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THE SCIENCE

BEHIND GLUCOSE GODDESS

SEE WHAT DOCTORS ARE SAYING

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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

  1. 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. 

  2. 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.

  3. 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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  • 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/.

 

 

  • 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).

 

  • 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.

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

  • 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.

 

 

 

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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  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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  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.

 

  • Lubert Stryer, "Fatty acid metabolism,” In: Biochemistry (Fourth ed.) (New York: W.H. Freeman and Company, 1995), pp. 603–628.

 

 

 

 

  • 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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The benefits of flattening our glucose curves

The hacks

Further topics

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