Lumen, a device for measuring metabolism (metabolism), is not a new gadget, but I started using it last year with the goal of better understanding my body’s metabolism and losing weight. . The Israeli startup Lumen is behind the product. The company he founded in 2014 and by 2022 he had raised $62 million in funding.
My experience with Lumen began the moment I ordered it, and shortly after that I received an email introducing me to the world of the product. This email includes videos to help you understand how metabolic health is affected not only by diet, but also by sleep and sport.
The purpose of this email and subsequent emails is to create a welcoming experience into the “fitness club” and to help users understand how to use the product even before they actually get to it.
Lumen then sent me more emails with instructions and invited me to join a group training via Zoom. In addition, he made sure to send me a video every day via the app that gives tips on how to improve my health, how to use products, and what I eat (why fruit juices are good for him), whether they’re bad or healthy. snack ideas).
The purpose of these videos is to help users stay connected to the product without leaving them. The videos are made in high quality, help you achieve your goals, and above all give you the feeling that you are not buying a disposable gadget, but a service that you want to keep using.
Lumen – Get used to breathing in and out every morning
The device is built like a thick e-cig. Comes with a black carrying case so you can easily carry it anywhere in your bag. The battery lasts several weeks, and the kit includes a desktop charger and carrying case.
The device uses technology developed by the startup and can measure metabolism in real-time just by the user’s breathing. This was previously only possible in the laboratory. This device measures carbon dioxide levels in the body, which indicates the type of fuel (fat or carbohydrate) the body needs to produce energy.
The device itself is easy to use, just inhale for 4 seconds, wait 10 seconds, then exhale for 6 seconds. It’s certainly simple, but it’s also difficult, and many times I didn’t have enough air to exhale and had to start over (the app guides me through the entire process). Another drawback is that the process is reminiscent of using e-cigarettes.
Immediately after the measurement, the application will display a score from 1 to 5. It tells you whether you burned more fat or more carbohydrates at that point. Lumen recommends testing every morning, but you can also test at night, 30 minutes before and after sports training, before meals, or 1-2 hours after meals.
At the beginning of each week (after a few weeks of use), you receive a score called your Flex. My initial score was 5.8. This means my body is less flexible when switching between using fat and carbohydrates for energy, according to Lumen.
This makes it difficult for the body to use fat as its main source of fuel. This increases the risk of chronic diseases such as metabolic disorders, insulin resistance, less stable energy levels during the day, and difficulty concentrating. This occurs in addition to poor sleep quality.
Over time, my score has improved and is currently at 10.0 (not the highest score, but somewhere in the middle). This means that my body is more flexible in switching between burning fat and carbohydrates for energy, but it’s still learning to use fat as its primary energy source. This improves weight loss, provides more stable energy, improves sleep quality, and also reduces the risk of various diseases.
Monthly payments and additional nutritionist fees
Lumen is constantly improving its application and has added a meal planning guide that provides easy access to information such as how much and when to eat carbohydrates at each meal, and meal menu suggestions. After measurement, you can observe the burning rate of fat and carbohydrates in your body.
This will help you understand the combustion activity in your body more accurately. We recently added the option of a personal nutritionist via chat and regular follow-up with her, including online group meetings during the 12-week program.
The price is N2,185 ($600).
It is best to know this in advance, as Lumen’s application does not include support for Hebrew (generally, this is a product not adapted for use in Israel). The app includes a monthly subscription that includes information about your diet, personal daily nutrition plan, macro food recommendations, metabolic training, support, and connectivity to his Garmin watch, Google Fit, and Apple Health. Insights provided. This subscription costs NIS 70 ($19) per month if the kit includes a free trial month.
I wasn’t very interested in the food recommendations or most of the tips provided by the app. Also, since this product is primarily aimed at the American market, its food database does not include Israeli food products, which makes this operation difficult (especially since his 9% of white or yellow If you want to find cheese).
Being able to enter food is certainly important, but I wasn’t that interested in the food recommendations I received from the app, so it stopped bothering me too much. It was difficult to input everything I ate into the app, and using the product was a lot of trial and error. I wanted to know how meals eaten at night or at certain times of the day affect fat and carbohydrate burning in the morning. By doing so, I was able to know which foods affected me and approximately when to stop eating them.
Price: NIS 1,100 ($300)
In short, rumen provides a good solution to understanding how our body’s metabolism works. This allows you to gain daily insights and know how your sports training affected your metabolism, what you had for dinner, what you ate there, and how the time you ate affected your body. I can. Lumen delivers what it promises to its users, as this allows them to live a healthier lifestyle.
On the other hand, this product requires persistence, the measuring process needs to be repeated from time to time (in case of unsuccessful exhalations), and this product is made more for the American market, so the Hebrew There is no interface and no food recommendations or information provided. The food nutrition it contains is inconvenient for use in Israel, so that must be taken into account.