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Jessie Inchauspé is the French biochemist and author of the books Glucose Revolution and The Glucose Goddess Method: you’ll know her as the Glucose Goddess, dropping facts and hacks about breakfast, your morning coffee and mid-afternoon snacks, and what that’s all doing to your glucose levels. Something you really need to consider.
In Wellness Check, a new series for Vogue France, Jessie is sharing her science-backed advice for crafting a glucose level-steady life. “Think about the hacks like you would think about general wellness principles—brush your teeth, wear sunscreen, drink enough water,” Jessie says. “The hacks are not a diet you can fail at, they’re like little fairy godmothers you can keep in your pocket.”
While small glucose spikes throughout the day are fine and natural, it’s important to keep yourself from consistently entering higher ranges for both short term and long term health. The process is known as glycation, where sugar molecules attach to collagen, proteins, fats and elastin in the bloodstream to form advanced glycation end products (AGEs). In the short-term, it impacts your mood, energy, and hunger. High levels of AGEs can also be linked to inflammation, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and kidney disease.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, we’ve long been told—and just ask Martha Stewart, who has a particularly perfect morning routine. After a long period of fasting while you sleep, the first food you eat stimulates your metabolism, provides energy, and–our key focus here—balances blood sugar.
Jessie’s first and most important hack to keeping glucose level steady is to have a savory breakfast. “Science shows us that if you eat sugar in the morning, you’re going to have a big glucose spike, and then your entire day is going to be all cravings and fatigue.”
She advises, then, to start your day off with a protein source: eggs, Greek yogurt, tofu, or leftover meat and fish from your dinner the previous evening. Then add some healthy fats: she opts for feta and butter, and adds some small cherry tomatoes. She also suggests a speedier option for people on-the-go: Greek yogurt, and a tablespoon of almond or peanut butter free of any extra sweeteners or oils (just read the label on the jar). Jessie says this rule for steady glucose levels applies no matter if you’re eating breakfast at 7AM or having your first meal at 2PM.
“Never have something sweet on an empty stomach,” she says. “When your stomach is empty, your body is super sensitive to anything you give it, and this will arrive quickly into your bloodstream.”
There’s several proven health benefits for enjoying coffee in moderation: studies have shown it can help slow the development of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, improve circulation, and aid a better gut microbiome. But in excess, it can irritate the stomach and cause acidity or gastroesophageal reflux. If you prefer to boost your energy in other ways, there’s plenty of coffee alternatives too: green tea, guarana, and yerba maté.
But full disclosure: Jessie is addicted to coffee. She tried to quit, and she can’t. On this day, she orders a flat white with full fat dairy milk. Her thoughts on alternative milks? “I hate this idea that oat milk is good for you,” she says. “Oat milk is just starch juice. It s like drinking a coffee with pasta milk or rice milk. It’s a nightmare for your glucose levels.” So if you prefer not to do dairy, she recommends unsweetened almond or coconut milk.
And how about your local cafe’s pastry selection? “If you can’t resist, have a savory pastry,” she says, selecting a cheddar scone. But if you’re really hankering after a sweet cookie, save it and eat it as your after lunch or dinner dessert. “Remember, never have sugar on an empty stomach, only as dessert after a meal,” she says. Jessie says this makes for a smaller glucose spike.
Later, Jessie delves into Vogue France’s office snack cupboard to analyze what’s on the shelves, and offer some healthier, glucose level-friendly alternatives. “Rice cakes are glucose bombs,” she says. “Don’t be fooled by marketing.” Read your labels! She cites that while more sugary snacks provide short term dopamine for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up, there’s an inevitable crash, and long term, they impact your glucose levels, energy, and focus. Heading out on a shopping spree, Jessie offers some healthy snack swaps: sourdough bread instead of rice cakes, jam replaced by unsweetened nut butter, a pain au chocolat dropped for some dark chocolate, fruit yogurt swapped for a simple greek yogurt with frozen berries, and fresh apples over dried fruit.
Lunch time! Jessie takes Vogue France to a local restaurant and breaks down how she picks from a menu. Ignore the table bread, Jessie says, to avoid starting a meal with glucose and starch. She looks immediately for a vegetable-based starter, because it’s high in fiber and this protects your body against glucose spikes. “It creates a sort of protective mesh in your intestine when you eat it first during a meal,” she says. So veggies first. For mains: it’s whatever protein you fancy, like a fish or meat, and a tasty carb source like mashed potatoes. Eating in this order, she claims—of veggies, proteins, fats, carbs, sugars—means you can continue to eat the stuff you love with lesser impacts on your glucose levels, and fewer consequences on your physical and mental health. Bon appétit!
A recent hack Jessie has also picked up is taking an anti-glucose spike supplement—she sells her own formula—before a meal. “It’s just an extra helping hand,” she says. The Glucose Goddess formula contains mulberry leaf, which studies show contains a molecule known as DNJ. This molecule interacts with your digestive enzymes and prevents your body from absorbing an estimated 40% of the glucose in your meal.
A post-meal power walk is an essential though: studies have proven walking for just 15 minutes after a meal lessens your glycemic response.
After a little grocery shopping spree to serve dinner for friends later that night, Jessie sets out the menu: a spinach salad with a miso-based dressing, with baked salmon and baked sweet potatoes, with chocolate for dessert. If you know the Glucose Goddess, you might not be surprised by the base of her mocktail: vinegar. “Why vinegar? Vinegar is an amazing ingredient. It contains a molecule called acetic acid, which reduces the glucose spike of carbs that you eat afterwards.” While you can have it in a mocktail like Jessie, you can also just add a tablespoon of vinegar in a big glass of water or as a dressing for your veggie starter—just make sure you dilute it in some way.
When it comes to alcohol, various studies will abhor it, while others will cite its wider benefits when drunk in moderation. “It’s a pleasure decision, not a health decision,” says Jessie of her own philosophy. Red wine is what usually gets championed as a ‘healthier’ alcoholic option, because of its antioxidant properties. For Jessie, that doesn’t negate its other qualities. “The antioxidants don’t magically turn it into a health drink,” she says. But if you love it? Go for it.
The Glucose Goddess’s Wellness Check series will continue with Vogue France.
