Glycation and how we can reduce our glucose spikes
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I first heard about Glycation from Jessie Inchauspé @glucosegoddess and the concept instantly hit a chord with me. And so I searched more about Glycation and found that it is a real word in the dictionary and has an explanation which can really help us understand why we age.
I have since heard about Glycation from other scientists such as Dr David Sinclair too who use it for explaining why we age.
Jessie beautifully explains glycation to be similar to caramelisation or cooking of our bodies over time with the intake of glucose (primarily from sugar or simple carbs). She says we keep getting slowly cooked over our lifetime until we are fully cooked and we die. She explains this further by giving the example of the colour of a child's cartilage which is white in colour, when it is compared to the cartilage of an aged adult which is brown in colour.
What this beautiful concept helps us understand is that the sugars we consume to feed our impulses are actually the culprit for our aging/cooking/caramelising and therefore many diseases.
This has significantly helped me in my journey: by understanding how sugar and carbs cause glycation/cooking of my body I have been able to improve my relationship with food...I have a deeper understanding of what I am consuming, I don't give in to impulses as easily now. I ensure that the quality of sweet I am eating has to be absolutely fantastic for me to want to indulge in it. I don't settle for any and every sweet thing after my meal because now I know I'm better off without it.
Jessie interestingly covers one other concept that really hit home for me: she suggests the order in which one should eat their food. This too really made a huge difference to my glucose spikes and thus my insulin resistance issue. She suggests we start eating our meal with some form of vegetables, or a veggie starter before we dive into proteins or carbs. And she suggests if we are to eat dessert at all, we should eat it at the end of the meal so that the cushioning created by the vegetables in the tummy does not cause a huge glucose spike in the body.
These two concepts have really improved my relationship with food. I eat more consciously. I always love a cookie and if I am to eat it I will eat it after some curd or a bowl of sauteed veggies or at the end of a meal and it is showing on the weighing scale.
I have always struggled with excess weight since childhood and after having a baby I thought there was no way for me to lose weight. I had to show acceptance for the way I looked until I stumbled upon these two concepts and I feel so empowered now. I feel I am more aware of my body and how it is reacting to different foods, to the point that I have started obsessing and measuring my glucose spike after almost anything I eat.
In the end I would like to point out that I am only sharing my own journey with food and how these ideas have helped me approach food in a better way. It is important you measure your glucose spikes for yourselves to see if this works for you or not.