4 Eating Tips to Boost Your Energy

I’ve been working hard at boosting my natural energy levels after a stressful fall season. I know that when I feel good physically, I feel better emotionally and mentally, too; that’s why I started by focusing on my fitness. I’ve enlisted my son to join me on my bike rides to keep me accountable, and it’s working! I’m feeling better already. I’ve also discovered four tips to boost your energy that are food-focused that have been making a huge difference in the short time I’ve been doing them: it’s managing my glucose spikes. 

Let’s Talk About Glucose

Just before Thanksgiving, I happened to listen to a podcast interview of Jessie Inchauspé, a French biochemist and the author of The Glucose Goddess Method: A 4-Week Guide to Cutting Cravings, Getting Your Energy Back, and Feeling Amazing and Glucose Revolution:  The Life Changing Power of Balancing Your Blood Sugar.  

Her science-backed nutrition hacks made a lot of sense to me and they’re so easy that I got started right away. The day after Thanksgiving, I went down to my favorite local bookstore and bought both of her books. Her first book goes into all of the science and contains 10 glucose-leveling hacks, and her second book contains 4 of the hacks from the first book along with a bunch of recipes.

Before I go on, I will remind you that I’m a certified health coach and I’ve always been into eating well. I even have my own food programs to help women get healthier. However, I’m not a doctor (so talk to your own before making drastic health changes); I’m also human and over this past year, I put on about 15 extra pounds (mostly in my belly area). Some can certainly be attributed to perimenopause, but not all of it. I’ve never been one to obsess over the scale, but I knew I wasn’t at a healthy weight for me.

Jessie’s hacks are a great beginning, because for me, they’ve already gotten rid of cravings I didn’t even know I had. I already feel like I’ve moved onto part two of eating the foods I know will help me be energetic and also tackle the belly fat without eating less or feeling like I can’t go to holiday parties, eat out, or enjoy an occasional dessert.

Jessie’s hacks are all focused on flattening your glucose curves, not on losing weight or restricting your diet. She discovered that there are many symptoms and conditions linked to glucose spikes. In her books, she cites other people’s scientific research that she has used to experiment on herself and then 2700 volunteers in a pilot study.

If you’re wondering if this method may be applicable to you, here’s a list of symptoms and conditions linked to glucose spikes: cravings, chronic fatigue, constant hunger, weight gain, poor sleep, mental health issues, mood, brain fog, gut health, wrinkles and aging, acne, rosacea, skin conditions, fertility, PCOS, hormonal issues, premenopause symptoms, gestational diabetes, insulin resistance, cancer, Alzheimer's, and dementia.

That’s a lot, right? I’ve definitely been experiencing a good handful of those!

Glucose Hacks to Boost Your Energy

Here are the four hacks from Jessie’s book The Glucose Goddess. She suggests starting with one habit at a time, but you know me - I jumped in with all four at once!

Week1: Eat a savory breakfast every day. A sweet breakfast such as cereal, toast and jam, croissants, granola, pastries, fruit smoothies, acai bowls, etc. is mostly composed of starch and sugar and causes a big glucose spike and consequences for the rest of the day.  On the other hand, savory breakfasts like oatmeal with seeds, or eggs with veggies, contain fiber and release sugars more slowly than a bowl of fruit and sweetened yogurt. (Get the book if you want to know more about the science behind it!) 

Week 2: Add vinegar. Drink a tablespoon of vinegar in water (with a straw to protect your teeth) before meals. She also has recipes for mocktails and warming teas. Studies have shown that a tablespoon of vinegar can reduce the glucose spike of a meal by up to 30%.  You can use any kind of vinegar except sweet balsamic or cleaning vinegar. I like the taste of apple cider vinegar.

Week 3: Start lunch and dinner with vegetables. Before hitting the main course, eat your veggies. Vegetables contain fiber, which when eaten at the beginning of a meal, significantly reduces the glucose spike of the food that follows. Veggie starters can be supper simple like carrot sticks with hummus or fancy like some recipes in her book. A salad with olive oil and vinegar is the perfect veggie starter and also covers the vinegar hack! Here are more tricks to get more vegetables in your diet. 

Week 4: Move after eating. Simply use your muscles to move for at least 10 minutes after one meal each day within 90 minutes of the end of the meal. Muscles use glucose in your bloodstream to contract which also helps to flatten your glucose curve.

Boosting your energy with the right food at the right time is pretty simple, and I’m definitely seeing results after only a few weeks. I’d love for you to try one (or all four) of these eating tips to boost your energy and let me know how it works for you.