January AI
January AI is using artificial intelligence to make continuous glucose monitoring a one-and-done.
The latest: The metabolic health platform launched its generative AI-enabled app, using data from CGMs to predict users’ responses to up to 32M foods and make lifestyle recommendations based on real-time learned data.
Of importance, its use of AI makes wearing a CGM optional after 14 days.
How it works: After a brief telehealth session, qualifying users are prescribed a continuous glucose monitor (CGM).
Linking it to its app, pulling in logged food, and syncing data from other wearables like Oura, Apple Watch, and Fitbit, the platform establishes a baseline of health and physiology from the body’s response to everyday eating and physical activity.
After “training” the app, users receive real-time insights for achieving better health, from precise nutritional and caloric recommendations to prescribing post-meal walks to managing an intermittent fast.
According to founder & CEO Noosheen Hashemi, predictive AI is an x-factor that other CGM platforms are missing, allowing users to make in-the-moment informed choices.
“Think of it as a weather report. If it only told you it’s already raining, you wouldn’t find it very useful.”
Why it matters: Americans are metabolically unhealthy, with poor glucose response associated with detriments in brain function, energy, sleep, memory, mood, skin health, and fertility — not to mention the major risks for chronic heart disease and diabetes.
- ~93% of Americans are considered metabolically unhealthy.
- 100M Americans are prediabetic, with only 10% aware of their condition.
- 80% of chronic disease and premature death in the US is preventable with lifestyle intervention.
Call to Action
Unchecked, all signs point to our metabolic health getting worse, not better.
But from preventative and lifestyle-based coaching to real-time intervention, startups are finally making it easier to turn personalized data into action.
- Last December, CGM-assisted Veri launched Metabolic Healthspan, translating the impact of your diet, exercise, and lifestyle into how many years specific interventions could extend your state of good health.
- Wearable makers Apple and Movano signaled intent to bring noninvasive glucose-monitoring sensors into their healthcare-centered ecosystems.
- Lumen, which raised $62M last year, uses a breathalyzer device to make real-time recommendations for nutrition and activity, helping users achieve greater metabolic flexibility.
Punchline: Despite its efficacy, lifestyle medicine isn’t mainstream. While the basis for better health isn’t exactly a secret, a push notification from an AI app might be the modern-day motivation some people need.
