After extensive research, scientists realized that the same food had different effects on different people and that the microbiome plays an important role. During the personalized nutrition project, a predictive algorithm was created to show how certain foods affect blood sugar by including medical and physical data as well as information about each individual’s microbiome.
All of this means that millions of people around the world can be helped to eat in a way that prevents sharp variation in blood sugar, and thus maintain proper health, and even prevent diseases. Based on this revelation, the founders of DayTwo decided to acquire the ownership of the patent from the Weizmann Institute and to upgrade the original algorithm.
DayTwo’s algorithm is based on data collected from thousands of people and tens of thousands of meals. We at DayTwo work around the clock to perfect the algorithm and optimize its accuracy. Every food item and meal tested in the DayTwo app gets a score based on our post-meal sugar levels: the higher the score, the better the blood sugar response will be after eating.
What’s Better for My Blood Sugar? Whole Wheat Bread or Plain White Bread? It All Depends on Your Microbiome!
The answer seems obvious – whole wheat bread should be better for us than plain white bread. Whole wheat bread contains more parts of the grain and therefore provides more vitamins, minerals, and fiber than white bread, and is thus more nutritious. However, it turns out that the reality is more complex, and for some people, whole wheat bread will cause a sharp increase in blood sugar while white bread will lead to a moderate response.
This was discovered in a study conducted at the Weizmann Institute and published in 2017 in the scientific journal “Cell Metabolism.” The study involved 20 subjects divided into two groups. One group ate plain white bread for one week. Then the participants ate what they like for two weeks. Then the following week, they ate whole-grain sourdough bread. The second group ate the sourdough bread during the first week, ate what they liked in the next two weeks, and white bread in the week following. The participants were connected to a continuous glucose monitor and provided stool samples throughout the study.
Researchers discovered that each participant responded differently to eating the breads, both in their post-meal sugar response as well as the effect on their microbiome. Some participants’ microbiomes changed a lot more than others.
The conclusion here is that personalization is crucial. Each food has a different effect on sugar spikes for each of us. In your personal nutrition recommendations, you will discover which types of bread, amongst other foods, have the most positive impact on your blood sugar.