BITESIZE | How To Control Your Blood Sugar, Cut Cravings and Get Your Energy Back | Jessie Inchauspé #470
French biochemist and author Jessie Inchauspé explains how to manage blood glucose levels without changing what you eat, just how. She shares practical hacks like eating food in a specific order and moving after meals to reduce glucose spikes, which can improve energy, mood, and overall health.
Deep Dive Analysis
9 Topic Outline
Introduction to blood glucose and overall well-being
The importance of food order for glucose levels
Fiber's mechanism in reducing glucose spikes
Jessie Inchauspé's personal journey to glucose discovery
The broad impact of blood sugar stability on health
Why stable glucose is better than rapid spikes
Common symptoms of glucose spikes and the 'rollercoaster'
Leveraging movement to mitigate blood sugar effects
Specific movement recommendations for glucose control
4 Key Concepts
Food Order for Glucose Control
Eating meal components in a specific sequence (vegetables first, then proteins/fats, then starches/sugars) can significantly reduce the glucose spike, leading to fewer cravings and less inflammation. This approach helps the body process the meal in an easier fashion.
Fiber's Protective Mesh
When fiber from vegetables arrives first in the digestive system, it deploys itself onto the wall of the upper intestine, forming a gooey mesh. This mesh stays for a few hours and prevents the body from absorbing too much glucose too quickly from subsequent foods.
Glucose Spike
A rapid and significant increase in blood sugar levels, which is more damaging to cells and overall health than a slower, more stable rise, even if the total glucose intake is the same. It can lead to various negative consequences depending on an individual's health history.
Glucose Rollercoaster
A state characterized by frequent, large blood sugar spikes followed by drops, which can manifest as unsteady energy levels, fatigue, and intense cravings. The majority of the population experiences this, often without realizing it, and it's not conducive to a healthy body.
5 Questions Answered
Eating vegetables first, followed by proteins/fats, and then starches/sugars, can reduce the glucose spike of a meal by up to 75% because fiber creates a protective mesh in the intestine, slowing glucose absorption.
After a severe back injury led to mental health issues, she used a continuous glucose monitor and observed a direct correlation between her glucose spikes and episodes of anxiety and dissociation, leading her to research glucose's broader impact.
Rapid increases and variability in blood sugar are more damaging to cells than steady levels, affecting weight, immune function, hormones, energy, sleep, skin, and aging, even in non-diabetics.
The most common symptoms include unsteady energy levels (e.g., tiredness at 10 a.m. or 3 p.m.) and intense cravings, which are triggered by the brain's craving center activating during the drop after a spike.
Muscles use glucose for energy, so engaging in physical activity for about 10 minutes after a meal helps soak up glucose from the bloodstream, reducing the post-meal spike without changing the meal's content.
5 Actionable Insights
1. Optimize Meal Order for Stable Glucose
Eat vegetables first, then proteins and fats, and finally starches and sugars to reduce glucose spikes by up to 75%. This order allows fiber from vegetables to form a protective mesh in the intestine, slowing glucose absorption and leading to fewer cravings and less inflammation.
2. Move After Meals to Lower Glucose
Engage your muscles for 10 minutes within 90 minutes after a meal to reduce glucose spikes. Movement helps muscles absorb glucose from the bloodstream for energy, mitigating the impact of the meal on your blood sugar levels, with calf raises being a particularly effective option.
3. Identify Glucose Rollercoaster Symptoms
Pay attention to unsteady energy levels (e.g., tiredness at 10 am or 3 pm) and frequent cravings, as these are common symptoms of being on a ‘glucose rollercoaster’ due to blood sugar spikes and drops. Understanding these links can help you address the root cause of these feelings.
4. Consult Healthcare for Dietary Changes
If you have an existing health condition, are taking medication, or are suffering from/recovering from an eating disorder, always consult your healthcare practitioner before making drastic changes to your diet.
5. Share Valuable Podcast Episodes
If you found the podcast useful and valuable, consider sharing an episode with five different people to help spread messages of positivity, compassion, and health.
7 Key Quotes
You can reduce the glucose spike of your meal by up to 75% by just changing the order of the foods in it.
Jessie Inchauspé
Fiber deploys itself onto the wall of your upper intestine, forming a protective gooey mesh that stays there for a few hours. That mesh then prevents your body from absorbing too much glucose too quickly from any of the food coming down afterwards.
Jessie Inchauspé
Nothing matters more than health. If you don't have your health, it doesn't matter what job you have. It doesn't matter what you're studying in school. Like you just can't live your life fully if your health is not okay.
Jessie Inchauspé
It's the increase in your blood sugar levels, the rapid increase and the variability, which is more damaging to your cells than a sort of steadier, more stable glucose level.
Jessie Inchauspé
You cannot have a healthy body if you're on a glucose rollercoaster. It's just not possible.
Jessie Inchauspé
The majority of the population is on this rollercoaster.
Jessie Inchauspé
In our muscles, we have a lot of mitochondria and they turn glucose into energy so that your muscles can contract.
Jessie Inchauspé
2 Protocols
Food Order for Stable Blood Sugar
Jessie Inchauspé- Eat vegetables first.
- Eat proteins and fats second.
- Eat starches and sugars last.
Post-Meal Movement for Glucose Control
Jessie Inchauspé- Within 90 minutes after the end of your meal, use your muscles for 10 minutes.
- This can include walking, cleaning your kitchen, doing bicep curls with a water bottle, or performing calf raises.