Improve sleep, mood and energy, and even slow down ageing with easy science-based hacks to manage blood glucose levels.
Interview: Ellie Smith
Biochemist Jessie Inchauspé (aka the Glucose Goddess) has amassed 640k followers on Instagram, sharing simple hacks for balancing blood sugar. Getting glucose under control, she says, is the key to curbing cravings, boosting energy levels, dodging disease and even taming menopause symptoms such as hot flushes and insomnia. We find out more.
Where did your interest in glucose begin?
I broke my back jumping off a waterfall at the age of 19 and suffered a lot, both physically and mentally. This led me to go on a journey to try and understand my body and heal myself. I studied biochemistry and then went to work in the field of genetics. There, I discovered glucose and found glucose spikes were playing a central role in my painful mental health episodes. I decided to learn everything there was to know about glucose and it was life-changing. Now I’m sharing what I’ve learnt with others.
What are glucose spikes?
Glucose is our body’s main source of energy. We get most of it from the food we eat, and it’s then carried in our bloodstream to our cells. Its concentration can fluctuate greatly throughout the day, and sharp increases in concentration – I call them glucose spikes – affect everything from our mood, our sleep, our weight and our skin, to the health of our immune system and our risk of heart disease, cancer, gut problems, Alzheimer’s and diabetes.
Do we all need to watch our blood sugar?
You will rarely hear glucose discussed unless you have diabetes, but it actually affects each and every one of us, regardless of our weight or health status. Studies show the vast majority of the population (about 90%) experience glucose spikes every single day without knowing it. Years of daily spikes slowly increase our fasting glucose level, a pattern we discover only once that level is classified as pre-diabetic.
Jessie’s 5 hacks for flattening glucose spikes
1 EAT FOODS IN THE RIGHT ORDER
Two identical meals can have a very different impact on your glucose levels, depending on the order you eat the food on your plate. Ideally, we’d eat vegetables first, protein and fats second, and starches and sugars last. This is due to the protective effect of fibre which curbs the glucose spike. According to researchers, the effect of this sequencing is comparable to the effects of diabetes medications that are prescribed to lower glucose spikes.
2 ADD A GREEN STARTER
A green starter is a starter made from vegetables (cooked or raw). Again, thanks to fibr
