Lumen app data shows “small incremental changes” key to metabolic health in UK consumers

21 Dec 2020 --- Health tech company Lumen has revealed consumers making “smart” lifestyle changes based on personalized advice offered in its technology can keep their weight down and maintain general health.

The findings are drawn from data collected through its device and app, which track users’ metabolism in real-time. The results show consistent, minor alterations in dietary and exercise habits to be the most impactful.

The company is marketing the findings, which were taken through November – a month of lockdown in the UK – as significant for public health during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Lumen data analysts looked at over 100,000 metabolism measurements taken in the UK alone, which revealed how users could keep their bodies in a state of fat burn or use fat as an energy source. This allows users to lose or maintain their weight. 

These users showed a common trend of combining key nutritional and exercise routines that kept them healthy without needing to put in hours of working out or significant diet restrictions, says the company. 

Key trends included fasting for 14 hours, walking 6,400 steps daily, eating up to eight carb servings, sleeping seven hours a night and having a steady exercise routine of at least one workout per week.

Lumen’s data team recorded data from UK users during the country’s November lockdown.“A world of difference”
Barak Alon, Lumen’s head of data, tells of the importance the company sees in its findings.

“As we go through one million breaths of data from users in lockdown around the world, we see that winning users are those that can commit to small incremental changes that are impactful enough to yield results but easy enough to maintain during these trying times.”

“Just by getting yourself into a consistent routine combining fasting, healthy portioned carb servings, consistent workouts and enough daily steps can make a world of difference,” he explains. 

The data shows that incorporating wellness and nutrition into daily routines is equivalent to going for a 20-30 minute weekly run or an at-home fitness class, eating a couple of carb servings per meal with room for low-carb snacks and eating dinner by 7 pm, he notes. 

Having a good night’s sleep is also essential for weight loss and maintenance, given that it impacts metabolism by 50 percent. 

Although an individual’s body responds differently to various food and exercise depending on their metabolism, it’s easy for anyone to make smart decisions regarding their nutrition and exercise routine from home, asserts Alon. 

Lumen spreading around the globe
Lumen is now available in 126 different countries and expects to expand with versions in other languages becoming available. 

The device, which resulted from an eight-year R&D process, works by measuring the carbon dioxide levels in users’ breath, indicating the types of fuel being used (fat or carbs) to produce energy. Making small incremental changes to diet and lifestyle helped users maintain or lose weight.

Lumen is pushing the product as a “nutritionist in the pocket” for anyone from athletes to metabolic disease patients. 

The company recently partnered with US-based technology company Garmin to integrate users and data from Garmin’s personalized nutrition technology into the Lumen app. 

Getting personal with nutrition
New technology that allows companies to target diet, exercise and metabolism on an individual basis is becoming increasingly popular and ever-relevant during the pandemic. 

Innova Market Insights highlighted “Tailored to Fit” as a top trend for 2021 in the F&B and nutritional product development sectors. 

This year, Persona Nutrition told NutritionInsight that COVID-19 would forever change the health and wellness sector by forcing at-home, tailored health plans as public gyms closed. 

Edited

By Louis Gore-Langton