Google's New Watch Feature Estimates Insulin Resistance Trends Without Measuring Blood Sugar

Google has introduced a new feature for its eligible Pixel watches and Fitbit devices that estimates whether a person's insulin resistance is trending higher or lower. This feature, called Insulin Resistance Trends, does not measure blood sugar levels but instead analyzes physiological data collected by the watch to identify patterns associated with managing blood sugar.

The data used includes heart rate, heart rate variability, sleep patterns, skin temperature variation, blood oxygen, and movement. The company states that the feature is not intended for diabetes management or medication adjustment and should only be used as a wellness trend indicator to prompt users to schedule a clinical lab test if their trend worsens.

Google's research on this feature, published in Nature, trained models against laboratory measures of insulin resistance using wearable data from 1,165 participants. However, the company emphasizes that its consumer feature uses only wearable sensors without blood biomarkers and has not been independently validated for everyday use.