Metabolic health enters the Oura ring

Oura is rolling out two new features, “Meals” and “Glucose,” aimed at giving users a deeper understanding of their metabolic health. This move signals a broader effort by the company to provide more comprehensive health insights, guided by artificial intelligence.

Oura’s new direction is metabolic

This latest update has been in the works for a while, notably building on Oura’s significant $75 million partnership with Dexcom that was first announced back in November. The core of the new glucose tracking capability will rely on Dexcom’s Stelo biosensor, which has received FDA approval.

Once integrated with the Oura app, users will be able to see their glucose data in real-time, right alongside their existing sleep, stress, and activity metrics. The idea is to show you, through contextual graphs, how your glucose levels react to what you eat, how you sleep, and when you move.

Making sense of all this new data will lean heavily on Oura Advisor, the company’s AI-driven guidance system. Currently, Oura Advisor provides insights on sleep, activity, readiness, and stress resilience, and it’s designed to remember past interactions with users to personalize its advice.

However, it’s worth noting that the dietary and metabolic guidance from the AI is still in its early phases of development. For those who link a Stelo device, a new metric called “Time Above Range” will also be available, highlighting periods when glucose levels are elevated. The system will also feature AI-powered trend analysis to monitor glucose fluctuations throughout the day.

Meals gets a second life with added context

The “Meals” feature, which some users might have trialled during its beta phase, is now officially launched. It lets users take a photo of their food or upload a picture, then provides an AI-powered breakdown of what’s in it. Oura doesn’t bother with calorie counts. It focuses on the quality of the food instead, offering analysis of fiber, carbs, protein, sugar, and processing level.

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During the test period, uptake of the feature was light. But this new glucose pairing gives it more relevance. Seeing how a specific meal affects your blood sugar, recovery, or sleep is something users might be more inclined to engage with. It’s no longer just a food log, it’s connected to what your body is actually doing.

Availability and a touch of drama

Initially, both new features will only be available to users in the US. Oura has mentioned plans to expand the “Meals” feature to international users later in 2025. However, the glucose tracking functionality will be exclusive to users who have a Stelo biosensor. A 30-day supply of these will set users back $99. On a brighter note for US customers, both the Oura ring itself and the Stelo biosensors are eligible for HSA/FSA reimbursement.

Now, for a bit of an interesting sidebar.

It hasn’t gone unnoticed in some circles that Oura, which recently took legal action against competitor Ultrahuman for allegedly copying its smart ring design, is now launching metabolic health insights that heavily rely on a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM). This is a space where Ultrahuman has been active for some time, integrating CGM data with its own ring.

The argument is that detailed metabolic insights, particularly those tied to glucose, really require a CGM, something a ring alone can’t provide. At least, not yet. So, the timing of Oura’s “new” metabolic tracking, coming shortly after an initial favorable ruling in its patent dispute against a brand known for this very integration, has certainly raised a few eyebrows and prompted some online commentary about who is drawing inspiration from whom.

To recap the legal front, an Administrative Law Judge at the US International Trade Commission made an initial determination that smart ring brands Ultrahuman and RingConn infringed on Oura’s patent. According to Oura, the infringement covered “every element of every asserted claim of Oura’s patent.” This initial finding is still subject to review by the full US International Trade Commission, which will make a final determination in the coming months.

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