I came across French bio-chemist, Jessie Inchauspé, maybe three years ago. It was a chance stumble-upon, and ever since I’ve incorporated her hacks where I can (and bleated at my family to do the same). In short, I feel as if Jessie has helped to change the way that I look at food; whether it’s the sequence in which I eat, the importance of getting my body moving after a bigger meal and the benefits of guzzling down apple cider vinegar.
The Glucose Goddess movement really took shape back in 2019. Inchauspé has since carried with her a wave of converts – people who have found meaning and purpose in the way they eat and look after their blood sugar levels based on her recommended daily hacks.
How? She offers everything from free dietary advice, to bio-hacks, to recipes all via her books and Instagram profile. And has as recently as a month ago released an Anti-Spike supplement.
So who is Inchauspé – the Glucose Goddess – and what is her method?
Who is Jessie Inchauspé?
Jessie Inchauspé is a bio-chemist and author of Glucose Revolution and The Glucose Goddess Method. She translates the noise and detail of science into easy tips that essentially help people to improve their physical and mental health.
Her work centres around the discovery that blood sugars affect almost every aspect of our lives, whether it be our hormones, our hunger, our mood, our skin, our overall health and even our fertility (to name a few). In response to this discovery, Inchauspé has developed everyday hacks to help us manage those blood sugars to our advantage.
What is a glucose spike?
When we deliver too much glucose too quickly to our body during a meal, we experience what is called a glucose spike (if you’re picturing a fabulous graph, you’re on the right track).
This is not something that only affects people with diabetes. Most of us experience glucose spikes (about 80% of the population, according to some US estimates), and unfortunately, these spikes carry with them consequences that can harm both our physical and mental health.
Why are big glucose spikes bad for us?
At a higher level, consistently large sugar fluctuations can affect our gut health, our sleep and our insulin resistance. They also increase our likelihood of developing diabetes, Alzheimer’s and heart disease.
At a smaller level, spikes and drops leave people feeling tired and hungry. You know that beckoning choccy bar that we all can’t resist at 3pm? Well, you’ll probably realise that the slump you experience a few hours later is largely to blame for the initial sugar spike. And you know that gnawing hunger you feel every few hours? Yep, that’s largely due to those same sugar spikes. Inchauspé argues that to curb those cravings we need to flatten the curve. So how do we do that?
What is the Glucose Goddess Method?
What’s important to know is that this isn’t a diet. Inchauspé tells us that, “Its objective is not weight loss. It is not restrictive, it doesn’t ask you to count calories, and it even asks you to eat more than usual. It is about health and healing your body from the inside out, and feeling amazing at any body size. But to many people’s surprise, they actually lose weight while doing it, even though they are eating more than usual and not counting calories.”
At its core, the Glucose Goddess Method asks all people, not only diabetics, to assess their blood sugar levels and employ some everyday hacks. Inchauspé’s approach uses four main ideas to combat these glucose spikes;
- start each day with a savoury breakfast: this is because a sweet breakfast will harm our mitochondria and give our body less energy, as opposed to more, while also increase cravings throughout the day
- have one tablespoon of vinegar a day before the meal that will be highest in glucose: this is because studies have shown that one tablespoon of vinegar can reduce glucose spikes by up to 30%, and so cravings are curbed, hunger is tamed and more fat is burned
- add a veggie starter to one meal per day: this is because the fibre in veggies lines the intestinal walls and reduced the absorption of glucose into the bloodstream (even if you’re eating carbs at the end of your meal)
- after one meal each day, move for 10 minutes: this is because with every muscle contraction we burn up glucose molecules
Photography by Iulia Matei
What are some ways steadying my glucose will help me in the short term?
Here are some simple (and oh-so-beautiful) ways that steadying your glucose will help you in the short term.
Cravings sorted
If you have steadier glucose levels, you’re less likely to experience a crash, and ultimately crave more sugary food. You’re essentially stepping off the cravings-crash roller coaster. In 2011, a research team from Yale placed people in an fMRI scanner, showed them photos of crave-worthy foods on a screen and at the same time monitored their glucose levels. What the researchers discovered was that when the subjects’ glucose levels were stable, everything looked normal. However, when their glucose levels were low, the craving centre of their brains lit up and they rated the foods they were seeing much higher on the “I want to eat it” scale.
Chronic fatigue lifted
Mitochondria, which are the organelles in our cells that transform glucose into energy, are happier and less sluggish and ‘shocked’ when we don’t inundate them with sugary or starchy-cum-sugary food. We feel that we’ve got more energy and are able to easily commit to everyday tasks without that feeling of having no energy in the tank.
Hunger abated
Now I love eating more than the average person, but even I will admit that feeling fuller for longer has its benefits. No rooting around for food, no vending machine visits, just a feeling of satiated contentedness. Studies have shown that if you compare two meals containing the same number of calories, the one that leads to a smaller glucose spike will keep you feeling full for longer. So even if you don’t change how many calories you eat, just focusing on your glucose levels will free you from constant hunger. The secret here? Go big on protein, good fats and fibre, and leave your carbs as a smaller percentage on your plate (and eat them last).
Weight changes
While this isn’t a diet, if you’re interested in reaching a certain weight for health reasons, monitoring and working with your glucose levels often sees weight drop off. This is because once you start realising the foods that spike you, and therefore crash you, you’ll likely resist them more, and therefore have steadier sugars and snack or crave sugary food less.
Better sleep
Welcome to the land of better sleep. Studies have shown that going to sleep after a big glucose spike means you’ll have a less restorative slumber. You’ll also get off the rollercoaster too, because when we have a bad night’s sleep, we’re more likely to have big glucose spikes after breakfast the next day. It’s a vicious cycle, and you can easily jump off.
Improved mental health
Unlike your other organs, your brain doesn’t have sensory nerves so when something is wrong or out of kilter, it can’t alert you in the usual ways we usually experience pain. Instead we experience mental disturbances – think anxiety and poor mood – when our sugar levels spike.. On the upside, when you have steady glucose levels your brain is happier and your mood is better. Cheers to that.
Boosted gut health
Help heal leaky gut, IBS and slowed intestinal transit by flattening your sugar spikes. After all, it all starts with what we eat, so it’s no wonder that our gut – or our second brain – is affected when we experience these big spikes. Those sugars cause inflammation that damages our gut lining which can lead to everything from gas and bloating to food allergies and autoimmune diseases. Fix your sugar spikes and you’ll see marked improvement in your overall gut health.
Want more from the woman herself? Cause, same. Here’s our speedy Q&A.
Our quick Q&A with Jessie Inchauspé aka The Glucose Goddess
WH: What is the most common misconception around blood sugar?
JI: That only people with diabetes need to care about their blood sugar.
WH: Why and how did you start your journey into blood sugar?
JI: When I was a teenager I had an accident that deeply impacted my physical and mental health. After it I went on a quest to try to get my health back, and it led me to discover blood sugar after 10 years.
WH: Can you tell us a bit about your mantras: eating sequence, acv, walking after eating and clothing your carbs? Which of those mantras would you adopt first if you’re a beginner?
JI: Yes! There are 10 hacks in my first book, Glucose Revolution, and in the second book the Glucose Goddess Method, I focus on the 4 most important ones: savoury breakfast (because sweet food in the morning creates a full day of glucose rollercoaster and fatigue), a vinegar drink before eating a meal high in carbs (to harness the power of acetic acid and slow down digestion), a veggie starter (to take advantage of fiber, an amazingly powerful substance), and finally walking after eating (so that some of the glucose you just ate goes to your muscles instead of creating a spike). The most powerful place to start is the savoury breakfast!
WH: Are there any health trends you see as particularly misleading when it comes to blood sugar?
JI: Yes, there is a lot of marketing and probably the worst thing for our blood sugar levels are sweet breakfast foods and fruit smoothies.
WH: How do blood sugar levels and intermittent fasting interact? Is there something we should be aware of in terms of fasting until 12pm, coffee, workouts etc.
JI: When we are fasted, anything we eat will get to our bloodstream very quickly and impact us. So if you intermittent fast make sure to break your fast with something savoury!
WH: What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learnt on your glucose travels?
JI: That our mood, personality, and emotions can also be impacted by our glucose levels.
WH: How are you seeing that the world is noticing the message that you and your peers are putting out?
JI: The response has been great! It’s wonderful to be able to teach people about their bodies and to make complicated science easy and accessible. It’s an honor to do this work.
WH: What’s your indulgence? We’re all human.
JI: Ha! I don’t see things as indulgences, just pleasure decisions (vs. health decisions). I’m a BIG chocolate fan. So anything chocolate, from a big fudge cake to chocolate ice cream.
Photography by Iulia Matei
