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Hello, baby! Jessie Inchauspé, better known online as the Glucose Goddess, welcomed a baby boy two months ago. “It’s been the most humbling experience of my life,” she tells Vogue in her first interview since. “Honestly, I think that was good for me. I tend to be quite confident about things—I like having a plan, feeling in control. This journey definitely didn’t allow for that.”
Inchauspé s entire career has been built on planning and knowledge. The French biochemist and New York Times bestselling author has offered herself up as a guinea pig—wearing a continuous glucose monitor and tracking how different foods spike her blood sugar, which in turn affects mood, brain fog, nerve function, and more—and sharing the quantifiable data online.
“My eating habits pre-pregnancy were (and still are) built around balancing my blood sugar levels, or glucose,” Inchauspé says. “There are a few core tenets to that: Starting every day with a savory, protein-rich breakfast with 30 to 40 grams of protein—favorite culprits being skyr yogurt, eggs, or any leftover protein from dinner. I make sure to eat vegetables first at my meals to help flatten the glucose spike of the meal, as veggies contain fiber, which coats the intestines with a protective mesh. I eat carbs at most lunches and dinner, but I always ‘clothe’ them—meaning I pair them with protein, fat, or fiber. I also love sugar and anything chocolate-y, so I implement hacks to eat those with less impact on my glucose levels: always after meals, never on an empty stomach. Pre-pregnancy, I also had coffee every morning, but didn’t drink alcohol.”
During her pregnancy, she made a few changes to her eating habits. First up, caffeine. “I cut out coffee, which I think helped. That’s anecdotal, of course—but both times I got pregnant, it happened in the month I stopped drinking coffee. I believe removing that stressor made a difference for my body, and some small studies suggest that caffeine might interfere with conception and implantation, so I gave it a try.”
She also began altering her diet before she was pregnant, known as epigenetics. “There’s a common myth that the baby will just take whatever nutrients they need from you—but that’s not true,” she says. “Your nutrient levels matter a lot in terms of what will be available in the womb for your growing child. So I wanted to build up my stores beforehand. A main focus, for instance, was increasing my omega-3 levels—especially DHA, which is essential for fetal brain development. It takes time for DHA to build up in the body, so I started early with some high-DHA supplements daily.”
Inchauspé does admit, though, that at first she went “a bit too intense” when it came to eating healthy for her baby. “Cue trying to eat beef liver because it’s so nutrient-dense,” she reflects with a laugh. Now, she s distilled it down to four core principles that are easy for any expecting mother to implement.
1. Increase your protein
Doctors recommend you increase your protein intake when expecting by about 20 grams. For Inchauspé, animal protein was her main source (“A baby is made in large part from protein,” she says).
2. Up your egg intake
“The nutrient choline is essential for fetal brain development and severely under-consumed by pregnant women,” says Inchauspé. The National Library of Medicine confirms this fact, adding that the nutrient is beneficial to babies even through the breastfeeding phase. “I aimed for 4 to 5 eggs per day to reach my goal.”
3. Keeping up your omega-3s
The human body doesn’t naturally make omega-3 fatty acids on its own, so you need to get them from your diet or supplements. For those who aren’t expecting, it’s beneficial for the brain, heart, and joints—but those who are expecting need it to help with the baby s brain development. Studies have also shown it can have a moderate effect on reducing the likelihood of postpartum depression.
4. Reducing sugar as much as possible
“I also love sugar and anything chocolate-y,” Inchauspé says. “But to protect my baby’s DNA programming, I tried to cut it out or implement hacks to eat those with less impact on my glucose levels: always after meals, never on an empty stomach. If we eat a lot of sugar, our baby will also receive a lot of sugar in his bloodstream, and this can impact his development.”
Her biggest eating tip is surprisingly simple.
“Eat more eggs. If you do nothing else, eat four eggs a day. They’re packed with choline, which is essential for your baby’s brain development—and about 90% of pregnant women don’t get enough. And no, they aren’t bad for your cholesterol levels. Also, increase protein to give plenty to your baby—yogurt, meat, fish—and make sure to get omega-3s, either via supplements or by eating fatty fish like salmon 2 to 3 times a week.”
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