The Glucose Goddess Method - A Plant Based High Carb Type 1 Diabetic’s Humble Review
I have been following the author Jessie Inchaumpé, who likes to call herself The Glucose Goddess, for a while. I have read her books and appreciate her casual and effective style of communicating science in her Youtube channel.
Over time I have grown intrigued by her commitment to make the science of blood glucose management more accessible to the general public, and as with many other authors and science communicators, I have approached her with the aim of filling my knowledge gaps and perhaps discovering some new insights on how to better navigate my life with type 1 diabetes.
In her most recent book The Glucose Goddess Method, the author selects the four most effective hacks that are supposed to improve blood glucose management, and I’ve decided to put them to the test in my own daily life to observe what difference they would make.
In particular, the four “hacks” described in the book as the most bang for the buck are:
The Vinegar Hack
The Savory Breakfast Hack
The Movement Hack
The Greens Hack.
Movement and greens are not a problem for me. As a whole food, plant based athlete I regularly consume fiber in all my meals and regularly move my body, prior and post the vast majority of my meals.
However, I am relatively new to the idea of eating savory breakfast and of using vinegar as a standalone drink prior to a meal.
Regarding breakfasts, I typically eat large bowls of fruits and leafy greens, or oatmeals with some soy milk and cacao powder. I’ve tried “savory” options in the past, but only occasionally or when I ran out of fruits in the fridge.
Regarding vinegar, I’ve used to dressing my salads with it since I have memory, but I have never consumed it ten to fifteen minutes before the meal, as indicated in the book.
I was intrigued enough to give these hacks a try and observe the results. Since the Movement hack and the Greens hack are already a backbone of my lifestyle, I have continued to move and eat salads as usual, adding the Breakfast and Vinegar ones to the routine.
Let’s see what happened!
Savory Breakfast Failure
I’ve always preferred “sweet” breakfasts: typical morning servings for me are based on whole fruits and sometimes on plain oatmeals with some pure cocoa powder. In other words, I tend to fuel my day with some whole plant based carbohydrates.
The structure of the savory breakfast described in The Glucose Goddess Method book is one that shifts the focus away from carbohydrates towards fats and proteins, which are supposed to avoid or delay blood glucose spikes during the morning. Quite a radical change from my usual, but for the sake of science I abandoned my beloved fruit bowls and embraced servings of tofu, beans, nuts and the likes.
I thus changed the macronutrient content of my breakfasts, trading some fruits for some nuts, peanut butters and some more soy products such as yogurts (with no added sugars). The amount of fats of my meal increased from around 10 grams to around 25, and that surely helped my morning blood glucose stay in range.
My aim was to observe what this type of breakfast would do to my glycemic index, but I was also aware that excess fats and proteins do cause insulin resistance - the exact thing we’re all trying to avoid - so I was careful not to eat too much proteins and fats later in the day. My first meal would be more loaded with them, but focusing my other meals on whole carbs and vegetables ensured that the overall daily intake would not much different from my usual 30 to 50 grams of fats and 90 to 110 grams of proteins.
As I anticipated, my morning blood glucose was typically stable between the 110s-150s, and post lunch levels were mostly in range too. What I observed, however, was a delayed spike in blood glucose during the nights. In other terms, while my blood glucose was stable, I was paying the price with my fasting blood glucose. Most nights during the experiment period, I would go to bed with, say, 130 and wake up with 250, my blood sugars slowly but constantly climbing during the night.
It could be that I misinterpreted the message or that I did something wrong, but what I have seen was not what I was expecting. I was hoping to see my overall time in range improve throughout the day and night, but the opposite actually happened.
I also think that the author’s overall emphasis on the consumption of fats and proteins over carbohydrates kind of misses the point. An insulin sensitive organism is one that is able to efficiently metabolize carbohydrates rather than one that avoids them. Being in range 100% of the time as a result of a diet that has little carbs and that is centred on fats and proteins is not the same as being in range 100% of the time while consuming whole carbohydrates. In the first case, you’d be simply escaping the “carb problem”. In the latter case, you are facing it head on, understanding it and solving it.
I went back to my servings of fruit and leafy greens, and my blood glucose thanked me.
Vinegar Hack Success
This one was interesting, and I was positively surprised by it. I always dress up my salads with apple cider vinegar but I have never “drank” it, or consumed it in some other way, before a meal.
The author stresses how drinking some vinegar diluted in water in the ten to fifteen minutes leading up to a meal can drastically reduce the blood glucose spike induced by the meal. I tried.
To make sure my experiments would be as reliable as possible, I kept all my meals the same: fruits, legumes and some whole grain for lunch and potatoes, salads and beans for dinner. I just added the vinegar hack, diluting it in a cup of water and drinking the potion before each meal.
And this time, I noticed a difference! None of my meals ever generated a huge spike in the past: eating slowly and accompanying whole carbohydrates with vegetables is always a recipe for success. But since we’re dealing with carbohydrates nonetheless, there will always be some kind of impact. And I observed that the increases in blood glucose were much lower, the curve being flatter.
Once again, this could be the result of me eating more consciously while conducting the experiment. Maybe I had steeper increases in the past because I was rushing through my meals, who knows. But I did my best to replicate my “average meal” behaviours and servings, and all things being equal, I noticed a difference.
Not sure I will necessarily drink vinegar, but I will keep consuming it in some form before my meals.
Conclusions
I did not test the Greens hack and the Movement hack because several years spent eating vegetables and moving daily gathered enough evidence to prove their effectiveness for blood glucose and type 1 diabetes management.
So if you’re in doubt, eat vegs and move. The Glucose Goddess didn’t discover anything new here, these points have been brought to the public’s attention long before her, but if she is your reference, go ahead and follow her advice.
The Vinegar hack was a pleasant discovery that I will keep adopting. I’ve seen my post-meal glucose being more regular and stable. Provided that I keep doing the basics right (eating slowly, eating whole plant based carbohydrates rich foods, eating low fats, and moving), this is a nice addition to my recipe for blood glucose success.
The Savory breakfast hack, and the overall emphasis on fats and proteins, is what I do not really resonate with.
While I get why this framework might help most people, especially those who struggle to get started with getting their health back in order, as a type 1 diabetic with several years of experience, this is something my experience tells me is not a long term solution.
Proteins and fats delay the spike. And excessive amounts lead to insulin resistance. Of course you’re never going to see blood glucose swings if you avoid carbohydrates. Of course your blood sugars will be more stable if you pack your meals with fats and proteins. But that doesn’t mean your body is able to efficiently metabolise carbohydrates.
The emphasis on fats and proteins caused spikes later in the day and night during my fasting hours, so I had to drop this one after one week, my usual 90% time in range was compromised.
One last thing worth mentioning is that the author often claims that these hacks will work regardless of what one eats, and she encourages readers to keep eating what they want - pizzas, fruits, ice-creams, whatever. This might be true, but I do not agree with her message here. Yes, if you eat a huge ice-cream these tricks will help tame the swings afterwards, but that doesn’t mean you can get away with eating these foods all the time.
I am sure she isn’t actively encouraging people to eat junk, but I am afraid that a generic reader without much knowledge about nutrition and health in general might close the book and think “ok, so I can keep eating my pizzas/gelatos/comfort food, I just have to drink some vinegar beforehand”. That’s dangerous. Processed foods cause metabolic diseases, and metabolic diseases are a wreaking ball for our long term health, no matter how many hacks and tricks we deploy.
Peter Attia’s book “Outlive” is an excellent reference to understand metabolic diseases more in depth, and I encourage everyone to read it.
After this experiment, if you ask me, the ultimate blood glucose hack is still to eat whole plant based foods that are naturally rich in carbohydrates and low in fats. The Mastering Diabetes book is still my reference for managing blood glucose.
