By: Jessie Inchauspé
Scott County Library hardcover 224 pages plus acknowledgements, notes, and index
Published: 2022
Genre: non-fiction, nutrition
This book was recommended to me by an alternative-health person I met this summer. My blood sugar numbers have been creeping up and I do NOT want to have another medication to take, so I decided to read this. The cover also has the blurb "Lose weight, stop cravings, get your energy back, and still eat what you love."
I know myself well enough to know that I am not ready to radically change my eating habits. I do, however, want to make healthier choices and avoid being prescribed more medications than I'm already taking. So here are the "takeaways" from this book. (The author wore a glucose monitor and wrote a lot about glucose "spikes" and how our body deals with them. It's worth reading and thinking about.)
Page 16: Starch, fiber, fructose, and sucrose - the various forms glucose can take - exist thanks to photosynthesis.
I'm not sure why I marked this, but thinking about food in terms of these "types" and knowing how our bodies process, store, and burn glucose was interesting.
Hack 1 - Eat Foods in the Right Order
Page 73: What is the right order? It's fiber first, protein and fat second, starches and sugars last.
This is something I'm trying to start. When it's reasonable, I'm getting veggies into me, then protein, then other stuff. Work in progress. A few times, I've done celery with peanut butter before eating my meal.
Hack 2 - Add a Green Starter to All Your Meals
This . . . just won't happen. ALL my meals? Again, when reasonable, I'll have a green veggie before the rest of my meal. (Salad first is how I grew up, but only at some dinner meals.)
Hack 3 - Stop Counting Calories
Page 104: In any case, calories measure heat generated, nothing else.
Page 104: One hundred calories of fructose, 100 calories of glucose, 100 calories of protein, and 100 calories of fat may release the same amount of heat when they burn, but they have vastly different effects on your body. Why? Because they are different molecules.
This section made me think of the Eat This, Not That books. It makes a lot of sense that calories only aren't as important as how your body uses what you eat. I remember when I started tracking my food in 2016 - would I rather have a sugar cookie at work or consume those calories in a glass of red wine that evening? Making conscious choices about what to eat is helpful.
Hack 4 - Flatten Your Breakfast Curve
Page 123: Eating takes longer than drinking. Second, in a whole piece of fruit, sugar is always accompanied by fiber. As I explained earlier, fiber significantly reduces the spike caused by any sugar we eat.
Page 123: The more denatured a fruit is, the worse it is for us. An apple is better for us than applesauce, which is better for us than apple juice. Essentially, as soon as it's juiced, dried, candied, canned, or turned to jam, you should think of fruit as dessert, just as you would a slice of cake.
Although I completely understand what she's saying here, I think for those of us who easily tend toward unhealthy eating habits, even fruit juice or dried fruit is preferable to a candy bar or doughnut. I love that she advocates for a savory breakfast. I much prefer bacon and eggs to pancakes or cereal!
Page 133: A good rule of thumb for a smoothie: don't put more fruit into the blender than you could eat whole in one sitting.
Hack 5 - Have Any Type of Sugar You Like - They're All the Same
Page 147: . . . remember, sweetness activates the addiction center in our brain. The more we eat it, the more we want it.
I didn't used to be a "sweet tooth" person, but I find myself eating more candy and sweet treats the last few years than I used to . . . and I'd like to change that.
Hack 6 - Pick Dessert Over a Sweet Snack
I think she talked about saving that sweet snack for after your next meal. Eat it as a dessert instead of snacking on it between meals.
Hack 7 - Reach for Vinegar Before You Eat
Page 159: What researchers found was that by adding vinegar before meals for three months, the subjects lost two to four pounds and reduced their visceral fat, waist and hip measurements, and triglyceride levels.
I'm not a big fan of vinegar, but I think this is one hack I will try. Once a day instead of every meal, but a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a big glass of water is worth trying.
Page 166: You shouldn't experience any negative side effects as long as you stick to drinkable vinegar - i.e., vinegar with 5 percent acidity (cleaning vinegar has 6 percent acidity, so if it's next to the mops and toilet paper at the supermarket, don't drink it!).
I didn't even think about the variability of acidity in different vinegars! Now I want to check and see what I have in my house.
Hack 8 - After You Eat, Move
Sometimes I'm good about this and other times (too often) I just sit on the sofa. Going for a walk is much better for my body. This is a habit I could definitely work on.
Hack 9 - If You Have to Snack, Go Savory
Again, I like savory, so this is good! I'm just going to throw a pic from page 186 here for ideas.
Hack 10 - Put Some Clothes on Your Carbs
This was about eating "on the go." So if you're having a brownie, ask for some Greek yogurt on it. Or add nuts to your cookie dough. She had a lot of ideas, but I don't think anything really inspired me here. Or maybe I was just already thinking about doing some of the earlier hacks.
Cheat Sheets - How to Be a Glucose Goddess When Things Get Hard
She has an instagram account called the Glucose Goddess. She shared some people's testimonials about how her hacks have helped them. This book is worth reading if you're curious, like me. And / or your blood sugar is of concern. She's careful to say that you should consult with your doctor if you have diabetes and are taking insulin. It's well-written and I want to try some of these things. Basically, I am starting with eating more veggies. (A trip to the Farmer's Market was a good thing for me to do last Saturday.)
