382 - Addicted to Sugar? The Alarming Research They Don't Want You to See with Jessie Inchauspé

25:01You know, it gave me so much compassion for other humans. We're all going through something difficult. And if you are going through something difficult, just remember, it is going to get better. It's not forever. And these are phases and these are, you know, very difficult chapters, but it does get better. I think what I also, I felt that compassion in your work, and we'll talk about that a little bit later. I don't know if you recognize fully, or maybe you do because you had such tremendous success and I'm so excited to watch you continuing to have even more and more success on this mission, is you bring so much understanding and so much heartfelt compassion to this topic.

25:43It's such a joy to witness and it's really fun and we'll talk about that. Okay. Thank you. Let's talk more deeply about women and hormones. I happen to be blessed with an amazing community. We have all kinds of people all around the world. However you identify, you're welcome here. And we happen to have a lot of women. And women and hormones are a big deal. What do you wish every woman knew about blood sugar and hormones? That if your blood sugar is out of whack, your hormonal system is not going to function properly. So your blood sugar and your hormonal system are like two peas in a pod. They're very, very, very tightly connected.

26:20So if you suffer from any hormonal issues, maybe it's PCOS, maybe it's really difficult menopause symptoms, maybe it's fibroids, maybe it's endometriosis, maybe it's really tough PMS. Yes. All of these things have to do with your hormonal system. Now, I'm not saying that 100%, you know, steadying your glucose levels is going to solve everything. But the first place to look is to your glucose and to make sure that it's nice and steady, to use the hacks to give your hormonal system as much of a solid foundation of health as you possibly can. And most of us have glucose spikes on a daily basis without knowing it.

26:56So most of us tremendously benefit from applying this science to our lives. And naturally, a lot of those difficult hormonal issues tend to go away. So again, it's not your fault. It's not something you have to just contend with. It could be a message from within. Yes. Let's get into one of the simplest things we can do to start to flatten these curves. Eating foods in the right order. When I read this, I'm going to read a study that you have in your book from Cornell. If you eat the foods in the right order, a meal in a specific order, you can reduce your overall glucose spike by 73 % and your insulin spike by 48%.

27:34So tell us, what is the right order? Listen, this is mind-blowing. So the right order, quote unquote, to eat your food in is veggies first, proteins and fats second, and starches and sugars last. So let's take an example. Let's say your meal contains broccoli, salmon, pasta, avocado, and chocolate. Okay. The right order for your glucose levels is going to be broccoli first, then the salmon and the avocado, then the pasta, and then the chocolate. Okay. So the scientific theory shows us that if we do this, we can still eat the meal that we love eating. We can still eat the foods we love eating, but we reduce the impact on our body and on our glucose levels.

28:20And I want to make it very clear. This is the scientific theory. This is what the studies have shown us. In practice, you don't have to separate out your sandwich into different bits and make it overly complicated. But what we can take from this science is that when we're faced with a meal, and if it's easy to eat our veggies first, absolutely 100 % do it because it's going to help your body so much and try to keep the carbs for the end of the meal. So instead of rushing to the bread before anything else, keep the bread for after your main meal and maybe have the salad first or the broccoli first or the other veggies first.

28:54Yeah, this is super key. And the reason it works is because veggies contain a very powerful substance called fiber. We love fiber. She is the best. When we eat our veggies first at the beginning of the meal, the fiber in the veggies has time to coat our upper intestine and make like a protective like transformer super shield. And that super cool fiber shield is then going to slow down how quickly glucose molecules from the rest of the meal can make their way to your bloodstream. So you're still eating the same meal, but with the veggies first, you're protecting your body against those glucose spikes.

29:32I love it. In the book, I think we'll be able to maybe show this illustration. It's so stuck in my mind. You showed a sink as the stomach. And I was like, Like when I ate my broccoli first and my veggies first, it's like, oh, all this beautiful fiber lining it. It was like such a beautiful, fun illustration. By the way, both of us, I am obsessed with broccoli. Yeah? Like it's like my favorite. I think it's one of your favorite veggies. I love broccoli. Yeah, broccoli's best. Broccoli, cauliflower, big, big, big, big fan. I have a lot of good broccoli recipes in my book. I just, I just really dig the broccoli vibes.

30:03Me too. Yeah, excellent. And I feel like that's another message. Like do you have those? I have cravings sometimes for certain veggies. That's great. That means you're connected to what your body wants. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Okay. So in the glucose goddess method, which again, y 'all, you have got – I think you should get both of our books. Glucose goddess method, if you're like, give me the exact four-week prescription, I think you should get both because they're both brilliant. But you've chosen what you have seen from a science perspective to have like the biggest impact, right? So in glucose revolution, we have 10 hacks.

30:36And in the glucose goddess method, which is a four-week program, we have four. Yes. And, you know, the reason I wrote the second book, The Method, is because after the first book, which contains all the science and all these hacks, people were like, Jessie, I get it, but like I need a bit more help to get started. So I thought, and because my passion is helping people actually make change, I thought, okay, how can I make a four-week plan that is just you follow it, you don't have to think about anything, and you feel so, so, so much better after just a few days. Yes. And that's how the method was born.

31:04So I took the four most important hacks, the four most powerful hacks, and I put them in this four-week method. Yes. Okay. So we're going to – and I also want to say this. The recipes are ridiculous. This is why I took you with me. And this is why I was like reading you in bed and getting so excited about what I was going to make the next day. And I was like poking Josh. I'm like, do you like this? Do you like this one? He was like, I'll try them all. I wanted to make such simple recipes, six ingredients or less. I wanted to make recipes that when you do them once, you don't have to look at the instructions ever again.

31:36Yeah. I do it because they're pretty. Yeah, they're beautiful. But if in a pinch, you know, people are busy. Yeah, you could do it. It's not a complicated Sunday roast vibes. No. This is the simplest recipe you've ever seen in your life and they will help you so, so, so much. I felt like such a like top chef. Oh, yeah? Because I was whipping out these recipes and bringing them to Josh and like I had little like micro greens and like fresh herbs, you know what I mean, on the side. And he's like, who are you? I'm like, I just got trained by the glucose goddess. That's who I am right now. So week number one, this is the simplest change that anyone can make to your breakfast that will give you amazing energy.

32:12So tell us what this change is. Well, it's simple, but it's not necessarily easy. Okay. So the, okay, you've heard breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I want to change that sentence. I want to change it to breakfast is the most powerful meal of the day. If for breakfast you have a big glucose spike, so if you have lots of starches and sugars, for example, a fruit juice and some granola, or some bread and some jam, or some cereal, or a fruit smoothie, that's going to create a massive glucose spike, and then that breakfast glucose spike is going to kick off a rollercoaster for the rest of the day.

32:48A rollercoaster of cravings and fatigue, and it's midnight, and you've had 25 cookies, and you're like, how did this happen? Look at your breakfast. So in week one of the method, what we do is we switch from a sweet breakfast to a savory breakfast built around protein. This is the most life-changing thing you will ever do. No, seriously, it will completely transform your glucose levels, completely transform your days. So savory breakfast has a good amount of protein in it, a little bit of fat, a little bit of starches if you want, like for taste, you can add some bread or potatoes is not an issue.

33:22But importantly, a savory breakfast contains nothing sweet, except if you want some whole fruit for taste, again. So we're talking having omelets for breakfast. We're talking having leftovers from dinner for breakfast. That's a super easy thing to do. We're talking having a smoked salmon toast. We're talking about, you can make some granola if it's like nut centric and doesn't have too much sugar in it. You have to rethink your breakfast and this will radically change your day. I did that. I wasn't usually like, sweet tooth is not typically my thing, usually only during like hormonal times. I'm like, oh, I'm PMSing, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

34:02But the amount of savory, easy breakfast. And by the way, did you know I'm a member of your recipe club too? Oh, yes, girl. Oh, come on. I was like, give it all. Give me those recipes. You have so many options that are so easy and so helpful. And like you said, there's not 17, 15 ,000 ingredients, six or less, five minutes, done and done. And it's so good. You can make also one of my favorite right now is the egg cups. Yes. So you can make these in advance and make six egg cups. You can, you know, cook them on a Sunday. It doesn't take very long, like 25 minutes. And then you have your whole week of savory breakfasts planned and accounted for.

34:39So I'm trying to make this as easy as possible for people because I know it's complicated to face, you know, changes, but this is seriously so simple. And during the method, by the way, you just do the four hacks and the rest of the time you eat whatever you want. There's no restrictions. Nothing is off limits. I promise you, as you add these hacks, your body will naturally stop craving all of the junk food that you felt addicted to. And so naturally, you're going to be like, I don't need that chocolate bar. I don't need to eat that burger. I'm actually fine. Yes. Week number two. So this one is the secret ingredient that allows you to eat dessert and still go into fat burning mode.

35:15What is it? It is vinegar. And so vinegar, when I first saw the scientific studies, I was a bit shocked. I was like, wow, this is crazy that nobody's talking about this. So one tablespoon of vinegar in a tall glass of water, make sure you dilute it before a meal can cut the glucose spike of your meal by up to 30%. It's incredible. Without you needing to change anything about what you're eating, you just add the vinegar before the meal of your day that's going to be the highest in carbs, for example, and you still enjoy your meal with less impact on your body thanks to the vinegar. So in the method, in week two, we add one vinegar drink a day.

35:52And it can be super simple. It can just be the vinegar tablespoon in water. But if you're a bit squeamish, I have lots of delicious teas and mocktails. You can also make a salad dressing. That also works. And any type of vinegar works except avoid the very syrupy, aged, Italian balsamic. Sadly, but yes. Because that one has a bit more sugar in it. Super simple. Tremendous impact, especially if you're somebody who suffers from post-meal cravings. Yeah. This is going to nip them in the bud. Can I tell you how many bottles of apple cider vinegar I've purchased since I got your book? I'm like, apple cider vinegar on lock.

36:29Oh my gosh. And the way that I do it, I just do it first thing in the morning and then you're going to laugh at me. So we were upstate, up and about. I remember there's one time where I knew we were going to like kind of cruise past what you talk about. I was like, I know tonight, like after my dinner, after I have all my fiber, all my veggies, all my fat, all my protein, I'm going to have dessert because there's one particular place. And I was looking around. I was like, you know what I'm going to need? Like mama's going to need a flask. Do you know what I mean? Yes. Because it's just like, it was such a beautiful thing to discover the science.

37:00And I like the taste of apple cider. Like I don't find it, you know, diluted in water. It doesn't affect me. I actually enjoy it. I look forward to it now. But I was like, you know, I'm going to be carrying out a flask. be like, is this Marie Forleo just drinking her face? I'm like, dude, it's apple cider vinegar because I'm going to have a cupcake or that brownie and I'm just going to take care of my body. I love it. And that's, I like that sentence, taking care of your body. It's like, you have to have a conversation. You're like, hey body. Yeah, I know. I'm talking a lot about chocolate because I love chocolate.

37:26Yeah. I know this double chocolate fudge cupcake is not going to be like good for you, but don't worry. I'm going to help you a little bit by having this vinegar drink before. And so it's a partnership. It is a partnership. And like, I'm going to have some broccoli before. That was the other thing that I want to make note of here that I thought was so instructive and that has changed my life. You know, the notion, I love going on vacation or adventures with Josh. You know, I work a lot and I love my work, but I also love traveling and being out in the world. And sometimes we find ourselves in beautiful places.

37:56Like earlier this year we were in Portugal. Oh, nice. And they have this kind of beautiful egg custard and, you know, You're walking around and it's been hours. And in the past, I would have been like, oh, you know, it's two or three o 'clock. I can have one of those. It's early enough in the day. I'm going to keep walking and burn it off, blah, blah, blah. And now I'm like, oh, well, I can go have a salad and some broccoli and then have that great little treat. Yes. So the notion that you teach in your work of like, if you're going to have a sweet, have it as dessert. Yes. Because that way you get all the pleasure, all the dopamine in your brain, which is what some people might confuse for energy, but it's actually just pleasure from the sugar with less impact on your health.

38:38That's right. And so the key thing is avoid having sugar on an empty stomach. That means avoid sugar first thing in the morning, avoid sugar as a snack. If you want to eat that delicious dessert or that delicious sweet thing, have it as dessert after a meal. Yes. Instead of breakfast or snack. This is so important because otherwise you're going to kick off that roller coaster. And two hours later, you're going to be like, oh, I want something else that's sweet. and something else and something else. And you become a victim to this roller coaster. Totally. But that was big for me and I really loved it.

39:07Okay. Week three, this was another fun one. And again, in every week you have all of these gorgeous recipes. So tell us what we're doing in week three. So week three, we're applying the science we just talked about a little bit earlier about having the veggies first. So week three, we add one veggie starter to one meal a day. Now, ideally your veggie starter composes about, makes up about 30 % of your meal, but don't worry if you can't get to that because it's maybe a lot of adaptation. Even just two cherry tomatoes, one baby carrot is a step in the right direction of getting that fiber at the beginning of a meal.

39:43So it's gradual, build up to it, have lots of easy recipes, think about your favorite vegetable, try to mix them in advance and then have that as a veggie starter before a meal. And what you can do is also mix the vinegar hack with the veggie starter hack. so you do veggie starter with a vinegar dressing and you are protected for that meal your glucose is going to stay nice and steady and you can still eat what you love while also helping your body helping alleviate those symptoms yeah so again it's positive and you're actually going to end up eating more than usual which is surprising because you might think that's a bad thing oh more more food more calories i'm going to put on weight actually you won't because those calories and that food you're adding they're good foods to be adding they're going to keep your cravings at bay, reduce hunger, increase fat burning modes.

40:28So you're not going to be hungry on this method. You're going to be super full and satiated and very happy. I found that too. I found that as I was going through the four weeks and now it just is all so automatic because it is so simple that I found myself just naturally even noticing my satiation levels. You know, like, oh, I'm satisfied. Like I'm fully satisfied rather than kind of plowing through or, you know, some of like old habits in the past. That's so beautiful because you feel reconnected with your body. Really reconnected. And that's really the goal. Yes. To try to come back to this partnership and feeling like you're friends with your body instead of feeling like it's a black box you don't understand and having all these emotions of blame and guilt and shame.

41:11It's not very hard to get back to a place where you feel grateful and you feel connected and you feel love. Yes. That's what this four-week method helps you get to. And it makes me so happy to hear you say that as well. Oh, yeah. And then also I love – I want to underscore this notion of being friends with our body because I think for so many of us, we felt like to a certain degree, it's our enemy. To a certain degree, like we're battling with it. Like why can't my body behave this way? Why is it doing this to me? Why are these chemicals happening? I can't control it. That's – and it just to me, like I have this image of like this horrible wrestling match that quite honestly in my mind, it's like the energy is violent.

41:50You know, the energy is angry. The energy is really fierce. The energy is destructive. When actually your body's just trying to keep you alive. Yes. Like truly your body is not against you. Your body's purpose is to keep you alive. There's no there's no ulterior motive here. Yes. Your body is not an enemy, not a villain. But because of the disconnection we have, it can feel like that. It can feel like a relationship of nemeses. Yes. Because you're so out of touch. You're so disconnected. So getting back to the connection is so beautiful. And also what is brilliant about this is like, this isn't based on just theory.

42:29All of this is rooted in science. And so it's like, not only does this work and you can feel it and experience it for yourself, but in all of your work, you quote all the studies. For sure. Well, you know, at the core, I'm a biochemist. And when I got interested in the world of glucose, when I saw, you know, those days where my glucose was steadier, I felt better, I dove into all the research. I read as many scientific papers as I could on the topic and I thought, wow, the information here is so powerful. It needs to be communicated. So I'm not inventing any of this. My work has been truly to just take the discoveries made by all these incredible scientists across the world and turn it into something applicable.

43:07So you'll find in my work, you know, hundreds of scientific references if you want to learn more. And I'm always keeping up to date with the latest studies coming out. And I love doing that because this science deserves to be in the spotlight. It deserves to be recognized. It deserves to be used and applied. It's the power of having the right messenger. It's actually, it is the reason I was thinking about this because I have some new things that we're creating and working on. And I was thinking back to when I started over 22 years ago. And I, even though it's a different field, I remember just learning about these ideas and these practices and these concepts that were around personal development or even around business.

43:43And I remember just going like, why don't more people know about this? Like why was I not taught this, you know, in grammar school or whatever? And that same notion was really the driving force to why I even wanted to create this business because I felt like maybe because I love communication and I love making things beautiful and I love making things simple and actionable that I could play a part in helping great ideas get out to a wider audience of people that they weren't reaching for whatever reason. Okay. A hundred percent. And you're doing a great job at it. Thank you. people doing this work.

44:12Yes. Of taking the science and the theory and turning it into something you can apply. Yep. Week four. This was, oh my gosh, I've had so much fun with this one. So much fun with this one. Tell us what we're doing. Okay. So we, by the, by the time you hit week four, you're doing savory breakfast, vinegar, and veggie starter. So you're feeling pretty good. And now we add the final, the final hack that's going to really change the game. So we recruit powerful allies are muscles. Let me explain. So your muscles, when they contract, they need energy. In the first place they look for energy is in your bloodstream.

44:48They look for glucose molecules to use and burn so they can contract. In week four, what we do is after one meal a day, we use our muscles for 10 minutes. This allows your body to use some of the glucose from the meal you just had to contract, to move, and then reduce the glucose spike very easily. So 10 minutes can mean going for a 10-minute walk after lunch. It can mean cleaning your home, which I need to do more of. It can mean doing the laundry. It can mean dancing in your living room. It can mean, of course, going for a run, going to the gym, doing whatever you want. It can mean doing some calf push-ups, calf raises at your desk at work.

45:24It can mean whatever you want. But this is very, very important to get your body moving and using some of that glucose to reduce the spike. Every – once I learned this, it has been – I think it's been like one or two times that I've missed. Oh, wow. And what we did, we had friends over our place upstate and we have kind of an area where there's like a bunch of weights and yoga mats, you know, all kinds of stuff. I was like, guys, we're going over to the bungalow and I have my like Apple Watch. I'm like 10 minutes. Yes. So I was – I used to be a Nike elite dance athlete and I taught a lot of fitness.

45:58So I'm like leading them through. I love it. It was so hilarious, like all of us. And here in the city, we're taking walks, taking the dog out. And I've like – I know it's only – which is great in this – and we'll start to talk into how you do what you do because I want to get into the business of being the glucose goddess, which is so exciting to me. But so it's only – you only have to do it one meal. Yeah. I'm going for all the meals because it's so fun. And then it becomes like, oh, that's an extra 30-minute workout. I'm dancing around the house. I'm doing leg lifts. I'm doing butt lifts. You know, I'm doing all the things.

46:30I love it. And it's just, it's so great. It's so, so great. I'm loving this. You're such a good glucose goddess. Good job, girl. Bowling to you. So before we go to the business of being the glucose goddess, I need to say this because this is a big one. And I want to reemphasize this. and I had to have a talk with my bro and my dad who is managing type 2 diabetes. It's a whole other story. You say that we can have any kind of sugar we want, that they're all the same. Orange juice sugar is the same thing as soda sugar. And I went to my dad's house just this weekend. I was like, we got to get rid of this.

47:04What are we doing here, people? But he's only having a little. I'm like, no, we got to get it out of here. Can you say more about just so people really hear it, it's like, it don't matter where the sugar is coming from. And then I want to ask you about specific sweeteners. Okay. Sugar from orange juice, sugar from soda, honey, agave syrup, maple syrup, coconut sugar, regular sugar, brown sugar, organic sugar, fair trade sugar, whatever sugar, they are all the same molecules. So your body does not differentiate whether sugar came and was extracted from an orange and put into orange juice, or if the sugar was extracted from beetroot and put into Coca-Cola, because remember, the sugar in Coca-Cola also comes from plants, your body does not make a difference.

47:50It's still glucose and fructose molecules, and these still have a very significant impact on your health when you have so much of them in these drinks in particular. So remember that anytime we eat sugar, whether it's a freshly squeezed orange juice or a honey or whatever, it is for pleasure. It is dessert. It is not for health. Your body does not need that amount of sugar. And specifically on the fruit juice thing, we have to remember a couple notes. So first of all, the fruit that we eat today, that we find today at the supermarket, is not natural. The fruit we eat today has been bred for millennia by humans to make them extra sweet, extra juicy, extra easy to eat.

48:32So for example, oranges, they're not actually a real fruit. They were invented by crossing two other species of plants. Bananas today are much bigger and juicier and sweeter than ancestral bananas, all of the fruit weed today is man-made. A bit like all of the dogs we see today have been man-made because they've all been, you know, they all come from the gray wolf and they've all been bred in different ways to make different dog breeds. The fruit weed today is the same. It is a man-made, super sweet, extra sugar-packed invention. That being said, a piece of fruit is still fine to eat, a piece of whole fruit, because whole fruit contains fiber.

49:09So even though they're packed with sugar, there's that protective fiber in them. Now, when we juice a piece of fruit, what are we doing? We are discarding the fiber. That's the solid part that gets thrown away. We're extracting the sugar in the water. That sugar water, that orange juice is the same for your body as a glass of water in which somebody put like 20 spoons of table sugar. It's the same for your body. And the antioxidants and the vitamins in that orange juice are not a good reason to get such a massive glucose spike. If you want antioxidants and vitamins, have some vegetables. They don't come with the side effect of these very damaging high levels of sugar.

49:50So yeah, orange juice, it's for pleasure, it's dessert, it's not for health. Cut it out, stop buying it. Your body will thank you. Let's go into a real life situation. Let's say I'm in a movie theater and I'm so excited to be in this movie theater. And I'm standing there. Okay, but like what are you watching? I'm absolutely going to watch either like a popcorn movie that's going to be action-based or this is probably going to be horrible to you, but I am a huge fan of like scary and spooky movies. Not like violent slasher. I'm talking like true spook. You know what I mean? Like zombie movies are some of my favorite because yeah, so I'm into that.

50:27Okay, so it's a zombie movie. It's a zombie movie. And I'm sitting there and they've got the pre-roll going. And it's basically they're showing me those obsessively ridiculous images of like a Coke with the sprinkles coming out and the ice. And I'm like, wow, I have a craving. And let's say I want to indulge in the craving. Is it better to have a Coke Zero or the real thing? A Coke Zero. A Coke Zero. Tell us why. because sweeteners, aspartame, stevia, monk fruit, maltitol, allulose, all of these sweeteners that contain zero calories, yes, they're not good for you, right? They have consequences.

51:03They impact your microbiome. They may make you crave more foods. They're not something good to add to your diet, but they are infinitely better for you than the 25 grams of real sugar in a real Coke. Okay, This is very important for people to hear. The diet version of a soda is infinitely better for you than the real soda with the real sugar. And I know there's been some talk about, oh, sweeteners are really bad. You know, they cause cancer, all this stuff. Like we got to relax on that. Real sugar is way, way, way more damaging than the sweeteners. And especially if you look at something like stevia, it's pretty harmless.

51:44so the spartame in the diet coke yeah it's not the best yeah for sure like if you're not drinking diet coke don't start of course but but in a moment like in a moment of weakness yeah like if you had to have even if it was like a little sip or two that's why i wanted to ask this because we're all going to find ourselves in situations where we're like oh even if i just need a sip or this or that yeah helping people make a choice that is going to be actually healthier for their body yeah and also if you're like well i want the real coke because it tastes better yeah like it's fine. You can have sugar.

52:13I just want you to know what it's doing to your body so you can make sure it's worth it. Yeah. Like I'm a big chocolate addict, as I have made very clear. I will have the chocolate ice cream. I know it's not great for me. I'll use the hacks around it, but I'm still going to eat sugar. I probably eat sugar every single day. Yeah. But I know how to eat it in a way that is not going to cause too much harm to my body. Yeah. We're not talking about never eating sugar again. I mean, if you're able to do that, kudos, good for you because sugar is not good for the body. But realistically, we want a chocolate cake for our birthday.

52:43So it's about learning how and when to eat it, to optimize for pleasure and minimize the downsides. And especially we need to avoid eating things that we think are good for us that are actually not good for us. Yeah. Specifically the fruit juice, the fruit derived cereal bars, a lot of breakfast foods, the granolas, the muesli, the fruit smoothies, all that kind of stuff. You know what? The other thing, we didn't talk about this, but this was really fun. When you're like, if you're going to have carbs or sugar, put some clothes on it. Yeah. Like, don't let them just run around naked. You got to put some clothes on it.

53:15What is putting clothes on it? It was so cute. Like, I started laughing. So carbs, again, they're starches or sugars. So I'm going to repeat this. Pasta, rice, potatoes, etc. Those are starches. And then sugars, anything sweet. If you eat them on their own. So let's say you have a big bowl of pasta or you have five cookies as a snack. the starches and sugars are going to break down into glucose molecules as you digest them and those glucose molecules are going to arrive super quickly into your bloodstream with nothing slowing them down as a result big glucose spike consequences big glucose crash now what you need to think about doing is instead of letting these carbs be naked so eating them on their own you need to put some clothing on them, meaning, not a t-shirt, meaning protein, fat, or fiber.

54:06Because by adding those other molecules, you're going to slow down how quickly the glucose molecules arrive into the bloodstream. So example, if you're having a big pasta dish, add some olive oil, add some spinach, add some chicken, put some clothing on that pasta. If you're having five cookies, also have a Greek yogurt that's protein and fat or some nuts, you know, and also a vinegar drink before if you can. So it's all about combining stuff so that you get the pleasure from those carbs without the creation of that cravings roller coaster. That's the key. We want to enjoy what we love without having more cravings two hours later.

54:42I'm going to take you through a few quick questions that we hear all the time and that, frankly, I've heard during conversations with my friends all the time and I want to hear your take on them. So big meals versus frequent snacking. Is there one that's better from a glucose perspective? If, yes, bigger meals are better and spending more time fasting between the meals is going to be better for your body because when you're in that fasted moment, your glucose levels are low, your insulin levels are low, your body is burning fat for fuel, which is super key. Now, if your six meals a day are just, you know, chicken and veggies, you're going to be fine.

55:21But most of us, if we have six meals a day, we're having carbs every single time and creating glucose spikes every single time. So it's better to do three meals a day than six small meals. Calories as it relates to someone wanting to feel great at their ideal weight. Do calories matter? Two people can be eating the exact same number of calories and one can be super sick, super inflamed, have cravings all the time, have hormonal issues, be on the weighted type 2 diabetes. And the other person can be eating the exact same number of calories and feel freaking amazing and have no health issues. So calories are helpful because they give us a sense of quantity, right?

55:56So you can compare a thousand calories of pasta versus 2000 calories of pasta, but calories don't tell you anything about what is actually inside the food. So we need to learn the molecules in the food. Is it starch? Is it sugar? Is it protein, fat, or fiber? And then you get a much better understanding of how that food is going to impact your health. And I have a whole chapter in Glucose Revolution where I go into how calories were invented, how they were first measured, and it's just, it's mind-blowing. And what I find really great is that a lot of my readers, they've been counting calories for a very long time.

56:29and once they just focus on the glucose hacks and what they're actually eating and they just completely stop counting calories, their health improves and if they were trying to lose weight, they naturally lose weight without this complicated restrictive calorie counting mindset. Yeah, that's what I love so much about this too is because there's so much joy in your work and there's so much freedom and liberation in what you do and how you communicate it. It's like, look, No foods are off limits, but we just need to be educated, responsible, and understand the impact, the nutritional biochemistry of what we're doing.

57:01I want to teach people what's actually going on. Yeah. I think people want to know. They do. And we're all like so frigging confused because over the years there's so many restrictive diets and you have to do this. And as a person, like freedom is my number one value in life. Yeah. So anything that feels kind of restrictive for me - Oh God, I feel the same. I like want to rail against it. Yeah, same. That's why I was like, Jessie is a woman after my own heart. This is about freedom and fun. Almond milk, oat milk, whole milk. Unsweetened almond milk or whole milk are both fine. Oat milk, I know a lot of people love it, but I want people to know what's actually inside.

57:38So oat milk comes from oats. Oats are grain and grains are starch. So when you're eating oat milk, you're eating starch juice. You're eating juice with a lot of glucose in it. so it leads to a big glucose spike okay if you have milk that comes from a cow that's mostly protein and fat if you have milk that comes from a nut that's also very very low in starch so those are better options in terms of glucose balancing properties so if you're having oat milk because you think it's healthier just switch go back to whole milk or have some unsweetened nut milk if you're an oat milk fan like i know many people are then try to think about maybe having your oat milk not on an empty stomach, but rather after breakfast, for example, or maybe go for a little walk after having your oat milk latte, etc.

58:24Use some of the hacks so that you can still eat it with less impact on your health. What's your feeling – this is something that I've been exploring and just testing out different things for myself and I'm curious if you've tried this for yourself or seen anything in the research. In terms of breakfast, you know, there's a lot of talk and there's a lot of science behind the efficacy and the benefits of intermittent fasting or some type of fasting to just give your body those certain hours to do all of their magic and clear everything out and cellular waste. And then I've also interviewed and just spoke with different people who believe from their perspective, you know, breakfast, the most important, powerful meal of the day.

59:02And so I'm just curious if you found yourself playing with intermittent fasting yourself or where you are in breakfast just in general. I think if you want to fast and it feels good to you, that's fine. Yeah. But it's not necessary to be healthy. And three meals a day is totally fine for most people. And if you do fast, what's very important also is how you're going to break that fast. Because after you're fasted, your body is real empty. Your digestive tract is like, there's nothing in there. So if the first thing you eat is something high in starches or sugars, that's going to create a big glucose spike because the glucose is going to go really quickly into your bloodstream.

59:40So always make sure you're breaking your fast with something savory or with vegetables if you can. Again, fasting works for you. That's fine. Remember, it is a stressor on the body to fast for a very long time. So if you have a stressful job, stressful family life, you take cold showers, you go to the sauna, you do intense workout, you drink a lot of coffee, you blah, blah, blah. That's a lot of stress. Okay. If on top of that, you add like 18 hour fasts, especially in a female body, that can be a lot and it can actually backfire. So be cautious. Do it if it feels good. Never fast if it feels really difficult.

1:00:17Okay. That's probably a sign that it's too much stress on the body. It's much better to have a savory breakfast and three meals a day than to overstress your body with very long fasts and then eat carbs first thing after the fast. Love it. When I first saw your Instagram, how fun it was and how beautifully you were communicating these somewhat complex ideas. I was like, she's so good at what she does. Then when I got into your books, and again, I hope you all, you need to get both of them in my opinion, but the glucose goddess method, if you want to just get in and have that four-week program.

1:00:51One, I'm curious, was there any feeling that you had about shifting from being a biochemist to being an entrepreneur? Was that intimidating? Were you just excited about it? Did you dive in? And did you have intentionality – I know I'm asking a bunch of questions, so you take whichever one you want – about making sure that your work was beautiful? Because it is. Like the spirit, the attention to design detail. One of the greatest things, the recipes are insanely delicious and And they're wonderfully healthy. And I love the photography. So as a woman who I just aesthetics, it makes learning so much more fun.

1:01:34Yes. So I'm just curious to hear about your journey. I'll answer your visual question first and then the journey. The visuals of my work is the one most important thing for me. I do all my posting. I do all my designs. This book, I have moved every single box on every single page until it was perfectly positioned. I am a visual freak. Like this is what I love the most. And I think it's because the beauty of something is really important. Like, yes, I'm teaching science, but why not make it really beautiful so you feel happy? And when you open the pages, they just like scream at you with joy and beauty.

1:02:10So the visual element has always been number one priority. How did I switch? So I was working in a company in San Francisco when I discovered the science of glucose and I started healing myself. And then I was like, well, this is so important. People need to know. So I had some savings from my job in my bank account. And I said, OK, I have basically nine months runway here. So before I quit my job, I actually started working on the Instagram for six months. So I told myself, I can quit and go for nine months. But before I quit, let me try to do this project on the weekends, on the evenings for six months and commit one hour a day for six months.

1:02:54Rain or shine, one hour a day and see where I get. Because I didn't want to just quit and then start and not know what was going to happen. I needed some data that this was actually something. So I started the Instagram, started posting every day. you know, I had five followers and I had 20 followers and I had 100 followers and every single follower was painstakingly one. And I was listening to a lot of feedback from the people who were following me and they were telling me, oh, we like this. Oh, this doesn't make sense. Talk more about this. I realized, oh, the graphs is what people like the most.

1:03:24And after the six months of work, I had, I don't know, 5 ,000 followers maybe. And so that to me was enough information to quit and feel relatively safe that there was really something here okay and so at the end of those so i kept working on it nine months of runway and after those nine months maybe i had 25 000 followers because i was working every single day on this stuff on growing on making sure my content was shareable so people could find my account there's a whole method to the madness and then i actually thought i was going to quit because i thought how am i going to monetize this That's right.

1:04:00I'm not an influencer. I don't do sponsored posts. So how am I going to make money? You know, I was like, well, I'm not sure this is going to work. And then that's when I met my book agent. She saw my Instagram and she said, hey, this is amazing. You should write a book. And so that gave me another two years of runway to be able to write this book, have the money from the advance. And then it just kept growing from there. But I had no business strategy when I first started. My only strategy was make something people like and get people excited about this science. I had no business plan. I had no investors.

1:04:35I was just like, let's just do the thing I love and see where it goes. But it's a bit risky because if I hadn't met my agent, I probably would have stopped. I was so happy that you gave me an opportunity to give you more money by having a recipe card. Yeah. And so for so many people out there, and I've even battled this in the past. I'm like, oh, I've done enough. And there's, you know, like, oh, I don't want to make too many things or sell too many things or whatever. So I just want to say it's like, thank you for giving those of us who love what you do an opportunity to continue to support you.

1:05:07And then I know before we started, you know, putting on all the cameras and stuff like that, you were saying you had just done an event in Mexico. How cool was that? So can you tell us a little bit about how, like, how has the business evolved over these past couple of years? And how How are you thinking through it in terms of what you want to provide and your interaction with your audience? Well, now, you know, I have a small team, mostly women, just badass, kick-ass women. We're five. And I'm trying to build a business that sustains that team so we can keep doing what we love. So I can keep doing free content for the people who need it the most.

1:05:40Because that's really the objective here is to help people who can't afford my book. That's the objective. So how do I build products and systems that allow me to still do that? So right now, business-wise, so I have the books, but you know, when you have a book, you have a publishing deal and you actually get a small cut of the actual money of the book. So what I did in my second book is I have a bunch of QR codes in there where you can scan, get a grocery list, get a weekly planner, et cetera, and sort of get into my ecosystem and my universe. So I get you to my website and then you can sign up to my newsletter.

1:06:10So it's a way to get my readers into my system. And that's really key because otherwise, I don't know who bought my book. Yeah. It's hard to then find them. No, it was really well done. I was so happy for you. And as a businesswoman, I was like, yes. So I have the Recipe Club, which is doing great. And that's, you know, a subscription. So every month you get 10 recipes. It's$4.99. And they're as beautiful as in the book. Super simple, super easy, straight to your inbox, digital. And then I'm going to launch some more products. So I'm going to launch a Glucose Goddess certification for professionals who want to learn really the ins and outs of how to communicate this science effectively to their clients, their patients, their network, their family.

1:06:48Like really, you get everything that's launching very soon. And I'm going to launch a product soon. That's a secret, but we'll know more. Excited for you. So yeah, so I'm trying to answer particular questions people are asking me in a thoughtful way. Sustain my business, sustain my team. I also do, you know, I do speaking events, but that's quite, that's quite tiring. It's time consuming. So I'm not, I'm not really like on the conference circuit. I'll do it once in a while. But really what I'm most interested in is having my own physical and digital products that are really serving my community and my audience in a really cool way and also sustaining my team.

1:07:24Because I want to do this for the rest of my life. And so I can't write a book every year. That's just too much work. It's exhausting. It's not sustainable too, especially with the, you know, the model there is. And, you know, I love talking about this. I have so many publishers who are friends of mine, authors who are friends of mine, you know, it's a highly changing world. And for me, I'm so excited to hear that you are doing, we talk, once we turn off the cameras off, because I have, you know, my entire business is the digital business. And it's so fun because you can do it at scale. And there's so much creativity, as you know, that we can pour into this and make these beautiful experiences that are artistic.

1:07:59And the freedom. The freedom. Because I love doing everything. So, you know, when I launch something, I'm thinking through the entire process. I'm making the deck that gets sent out to journalists talking about my new book. I'm in there with the photographer placing the egg on this, you know, recipe photo. Like I'm designing the cover with the team. I'm doing all the stuff. I'm thinking about the emails. I'm thinking about the videos we're going to make with the production company to market the book. Like I am across the whole thing. Yes. And you can feel it. Yeah, absolutely and I love doing that and so when you're building your own products it's really cool because you have full creative control over everything and it's so fun and you can really think through the entire experience that somebody is going to have and so that's that's what I love you know I just love thinking about how is somebody going to get to this product what's the email they got what's the landing page how do they feel how do I introduce it so it feels really like it's serving them then how did this get delivered I mean I just love that stuff yeah I love it it's It's art in and of itself.

1:08:59Totally. The other thing I want to commend you on too, and I know we have a lot of folks in our audience who are coaches and consultants or people that would like to or aspire to create a business or extend their business in that way because they genuinely want to serve. And another thing I just want to compliment you on, you know, food can be really tricky because it's a really – and as soon as you start getting into anything that's health related, food related, there's a lot of kind of sensitivities. There's a lot of triggering. There's a lot of shame. We've talked about that. Even, you know, you start bleeding into, even talking about weight loss and, you know, these things erupt.

1:09:30But this is what I want to say about your work, which I loved reading that. I'm like, she's so good. You do these great Q &As in your book where if someone listening or watching and reading your book is like, but what about, you know, I can't do... And, you know, all of us, we have those voices in our head whenever we're learning something new about why we can't execute on a particular strategy. and what I think is so geniusly done. And I'm curious if you learn this from having so many Instagram followers. The moment you kind of let people know, it's okay. You actually don't do that hack then.

1:10:04Do the other one and just be happy with it. It's okay. Don't make yourself wrong. Like you literally - Do it when it's easy, stress-free. Do it when it's easy, stress-free. That's always been the message. And I found myself just really cheering you on because you found such a beautiful way to communicate that doesn't let people off the hook, but doesn't shame them. Do you know what I mean? It's like, oh no, you can still do this. You're not going to use that as an excuse. You don't say that. Like that's Jersey Marie coming out and be like, I'm making a face. You're so great. Did you learn, has that always been a natural skill of yours?

1:10:38No. Okay. So that might've, I would assume, and this was my imagining, when you engage with so many people publicly on an Instagram page, it's natural. At least it's been for me where my more combative side may have come out because I'm like, why can't you see it? And then over time I've learned, oh, there's actually a way better way to communicate that super honors that person but doesn't engage in a fight. Bingo. Listen, I, you know, I was a biochemist discovering the science and I was like, I want people to know about this. Yes. But what I did that I think is one of the reasons that this became so big is that I actually listened to the people who were looking at my posts.

1:11:19I read all the comments and I read all the DMs and they were like, I don't like it when you say this. Don't say this. People offer so much feedback and it's such a gift. And so instead of being like, ugh, they don't get it. And like, I don't know, blocking them or something. I was like, okay, tell me more. Like, how is this triggering you or how could I do a better job? And I approached it like you would a product. Because I came from Silicon Valley building tech products. So I thought, you know, when you have a product, you do user research and you do interviews and you show the person the product and you're like, how do you feel?

1:11:48And they're like, I think this sucks. And then you dig into it and you improve the product. So I thought of my Instagram posts, like somebody would think of an app or another kind of website they're making. I took every single piece of feedback and improved. And I got really tough feedback sometimes, but it helped the message evolve and improve in such a powerful and deep way that I would do it all over again. Yes. And on so many elements, you know, for example, for the type 1 diabetes community who have to wear glucose monitors and it's a life or death situation. I used to post all these selfies of me with my glucose monitors on and some of them were happy about it because they said it made it feel less like a medical device to hide, but others were like, this is pretty insensitive, like we can't even find one because our insurance won't get it to us and seeing you wear it when you don't need it is triggering.

1:12:36So I was like, okay I get it and so I stopped doing that and then there was you know people who have a history of eating disorders who were like well these rules are feeling a little bit like something that could create an ED and I engaged with them and I realized you know actually people need some information about how to eat and I think I do it in a soft enough way that it's not trying to be a fad diet they're trying to be these crazy rules yeah but just to let you know I've thought through these things every time an issue like that has come up I've really engaged with it to see should I change something or am I actually okay with the message?

1:13:08And I keep doing that. And that's so important. And that's why it's become something that works for everybody everywhere that is not divisive. It's trying to reunite a lot of the nutrition world. So yes, constant engagement with the community, with thought leaders, even with journalists who sometimes write, you know, terrible articles. I'm like, huh, like what are they trying to get at? And then I learn and I speak to them and I improve. Or I say, you know what? I think I'm right. You have your opinion. Yeah. So it's a process. It's tough. And you have to check yourself and not have too big of an ego and always question what you're doing, but then be able to come back to the place of like, no, I think my mission is actually really good.

1:13:46My message is on point. Has that process for you, and this has happened for me, where let's say you get a piece of feedback that is tough, you know, and it's difficult. Do you usually give yourself time to talk with either trusted colleagues or sleep on it? Like I always find, if I find myself heated and emotional, I'm always like, you know, step away from the cube. And just a little bit of time gets me back to my own inner equilibrium where, to your point, I actually really do stand behind this thing. And I honor and respect you for having a completely different perspective. And I'm staying on my track.

1:14:19Completely. And at the beginning, when I, I remember my first negative comment, and this was in 2019. I think it took me four days to get over it. I was destroyed. I was like, oh my God, you know, it got, it really was difficult. And And now when there's, I don't know, something written, I kind of like, I look at it for a couple of minutes. I'm like, is this adding new information that I could use? No. And I just get over it. So it's a muscle. Yeah. That punch in the gut thing, you get used to it. Yeah. You get stronger. You know, there's this beautiful Buddhist saying, soft heart, strong back.

1:14:47It's like, take it in. Is it relevant? Is it helping me? No. You just push it out. But yes, I never answer when I'm heated. I always wait until I'm emotionally sober. Yeah. So if you're emotionally drunk with anger, sadness, shame, whatever, don't take any action. Also, don't text the guy. You know, don't answer to the comment. Just wait until you're sober and then make the decision. So if you were to summarize the message that you want to share in a way that is actionable and easy for someone to embrace when it comes to their eating habits, what would that be? it would be that there are very easy steps you can take that are going to transform your physical and mental health savory breakfast vinegar veggie starter movement these are like gentle giants like fairy godmothers if you put them and you place them into your days a lot of things are going to fall into place so highly recommend trying these out they're based on the biochemistry of your body they're based on how your cells function how your hormones work they're very important to help you navigate this crazy food landscape and health landscape that we live in.

1:15:56They're easy, non-restrictive. You'll feel the effects immediately and your body will thank you. Thank you so much for making time. Thanks, Marie, for having me. Wasn't that an awesome conversation? Now, before we wrap, I have one small favor to ask. 75 % of the people who watch our channel aren't yet subscribed. If you've enjoyed this conversation or gotten benefit from any of our videos, please hit that subscribe button right now. It helps us reach more people just like you, attract better guests, and that means I can keep helping you live a richer, better life. Until next time, stay on your game and keep going for your big dreams because the world really does need that very special gift that only you have.

1:16:38Thank you so much for tuning in and I'll catch you next time.