In this episode of The School of Greatness podcast, the discussion focuses on strategies for optimizing brain health through glucose management and morning routines. Jessie Inchauspé, the guest, shares practical tips for maintaining stable glucose levels throughout the day—from starting with a savory, protein-rich breakfast to incorporating vinegar and vegetables as "shields" against glucose spikes.
The conversation also explores the broader impacts of glucose fluctuations on inflammation, aging, hormone regulation, and cognitive function. Inchauspé emphasizes the importance of physical activity in directing glucose to muscles, underscoring the connection between exercise and glucose management. Overall, the episode provides actionable insights for promoting metabolic and mental well-being through dietary and lifestyle choices.
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According to Jessie Inchauspé, a savory, protein-rich breakfast stabilizes glucose, preventing spikes and subsequent crashes that trigger cravings. She suggests options like leftover salmon cakes to feel energized throughout the day. Adding savory proteins to carb-heavy foods can also help "put clothing on your carbs" and moderate blood sugar.
Inchauspé recommends consuming one tablespoon of vinegar in water before a carb-heavy meal. The acetic acid slows carbohydrate breakdown, reducing the post-meal glucose spike by 30%.
Beginning meals with vegetables creates a viscous fiber "shield" in the intestine that slows glucose entry into the bloodstream, blunting spikes after the meal.
Inchauspé advises engaging in 10 minutes of activity after eating to direct glucose into working muscles rather than spiking blood sugar levels.
Frequent glucose spikes from sugar intake accelerate aging via glycation, potentially leading to prediabetes, dementia, sexual dysfunction, and skin issues like eczema. Late-night sugar causes hormonal disruptions that impair sleep.
Maintaining steady glucose avoids cravings, crashes, and stress while promoting youthfulness, hunger regulation, and hormonal balance, Inchauspé explains.
Engaging muscles after a meal, even up to 90 minutes later, helps direct glucose to working cells rather than spiking blood levels, underscoring exercise's role in glucose regulation.
1-Page Summary
Jessie Inchauspé offers several strategies for keeping glucose levels stable, emphasizing the importance of meal composition and timing of certain activities.
Inchauspé strongly advises against consuming sugar in the morning, suggesting that a savory breakfast can prevent the glucose spikes and subsequent crashes that lead to unwanted cravings. She emphasizes that a protein-rich breakfast helps in avoiding spikes and cravings that are often the result of a sweet breakfast like orange juice and granola. Inchauspé shares her own breakfast choice of leftover salmon cakes, green beans, rice, and Parmesan cheese as an example of a protein-centric meal that can benefit glucose levels.
Additionally, Inchauspé suggests adding Greek yogurt to chocolate cake or chicken, cheese, or vegetables to pasta as a way of "putting clothing on your carbs," inferring that adding savory protein sources to carbohydrate-rich foods can help stabilize blood sugar. She reinforces the idea that by treating breakfast like any other meal with savory foods, individuals can feel energized and in control throughout the day.
When feeling hungry for a snack, Inchauspé advises choosing savory options over sweet ones to maintain balanced glucose levels. Sweet snacks, especially on an empty stomach, can cause rapid glucose spikes and subsequent energy crashes, while savory snacks are less likely to disrupt blood sugar stability.
Inchauspé discusses the benefit of consuming vinegar, particularly one tablespoon in a big glass of water before a meal, to significantly reduce glucose spikes post-carbohydrate consumption. She highlights the efficacy of this method by noting a 30% reduction in glucose spikes. This effect is due to the acetic acid present in vinegar, which slows down the breakdown of carbohydrates into glucose molecules, leading to a more gradual absorption of nutrients into the bloodstream. This strategy can be particularly helpful before eating snacks or meals prone to causing glucose spikes.
Strategies For Maintaining Healthy Glucose Levels
Jessie Inchauspé provides an in-depth look at how glucose regulation can have a profound impact on one's overall health and well-being.
Consuming sugar results in glucose spikes, leading to a cascade of negative health effects. Inchauspé explains that the more glucose spikes one experiences, the faster they age due to a process called glycation. This frequent spiking can cause "cooking" of the organs, much like browning, resulting in wrinkles on the skin and accelerated organ aging.
Not only can frequent glucose spikes contribute to premature aging, but they can also cause concerning health issues like prediabetes and exacerbate conditions such as brain fog, psoriasis, and fertility problems. Symptoms of these glucose spikes manifest as sugar cravings, tiredness, mental slowness (or brain fog), disrupted sleep, and skin inflammation issues like acne, psoriasis, or eczema.
Eating sugary items like ice cream late at night leads to significant glucose elevations, increasing inflammation and disrupting sleep-regulating hormones, which compromises sleep quality. The effects may include feeling hungover, grogginess, and swelling of the hands or face the next morning.
Maintaining steady glucose levels is critical for avoiding the numerous adverse effects of sugar intake highs and lows.
Glucose Regulation and Health Impacts
Understanding how physical activity influences glucose management can help in maintaining better blood sugar levels, especially after consuming foods that tend to cause spikes in glucose.
Muscle cells require glucose for energy, and exercise helps direct this glucose to the muscles efficiently, playing a critical role in managing blood sugar levels. After a meal that causes a glucose spike, such as one with ice cream, performing simple movements like calf raises for about 10 minutes can be beneficial. This activity helps the muscles absorb some of the excess glucose, thereby preventing a sharp spike. Furthermore, engaging muscles after eating, even up to 90 min ...
The Connection Between Physical Activity and Glucose Management
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