★★★★★ 5
Must Read Book To Improve Health and Aging
Format: Hardcover, Format: Hardcover
Jessie Inchauspe is brilliant. This book is full of very useful and effective information building on her 10 Hacks found on her YouTube videos. As a biochemist and medical researcher, she is considerably more knowledgeable than many physicians I've met about nutrition and its impact on health.
I have been struggling with borderline diabetes/pre-diabetes for years. Doctors wanted to put me on Metformin which I refused as I’m improving and reversing this condition through diet, exercise, and natural supplements. This is a very interesting easy to read book that fully explains how important it is to balance and flatten glucose spikes and improve insulin sensitivity.
Many people know ”What” to eat and what foods to avoid, intermittent fasting addresses “When” to eat. This book discusses “How" to eat in a particular order to noticeably benefit health. She explains glucose spikes and insulin resistance and its relationship impacting health, chronic illnesses and aging. She states that chronic diseases including heart, cancer, obesity, diabetes, dementia, PCOS, and others are from inflammation stemming from uncontrolled glucose spikes. Feeding children in this particular order can also improve their health- childhood diabetes is a major concern.
Inchauspe cites a 2015 Cornell Study which found that people who ate food in this order (described below) reduced glucose spikes by 73% and insulin spikes by 48% within 2 hours, along with a significant reduction in their A1C levels. This is huge! My own blood testing and eating a variety of foods in this order, including various desserts, shows an impressive further reduction in my 2 hour postprandial blood glucose readings which are typically in the 90's or very low hundreds.
The 10 Hacks found in her YouTube videos are greatly expanded upon in this book to make these hacks even more effective in normalizing glucose and improving blood testing and A1C scores, while helping to lose weight by eating foods in a certain order: First- salads and/or veggies. Second- protein and good fats. Third and last- carbohydrates & starches. Yes, you can eat whatever you want, and however much you want (no counting calories) and even have dessert as part of the meal while minimizing glucose spikes and fat storage, improving insulin sensitivity and overall health. If you need to lose weight or have blood glucose challenges, skip dessert and reduce or eliminate bad carbs and limit good carbs. Eating in this order becomes a lifestyle and easy to implement daily. I find eating this way that I’m already pretty full by the time I get to the carb and dessert stage which helps maintain my weight. Other hacks include drinking a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in water or in a dressing, not eating naked carbs (take carbs with a good fat or protein), and walking after a meal or doing slow calf raising exercises while seated at the table.
I have been doing intermittent fasting for over 6 years and it has been a major driver in my own improvement in reducing A1C scores. I get my blood tested every 4 months. I vary fasting between OMAD ( 1 meal a day), 20:4, 22:2, 19:5, 18:6, and 16:8 depending on schedule eating no more than 2 meals a day and no snacking. Fasting reduces inflammation which is a main driver of diabetes. I’m doing a modified keto diet mainly with healthy whole food items. Combining fasting wth eating food in the proper order is effective in reducing glucose and easy to implement.
Doing calf raises while seated which target the Soleus muscle in the calves is very powerful. The Soleus muscle is the only muscle in the body which absorbs glucose from the bloodstream. I try to do calf raises while sitting at the dining table at the end of a meal for at least 10 minutes. This can reduce glucose spikes by 52 percent and insulin by 60 percent. Google the ‘Soleus muscle glucose metabolism’ for more info. I also do a few simple Tai Chi exercises I found on YouTube.
I have also been taking Dihydro Berberine which is more effective than regular Berberine. I use Heal Meal brand. My functional health MD upped dosage to 5 a day- 3 at first meal, 2 at my second and last meal- which has reduced my glucose spikes in a major way versus 4 daily. Take 20 minutes before eating.
Highly recommended!
Update September 2024- I recently got a Dexcom G7 continuous glucose monitor (CGM) which has been very educational in seeing how good quality sleep and walking after meals helps to further lower glucose levels, versus poor sleep and no walking after eating. Drinking a 1-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water before a meal, especially a high carb meal, is very powerful in reducing glucose spikes.
I used to get up at 3am to go on the computer every morning. Forcing myself to break this habit and stay in bed has seen a further lowering of blood glucose after several days. A good night’s sleep and exercise after eating are as essential as diet.
This is clearly shown on the CGM which reports glucose changes every 5 minutes. Seeing how various foods impact glucose is a valuable learning tool. I had to pay for this out of pocket and it has been a worthwhile investment.
When installing a new monitor every 10 days I find it necessary to recalibrate the Dexcom readings with a fingertip blood test, as the initial readings were too high, typically anywhere from 10-35 points higher than the blood test. Simply click on the plus sign and follow directions to recalibrate.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2024
