The first time I remember struggling to maintain my blood sugar was a little league baseball game in some far flung East Texas town. I was probably 12. I was stuck out in left field (WHERE THE PUT ALL THE BEST PLAYERS IN LITTLE LEAGUE) and it was boiling hot. I don’t remember the specifics but it was probably our second game of the day and it had been a while since we’d eaten. I just remember having trouble standing, feeling really weak, and wondering how in the world I was going to be out there for another seven hours or however long it takes for a 12-year-old pitcher to walk enough guys to reach the run rule.
My mom, like all great moms, recognized what was going on and came down the fence line and called me over. She gave me, and I will always remember this specific detail, a caffeine-free Dr. Pepper, the one she had brought for herself to drink. It was so weird to be drinking that while playing a sport, but I trusted my mom. As usual, she was right. I needed a hit of instant sugar to get myself regulated again.
I’m not a diabetic, but I have had recurrent issues with hypoglycemia (excessively low blood sugar) throughout my life. Most recently, about three months ago I walked into the kitchen of my house and nearly fainted. I fell down to the ground in rapid but controlled manner because I had just enough alertness to do that instead of fighting it and falling hard. It was jarring. We don’t keep Dr. Pepper in the house so I drank one of my son’s apple juices and after a while was fine.
Since then I’ve done a much better job eating quality snacks and eating a more protein-focused breakfast. Still though, I wished I knew more about my blood sugar, what foods affect it, how exercise changes it, and if I could maintain a more consistent energy throughout my day.
Veri Interesting
When I discovered Veri I knew it was something I had to test it for Trial & Error. It was everything I’m looking for in a product test: a cutting-edge wearable, somewhat quirky and strange, and something that would put me in an uncomfortable position.
It’s better to try something than to scoff at it and never give it a shot.
And I’m certain many of you will scoff at the very idea of Veri.
Veri isn’t so much a wearable as it is and insert-able. It’s a continuous glucose monitor, like what many diabetics wear, that you stab into your arm and leave for 14 days at a time. The Freestyle Libre device then connects to the Veri app, which you use to scan your device. Veri sent me two sensors to test out.1
The app promises that you won’t feel a thing when you insert it. To be honest, I hate needles and was too scared to do the first one myself. So I had my wife do it. After a lot of deep breathing I told her to go for it and…no pain at all. I didn’t even know it was in.
So for the second sensor I decided to be a brave little boy and do it myself. But I also decided to be a vain little boy. You’re supposed to do it on the fattiest part of your arm, but I didn’t like the way that looked with the first sensor. So for the second one I moved it a little closer to my very impressive tricep muscle.
Watch the gif below and you be the judge if this one maybe hurt a little more.
Real tough guy here.
Once it’s solidly in your arm, the app gives you readings on your blood glucose levels and your metabolic flow. You log your meals and workouts (if you wear other wearables like an Apple Watch you can connect these to the app) and you’ll be able to see how these things affect your blood glucose.
For the first four days of testing I was on my trip to Glacier National Park. I thought this would make for a great field test of Veri because when you’re hiking it is vital to keep your blood glucose from dropping too low. Snacking is key and we made sure to buy many high protein snacks like Epic Bars and nuts, as well as some instant sugar snacks like bananas and fruit snacks.
I was really apprehensive about this device, not only the idea of having something in my arm at all times, but also not really even knowing if it would work properly or be helpful. While it took a little getting used to and I was annoyed at having to log all my meals, I learned to really like it and value the information. Just knowing when I might be dropping a bit in blood glucose and grabbing a handful of nuts or fruit snacks was beneficial on a hike.
But one big drawback for me was the effect that sweat and water was having on the application of the device. After inserting into your arm you can cover it with a protective patch sticker provided by Veri. They are supposed to keep it from getting snagged on clothing and protect it from the elements. Instructions in the app say that you should be fine showering or even swimming for less than 30 minutes, but within a day or two of hiking in the heat and showering at night, the sticker was coming off of my arm. I had to replace the sticker about three days in.
It’s better to try something than to scoff at it and never give it a shot.
Then, in a moment that really frustrated me, on Day 9 after I’d returned home from the trip, I was helping my dad move some furniture in the dead heat of an East Texas August day and my sensor just fell right off. It had been hurting my arm a little bit but I didn’t touch it or mess with it and nothing bumped it. It just fell right out of my sleeve. That was a weird thing to explain.
I reached out to Veri about this issue and they said they are working to improve the sticker performance and suggested using athletic tape if I’m going to sweat a lot. I’m not a naturally sweaty person, but I do live in Texas.
The app has a lot of great educational material in it that teaches you what good and bad readings are, how to eat well for metabolic health, and how to use your sensor. During our time in Glacier in which we ate many big meals I never truly had any big swings in blood glucose because we were always active which kept everything regulated. It wasn’t until I got home and got back into the swing of a more sedentary lifestyle that I saw major fluctuations. A grilled chicken club sandwich meal at Chick-Fil-A with an Arnold Palmer to drink shot my blood glucose up way beyond the limits of the chart. It was crazy! I didn’t feel that bad, which means I’ve likely had meals in that past that were even crazier than that. But I was prepared for the inevitable crash that I knew was coming and staved that off better than I would have in the past.
Would I personally ever use Veri again? Well, for one, I did insert the second device after compiling enough data to use in this story. I didn’t need to do that, but I value the information that I’m getting from the Veri. However, the pricing to me is, frankly, way too high. I can’t really figure out who would pay this much for this kind of thing. It’s currently $159 per month for two devices. You can do a one-time purchase of one 14-day sensor for $129 or a one-time purchase of two for $199. If I purchased something at that cost and it fell off five days early I would be livid.
But Veri is an early-stage startup, I’m sure that their plan is to eventually lower the price to a more accessible range. And there is some serious belief in their business as they recently raised $4 million in seed money. So I’m certain some of the kinks will be worked out.
If you’re interested in being one of the first (after me, of course) to test out this potentially ground-breaking device, go to their website here. The process of getting one currently is a little challenging, but it’s so worth it to have something no one else has.
Mo Better Snacking
One of the most important parts of maintaining blood glucose and good metabolic flow is snacking at the right time. I love to snack, but one thing I didn’t plan on doing for this test was it coinciding with me having to switch to being dairy free. I’m not going to get into all the different dairy free food items I’ve been eating over the last month because that’s boring. Let me just say, dairy is amazing and I miss it so much. But I also literally lost 5 lbs within two days of cutting dairy and I feel a lot better. Hopefully this isn’t permanent.
One of the most difficult parts of dairy free eating is finding good sweet things to munch on. Then I discoverd MoMix, from Helene Godin’s2 By the Way Bakery. Everything By the Way makes is gluten free, dairy free, and kosher. Their cakes and cookies look incredible, but the MoMix is the only thing they ship nationwide. Everything else must be picked up from one of their four bakery locations in New York and Connecticut.
They sent me three packs of the snack to try out: Chocolate Hazelnut, Pecan Chai, and Coconut Almond. I loved the Chocolate Hazelnut and Coconut Almond. The Pecan Chai had a little too much of a spice flavor to me, even though I like chai drinks. Others might love it, but it was my least favorite of the three. I’ve tried a lot of dairy free sweets recently and most of them leave a little to be desired, but I thought the MoMix was the perfect mix of salty and sweet and would be enjoyed by anyone regardless of whether they were looking for dairy or gluten free products.
Thanks to both Veri and By the Way Bakery for sending me products for this month’s experiments. And thanks to you, the reader for continuing to support Trial and Error. What do you think, would you try the Veri device? Or do you mostly enjoy when I inflict pain on myself for your entertainment? Let me know in the comments below.
This has been the monthly Trial & Error email, the only free version I send. Paid subscribers have gotten two Good, Bad, Funny, Dumb emails (including one about our trip to Glacier), and a really insightful Trial & Expert interview with Patrick Mahomes’ trainer Bobby Stroupe. Join the T&E club today to get all of those posts and all of the upcoming exciting emails in September and beyond.
Veri is a Finnish company which makes for some confusing things, like the fact that the company is called Veri, one of the founders is named Verneri, and the intern who sent me the devices is named Veli.
Helene is the wife of author and entrepreneur Seth Godin but I don’t like identifying successful people by their spouses so this is in a footnote.