Lumen
Lumen
On a scale of 1 to 5 where 5 = Best and 1 = Worst
Performance:
5/5
Easy to Use:
4/5
Health Insights:
4/5
Aesthetics:
5/5
Worth It:
Not for Everyone
Link to Lumen
Take me to the TLDR Summary
I got my Lumen about a year ago and was super excited by the prospect of being able to “Hack my Metabolism” and get a better sense of how certain foods affect my body. The concept behind this product is that you take a breath through the device, and it is able to tell you whether your body is burning fats or carbs at a given time based off of the CO2 levels in your breath. This article has a great explanation on how it works. To use the product, you need to take a breath when you wake up in the morning and are in a fasted state (before you eat anything). The app uses a scale of 1-5 to tell you if you are burning fats or carbs. The goal is to wake up primarily burning fats (1 or 2 on the scale). Based on the results of your morning breath, the app provides a daily nutrition plan. It also updates the nutrition plan based on components like your health goals and whether you are exercising that day (in which case it increases the carbs a bit). Typically, if you wake up burning carbs the app will suggest a low carb day, whereas if you wake up burning fats it typically maintains a normal carb intake. Throughout the day, you can also use the app to see how your body switches between fat and carb burning mode, either after exercising or eating meals, etc.
Every week, Lumen will give you a metabolic flexibility score which is calculated based on your breath measurement results. A higher score represents a more flexible metabolism, which supposedly indicates how well your body can efficiently use both carbs and fat. In addition to the metabolic flexibility, Lumen does a great job of providing great educational articles on nutrition and even has suggested recipes and a database to look up the nutritional value behind meal components. Overall, this is an incredibly well designed product and I think there is a lot of potential for great health insights. However, with the current state it really depends on what you are trying to get out of it to drive whether the price point and level of effort is worth it for you. For a health data nerd like me, I love it. If you are trying to lose weight or get actionable insights, I’m not sure this is the right tool for that purpose. Below is my review on how this product performs across 5 categories. Hopefully this will help you decide if Lumen is to tool for you.
Product Review
Performance: 5/5
I’ve had my Lumen for over a year and it works flawlessly. The app is really well designed and has superb customer service. I’ve had a couple of questions regarding the product and always got an immediate response. It has excellent tutorials to help you understand the product and optimize its use. It also includes reminders throughout the day to encourage you to take your morning breath, check how you have shifted after certain meals, etc. They also started sending weekly reports on how you compare to people in similar conditions, which is pretty cool.
Easy to Use: 4/5
Although the app has great tutorials on how to use your lumen and it is simple to use, I gave it a 4/5 because it takes a bit of time and consistency to get the insights. You need to remember to use it while fasted and you need to be sitting with a resting heart rate for optimal results. This has added about 5 mins to my daily routine and, while I think it is worth the trouble, it does require taking a couple minutes out of my day to use it. Lumen has started to implement features like single breath measurements to try to expedite this process.
Health Insights: 4/5
This is probably one of the coolest features of the product. It’s been really interesting to see how my body reacts to specific carb intakes, workouts, etc. It is also amazing to see how my metabolism is impacted as a result of factors like stress, sleep, alcohol, etc. For a data nerd like me, this is a really great product to learn more about your body. However, I gave it a 4/5 because I’m not sure I’ve gotten a lot of actionable insights as a result of it. For example, I don’t recommend using this tool if your goal is weight loss. As someone who has studied a lot of about nutrition, I think Lumen tends to recommend an incredibly high fat intake. Moreover, when I did try following their suggested meal plan, I didn’t see a whole lot of results. With the app, you can also pay extra to have a coach. I tried this feature for about a month and didn’t see a whole lot of value. That said, this is a relatively new product and I think Lumen can get there!
Aesthetics: 5/5
The product is beautiful. It’s like they got someone from Apple to help them design the product because it is sleek and works seamlessly. The materials are extremely high quality and the app has a very clean design. It comes with a protective pouch that I use to store it and it is pretty easy to travel with and bring around with you.
Worth It?
I think this really depends on what you are trying to get out of it. The price point is a bit steep and it does require time and effort to use it and gain the insights. If you are really into health and analytics, I think it is worth it and you will enjoy it. If you are looking for a quick and simple solution to lose weight, I’m not sure this is the product for you. If you don’t really care about health and analytics, maybe also not the best fit.
Full disclosure, I write these blogs in my spare time. I do not have an editor and am the only one who reviews the content. As a result, it is likely I’ll have the occasional typo or grammar mistake. If you find anything, feel free to let me know.
Lastly, I’ll admit food photography is not my forte. If you make the recipe and have a better picture, please share and I will happily post it and give you photo cred!
Loved the review on the product! Gave me a great idea on what to expect. Keep trying out new products!