’s one of the simplest hacks we discovered, and seeing the data reinforced just how powerful movement can be. Plus, we also found that working out in the morning primed our bodies to handle glucose better throughout the day.
The Order of Your Meal Matters: Surprisingly, the sequence in which you eat your food affects your glucose response. Eating protein or fiber before carbs can blunt blood sugar spikes significantly.
Hidden Culprits: Some “healthy” foods, like smoothies or granola bars, caused larger spikes than expected. Being able to see this data helped us rethink some of our snack choices and just our general diet. Some substitutions we made were this easy minute quinoa instead of rice, packaged protein drinks instead of sweeter beverages, and rich dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate.
Pricing: Is It Worth It?
Stelo isn’t cheap, but luckily it’s not too expensive. Notably, there is no subscription fee to use the app, which is so common with these types of products.
The only cost is the sensor itself. One sensor lasts approximately two weeks. You can buy two sensors for $100 ($50 per sensor) and lower the price-per-sensor further if you opt for a recurring sensor subscription. But basically, you should expect to pay up to $100 per month for Stelo.
Final Thoughts: Is Stelo Worth It?
Stelo by Dexcom is a game-changer for anyone interested in understanding how their body reacts to food, exercise, and daily routines. It’s easy to use, provides actionable insights, and helps build healthier habits in real time. The long-term benefits for metabolic health and energy management make it worth considering, especially for health enthusiasts.
If you’ve ever been curious about your blood sugar levels (or just want to optimize how you feel every day) Stelo is a powerful tool that brings cutting-edge glucose monitoring to your fingertips.
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