Blood sugar has a super high R² value. Let’s control it.
Basically:
1. Blood sugar levels effect everything
2. Sweet foods and starchy food turn into blood sugars, though sweet is worse per calorie
3. High blood sugar and cellular sugar ages our cells much more quickly while also making us fat
4. High blood sugar also stops our cells making energy as efficiently which makes us more tired
5. Eating fibre first, choosing starch over sweet, eating more vinegar, not eating sugar solo, and moving after eating will help manage your blood sugar better.
The Body’s Black Box and the White Cube
While our bodies operate like complex black boxes, there’s one metric that significantly influences nearly every system: blood glucose levels.
This single measurement affects our mood, sleep quality, weight management, skin health, immune system function, heart disease risk, and even conception rates.
Unlike DNA, which we once thought was highly predictive of health outcomes, lifestyle factors — particularly how we manage blood sugar — have a much larger determination in how our genes are expressed and how we feel day-to-day. This book describes how it influences so much, and how to manage its effects..
The Sugar Family: Understanding Different Types
Not all sugars are created equal, though they’re all built from glucose molecules:
- Glucose: Direct energy source, easily measurable
- Fructose: Identical to glucose but processed differently by the liver
- Starch: Glucose molecules bound together, found in root vegetables and grains
- Fiber: Also made of glucose molecules but nearly impossible for our enzymes to break down
The key insight: when we eat plants, everything except fiber converts to glucose and fructose during digestion. Fiber acts as a protective wrapper, slowing absorption.
The Modern Food Problem
Our ancestral foods were vastly different from today’s versions. Compare a tiny ancient peach to today’s large, sugar-packed varieties, or consider that ketchup replaces tomatoes (mostly water) with a product that’s one-third sugar. We’ve evolved in a world where sugar was rare but now live in one where it’s abundant, creating a fundamental mismatch.
Why Sugar Overload Damages Us
When we consume too much glucose, our mitochondria — the cellular powerhouses — become overwhelmed, like a house overflowing with coal. This creates two major problems:
- Free Radical Formation: Excess sugar generates toxic free radicals that:
- Break down DNA
- Damage cell membranes
- Can lead to cancer due to damage of telomeres
- Contribute to various diseases - Reduced Energy Production: Ironically, while flooding cells with energy, we often feel tired because mitochondria can’t process the overload efficiently.
- Accelerate aging through glycation — a process where sugar permanently changes proteins, leading to wrinkles, cataracts, and Alzheimer’s disease
The Fructose Problem
Fructose is particularly problematic because:
- It’s nearly impossible to measure (unlike glucose)
- It glycates (damages proteins) 10 times faster than glucose
- It can only be stored as fat, not as glycogen
- It creates more insulin resistance
- It doesn’t trigger satiety signals
This means cookies (high fructose) age us faster than bread (mostly glucose), even with similar calorie counts.
The Storage System Breakdown
Our bodies have evolved sophisticated storage mechanisms:
- Liver: Stores ~100g glucose as glycogen (half a day’s energy)
- Muscles: Store ~400g as glycogen (two days’ energy)
- Fat: Unlimited storage for excess
The problem: we can only burn stored fat when insulin levels are low, which only happens hours after glucose spikes subside.
The Glucose Roller Coaster Effect
Constant blood sugar spikes create a exhausting cycle:
- Steep glucose rises and falls make us tired
- Our bodies sense the rapid descent and trigger hunger as our bodies sense the slope but not the raw value of the chart
- We become sensitive to high-calorie food cravings
- The cycle perpetuates, keeping insulin elevated and preventing fat burning
The Hacks: Practical Solutions Based on the Science
Hack #1: The Right Eating Order
Fiber first, protein and fat second, starches and sugars last
This sequence is as effective as diabetes medication for reducing glucose spikes. Fiber creates a protective mesh in your digestive system, slowing the absorption of sugars consumed afterward. Studies show eating broccoli before pasta reduces glucose spikes by 50% compared to the reverse order.
Science connection: Remember that fiber can’t be broken down, so it physically slows sugar absorption.
Hack #2: Strategic Starters
Order vegetable sides and eat them first, or have grilled vegetables before going out to dinner. Even though you’re consuming more total calories, the glucose response will be significantly lower and you will be fuller stopping snacking.
Science connection: Same as above.
Hack #3: Choose Starchy Over Sweet
When you’re going to “cheat,” pick savory options over sweet ones. A ham and cheese sandwich spikes glucose less than a cookie with the same caloric content because it lacks fructose.
Science connection: This leverages our storage system — glucose can become glycogen, but fructose becomes fat.
Hack #4: Flatten Your Breakfast
Start your day with protein, fat, and fiber rather than cereals or pastries. A study showed that cornflakes with milk spiked some people’s glucose into pre-diabetic ranges. Good options include:
- Avocado on toast with eggs
- Greek yogurt with berries and nuts
- Savory egg dishes
- Smoothies with protein powder, flax seeds, and spinach
Science connection: Breakfast sets your glucose roller coaster pattern for the entire day.
Hack #5: All Sugars Are Equal
Honey, agave, maple syrup, brown sugar — they’re all processed identically by your body. Agave’s “lower glycemic index” just means it contains more fructose (which is worse) than glucose. The antioxidants in honey equal about half a blueberry. Choose whole fruits over dried fruits, and use berries like sugar — they’re high in fiber relative to their sugar content.
Science connection: Sugar is sugar.
Hack #6: Have Dessert (But Strategically)
Eat sweet treats immediately after meals rather than as standalone snacks. The same pineapple slices cause major spikes on an empty stomach but modest ones after a meal. Research shows eating two large meals daily leads to more weight loss than six small meals.
Science connection: This prevents putting sugar directly into an empty stomach and leverages the protective effect of other foods.
Hack #7: The Vinegar Trick
Drink a tablespoon of vinegar in water before sweet meals. This cheap hack can reduce glucose spikes by 31%.
Use vinegar-based dressings on salads or drink diluted vinegar up to 20 minutes after eating sweets.
Science connection: Vinegar’s acetic acid inactivates the enzyme that breaks starches into sugars, encourages muscles to store glucose as glycogen more efficiently, tells mitochondria to burn more fat, and reduces insulin production.
Hack #8: Move After Eating
A 10-minute walk after meals reduces glucose spikes, with post-meal exercise being 30% more effective than pre-meal exercise.
Science connection: Exercise helps muscles absorb glucose more efficiently, preventing the energy crash that follows glucose spikes.
Hack #9: “Put Clothes On” Your Treats
Never eat sugary foods alone — always combine them with protein, fat, or fiber. A pear with nut butter spikes glucose far less than a pear alone.
Science connection: This mimics the protective fiber effect and slows absorption, and more food in one sitting is better than multple snacks.
Recipe Ideas That Apply the Science
The book suggests several recipes that incorporate these principles:
- Green Shakshuka: Eggs with fiber-rich greens
- Avocado toast with pickled radish: Healthy fats with fermented vegetables
- Chicken tray bake with baby potatoes, olives, and capers: Protein with some starch and healthy fats
- Berry crumble with nuts instead of flour: Using fats (nuts) instead of pure glucose (flour)
- Chocolate brownies with Greek yogurt and raspberries: Adding protein and fiber to dessert
Individual Variations
Remember that glucose responses vary significantly between individuals due to differences in:
- Gut microbiome
- Muscle mass
- Hydration levels
- Stress and sleep status
- Recent exercise
- Insulin sensitivity
This is why glucose monitors can be valuable for understanding your personal responses to different foods.
The Bottom Line
The goal isn’t to eliminate sugar entirely but to develop a healthier relationship with it. By understanding the science of how different sugars affect our bodies and implementing these evidence-based hacks, we can maintain stable energy levels, reduce cravings, and support long-term health while still enjoying the foods we love.
