It’s no secret that sugar can cause problems. In moderation it isn’t usually a big deal, but regularly ingesting high quantities of the stuff can lead to weight gain and even type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body begins to resist its own insulin; the hormone responsible for managing your blood sugar. When your blood-glucose level spikes, your insulin releases increases in kind.
Over time, heightened insulin release makes your body numb to the hormone, preventing it from effectively managing your blood-glucose and triggering bouts of hypo- and hyperglycaemia. This is type 2 diabetes, and once it’s triggered it usually means you’ll be managing your diet and potentially taking insulin injections for the rest of your life.
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So, with that cheerfulness out of the way, on to the meat of the matter: a biochemist has revealed how to time your sugar intake to maximise pleasure and minimise the risks to your body.
Jessie Inchauspé, the biochemist and bestselling author in question, is known to her fans as ‘The Glucose Goddess’.
Inchauspé typically advocates for ‘basic common-sense strategies’ around diet management, and claims her theories around eating particular foods at certain times are ‘now backed up by this modern science’.
Appearing on Lewis Howes’ The School of Greatness podcast, Inchauspé said she rejects fad diets. For her, it’s all about ‘how your body functions’ and 'physiologically how and when to eat your carbs with less impact on your health'.
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"You can eat whatever you want," she said, but noted that this isn’t a free pass for overconsumption. Inchauspé stressed that it’s all about balance and, more interestingly, timing.
"Of course sugar is not good for us right, sugar causes glucose spikes that leads to inflammation, aging, insulin release, “said Inchauspé. “But the solution to this crazy food landscape that we live in, environment, is not to cut out stuff.
"I don't believe in that. I think you try that for a week or you know, you're like this year I'm never going to eat sugar at all, that doesn't work - it never does."
Instead, she advised: "If you really want to eat some sugar, let's say a cookie, a donut, or whatever. The best time to eat that sugar so that you have maximum dopamine from it - maximum pleasure - and less impact on your body is going to be after a meal as dessert.
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"You want to always avoid eating sugar on an empty stomach and always avoid eating sugar in the morning.
"So breakfast should be savoury, in the morning, nothing sweet."
As to why this is her advice, Inchauspé said it’s to do with managing how the sugar hits your system.
If you chow down on some sweet treats or sugary cereal in the morning, Inchauspé said 'they turn into glucose molecules which arrive into your bloodstream really quickly and cause what's called a glucose spike' - 'a blood sugar spike'.
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"And then about 90 minutes later, your glucose levels are going to drop and you're going to feel a crash. And now it's 10am, 11am, and all of a sudden you feel more cravings for sweet foods. [...] And then you spike again and then all day you're on a roller coaster where you feel addicted to sugar because your brain when you're experiencing a glucose crash after a spike, the cravings center in your brain actually activates and says 'Let's find a cookie'.
"And you want to avoid that because you cannot fight against the cravings center in your brain. That center is very powerful, it's linked to evolutionary responses we have to low blood sugar."
In other words, don’t overload your system. Eating sugary goods as a treat, preferably on a near-full stomach, will slow that absorption rate and shorten the blood-glucose spikes.
Rachael Davis