Managing glucose spikes

[Viveka]

In case you haven't seen it, a new book by a biochemist on managing spikes. She gave her 3 top tips on TV.

1 Have a savoury not a sweet breakfast - otherwise it starts cravings through the day.

2 Move around after meals - eg a walk or other activity after meals to reduce the spike.

3 Have vegetables before a meal - fibre lines the gut (I think) and means less absorbtion.

Her marketing is awful - is money a good enough reason to be known as the 'glucose goddess'? - and she has a 'plan' you can buy - all the usual stuff - but I like the top tips and will investigate further.

My friend who has sadly just gone type 1 diabetes following immunotherapy for cancer, so monitors his levels all day, says that tip 2 works.

glucosegoddess.com/

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Well the banner was enough to put me off - "seen" in the Daily Mail, Goop, Vanity Fair, those well known medical journals! I never trust anything you can't get a proper free look at.

Good basis for the waiter bringing your salad before the main dish as happens loads in Germany. It's not just giving you something to do while they are cooking ...

[123-go]

Thank you for this. Apparently the book is ‘well put together’.

Have just looked up the content. One of the reviews made me smile: “The majority of the ‘recipes’ are just different ways of putting veg on a plate with vinegar.”

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to 123-go]

What's the big thing about vinegar on veg? I eat a salad every day with a good dollop of vinegar ...

[123-go in reply to PMRpro]

I can’t eat beetroot that isn’t drenched in vinegar and love a sprinkle of it on baked beans with a little black pepper. No charge for the tips 😉.

[Viveka in reply to 123-go]

On the programme she showed how to make "a perfect vinegar drink" because the presenter was apparently drinking it neat! It was about a tablespoon of cider vinegar (presumably with the mother) in a glass of water. Actually, I drink that a bit less diluted and it tastes good.

[Temoral in reply to Viveka]

We have cyder vinegar every day...just a small tspn in luke warm water...ice cold water is to be avoided acc to my accupuncturist. 😉

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to 123-go]

Me too! Haven't had a beetroot butty for years!!! Never tried it on beans but then, hardly ever eat the baked variety

[Rachmaninov2 in reply to PMRpro]

One of my favourite sandwiches used to be fresh beetroot, cheese and salad cream.

[123-go in reply to Rachmaninov2]

🤗-Yum!

[Rachmaninov2 in reply to 123-go]

Last year I made this rustic 🙄beetroot, cheese and thyme tart which I served with new pots and salad. (It tasted much better than it looked!)

Cheese, beetroot and basil tart.

[123-go in reply to Rachmaninov2]

It looks pretty good to me 😀.

[tempusfugi in reply to 123-go]

Me too, 123-go😆

[Heron82 in reply to PMRpro]

my mother used to serve cucumber and onions in vinegar as part of a summer or festive meal. Never seen it anywhere since my childhood.

[AshPen9 in reply to Heron82]

We always had cucumber and sliced onions in vinegar with our Sunday roast when I was a child. I still do the onions with roast beef, not the same without!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Heron82]

In Germany we used to get a finely sliced cucumber salad at a lot of restaurants and I imagine it will have had finely chopped onion in it though the recipes I found online had rather more robust onion portions!

[PMRCanada in reply to Heron82]

We had that dish all summer long at the farm growing up.

[tempusfugi in reply to PMRpro]

Lots of talk here about vinegar! Is it good for you then? I know it does lots of things, in the world of cleaning but didn't realise drinking it was a plus.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to tempusfugi]

It is claimed to do all sorts of things!

[tempusfugi in reply to PMRpro]

I did buy one of those slim little books on vinegar once but never read it🙄 Think I'll try to find it!

[Viveka in reply to tempusfugi]

It needs to contain 'the mother'. Not just any old cider vinegar.

[tempusfugi in reply to Viveka]

Sorry, don't understand what you mean, Viveka🤫

[Viveka in reply to tempusfugi]

As I understand it, 'the mother' is from the original apples that were part of the fermenting process. It is sedimentation in the bottom. The sort of c v for health, rather than cooking, will have 'with the mother' on the label.

[tempusfugi in reply to Viveka]

Oh, ok, thanks Viveka. Useful info to have...

[Rachmaninov2 in reply to Viveka]

I found this info. on the back of a bottle of cider vinegar. 🙂

Info. about ‘the mother’ contained in a bottle of cider vinegar.

[Koalajane]

walking before and after a meal helps my sugar spikes

[Heron82]

I follow Tim Spectre and Zoe they give similar advice without goddess hype.

[AshPen9 in reply to Heron82]

I like the Zoe stuff too, Heron82. I listened to their podcast on blood sugar spikes, and the easy win for me was the cider vinegar before a meal, so I am doing that. Can't say I'm keen on swigging down a cup of vinegar though! Also got to watch the teeth, but drinking it through a straw just prolongs the agony.

[Viveka in reply to AshPen9]

Eeek. See post above about diluting it.

[AshPen9 in reply to Viveka]

Sorry, no need for alarm! 😲 When I say a cup of vinegar, I mean one tablespoon of vinegar and lots of water!

[Viveka in reply to AshPen9]

Phew. I find it refreshing, almost yummy. Do you get it with 'the mother'? I think I have read that drinking through straws is even worse on your teeth.

[AshPen9 in reply to Viveka]

Hooe fully it's a taste which I will acquire Viveka. Yes, I do get the one with the 'mother'. I don't drink with a straw because I can only just force myself to drink it anyway. I rinse my mouth out with water immediately afterwards to try to reduce the damage. Not sure if that does anything but it makes me feel like I've tried!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to AshPen9]

I don't think you are meant to drink it neat!

[OldPenny]

Interesting post, Viveka.I suspect that we will see many more of this type of thing, repackaging the results of research undertaken by the likes of ZOE and easily taken from their podcasts. The flattening of glucose spikes, adding fibre to your diet, improving your gut microbiome etc. will hopefully lessen inflammation agents and help those tending towards diabetes. This research is changing what we consider to be a "healthy diet", notwithstanding that we are all unique.It is unsurprising that media gods and goddesses are planning to make money out it. OP

[Highlandtiger in reply to OldPenny]

I generally would avoid anyone using the 'goddess' moniker like the plague but I actually heard her being interviewed on one of the Zoe podcasts and she was quite interesting. I know she’s been subject to criticism from some nutritionists who are saying that they’ve known all this for years and it’s nothing new. I'm sure that's correct but if so they’ve maybe not done a very good job in widely disseminating that information! She’s apparently very big on Instagram so I guess she might be filling a gap in the market for the younger generation who are more inclined to get their health information that way?

[anutycrixp]

It’s the acetic acid in vinegars that has some biochemical effect so any substitution for lemon juice won’t do as it contains citric acid.I think I’ve read her book, it was very good giving clear information and evidence based science explanations for each chapter.Best thing was how easy it was to adopt the strategies,some of which I have already followed and noticed sugar craving diminished already. Yes most of the information is not new- otherwise it couldn’t be evidence based yet. It’s the presentation and way it is written that makes the book. Spirit of kindly optimism ! Get past the Goddess stuff,enjoy the read!

[Abikitty]

What a great list!

What might a savoury breakfast example be?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Abikitty]

Bacon and egg? Scrambled eggs, i.e. something based on the protein options for breakfast rather than a croissant, cereal or muffin type of breakfast.

In Europe, buffet breakfasts have tomatoes and other salad veg (mushrooms, radish, cucumber), cheese, sliced cold meats (ham, sausage, salami etc), smoked fish and eggs in every shape and form and fresh fruit! They have all the baked stuff, jams and honey too - but they are to be avoided ...

[Bennijax in reply to PMRpro]

I grew up in the US, breakfast was cereal topped with sugar, or pancakes with syrup, or muffins, or toast and jam. When I first came to England in the late 1960s breakfasts were egg, bacon, sausages, ham, kippers, tomato, mushrooms, beans, and then buttered toast

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Bennijax]

International travel introduces very different concepts for breakfasts! We stayed in an amazing hotel in Singapore where the breakfast buffet had umpteen different sections - European, American/English, Indian, Chinese, eggs, etc etc. I had a wonderful time!

[Bennijax]

brilliant in simplicity, and explained simply too. I have started to adjust my eating. You can eat nearly anything you like ( except sugar, honey, maple syrup, agave syrup), but adjust the order of it in a meal or snack. Instead, fiber, fat and protein foods are most important. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Adjusting to this my eczema has gone away, palpitations almost gone, and I feel a bit better over all. Still with brain fog, and scatterbrained, fatigued. I am only just just starting slowly.