Healthy people want to become even healthier and even more efficient. This urge for self-optimisation is supported by new digital aids to promote individual sports and nutrition plans, for example. Dangerous diseases such as diabetes should nevertheless not be forgotten.

Self-optimisation has become an important concept in the modern performance society. Self-optimisation can be defined in general terms as the continuous process of improving one's personal qualities and abilities by means of self-thematisation, rational self-monitoring and permanent feedback towards the best possible personal condition. "Self-optimisation is a very controversially discussed current social guiding principle or orientation pattern for individual life design: everyone should make the best of themselves and their lives. Trend researchers are proclaiming the 21st century as the 'age of self-optimisation', and sociologists speak of 'optimisation societies' because human optimisation efforts have gained a previously unknown presence, radicalisation and public attention," writes, for example, the Federal Agency for Civic Education. Corresponding actions should therefore lead to an "optimum", that is, to the best possible or perfect state that a human being can achieve.

Even people in good health should continuously measure their blood glucose levels.

Now health start-ups want to conquer this market, reports "Handelsblatt Inside Digital Health". According to a recent report, start-ups want to use digital technologies to make measurements of body data such as blood sugar levels an everyday companion. For example, it is about self-optimisation with glucose, blood and urine tests to enable individual sports and nutrition plans. Glucose meters that are stuck on the upper arm like a plaster have so far mainly been known to diabetes patients. But if the Viennese start-up Hello Inside has its way, in future even people in good health will be able to continuously measure their blood glucose levels - and monitor them via an app. "We are initially targeting athletes and life optimisers - but also managers and entrepreneurs," says co-founder Mario Aichlseder according to "Handelsblatt Inside Digital Health".

For Mario Aichlseder, sugar levels in the body are not only a relevant metric for diabetics. "Based on this biomarker, it is possible to directly read how a meal or a workout affects performance," quotes "Handelsblatt Inside Digital Health". The article goes on to say: "The measuring devices collect the glucose value via sensor thread in the subcutaneous tissue and send it to the smartphone every five minutes. The Hello Inside app then evaluates the data. If necessary, customers are supposed to consult a nutritionist via video chat."

Another example is the start-up MiProbes. It offers urine samples for home use. "There are more than 1000 biomarkers in urine," explains founder Nina Patrick. "At the moment, we are only looking at ten with our tests." Analyses of hormone and vitamin levels are already planned. The goal: In the future, MiProbes wants to offer different test cards for different target groups.

Organs, blood vessels and nerves can be damaged by diabetes

Speaking of diabetes: Diabetes has become a dangerous widespread disease that can often be fatal. There are currently more than seven million people with diabetes in Germany. This is an increase of 38 percent since 1998, and more than 500,000 new cases are diagnosed every year. And worldwide, more than 425 million people now suffer from diabetes, which is almost three times as many as in 2014.

This is because organs, blood vessels and nerves can be so damaged by the metabolic disease that heart attacks, strokes, kidney weakness, retinal damage and nerve disorders as well as numerous other threatening diseases can be the result. In addition to various innovative therapies, people can also prevent the development of diabetes or mitigate its serious consequences by adopting a healthy lifestyle.

The most important factor in preventing diabetes is sugar consumption.

Therefore, the importance of diabetes prevention should not be underestimated and is constantly increasing. After all, even a permanently unhealthy lifestyle can lead to an increased risk of diabetes, so that the adjustment of exercise and diet is already an important aspect of prevention. Practice shows that patients at risk of diabetes who follow certain rules to reduce blood sugar levels can almost always prevent the onset of diabetes. These include, for example, noticeable weight loss, a significant reduction in the amount of fat in the diet and saturated fatty acids, and continuous physical activity of at least 2.5 hours per week.

Most relevant in the prevention of diabetes is sugar consumption. The problem is that it is very difficult for us to avoid sugar consumption, because the food industry really floods us with it. Nowadays, sugar is added to three out of four products, thus sugarifying the modern diet. Hardly any food in the supermarket is without sugar!

Natura Vitalis supports healthy insulin levels with its "Sugar Balance" product. For example, Sugar Balance contains, among other things, the plant Gurmar, which in India is translated as "sugar destroyer". In general, the plant is said to positively support healthy blood sugar levels and the healthy pancreas. In Ayurvedic medicine, the plant is even used for type 2 diabetes.

This text may contain translation errors as the translation was done by an online translation tool.