Pursuit of Wellness - Glucose Goddess: Hacks For Blood Sugar, Cravings, Acne & Aging

Episode Date: August 15, 2024

Ep. #124 In this episode of the Pursuit of Wellness podcast, we’re revisiting one of our most popular conversations featuring Glucose Goddess, Jessie. Jessie, a French biochemist and author, is dedicated to translating complex scientific insights into actionable tips that can transform your health. She explores how blood sugar impacts everything from skin health and mood to energy levels and cravings. Whether you're sensitive to sugar or just curious about managing glucose spikes, Jessie’s expert advice and practical hacks are sure to inspire and educate. Don’t miss out on these invaluable tips for improving your physical and mental wellness! Leave Me a Message - click here! For Mari’s Instagram click here! For Pursuit of Wellness Podcast’s Instagram click here! For Mari’s Newsletter click here! For Glucose Goddess’s Instagram click here! For Glucose Goddess’s Books click here! For POW Brand Promo Codes click here! Sponsored By:  Save time and money by getting it all in one place with Thrive Market. Go to Thrivemarket.com/pursuitofwellness for 30% off your first order, plus a FREE $60 gift! That’s Thrivemarket.com/pursuitofwellness. Show Links: Glucose Goddess & The Science Topics Discussed 02:01 - Jessie’s backstory 04:20 - What is glucose  05:41 - The quantity of glucose our body wants  07:25 - Impacts of glucose spikes  11:05 - Glucose and PCOS 14:20 - Diet and lifestyle improvements  15:41 - Holistic treatment  19:51 - Sugar sensitivity 22:35 - Glucose hacks  25:50 - Using vinegar to manage sugar spikes 26:50 - High protein breakfasts and glucose levels  29:08 - Smoothie recipes  31:26 - Sugar in the morning & sugar cravings  33:23 - The importance of a “veggie starter”  35:56 - Intermittent fasting & keto  40:08 - Grounding and glucose  41:54 - Glucose and anxiety  43:01 - Incorporating veggies in the morning  44:14 - Continuous glucose monitors  45:15 - What wellness means to Nicole 

This is the Pursuit of Wellness podcast, and I'm your host, Mari Llewellyn. Today, we are bringing back a fan favorite guest, Glucose Goddess, also known as Jessie. She is a French biochemist, New York Times bestselling author of Glucose Revolution and the Glucose Goddess Method. She talks all things hacks for blood sugar, hormones, infertility, cravings, acne, and more. She really talks about the effects of glucose on the body and what we can do to aid in our health. So she doesn't necessarily believe we should cut out sugar. It's just how we go about eating sugar. In this episode, Jessie shares digestible information on the

startling impact of blood sugar and what it can do to our skin, mood, energy, overall health, and more. I am so excited to revisit this topic. It's an episode that always stayed with me and it's something I think about in my daily life even today. She gave such good advice. I know you guys are going to love this episode. Without further ado, let's hop right in. I am so excited to dive into this topic, guys. I'm someone who's always been super sensitive to sugar, so I can't wait to learn some hacks today. Jessie, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me, Mari. And congrats on the new book. Thank you. The Glucose Goddess Method. Insane. Insane. I'm so excited. I'm so excited too. When I announced you were coming on the show, everyone freaked out. Really?

Yeah. Oh, that's amazing. You are like the glucose. I mean, you are the glucose goddess, but you are a celebrity. You know what's wild is that I've been able to make blood sugar something cool and pop. And just for that, I'm so freaking proud of myself. Well, you walked in here in the most chic outfit from Paris. Like, wow. What a cool thing to be this like scientific smart woman, but also so

chic. And like, I just love the two together. We need more of that kind of crossover between science and pop culture. You know, I think it's just so key. And so what you're doing is totally helping with that. So thank you for having me. Of course. Thanks for coming. So first question, how did you become the glucose goddess? I love that question because I never set out. I was not like, okay, when I'm older, I'll be the glucose goddess. It just kind of happened because of my own personal health journey. So I'll go back for a second.

I had a very happy childhood. Everything was fine. And then at 19, I had an accident that changed my life and got me interested in health. I broke my back jumping off a waterfall. Oh, my gosh. Yes. That sucked. So I had very intense surgery, still have a bunch of metal in my back. And physically, I healed very quickly. But then my mental health started going like down the drain. It was really, really, really bad. And at that young age, I had such a profound realization, which is,

if you don't have your health, you got nothing. It doesn't matter what you're studying, what your job is. If you feel broken on the inside, that's the number I'm ready to fix. So I was like, okay, I'm going on a mission to try to heal myself. And that first led me to move to the US and study biochemistry in grad school. I was doing math in London before. And then to go to Silicon Valley and work in genetics for five years. And all that was very interesting. I learned more about the body, but neither biochemistry nor genetics showed me what I needed to do to fix myself and feel good in the morning. While I was in Silicon Valley, I came across glucose. And that's when everything changed

for me. I realized that I was experiencing glucose spikes, and we could talk about exactly what that means. And then the more spikes I was having, the worse my mental health was. So I learned how to fix that in myself and healed, which was amazing. And then I was like, people need to know, like, this is so valuable, you know. And so over time, because of my passion for making the science accessible and fun, I renamed my Instagram account. It used to be called just my name, Justine Chespe. And I was like, I need something catchier because my name is impossible to spell, pronounce right. And so I thought something that starts with G and that sounds good with glucose. So I thought, you know, glucose girl, glucose gal. And then I was like, no, glucose goddess.

I love it. So it was like a year into the journey that I found the name. I love it. And it is so you. Like now that I've met you in person, it's very much your vibe. Basic question for anyone listening. Let's go basic. What is glucose great question so glucose is your body's favorite source of energy so right now your finger cells are using glucose to hold that pen up my heart cells are using glucose to pump blood both our brain cells are using glucose

to like have this conversation right so your So your body runs on glucose, essentially. And the main way that as humans, we give this important glucose to our body is by eating specific foods, by eating starchy foods. So bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, or by eating sweet foods that contain sugar. So like desserts, fruit, whatever. And you said you were very sensitive to sugar. So I want to go into that later because I'm very curious what you mean by that. And so some glucose is really important. But when we give too much glucose to our body, problems start happening. And I love taking the image of a plant. So let's say you go back to

the UK and you're like, Jessie, please take care of my plants in my home while I'm gone. I'll go to your place and I'll know to give the plants a little bit of water. But if I give the plants too much water, they'll probably, you know, rot and die. And then you'll come back from the UK and be like, what the fuck? My plants are dead. So same thing with the body. Some glucose is good. Too much causes problems. Okay. So is it about the type or the source of glucose or it's just about glucose in general? No, it's just about the quantity and how quickly you're giving into your body. So your body doesn't differentiate whether the glucose came from like a sweet potato or Coca-Cola. What matters is kind of like the envelope it comes in. So what kind of food is it in? How quickly is it going to make its way from your stomach to your bloodstream? That's what matters. Okay, so is that a glucose spike? Yes. So when you give too much glucose too quickly to your body, during a meal essentially, or snacking, or eating, or drinking anything, a glucose spike can happen. And glucose spike simply means that

the amount of glucose in your body increases very quickly, right? So it's just about like it goes from being steady to being very high. And it's that spike. So the quickness with which the glucose concentration is increasing that causes issues. That's a very stressful thing for your body to go through. It leads to inflammation, it leads to more aging. It also harms the little factories, little powerhouses in our cells that are in charge of turning glucose into energy, our mitochondria. When we give them some glucose, they're super happy. If you give them a glucose spike, they're like, whoa, cannot, that's way too much, and they shut down. So glucose spikes actually harm your body's

ability to make energy, which is why the more spikes you have in your diet, the more likely you'll have something like chronic fatigue. So you're tired, but you're still eating, you know, sweet and starchy foods because you feel like that's the way your body gets energy. But on the inside, it's breaking down. The whole process is just like actually harming your ability to make energy. So what are some examples of like short term impacts of glucose spikes, like chronic fatigue? And then what are some more long term impacts? So the most common symptoms that you're having spikes, and by the way, the studies estimate that about 80% of the population has spikes, even if they don't have diabetes. The most common symptoms are, number one, unsteady energy.

So you're tired in the morning, in the afternoon. You're just like, you can feel that you're not, you know, on fire and just like cruising with steady energy through life. You're like, tired awake, tired awake. So that's a very common symptom. Second most common symptom is cravings. So cravings for sweet foods and feeling a little bit like controlled by the cravings or feeling like maybe you're addicted to sugar. That's a very, very common symptom. So unsteady energy and cravings are the most common ones. But then depending on your body, depending

on, you know, your makeup, your health history, there's so many more things that can happen due to those spikes. So some other common ones are like skin problems, acne, psoriasis, eczema. These are all inflammation-based problems. And the more spikes you have in your body, the more you have inflammation. That's a common one. Fertility impact. So the more spikes you have in your body, the more you have inflammation. That's a common one. Fertility impact. So the more spikes you have, the more you're going to deregulate your fertility hormones. That might lead to things like polycystic ovarian syndrome, which is super common in females these days. It might lead to things like infertility, difficult PMS, you know, worsening endometriosis, like your blood sugar, your glucose

levels and your fertility hormonal system are very tightly linked. Then mental health and brain clarity, brain fog, symptoms of anxiety, depression, like your brain uses glucose for energy. And so it feels the impact of those spikes just like the rest of your body does. And for me, that was really the main reason that I got so excited about glucose is because I could really tell that the more spikes I was having, the worse my mental health was. So those are sort of, you know, medium term things. And then long term, well, the more spikes you have, the more likely you're going to get type two diabetes. And there's 1 billion people in the world today who have either type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes. It's very important. It's our

generation's biggest challenge in terms of health. We need to get those numbers down. We need to help people not develop that disease. So type 2 diabetes. And then finally, I will say, the more spikes you have, the more likely you will get Alzheimer's disease, cancer, heart disease. So essentially, I know it's all bad news, but there's easy things you can do to avoid those. Essentially, because your body uses glucose, because every single cell in your body depends on it, when you have glucose spikes and when your glucose levels are not healthy and steady, many, many problems can happen, which makes sense, right? If it's so core to the functioning of your biology, making sure that it's working properly and that it's steady is the foundation of physical and mental health. Wow. So this is incredibly impactful in the short term and the long term, and something that I feel like everyone needs to know about. Agreed. Wow. And especially the piece that I've been on a journey in regards to my hormones because I was

on birth control, as many of us were for such a long time, that my body is now confused and I'm trying to get my hormones balanced again. And it's so interesting to hear the impact that glucose can have on our hormones. And would you say the reason so many women are struggling with PCOS is this glucose spike issue? Listen, it seems from the scientific studies that many, many, many, maybe the vast majority of cases of PCOS are linked back to glucose spikes, and in particular to too much insulin in the body. So I can dive a little bit into that. So when you have a spike, your body has a mechanism to get that level down, right? And the way your body does that is by sending out a hormone called insulin. And insulin's job, insulin, she's amazing. We love her. She grabs excess glucose and stores it away in different compartments in your body, in your muscles, in your liver and in your fat cells.

And this is really good and very helpful because it gets those damaging levels down. The problem is over time, too much insulin also has its own consequences, in particular when it comes to hormones. When there's a lot of insulin in a female body, a couple of things happen. First, your ovaries start producing more testosterone than usual. Testosterone being the male sex hormone. So your testosterone levels start increasing compared to your female hormones. And second, when there's a lot of insulin in the body, your body cannot convert that excess testosterone into female hormones. So there starts to be this imbalance

where there's a lot of male hormones in a female body. What does that lead to? Missed periods, infertility, hair growth on the chin, balding on the head, acne, and all these things, we kind of put them under the umbrella of polycystic ovarian syndrome. But essentially, PCOS is like a cluster of symptoms, right? It's like a big bag of symptoms of this testosterone surplus. And so often, you know, that's one of the leading causes of infertility and hormonal issues, just simply

having too much male hormones in a female body. And so what you might see happen is that a doctor might then prescribe you the birth control pill saying, hey, you have too many male hormones compared to female hormones. Take the pill and the pill containing female hormones. So we get that balance back to a place where it's more even. That will mask some of the symptoms for a while, right? You might see your acne go down, your balding reduce, like, you know, hair growth on the face go down, periods come back. But it's actually not solving the underlying issue. So when you stop taking the pill, if you haven't fixed this insulin thing, bam, the testosterone surplus is going to come right back.

And that's often one of the causes of infertility. So I'm not saying the pill is bad at all. Like it can bring so much relief to symptoms. But we have to think about what's the underlying issue. I see so many women who've been on the pill for decades who are like, oh, I want to have a baby now. They stop the pill. Boom, they don't have their period. They're like, how am I going to have a baby?

I don't have my period. So it's important that this knowledge keeps making its way, you know, and people know more and more that you can actually do some simple things to get that balance back. I also think with the PCOS diagnosis, it's become so commonly thrown around by doctors and whatever that people are getting that diagnosis and kind of feeling this lack of control and this feeling of like, oh, well, then I'm just screwed because I have this diagnosis. But the truth is, as you just said, it's just a cluster of symptoms that you can work on by doing simple diet and lifestyle changes. Like you have the control to fix it. In most cases, you can fix it. There are some cases that

go beyond diets. But in most cases, the number one place to look is to study your glucose levels, first and foremost. Like if you don't have that under control, there's no way this thing is going to get better. And thankfully, you know, through my work, I share these really easy tips that can help you get those hormones back in balance without dieting or doing anything extreme. And it's such a joy to receive messages, you know, from women who are like, oh, my God, I didn't have my period for six months. My doctor was like, you need to do IVF, blah, blah. And now she's like, and now I'm pregnant. Wow. You know, and so that brings me so much joy because I want people to have this information. And it can feel, you can feel very helpless when you're faced with

a diagnosis, especially because, you know, a lot of doctors aren't yet aware of this new science that shows you actually, hey, you can do stuff with your diet and lifestyle that can really get that problem to go away. So yes, I'm very passionate about this. I think it's fascinating. Maybe this is controversial. We can cut it out if you don't like it. But do you think maybe also doctors are just motivated to give medicine because that's how they make money? I don't think it's a motivation thing. I think, you know, when you go to medical school, you are trained to diagnose the problem and treat it. Right. And that's that is the skill you learn as a doctor. And that's a freaking

amazing skill. And we, you know, it's super valuable. But in medical school, there's just not that much time given to nutrition and, you know, lifestyle management and these sort of longer terms, softer approaches. So what brings me a lot of excitement is that I see so many doctors, you know, reaching out to me and being like, thank you for making this science accessible. I'm using it in my practice with my patients. So I think we'll get there. I think doctors are realizing that, like, the diagnose and medically treat approach has its shortcomings.

And we need to have a more holistic approach to all of this. Because, again, when you treat with a medicine, it's great, but it doesn't solve necessarily the underlying issue. So if you stop taking the medicine, you know, the thing might come back, etc. So I think it's about the partnership. It's about partnering between like doctors who actually see patients, which I don't do, by the way, you know, I'm just a teacher, like I don't see any patients. And scientific vulgarizers like me, and we need to work hand in hand to make sure everybody feels better, because we're on the same team after all. And I feel like patients are becoming more empowered because they're following people like you and listening to podcasts like this and understanding that there is another method.

So maybe they're even bringing those ideas to their doctor as well. Yes, absolutely. And if that's your case, you know, if you want to bring this information to your doctor, you can go to my science page, which is glucosegoddess.com slash science and like show the studies to your doctor because doctors love reading scientific studies and they'll be able to decipher them and see for themselves like, oh, wow, this is actually really cool, cutting edge, and then potentially incorporate it in their practice. We love that. Yeah. you guys know that greg and i are very ingredient focused so anything we bring into our house and pantry and fridge need to go through our ingredient approval checklist and oftentimes we choose things that are low in sugar more paleo and the best way to shop for that I've found is through Thrive Market.

I've been using Thrive Market for over three years now. I think it's such a fantastic way of making shopping for groceries easy, stress-free, and tailored to you and your family's needs and getting you back on routine. It's definitely health-focused. And any way that you eat, you can find food for. I love the way they organize and categorize everything. With over 90 plus ways to filter your groceries, low sugar, high protein, kids snacks, nut free, you save so much time and can find exactly what you're looking for, all delivered right to your door.

For example, I love Primal Kitchen ketchup. I also love organic pepperoncinis. And these are all things I recently ordered through Thrive Market. Another item I tried was the Thrive Market brand organic miso paste and I actually marinated salmon in the miso paste and it came out so freaking good. Highly recommend you guys try that. Thrive Market has the highest standards in the industry only allowing trusted top quality ingredients while restricting 1000 plus harmful ingredients like artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup, GMOs, and more. Whether you're looking for organic kid snacks, diet-free alternatives, or high protein essentials, they have you and your entire family

covered with a click of a button. I personally love to filter by diet and I often will click paleo because that means it's very clean ingredients and that's what Greg and I often will click paleo because that means it's very clean ingredients and that's what Greg and I tend to go for. Save time and money by getting it all in one place with Thrive Market. Go to thrivemarket.com slash pursuit of wellness for 30% off your first order plus a free $60 gift. That's T-H-R-I-V-E market.com slash pursuit of wellness. As I told you before, I am highly sensitive to sugar. What do you mean by that? Okay, I'll give you an example. Let's say at my office, it's a birthday and there's a cake and everyone's having a slice of cake, like,

woo, having fun. If I have a slice of cake in the middle of the day, I am screwed the rest of the day. I have brain fog within 15 minutes. I can't think straight. I'm exhausted. I will have acne the next day without fail. I just can't do it. So for that reason, I've always felt way more healthy when I eat a higher fat diet. So I even went like two or three years on keto pretty much. And I partially did that because I have a mood disorder, BPD. And back then when it was a little, you know, more fresh, my diagnosis, and I was still figuring it out, going keto really helped me balance those mood swings. But after a while, I found that being keto for so long was impacting my gut health because I wasn't getting those essential good bacteria.

Yeah. Fiber and, yeah. So my question for you is someone like me who can really feel the impact of a glucose spike, am I having, like, why is that? Are some people more sensitive than others? Have you always been that way? Or is it recent? Maybe not when I was a kid, but when I went on a big fitness journey, I lost 90 pounds. And it was kind of like, after that, I would say. So I mean, listen, the less you eat sugar, the more sensitive you're going to be to it. So that's maybe, I'm not exactly sure, you know, what your nutrition life looks like now. But if you never eat sugar and then you eat it, like it's going to make you fall asleep and make you feel really, really bad.

Okay, well, I never eat sugar. Yeah, so maybe that's what's going on. And what's actually happening is that you're feeling that spike like hugely. It's like anything. It's like coffee, right? If you drink a cup of coffee every day, having a second cup one day is not going to affect you too much. If you haven't had a drop of caffeine in 20 years, I can tell you that cup of coffee, you're going to feel it. So it's a bit the same. If your body is very sensitive and isn't used to having those experiences of glucose spikes,

it's pretty cool that you feel them, actually, because many people are not connected to what's going on on the inside. So I think I personally think it's cool. You feel it? I'm not sure how it is to live with that. But what you can do, if you want to eat sugar, there are very easy things you can do to eat the sugar. So partake in the birthday cake, you know, still have the pleasure from the cake with less of an impact on your glucose. So less of an impact on how you feel, on your skin, on your mood, on your energy. And that's what I call the glucose hacks. Okay, we need those glucose hacks. Yeah, we do. Okay, so what can I do, for example, in the office with the birthday cake? Okay, so two things you can, three things, three of the 10 hacks you can apply in that situation of the birthday cake. So number one, before you eat the cake, eat something else that is rich in like protein, fat or fiber.

So for example, have a handful of nuts, maybe like some Greek yogurt. That's my favorite thing to have with cake actually. I love it. So make sure there's something else in your stomach before you eat all those sugars and starches in the cake. Because when there's something in our stomach, when we then eat the cake, the glucose molecules in the cake, instead of going straight from like mouth to stomach to bloodstream, they're going to be slowed down by everything else that's in your stomach. So again, the velocity or the speed at which the glucose molecules will arrive in your stomach. So again, the velocity or the speed at which the glucose molecules will arrive in your blood is now slower. So you don't have such a big spike. You have sort of a softer curve.

And that's the whole concept. We want to flatten those curves. So number one, have something else before. You can even have like an egg, half an avocado. Make sure you're not eating that cake on an empty stomach. Super key. Second, have a little vinegar drink. So get a big glass of water and then pour a tablespoon of vinegar in it. It can be apple cider vinegar, white wine vinegar, like whatever your favorite vinegar is, it doesn't matter. When you do this, you can reduce the spike of the thing you eat afterwards by up to 30%. How? Because vinegar contains another amazing molecule called acetic acid. And acetic acid does a few things. Number one, it slows down, again, this whole like digestion thing. It slows

down how quickly the starches and sugars break down into glucose molecules. So again, it slows down how quickly they arrive in your bloodstream. And then second, super cool, acetic acid goes to your muscles and tells your muscles to soak up glucose as it arrives in your bloodstream. Almost like when you're exercising and your muscles are using glucose for energy. Well, acetic acid kind of makes your muscle do the same thing. So you have one glucose arriving less quickly in the blood and two, it gets soaked up more than it usually would. So you're still eating the cake, but with much less of a spike. And then finally, after you have the

cake, use your muscles for 10 minutes. So again, you know, calling on these amazing allies that we have that are our muscles, because muscles, when they contract, they need glucose for energy. And so if you just ate something high in glucose, and then you use your muscles and you move your body, the spike will be lower. And in terms of how to use your muscles, I mean, you can go to the gym, of course, you can do whatever. My new favorite thing is, okay, we're going to do it together now. So you're sitting down and do some calf raises. So you like just push your calves up so your feet are just on like the your toes, you know, up and down, up and down. And you can do this for like a few minutes, five, 10 minutes. You can do this, you know, at down up and down and you can do this for like a few minutes five ten minutes you can do this you know at work nobody sees you because in your calf muscle there's an sorry in your calf there's an amazing muscle called the soleus muscle which is very good at soaking up

glucose so there you have it i have the whole plan for you okay so eat something first okay nuts greek yogurt an egg have a vinegar drink and then the cake, use your muscles for 10 minutes. And then you call me and tell me how you're going to do it. Okay. So I have a couple questions. A couple questions. Firstly, I love vinegar. I'm kind of a vinegar addict, actually.

I like dump it on my salads for lunch every day. Nice. Is that equivalent to having a vinegar drink? Yes, absolutely. Really? Yeah, you can have the vinegar on any food you want, any shape or form. Like it doesn't have to be in water.

You can even mix it with olive oil. You can add whatever you want to that salad. It's still going to have the same effect. Fee is always making fun of me for how much vinegar I use. And now I find out that it's actually keeping me alive. Super good for your glucose levels. One question though,

you're really just having, like, normal vinegar. You're not using, like, salad dressings with honey in it and stuff like that. Yeah. No. Just straight up organic balsamic vinegar. Okay.

So balsamic, make sure it's not super aged and syrupy. Okay. So regular, you know, liquid balsamic is fine. But if you go for the Italian balsamic, you know, they're like,

almost looks like a cream. Like a glaze, kind of. Like a glaze. That's no good because it's full of sugar. Yeah. So regular balsamic, you know, they're like almost looks like a cream. Like a glaze kind of. Like a glaze. That's no good because it's full of sugar. Yeah. So regular balsamic, amazing. Okay. Other questions.

So this morning, I'm kind of going through this thing right now where I've changed my diet because I did all of these tests. I did blood tests, Dutch tests, stool tests, the works like within the last two weeks. And I found that I'm highly sensitive to eggs, like level three in the red zone for eggs. And I used to eat eggs every day. Like I am a savory breakfast gal. And all of a sudden, my naturopath is like, you need to incorporate more oats. And I'm nervous of the oats. I'm scared of the oats. Yeah. So what I did this morning is I had a decaf hot coffee and I put a tablespoon of coconut oil in there, drank that, and then I had oats and I kept them savory. Thoughts on that?

Thoughts on that. So the good thing about eggs is that they're full of protein. And in the morning, having protein is really important to steady your glucose levels. So the coffee and like MCT, you said, oil, I don't really have a strong opinion on that. Like if it works for you, that's fine. The oats thing, I'm not an oats fan. Like oats are actually mostly starch. They have some protein in them, but it's really not the best way to get your protein in. And so as a result, that starch, when it breaks down in your body, breaks down into glucose molecules and it creates a glucose spike. So I would say like there's actually a it's funny that you say eggs to oats because there's a study that shows that

people with diabetes who switch from oats to eggs. So the opposite of what you did see all their inflammation markers go down and their heart disease risk go down. So you're doing the reverse. So what I would say is maybe instead of switching from like eggs all the way to oats, so switching from protein to starch, let's find you other ways to get like a savory protein rich breakfast without too much starch. So in my new book, The Glucose Goddess Method, I have 30 freaking amazing breakfast recipes that are not just eggs because people are like, OK, what else should I eat that are apart from eggs? But you can have leftovers from last night's dinner. You know, you can make like some crackers with smoked salmon and cream cheese. You can make some pan fried halloumi with some spinach, you know, and you can make like a Greek yogurt with some berries and nut butter. Like there are other options that are going to be good for your glucose levels

without necessarily being egg-based. So a smoothie. Yes. With banana, blueberries. Protein powder. Protein powder, hemp seeds. Is that all right? That's all right.

Okay. So what you want to avoid in the smoothie world is having a smoothie that is just pure fruit. Because when you blend something, the metal blades of the blender, they pulverize the food. And in fruit, yes, there is sugar, but there's also something amazing and protective. There's fiber. And fiber helps reduce the spike of the sugar in the fruit. But when you blend the fruit, you're pulverizing the fiber particles. So they're just not as effective anymore. So if you're just having a fruit smoothie, you're basically drinking sugar juice. So for smoothies, and I have a recipe for my favorite smoothie in the book, but protein powder,

super freaking important. Make sure it doesn't have like extra sugar in it. Yeah, fat, important. So you know, hemp seeds, you can put avocado, whatever, linseed oil, whatever you like. And then if you want to put fruit for taste, that's totally fine. But think about them for taste, not as like being the core of your smoothie. Okay. Makes a ton of sense. And I've, yeah, I've noticed that adding the hemp seeds makes a really big difference. And I've been using this hemp, these hemp seeds that are super delicious. Anyway. Can I ask you something? Yes. Do you feel better since you don't eat eggs anymore?

Do you not feel a difference? It's with my skin. So I have noticed an impact on my skin without the eggs. But I miss them so much. And the goal is to bring them back. So I'm eliminating- Bring back the eggs. Bring back the eggs.

This is a campaign to bring back the eggs. I'm eliminating them for four weeks. Okay. And then I'm going to bring them back. Because truly, I feel my best when I have eggs, turkey bacon, and like… Absolutely. Maybe some greens or something. Yeah.

And I miss them so much. Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm sure they miss you too. I know. I know. I really have eaten them every day for like seven years. But sometimes I hear that when you have something so often, that might actually be the cause of the sensitivity.

Yeah, I did it to myself. Okay. 100%. Cool. So you bring them back, maybe have them twice a week, and then the rest of the time, you can use all my amazing recipes and have your perfect savory breakfast. I can't wait to see the recipes. And what do you think of chia pudding? Great, as long as you don't add, you know, honey, maple syrup, and sugar to it. I'm not a sweet gal. Perfect. Yeah, it's great. But for everyone listening, okay, this is a great question. For anyone listening who needs their morning coffee or tea or whatever it may be, and they add their sweetener, how do you handle that? So you mean adding like honey or sugar? So in the morning, if you feel like you may have any symptoms of spikes, so if you feel cravings throughout the day, if you feel tired, if maybe you have like a hormonal issue, skin issue,

sleep issue, mental health issue, and if you want to try to get better, it is quite important to try to avoid sugar in the morning. Because when we have a glucose spike in the morning, our entire day becomes this glucose roller coaster. And often when people say I'm addicted to sugar, what's actually going on is that they're getting these spikes and these dips that cause cravings and spikes and dips and spikes and dips. And most of us start that glucose roller coaster. We put the coin in the machine in the morning. By having a big glucose spike at breakfast, we cause that cravings all day. So all that to say that ideally in the morning, you don't have anything sweet. You can have like some stevia, allulose, monk fruit in

your coffee. However, if you're like, no, I need coffee with my sugar, non-negotiable, here's what you can do. Number one, have it after your savory breakfast instead of before. Again, because when you have something that is sugary after other foods, the glucose molecules arrive more slowly into your bloodstream. So less of a spike and less of that cravings roller coaster being kicked off. That's, I would say that's the biggest one. You can also drink the coffee while you're moving, you know, or you can say, okay, in the morning, I'm going to try to have it without sugar. And then after lunch or in the afternoon, I'll have it with the sugar that I love. It's everything is relative. Everything is a spectrum. You can always like add a few hacks here and there to try to improve the impact of that sweet coffee on your blood sugar.

Okay, great tips. Another question. I've heard you mention the veggie starter when it comes to lunch and dinner, and I think even breakfast, right? If you want. So how does the veggie starter work and why does it work? Okay, so I mentioned that in fruit, there's this amazing substance called fiber. So we love her. Like fibers, she's our girl. So in veggies, there is a lot of fiber. And when you have fiber at the beginning of a meal, before all of the other foods, the fiber in those veggies arrives in your stomach first, right, uninterrupted, and then into your upper intestine. There, the fiber creates this protective sort of like mesh or shield that stays in place for a couple of hours and helps your body not experience too much of a spike from

the food coming down afterwards. Because that mesh prevents your body from absorbing too much of those glucose molecules into the bloodstream too quickly. So that's why it's one of my favorite hacks because it asks you to add a plate of veggies at the beginning of a meal. You can also add some vinegar dressing to them if you want. And you don't need to change what you're eating during the rest of the meal, right? You just go about your normal life,

eat your normal foods, but at the beginning of your lunch or your dinner, add that veggie starter. You'll see a big difference in cravings, energy levels. It's very powerful. And in week three of the glucose guidance method, that's when we incorporate the veggie starters. And I have like all these incredible veggie starter recipes that you'll love. I can't wait to show you. Oh, I'm so excited because I've become obsessed with cooking lately. So I'm into this. Perfect. So let's say I'm eating a big salad, which I do every day.

And I have Brussels sprouts in there and leafy greens and all that kind of jazz. And then I also have a piece of salmon on it. I should eat the greens before the salmon. You don't have to because in that case, your meal doesn't contain many starches and many sugars. So it's not going to create a big glucose spike anyway. Right. So let's say if you were to tell me I have a salad and then I have pasta, then definitely eat the salad first. But if you're having a salad and then protein, it doesn't make that big of a difference. You can still have the veggies first and then the salmon.

That'll be like extra optimal. But, you know, live your life like you don't have to have the salmon afterwards. It's about doing it when it really, really matters. And in the case of a meal that doesn't contain anything that would turn to glucose, it doesn't matter. So if there was sweet potato in the salad, then it would matter. Yes, exactly. And then you could have them towards the end of the meal to reduce the spike they would create. Okay. I want to hear your thoughts on intermittent fasting.

Yes. Because that comes up a lot. What are your thoughts on intermittent fasting and how does it relate to glucose spikes? So I think intermittent fasting is a very personal choice. You know, like for some people, it works really well, especially men. For others, it can be a bit more challenging. But there's two things you need to know. Number one, you don't need to be doing intermittent fasting to have a healthy body. Okay, it's not like it's not a must have. What's actually more important than how long you fast for is how you break your fast. Because when you're fasted, your whole digestive system is empty.

And I mean, it is empty, empty. So the first thing you eat is going to make its way straight, mouth to bloodstream, like bam. So when you break your fast, it's very, very important to not break it with starches or sugars. Otherwise, it's going to create massive glucose spikes. When you break your fast, try to break it with vegetables. That is going to be the most powerful,

protective thing you can do. And if you've been fasting for 16 hours and you're like, oh, wow, I feel so good, blah, blah. If then you break it with an orange juice and some oats, you're going to negate a lot of the benefits, you know, of that fasting. Also, it's pretty clear from the science that it's better to not snack during the day and to have like three full meals. So in that sense, like fasting between meals, I definitely recommend that. In terms of fasting, you know, for 12, 16, whatever hours a day, it's kind of up to you. But try not to snack too much. That's really helpful for your glucose levels. And how would you recommend we control our glucose spikes around workouts?

Oh, interesting. So when you're working out, your body's using a lot of glucose for fuel and your muscles need fuel. So it's not as important to focus on like having steady glucose levels when you go to the gym. Like fuel as much as you need to. You can eat while you're working out before, after, whatever feels necessary. Because in the context of exercise, it's kind of a different game right you want to make sure that your body is

having all the glucose that it needs and for example if you're if you're extra focusing on like glucose study glucose study glucose study it might sort of harm your performance in terms of athletic performance because you need some glucose to fuel. Yeah. So yeah, less important, especially if you're somebody who like works out a lot like you, like around your workout, eat whatever you need to eat. It's less important. When I was keto for such a long time and I would go to do my weightlifting, I was having a really hard time making it through my entire workout because I was running out of

energy like halfway through. Because when you're keto, you're forcing your body to burn fat for fuel, right? And burning fat for fuel, it's a much slower process to turn that fat into energy. So if you were doing, for example, like if you're walking for 12 hours, like you were going hiking for 12 hours, I'd be like, keto is great because all that slow burning fat is going to keep you going for long. If you're weightlifting and you need to be explosive, fat is not the right fuel for your body. Your body needs glucose to be able to do that explosive kind of stuff. That makes a lot of sense. I feel like keto is more of a tool than anything else.

And so did keto not affect your hormones at all? I, well, maybe it did. Because when I went keto years ago, for like two months, my period stopped. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. No, I think me being keto for such a long time has had an impact because I'm seeing it now in my gut test and my hormone test. And now I'm starting to bring back some carbs, like sweet potato and rice and things like that. I try to put it at the end of my day because I'm finding that that helps me. Like I'm not having any ups and

downs. Absolutely. And if you use like the glucose hacks that I shared, you'll be able to bring back those carbs in the most beneficial way possible, right? Without creating a big spike, you know, while taking care of your body, your mind, and in a way that's going to allow you to get back to health and eat a bit of everything. Okay, you came along at the perfect time.

Perfect. And this book came along at the perfect time. One last question for you from me. And then I have some community questions. I saw you made a post about grounding and glucose. Yes. Okay, I've been obsessed with grounding. I love grounding. How does it impact glucose? Like how are they related? Okay, so grounding means putting your feet or your hands on the earth, right? What happens when you do that is actually pretty freaking amazing. So there's an exchange of electrons that happens between the earth and your body, and it calms down your nervous system. It reduces stress and it reduces your glucose levels and makes them steadier and lower and healthier. And scientists are trying to figure

out like why exactly that happens. But what we need to know is that it's very powerful. It's very great, especially, you know, you can combine that to other amazing practices like sunlight first thing in the morning also has a really good impact on your glucose levels. But I love the grounding one. I love, love, love, love it. That's amazing. So amazing.

So what I try to do is like, it's hard when i'm in big cities because there's no grass but here in la i love it because there's grass everywhere so i'm just walking around no shoes like grounding let me ground or the beach the beach is amazing but for me i feel like the grass especially if it's wet i feel more like grounded it's different it's probably psychological maybe just like the earth just feels really like under the soles of your feet like the wet grass i'm like oh i'm so grounded right now but it's so true like it does have that impact and it's amazing like i can't believe it would have an impact on glucose spikes it's amazing and therefore impact on your physical mental health on everything yes turns out humans are

meant to walk barefoot on the earth. Who knew? It's almost like everything we've invented has actually ruined our health. Yes, it really has. Okay, so let's hop into some community questions. Okay, I'm ready. Because the gals were super pumped. Okay, great. Glucose levels and impacts on anxiety. A few things to note. So studies show us that the more spikes we have, the more we're going to experience symptoms of anxiety if that's something that we struggle with. Second, being on a glucose roller coaster, so spike dip, spike like most of us are, is actually a stressor to the body, okay? It actually is felt by the body like external stress would be.

And when your body is stressed, your mental health is impacted. And that can increase anxiety for sure. And again, me, when I learned to study my glucose levels and I was I was suffering from like a mixture of like depersonalization, anxiety, depression, like a weird cluster of mental health issues. Studying my glucose levels was like the first step to take to fix my mental health. It was profoundly transformative. So if you're struggling with anxiety, balancing glucose levels is going to be key in helping you overcome that.

Amazing. Best way to incorporate veggies in the morning. Oh, so if you want to have veggies in the morning, I would say maybe like, well, any way of incorporating them is going to be helpful, by the way. The way I would do it would be maybe like leftover roasted cauliflower that I warm up and have with like my morning protein, maybe saute some spinach. Personally, like having cold veggies in the morning doesn't feel too appealing, but that's just me. So I would say maybe try to heat them up. But any way you have them is going to be great.

I love like a spring salad on the side. You know what I mean? In the morning? With like an omelet. That's like the best. Yeah, that's good. Or you can tuck the spinach in the omelet. That's nice.

So it is in any way to incorporate them. And one of my favorite recipes in the morning is my two egg omelet. And I put tomatoes in there. Like, you know, sliced cherry tomatoes with feta. Okay, delicious. Should we be refrigerating apple cider vinegar? I don't think you need to. I don't think that affects the molecules at all. But generally, I think, you know, refrigerating anything can help preserve it.

So why not? I don't know. I will look it up. Do you recommend buying a glucose monitor? And before we talk about this, I know that there is some debate about this because obviously there are diabetics who need glucose monitors and there are people buying them that don't need them. So I want to acknowledge that and just say, I just want to hear your thoughts on...

Listen, it's a great, cool technology. It helped me get interested in the field in the first place. However, I don't think that the glucose monitors currently on the market are like appropriate for somebody who doesn't have diabetes. It can be very overwhelming to see the numbers go up and down. You're like, what does this mean? It's also very expensive. So it's not needed. It is not needed on your journey to study your glucose levels.

It is not needed because you can feel the impact. You feel the energy get better, the cravings reduce. However, if you have one, that's great. And it's super interesting to see how the hacks are changing your data in real time. But it's up to you. Yeah, I feel like I have an internal one already, so I don't really need one. You definitely have an internal glucose monitor. We should study you. We should figure out. That's really cool. I'm down. I love all these tests. I love seeing it. Anything to improve my health, I'm down for. Now it's time for the question we ask every guest. I started this podcast because I believe everyone's pursuit of wellness looks different.

What does wellness mean to you? Wellness to me means just being at peace and content and happy and just like enjoying being in my body, enjoying my life. You know, it's very basic, I would say. For me, it's just about waking up in the morning, not feeling dissociated, feeling like, hey, I'm okay. I feel good. You know, my mental health is good today. That's really the pursuit for me. And that's what achieving wellness has looked like for me. And it makes me so happy. I love that. I can relate to that so much. Where can people find you and your book online?

Yeah. So Instagram is my HQ at Glucose Goddess. And my new book, The Glucose Goddess Method that I'm so excited about. It's out May 2nd. And, you know, I talked about all these hacks and all this science. And a question I got often from people was like, OK, Jessie, I want to do it. Like, I want to study my glucose levels for like my mental health, my fertility, my energy, whatever. But where do I start? Because there's a lot of information. So in this new book, The Glucose Goddess Method, I created a four-week, four-step program to turning these hacks into habits with amazing recipes.

It's super simple. It's not restrictive. You're just adding the hacks, right? We're doing savory breakfast, vinegar, veggie starter, and movement. And it's super easy and amazing. And I had the incredible opportunity to test this method in October on 2,700 people. I saw that. And the results are just astonishing.

You know, 90% of people have fewer cravings. 70% of people have more energy. 40% of people with hormonal issues have improved their hormones in four weeks. Wow. So it's just really freaking amazing. And I'm so excited for this book. And I'm going to send you a copy. And I can't wait to hear what you think. Oh, I can't wait. Thanks for joining us on the Pursuit of

Wellness podcast. To support this show, please rate and review and share with your loved ones. If you want to be reminded of new episodes, click the subscribe button on your preferred podcast or video player. You can sign up for my newsletter to receive my favorites at marilowelland.com. It will be linked in the show notes. This is a Wellness Out Loud production produced by Greg Peterson, Fiona Attucks, and Kelly Kyle. This show is edited by Mike Fry and our video is recorded by Luis Vargas. You can also watch the full video of each episode on our YouTube channel at Mari Fitness. Love you, Power Girls and Power Boys. See you next time. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only.

It is not a substitute for individual medical and mental health advice and does not constitute a provider-patient relationship. As always, talk to your doctor or health team.