Serena Williams has one word top of mind when it comes to health – longevity.
The 44-year-old tennis star opened up about her experience with GLP-1 medications in August after partnering with healthcare company Ro. She’s also teamed up with Lingo by Abbott, a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) that tracks glucose in your interstitial fluids.
After she stopped playing tennis, she became obsessed with healthy eating and living. She’s used Lingo since its U.S. launch in September 2024, and tracking her health data has empowered her to make more informed food choices and leave the word “diet” behind.
More than 80% of people with prediabetes don’t know they have it, as it often has no symptoms. However, it’s very common. More than 1 in 3 U.S. adults have prediabetes. While it’s possible to reverse prediabetes, it’s typically not possible to reverse diabetes complications, making prevention and proper management essential.
It’s an issue that hits close to home for Williams, who has a family history of diabetes. Lingo’s mission is to help people understand how their body reacts to different dietary choices, which sometimes can reveal early signs worth paying attention to.
CGMs for non-diabetics have picked up steam as a new wellness trend, but not everyone in the health field is so bullish on their prospects for everyone. But Williams says preventative health is all about finding balance, even if she falls closer to one end of the spectrum.
“Who am I kidding? I’m not balanced. I’m definitely an extremist,” Williams says over the phone from Florida. “But I also want what’s best for myself, and I think other people do too.”
She shares two children − Olympia, 7, and Adira, 2 − with husband Alexis Ohanian (an investor in Ro), for whom she wants to stay as healthy as possible.
“Who doesn’t want longevity? Because that’s what it all boils down to,” she adds.
What are CGMs?
CGMs are small sensors placed under the skin of your arm that send data to your smartphone and offer insights on your blood sugar levels. It’s a tool diabetics may use, and it can even connect to an insulin pump (Lingo is not used for managing diseases, including diabetes, and cannot connect to an insulin pump).
Some nutrition experts say a CGM can be valuable for non-diabetics by encouraging them to choose healthier foods and stave off chronic disease. However, some people with diabetes feel this wellness trend trivializes their experience, especially since many patients can’t access these lifesaving devices due to the cost.
Dr. Robert Shmerling, senior faculty editor of Harvard Health Publishing at Harvard Medical School, previously told USA TODAY he thinks continuous glucose monitoring is marketing getting ahead of the science. If you aren’t diabetic, for example, he says the research doesn’t support CGMs as effective.
But people who use CGMs – like Williams – may still find them valuable. Some non-diabetic CGM users have even discovered they were experiencing symptoms of hypoglycemia or low blood sugar, helping them get proper care sooner.
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How GLP-1s and Lingo fit into Williams’ big picture of health
When announcing her partnership with Ro, Williams shared that she lost 31 pounds on the GLP-1 drug Zepbound, a type of medication typically prescribed for diabetes and now also used for weight management.
“My story with Ro and GLP-1s, I did everything to get healthy, and I wasn’t getting there,” she explains. She considers fad diets a thing of the past, given the technology people now have access to.
“I think fad diets were great because that’s all we had back then,” she says. “Everyone was still trying to be healthy and trying their best. But this (Lingo) is something that actually works. You can make real-time decisions.” The Lingo app will even send her reminders to take a walk or do 10 squats.
She feels better than ever on GLP-1s and says using Lingo has been a good contributor to monitoring her health throughout this journey.
“There are positives and negatives to all types of things, and you have to decide if that’s what you want,” she says.
‘My life has been health’
With 23 Grand Slam titles, Williams spent her life optimizing her performance. And while she’s carried that mentality into motherhood, part of her focus has shifted to her kids’ nutrition.
“As an athlete, health is our life,” she says. “And even more so as a mom, I really watch how I prepare food.”
Williams cooks for her children five to six days a week, and wants to pass down healthy eating habits.
“Lingo has really helped me understand what I’m eating,” she adds. “I just take that education, just throughout my life, and transfer it to things I’m learning for my kids.”
Contributing: David Oliver, Adrianna Rodriguez