My friend recommended this book to me because my dad's sugar has been crazy, and he's diabetic.

Jessie presents her ideas about flattening your glucose curve. She begins the book discussing what glucose is and how it works in your body. It's a nice explanation that simplifies yet isn't condescending. The information about glucose takes several chapters, which are interesting and help understand later chapters. She discusses what a glucose spike is and why they're are harmful. She then gets to the point she wants to make: you can flatten your glucose spikes/curves.

With ten hacks, Jessie believes than anyone can flatten their curves which will result in better health. She advises to check with your doctor if you have any medical conditions. She believes that menopause, diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, and other conditions will improve, even dramatically for some people. She posits that glucose is the underlying reason for many of these conditions. The ten hacks are explained with examples from people who improved their health. She's also very realistic. She has few hard and fast "rules," and she says eat what you want--just add these hacks in to your eating plan.

Overall, I didn't have many issues with what she states. I looked to see if they truly are based in science and found some conflicting information. In the end, several "hacks" are great ways to get people to eat healthier, which most Americans need. Some call me a "health nut," so I am careful with what I read concerning "diets" because I don't believe in diets but in eating healthy. Some of her hacks are criticized for possibly contributing to bad eating behaviors for people who get obsessive. Drinking vinegar mixed with water was another suggestion that I found some conflicting information. Most of her suggestions won't hurt, but I would be careful if you get obsessive about habits or if you have stomach/kidney issues. ( )

I shouldn't complain. I bought this book very cheaply at a charity store and I have learned some things from it. However, over the last few years I've been sucked in to buying various books that promise some simple change to diet or lifestyle will cure all sorts of illnesses and psychological problems. Shortage of magnesium, lack of vitamin K, gluten in the diet, antibiotics knocking out the microbial ecology of the gut, and now this one about glucose ....or more precisely, spikes in the glucose levels in the bloodstream.I think I approached the book with a reasonably open mind but increasingly started to worry about the author's certainty about what she was claiming. And a few things there did not just ring true to me. For example, she cites a case study from a young woman with multiple problems including acne and psoriasis....but also hyperthyroidism, She constantly felt hungry....which Jessie suggests was due to her glucose spikes......though It's the most obvious symptom of the hypothyroidism. Initially I was impressed bye the fact tht Jessie was a biochemist ...though I noticed that her first degree was in mathematics and I was less than impressed by the lack of statistical rigour in what she was claiming. For example, virtually all the graphs in her book (and there are many and they are informative and useful) are apparently based on her own readouts using herself as the experimental body. Though many appear to me to be 'illustrative" rather than actual results. And there is one telling example given on p230 involving her friend Luna. They both had the same breakfast and lunch and then, in the afternoon an ice cream and cookie snack which sent Jessie's glucose levels high but had virtually no impact on Luna. The heading of the chapter is "You are special" and the lesson of the example was that not everyone reacts the same way. However, the rest of the book more or less revolves around the assumption that everybody else will react the same way that Jessie has to meals and snacks. Basically, I don't think Jessie was listening too well in the biological statistics segments of her maths degree....or never studied biological statistics.....because the most fundamental thing we find in biology is the "normal distribution". This would tend to indicate that if we took 1,000 volunteers and subjected them to the various glucose treatments that Jessie talks about then we would not just get the one neat graph that Jessie charts but a normal distribution of outcomes.......some extreme spikes and some with no spikes.
Anyway, it was enough to make me a little wary of Jessie's confidence in her claims. So I cross checked with google to find people who didn't agree with her and came across this: https://abbylangernutrition.com/the-glucose-goddess-review-are-her-7-hacks-legit.... from a highly accredited nutritionist. And a few of the critical comments are: "Basically, her whole book is predicated on the theory that if we prevent glucose spikes, we can avoid some major health issues, including diabetes. Inchauspé also suggests that eating according to her hacks may put your fatty liver and type-2 diabetes into remission, reduce PCOS symptoms, and improve mental, heart, and gut health.She has said that her hacks can ‘reverse PCOS,’ which is impossible. And in a very recent IG Live with Mark Hyman, she tells people that glucose spikes cause glycation, which ‘cooks us from the inside, and then we die.’ WHAT. THE. HELL. This is gross, irresponsible fearmongering…and it’s also fully wrong. But the way she says this makes it sound science-y, and judging by the comments on the post, people believe what she’s saying.Here’s the thing. ............The above conditions and diseases are not the result of transient glucose spikes, especially in healthy people. No, you don’t need a CGM to monitor your glucose. Yes, you may improve these things if you do what some of the Glucose Goddess hacks tell you to do: eat fewer ultra-processed foods, balance your meals, eat more protein. Eat more vegetables. Eat lots of fiber, and eat less sugar. and increase your vegetable intake".

I also note that she says that good fats are saturated fats ...from animals ...like butter. But this didn't ring true to me and here's what the Harvard school of public health says about them:
Saturated fats, while not as harmful as trans fats, by comparison with unsaturated fats negatively impact health and are best consumed in moderation. Foods containing large amounts of saturated fat include red meat, butter, cheese, and ice cream. Some plant-based fats like coconut oil and palm oil are also rich in saturated fat. .....and “Good” unsaturated fats — Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats — lower disease risk. Foods high in good fats include vegetable oils (such as olive, canola, sunflower, soy, and corn), nuts, seeds, and fish.

So Jessie appears to be out of step withe mainstream thinking. All enough to raise the warning sensors with me. As the nutritionist (Abby Langer) says in one of her critical comments about the book: "Inchauspé fangirls all over Mark Hyman, which I find problematic. Most evidence-based, legit practitioners do not agree with much of what Hyman writes or posts". And when I checked out Mark Hyman, I find that I have to agree with Abby Langer.

So is there anything in Jessie's book that one can trust? Well, I guess i found the following suggestion quite helpful. If you are eating a meal which includes starch the best order in which to eat is: fibre first, protein and fat second, starches and sugar last. And many of her "hacks" can be reduced to this basic formula.

Likewise, another suggestion is that if you have to eat some carbohydrate first, try and "clothe" it with some fibre or protein/ fat. I found here analogies about fibre forming a kind of mesh a bit strange...and Abby Langer says In my 23 years of practice, I’ve never heard of fiber making any sort of ‘mesh,’ but yes – if you eat vegetables and protein before you eat carbs, you may experience a smaller rise in blood sugar.

Ok, there are a lot of issues there with over-claiming for glucose such as "flattening" but she has convinced me to reduce my intake of sugar and to try and increase my fibre intake and to cut back on drinking fruit juice ...which is pretty high in sugar. And I will try and adopt her suggested sequence of eating the various types of food. In fact, i found myself thinking back to my time in Spain where every meal was predicated by a salad with olive oil and vinegar. And surely, this contributes to the effectiveness of the Mediterranean diet.
And I must give her credit...she writes well and is easy to understand ....and I liked the coloured pictures of dishes she recommends. Had my mouth watering ...even though the dishes seemed to be mainly salad. But there are some serious issues with what she is claiming so for me it's only two stars. ( )

«Et mudaries a casa meva?» La primera vegada que Jessie Inchauspé va rebre aquesta petició d'un dels seus lectors, a qui per descomptat no coneixia, va ser pocs dies després de la publicació del llibre que canviaria completament la conversa sobre la nutrició i les dietes: "La revolució de la glucosa". Al seu llibre, Jessie havia compartit nombrosos i contundents arguments científics sobre la manera com la glucosa afecta tots els aspectes de la nostra vida i la nostra salut, així com trucs senzills per aprendre a manejar-nos amb els seus efectes. Després d'aquesta petició i el gran èxit internacional de la seva obra, en van arribar moltes més.


Però, per què tantes ofertes per mudar-se a casa de desconeguts? Perquè els seus seguidors volien que estigués al seu costat per ajudar-los a posar en pràctica la ciència de "La revolució de la glucosa", dia a dia, menjar rere menjar. Volien un pla. Un llibre pràctic, receptes, ànim i inspiració.


Aquest llibre és el resultat de tantes i tantes peticions. En aquesta obra Jessie comparteix els seus trucs, receptes, llistes de la compra i plans, tal com ho faria amb un bon amic o un familiar. Es tracta d'una guia que abasta 4 setmanes amb les 100 receptes favorites que ajudarà els lectors a persistir a la pràctica, a equilibrar els seus nivells de glucosa i a començar a sentir-se millor que mai.


El 90% de la població viu amb nivells de glucosa inestables, i la majoria ni tan sols ho sap, encara que a tots ens resultin familiars els símptomes; antulls, fatiga crònica, fam constant, inflamació, problemes de son, problemes hormonals... Ja sabem que començarem a sentir-nos millor i recuperem els nostres nivells d'energia normals quan aplanem la corba de la glucosa. Però com es fa això? Sens dubte, no a base de comptar calories ni d'eliminar de la dieta certs grups d'aliments. No, el que farem és utilitzar una sèrie de principis basats en els darrers descobriments científics; prendre un saborós esmorzar salat, començar sempre els àpats amb un bon plat de vegetals, incorporar el vinagre a la nostra dieta, moure'ns una mica després de dinar... Un cop aquests principis es converteixen en hàbits recuperem la nostra salut i ens sentim molt millor.

Much more pop than science. An easy read with a colorful style - good to get someone started on thinking about mindful eating. However, some advice in this book is at least questionable, so I'd recommend looking for a second opinion before commiting to all presented "hacks".

The good: if an Instagram account and a TED talk had a baby book, it would be this one. Starts with a personal story, destils science into catchy phrases, and shows pictures of happy people who have it all figured out. It is effective - makes reading and applying lessons learned almost effortless. At its core, this book offers common sense advice about healthy eating habits, something worth being reminded of.

The bad: it feels like the author has found a hammer and now everything is a nail. Keeping glucose level stable at all cost is preseted as a holy grail and possible cure to all dieseses and problems of humanity. There is no nuance, no shadow of doubt, no attempt to consider other factors or exmplainations. All the described studies are cherry-picked to support the author's claim and presented personal stories seem to good to be true. Research provided for some "hacks" is rather poor (e.g. single study, sample of 9 diabetcs, no data on healthy people or anecdata from the experience of the author = sample of 1).

The ugly: the book starts with a disclaimer that the author gratudated biochemistry which makes her qualified to analyze biological data. I was expecting some metanalysis of different studies and datasets... but got mostly examples from the author's own continuous glucose monitor. My disappointment grew everytime author needed to remind me that something she recommends is science based without presenting relevant data supporting it. "It works because of science" is not convicing enough ;)

If you want to improve your eating habits but have problems with starting out - this book might be helpful to get necessary inspiration and ideas for easy changes that can make a difference. I doubt if the results will be as spectacular as the author claims but it should do no harm. If you explored the subject already and made some improvements, this book will rather not give you any novel or groundbreaking insights. ( )

The most important aspect of food is to learn how to avoid glucose spikes. This is covered in the 3rd part, while the first one defines glucose and glucose spike and the second part talks about why these spikes are harmful to us.

I've learnt that the order of eating completely matters. The author also explains why it is so. There is explanation given for many other recommendations as well.

"If you want to snack, go savory instead of sweets" - totally taking this into practice. ( )