Book Review: The Glucose Revolution by Jessie Inchauspie

By Pat Ellis

The Glucose Revolution: The Life Changing Power of Balancing Your Blood Sugar by Jessie Inchauspie is a well written, interesting, easy read that offers the reader a better understanding of glucose and its effects on the body.

Jessie’s personal health issues were the beginnings of her increased curiosity about how our bodies operate. This curiosity fueled a desire to work in the forefront of health technology which, in 2015, was in the area of genetics. Jessie went to work for a startup company called “23 AndMe.” Eventually she became part of a team working on the development of continuous glucose monitoring devices. When Jessie began wearing the device, her kitchen became her lab, and thus began a process of data generation that led to a social media presence with over 5.1M Instagram followers, and resulted in two books.

Jessie divides the book into three sections. The first explains what glucose is, where it is generated, what a glucose spike is, and what it does in our bodies. The second section deals with the potential short and long-term negative effects these spikes can have. We often, incorrectly, assume that glucose is only a concern for people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. In actuality we should all be aware of glucose metabolism. In Part three of the book, she discusses ten “hacks” from data and her personal experimentation that allow us to eat in a way that flattens the spikes created by glucose entering our bloodstream

I found this part of the book to be the most interesting. Rather than telling the reader what they couldn’t or shouldn’t eat, Jessie presents simple, pragmatic ways we can make better decisions about how we eat, based on the physiological information presented in Parts 1 and 2. Jessie’s undergraduate degree in mathematics and master’s degree in biochemistry have equipped her to distill vast amounts of nutritional science data into simple pragmatic actions. For instance, “Hack #1” is a strategy to alter the order in which we consume the food on our plates. Several studies, including one from Cornell University in 2015, proved that two meals consisting of the same foods can have a very different impact on our body depending only on how the individual components are consumed. Eaten in the recommended order, overall glucose spikes can be reduced by up to 73 percent for anyone. 

Each of the ten “hacks” presented are simple and straightforward. I have tried a couple of them and have been pleased with the results. It should be noted that research has also shown that no two people react identically to the glucose generated by food we consume. Variables such as muscle mass, gut microbiome, level of hydration, and workout routine all have an effect that leads to individual differences. I would recommend this book as an enjoyable way to put another tool in our healthy lifestyle kit. Happy Reading!

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