Book Review: Glucose Revolution

Next up for review is Glucose Revolution, by Jesse Inchauspe. The author holds a Master’s Degree in Biochemistry and is the founder of @GlucoseGoddess, a popular nutrition Instagram account.

Introduction

The main focus of this book is the importance of keeping a stable blood sugar. It contains 10 “Diet Hacks” to help the reader avoid swings in blood sugar and insulin levels. The book is 224 pages. It is very well written and I enjoyed reading it.

5 Things I Really Liked About Glucose Revolution

1) I like the focus on blood sugar stability. I have been using a blood sugar stabilizing diet for my clients for over 15 years with really good weight loss and health improvement results.

2) I also like how exercise is stressed. It is hugely important for just about any health or weight loss goal.

3) The author recommends limiting fruit juices and smoothies due to their high glycemic impact. I couldn’t agree more.

4) I really like the way the author describes reactive hypoglycemia, which is when swings in blood sugar leave you tired, hungry and moody. I have seen this in the vast majority of my clients over the years.

5) Combining carbs with fat and protein is recommended to keep blood sugar stable. This is a very important strategy that I recommend to each and every client I work with.

5 Things I Didn’t Agree With In Glucose Revolution

1) Finding the cited research was a real challenge in this book. When mentioning a study, it is common practice to number the references and list them sequentially at the end of the chapter or book. The author did not do this but would highlight part of the text and then list any references in the back of the book. This is a bit clumsy and makes it quite difficult to identify the research.

2) I feel like the authors interpretation of the research literature was a bit off at times. For example, one of the dietary strategies described is to eat your protein and fat before your carbohydrates at each meal to stabilize blood sugar. Three studies are cited as evidence that this reduces peak blood glucose. I looked them all up.

-The study by Shukla included only 11 diabetic subjects. They waited 15 minutes between eating the different macronutrients.

-The study by Nishino was in a very obscure Japanese journal I never heard of. Subjects were told to bite each food 20 times before swallowing.

-The study by Trico was on 20 type 2 diabetics who were free living. In other words, no one supervised how they ate their food. This was a trial that was not controlled very well.

The fact that most of these studies were in diabetics with very unusual eating conditions makes it hard to generalize that eating your protein and fat right before your carb will have a major impact on your blood sugar. It may, but these studies don’t really prove that.

3) The author allows regular consumption of sugar. She just recommends trying to limit its impact on blood glucose with “Diet Hacks”.  However, sugar has been shown to be addictive in the research literature. It sounds funny, but it is far easier to give up sugar 100%, then 75%. After a few weeks pass, you don’t even miss it. Having it all the time will result in sugar cravings and increased hunger in general. I have had much more success with eliminating sugar entirely from my client’s diet and allowing an occasional sugar free treat to satisfy any minor residual dessert cravings.

4) Similar to #3, the author allows snacking and has strategies to deal with carb cravings. If you are craving sugar and refined carbs all the time and need to eat in between meals, there is something wrong with your diet.

5) Much of the nutrition advice in this book is questionable. The author recommends all of the following foods as parts of meals and snacks: toast, ham, cheese, butter, coconut oil, cream, rice, potatoes, bagels, crackers, sausage and bacon.  These foods are high in red meat, saturated fat and refined carbohydrates and are not a good choice if you are trying to reduce your risk of chronic disease.

Is Glucose Revolution Worth Reading?

Absolutely! A major goal of my work with clients is to stabilize their blood sugar. I find the best and easiest way is to eliminate sugar and strictly limit refined carbohydrate foods. After a few weeks, the cravings for these foods virtually disappear and my clients develop an entirely new relationship with food.

I would also be careful following some of the nutrition advice here. Including lots of red meat, saturated fat, sugar and refined carbs in your meal choices is not a good idea.