Glucose Revolution: the Science

******Listen to this podcast : On Purpose with Jay Shetty, March 18 episode with Jessie Inchauspe

The information below comes from this podcast as well as Jessie Inchauspe’s books - Glucose Revolution (heavy on the science) and Glucose Goddess Method (overview with recipes and a 4 week planner)

The information below is easier to understand after listening to this podcast, but if this is too much science, skip to the next section, Glucose Revolution: the Plan.

Why should you care about your sugar?

- 88% of Americans have dysregulated sugar levels, with sugar spikes and crashes throughout the day.

- These sugar spikes can cause a variety of symptoms including low energy, poor mood/irritability, poor sleep, brain fog/trouble concentrating, weight gain/unable to lose weight, headaches, stomach symptoms, poor immune system functioning/frequent colds, increased risk of heart disease and diabetes, infertility …

- These extreme fluctuations in sugar also cause cravings and difficulty losing weight.

Sugar in Nature

Plants combine carbon dioxide and water, in the presence of sunlight, to make glucose. They use glucose as energy. This process is photosynthesis.

On cloudy, rainy days and at night, when plants do not have access to sunlight, they cannot perform photosynthesis. During these times, plants have to use stored glucose. They store glucose as starch in their roots - potatoes, turnips, parsnips (root/starchy vegetables).

Plants can also store sugar as fiber. Our bodies can’t break fiber down into glucose, so it won’t spike your sugar. Eating more fiber can help control diabetes.

Plants use amylase to break starch down into glucose for energy. Plants can break off pieces of glucose from the starch chains in their roots to have instant energy without photosynthesis. Humans also use an amylase enzyme to break down the sugar we eat.

Other stored forms of sugar in plants are fructose and sucrose. Fruit flesh is fructose. Sucrose is the most compact form of sugar stored in plants. These are the forms of sugar that are broken down the fastest, so they will spike your sugar more than starches. It is important to limit intake of fructose and sucrose.

Nature intended us to consume glucose in plant-form. Plants contain fiber with the other forms of sugar - starch, sucrose, fructose. Fiber naturally slows down our body’s absorption of glucose. When eaten in its natural form, sugar doesn’t have the same effects on our bodies as when it is eaten in processed form.

Our cells use glucose for energy. When glucose is low, our liver makes glucose/ gluconeogenesis. When glucose is even more limited, we can use fat as fuel/energy. But if we constantly supply our body with sugar, we will not use these reserves and will not be able to enter fat-burning mode = unable to lose weight.

Processed foods

Fiber cannot be frozen and then thawed, so many food industries strip fiber from processed food products. The food processing industry also often adds sugar to our foods. When we eat a diet high in processed foods, we are not eating sugar as nature intended - in its plant form.

(Plants contain fiber and lower concentrations of sugar compared to processed foods, including fruit juices and dried fruits).

Processed foods are low in fiber and high in concentrated sugar which causes higher glucose spikes.

Craving sweets?

Our brains developed to have cravings for sweet foods because they are packed with calories/energy. This was important when food was scarce. Sweet foods were important for survival in our hunter/gatherer days. For these reasons, we still get a dopamine rush and experience pleasure when we eat sweets. Our brain’s dopamine response can lead to addiction and cravings.

Mitochondria, Free Radicals, Inflammation, and Insulin

Mitochondria turn glucose into usable energy in our bodies, but they have an energy production limit. They can’t make extra energy if they are given extra glucose. When we eat more glucose than the energy we need, the mitochondria become overwhelmed and free radicals are created. When our mitochondria are overwhelmed, they also become less efficient.

When we consume more glucose than our mitochondria can process, our mitochondria become overwhelmed and less efficient. This leads to less energy physically - fatigue - and mentally - stress. When our mitochondria are not able to process all of the glucose in our system, this leads to a glucose spike. During a glucose spike, this excess glucose is stored in our muscles and liver and also converted to fat. When we constantly overload our system with too much glucose, we gain weight.

Free radicals are a normal product of the necessary chemical reactions within our cells. Anti-oxidants, exercise, and stress relief can all counteract these free radicals.

Oxidative stress increases when we consume fructose. Fat cells also increase oxidative stress. Oxidative stress causes heart disease, diabetes, dementia…. The combination of free radicals, oxidative stress, and excess glucose leads to inflammation. Inflammation causes acne, psoriasis, eczema, arthritis, food allergies/sensitivities...

When our mitochondria can’t handle all of the glucose, our pancreas releases insulin to signal cells to pull glucose out of our bloodstream. Glucose can then be stored in the liver and in our muscles. When these organs reach their capacity, all extra glucose is stored as fat. Fructose can only be stored as fat. Fat stored in our liver causes liver disease. Fat stored in our blood stream raises our cholesterol leading to heart disease and stroke. Fat stored in our fat reserves causes weight gain. Once insulin is released, it takes about 2 hours for our insulin level to come back down. If you are eating every 2 hours, your insulin level will remain high. This leads to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

Unable to lose weight?

Our body stores excess glucose as fat when our insulin levels are up. Insulin levels must be low for our body to burn our fat reserves. Weight loss cannot occur while insulin levels are up. In order to lose weight, we must use and burn our reserved energy - glycogen in the liver and muscles and our fat reserves.

Repeated glucose spikes and high insulin levels also change our hunger hormones. Leptin signals “fullness/satiety” and ghrelin signals “hunger”. With glucose spikes, insulin levels stay up, and ghrelin “hunger” is more active and blocks the signals of leptin “fullness/satiety”.

Flattening our glucose curve, preventing glucose spikes, is necessary to decrease our insulin levels so that we can lose weight, feel better, and stay healthier.

To learn more: Follow Jessie Inchauspe @glucosegoddess

Read her books - Glucose Goddess Method

Glucose Revolution