Trendy blood sugar trackers – like the ones promoted by science guru Prof Tim Spector’s Zoe diet – could trigger anxiety and eating disorders, British study suggests [Video]

By Emily Stearn, Health Reporter For Mailonline and John Ely Deputy Health Editor For Mailonline 19:01 EDT 26 Jun 2024, updated 04:25 EDT 27 Jun 2024

Diet firms offering blood sugar monitors are potentially causing healthy people to develop anxiety and eating disorders, experts warned today. 

Several firms, including the ZOE programme — founded by diet guru Professor Tim Spector — offer the high-tech gadgets, called continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), which track a customer’s blood sugar levels via a stick-on patch on their arm. 

This beams information to a smartphone app that records these ‘spikes’, which occur when the sugar from digested food enters the blood supply.

Zoe claims on its website that blood sugar spikes can, over time, lead to an increased risk of heart disease, and offers a diet to help minimise them.

However, several experts have questioned the research evidence behind Zoe’s claim, together with other similar programmes, and said they could trigger anxiety and an unhealthy obsession …