THE SCIENCE
BEHIND GLUCOSE GODDESS
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At Glucose Goddess, our mission is to make cutting edge science accessible to all of you. We are scientists, not doctors, and we read on a continual basis the newest scientific discoveries done by amazing research teams across the world, and we summarize them into easy tips that you can apply to your life if you want to. They are all listed below.
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Thousands of doctors, dietitians, practitioners, nurses, coaches, and more, use our content in their practice, to make sure their patients and clients get the latest science. If that is you, feel absolutely free to use any content that we share, it’s free and public.
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Why we should all learn to balance our glucose levels
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If you have type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, prediabetes, or another type of diabetes, like 1 billion people in the world, balancing your glucose levels is key to being able to live a long healthy life, and to increase your chances of putting prediabetes or type 2 diabetes into remission.
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If you don't have type 2 diabetes, learning about your glucose levels and how to reduce your glucose spikes will help you avoid developing insulin resistance, prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.
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If you don't have type 2 diabetes, science shows that balancing your glucose levels can help: cravings, constant hunger, fatigue, brain fog, hormonal and fertility issues, skin conditions, wrinkles, poor sleep, menopause symptoms, mental health symptoms, immune system. Avoiding spikes also reduces inflammation and slows down glycation (ageing). In people without diabetes, each glucose spike increases heart disease risk. In the long term, steadying your glucose levels also reduces the risk of Alzheimer's disease, fatty liver disease, and cancer. You will find all the scientific references below.​​
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What the graphs you see are
Let’s take a look at the glucose graphs you see throughout Glucose Goddess content, like this one:
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These graphs are here to illustrate scientific papers and make the discoveries done by research teams across the world visual. For instance, the graph above is illustrating this scientific paper.
Here is our process: if, for example, we come across a study that shows on a large scale that walking after eating reduces the glucose spike of a meal, we create a glucose graph, testing this principle on our own body, to illustrate the paper. It’s just a way to communicate the scientific findings. No conclusions are ever drawn from a n=1 experiment, and no conclusions are drawn from anyone's personal data. That would be unscientific.
On instagram, you can scroll through the panels on a post to see the scientific paper that the glucose graph is illustrating.
Why spikes are worse for the body than a higher but steady glucose level
Avoiding spikes is important for all of us, to feel better today and prevent disease tomorrow.
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Xi Chen et al., "Chronic physiologic hyperglycemia impairs insulin-mediated suppression of plasma glucagon concentration in healthy humans." Metabolism 142 (2023): 155512, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0026049523001154.
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Joana Araújo et al., "Prevalence of optimal metabolic health in American adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009–2016," Metabolic syndrome and related disorders 17, no. 1 (2019): 46-52, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30484738/.
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Heather Hall et al., "Glucotypes reveal new patterns of glucose dysregulation," PLoS biology 16, no. 7 (2018): e2005143, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30040822/.
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Benjamin Bikman, Why We Get Sick: The Hidden Epidemic at the Root of Most Chronic Disease and How to Fight It (New York: BenBella, 2020).
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Robert Lustig, Metabolical: The Lure and the Lies of Processed Food, Nutrition, and Modern Medicine (New York: Harper Wave, 2021).
It’s the variability caused by glucose spikes that is problematic.
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Antonio Ceriello et al., "Oscillating glucose is more deleterious to endothelial function anda oxidative stress than mean glucose in normal and type 2 diabetic patients," Diabetes 57, no. 5 (2008): 1349-1354, https://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/57/5/1349.short
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Louis Monnier et al., "Activation of oxidative stress by acute glucose fluctuations compared with sustained chronic hyperglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes." Jama 295, no. 14 (2006): 1681-1687, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/202670
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Giada Acciaroli et al., "Diabetes and prediabetes classification using glycemic variability indices from continuous glucose monitoring data." Journal of diabetes science and technology 12, no. 1 (2018): 105-113, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5761967/
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Zheng Zhou et al., "Glycemic variability: adverse clinical outcomes and how to improve it?" Cardiovascular diabetology 19, no. 1 (2020): 102, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12933-020-01085-6
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Michelle Flynn et al., "Transient intermittent hyperglycemia accelerates atherosclerosis by promoting myelopoiesis," Circulation research 127, no. 7 (2020): 877-892, https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.120.316653.
What should my glucose range be?
Per the American Diabetes Association, a fasting glucose level of < 100 mg/dL is considered normal. But normal may not be optimal. Studies show that <85 mg/dL may be optimal, and that avoiding spikes is important.
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American Diabetes Association, “Understanding A1C: Diagnosis,” Diabetes, accessed October 2023, https://www.diabetes.org/a1c/diagnosis.
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Jørgen Bjørnholt et al., "Fasting blood glucose: an underestimated risk factor for cardiovascular death. Results from a 22-year follow-up of healthy nondiabetic men," Diabetes care 22, no. 1 (1999): 45-49, https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/22/1/45.
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Chanshin Park et al., "Fasting glucose level and the risk of incident atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases," Diabetes care 36, no. 7 (2013): 1988-1993, https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/36/7/1988.
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Quoc Manh Nguyen et al., "Fasting plasma glucose levels within the normoglycemic range in childhood as a predictor of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes in adulthood: the Bogalusa Heart Study," Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine 164, no. 2 (2010): 124-128, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/382778.
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Guido Freckmann et al., "Continuous glucose profiles in healthy subjects under everyday life conditions and after different meals," Journal of diabetes science and technology 1, no. 5 (2007): 695-703, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2769652//
What happens during a glucose spike?
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1.When we spike, our mitochondria become overwhelmed and start producing chemicals called free radicals. Free radicals harm our cells, mutate our DNA, lead to oxidative stress and inflammation. Sweet spikes do this even more than starchy spikes. Inflammation is the root cause of most diseases. Three out of five people will die of an inflammation-based disease.
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Martin Picard et al., "Mitochondrial allostatic load puts the 'gluc' back in glucocorticoids," Nature Reviews Endocrinology 10, no. 5 (2014): 303-310, https://www.uclahealth.org/reversibility-network/workfiles/resources/publications/picard-endocrinol.pdf.
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Roma Pahwa et al., "Chronic inflammation," (2018), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493173/.
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Biplab Giri et al., "Chronic hyperglycemia mediated physiological alteration and metabolic distortion leads to organ dysfunction, infection, cancer progression and other pathophysiological consequences: an update on glucose toxicity,” Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy, no. 107 (2018): 306-328, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0753332218322406#fig0005.
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Robert H Lustig, "Fructose: it's “alcohol without the buzz”," Advances in nutrition 4, no. 2 (2013): 226-235, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3649103/.​
2. When we spike, our body ages. Each glucose spike leads to glycation, which is the process of aging of our body. Glycation leads to many age-related issues, from cataracts to Alzheimer’s. When we slow down glycation, we live a longer, healthier life.
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Chan-Sik Kim et al., "The role of glycation in the pathogenesis of aging and its prevention through herbal products and physical exercise," Journal of exercise nutrition & biochemistry 21, no. 3 (2017): 55-61, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5643203.
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Masamitsu Ichihashi et al., "Glycation stress and photo-aging in skin," Anti-aging medicine 8, no. 3 (2011): 23-29, https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jaam/8/3/8_3_23/_article/-char/ja/.
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Ashok Katta et al., "Glycation of lens crystalline protein in the pathogenesis of various forms of cataract," Biomedical research 20, no. 2 (2009): 119-121, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ashok-Katta-3/publication/233419577_Glycation_of_lens_crystalline_protein_in_the_pathogenesis_of_various_forms_of_cataract/links/02e7e531342066c955000000/Glycation-of-lens-crystalline-protein-in-the-pathogenesis-of-various-forms-of-cataract.pdf.
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Georgia Soldatos et al., "Advanced glycation end products and vascular structure and function," Current hypertension reports 8, no. 6 (2006): 472-478, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17087858/.
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Masayoshi Takeuchi et al., "Involvement of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) in Alzheimer's disease," Current Alzheimer research 1, no. 1 (2004): 39-46, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15975084/.
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Alejandro Gugliucci, "Formation of fructose-mediated advanced glycation end products and their roles in metabolic and inflammatory diseases," Advances in nutrition 8, no. 1 (2017): 54-62, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5227984/.
3. When we spike, insulin gets released, and excess glucose gets stored in our liver, muscles, and fat cells. This is one of the ways that we gain fat on our body. When the spike comes from a sweet food (as opposed to a starchy one), it also contains fructose. Excess fructose has its own detrimental impact on our body.
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Lubert Stryer, "Fatty acid metabolism,” In: Biochemistry (Fourth ed.) (New York: W.H. Freeman and Company, 1995), pp. 603–628.
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Samir Softic et al., "Role of dietary fructose and hepatic de novo lipogenesis in fatty liver disease," Digestive diseases and sciences 61, no. 5 (2016): 1282-1293, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4838515/.
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Bettina Geidl-Flueck et al., "Fructose-and sucrose-but not glucose-sweetened beverages promote hepatic de novo lipogenesis: A randomized controlled trial," Journal of hepatology 75, no. 1 (2021): 46-54, https://www.journal-of-hepatology.eu/article/S0168-8278(21)00161-6/fulltext.
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João Silva et al., "Determining contributions of exogenous glucose and fructose to de novo fatty acid and glycerol synthesis in liver and adipose tissue." Metabolic engineering 56 (2019): 69-76, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S109671761930196X.
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Stryer L (1995). Biochemistry (Fourth ed.). New York: W.H. Freeman and Company. pp. 773–74.
The role of insulin in body fat.
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Natasha Wiebe et al., "Temporal associations among body mass index, fasting insulin, and systemic inflammation: a systematic review and meta-analysis." JAMA network open 4, no. 3 (2021): e211263, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2777423.