Thank you so much for covering this. As someone who is battling anorexia and othorexia, navigating recovery is made so much painfully harder by these people. I have become terrified of every, single, thing I eat - terrified (and everything around eating - the timing of when I eat, cooking method etc). I have made myself so unwell by trying to follow every food rule put out there by these 'experts'. I don't even seek them out, they just appear everywhere - and once I've heard it, I can't unhear it.
I have worked very hard to curate a feed of folk who are actual experts and who believe in enjoying food and establishing a good all round relationship with it, but these folk, as yourself is having to, then have to talk about the nonsense to be able to debunk it, so I am exposed to it that way - but at least I have the truth, with evidence, to replay to myself. Anyway, thank you for all that you do to debunk the nonsense.
I’ve said this lots of times in lots of places, but as a person who monitors their blood glucose out of necessity (and please don’t get me wrong - I love my CGM deeply - it changed my life and you’d have to pry it out of my cold dead hands etc etc) I find this stuff hard to forgive.
For people who have to, it’s obviously better than the alternative, but watching blood glucose levels every minute of every day is HARD work - it’s necessarily obsessive, it’s tiring and it 100% changes your relationship with food, activity and everything else.
It is not a thing I would wish on anyone - and to see people like the “glucose goddess” convincing people that it’s something they have to do is just horrible.
People doing this should be stopped - and they certainly shouldn’t be lauded, revered and given column space in national (international) newspapers. It is truly grim.
You obviously have your own biases. Improving the quality of your food will affect the whole body. Sugar, in all forms, should be eliminated from our nutrition and you seemed to have missed that point. How do you lower your blood pressure? Most doctors say to do it with drugs because discussing nutrition can't be done in the 10 minutes allotted for patient care, not to mention that most doctors aren't trained in good nutrition because their education is bought and paid for by Big Food/Big Pharma. Do your research better before accepting the food pyramid as truth.
This is so interesting, thank you. The whole glucose level thing has become a bit much hasn’t it? (I speak as a keen eater and a non-medic who has been quite into it all). I haven’t heard this particular podcast but I know her work. Can I ask, aside from AGEs, is there therefore no evidence for the other benefits she suggests of keeping glucose levels low and non-spiky (reduced inflammation etc)? Thanks.
Thank you for taking the time to write this. I got a CGM recently and wore the first one for two weeks, then put a second one in. I accidentally tore it out early and realized I didn't like my obsession with tracking everything. I was becoming overly concerned and it was taking the pleasure out of eating, which has always been a great joy. I'm fairly healthy and I don't have much reason to be concerned. I say ditch 'em unless crucial.
I have a pal who is stuck down the whole Zoe rabbit hole and has been continuously wearing a CGM for over a year now. They are constantly posting GG bollocks. I wish I could get them to read your blog.
After getting an HbA1c reading of 66, I was advised by various medical professionals that I was now T2 diabetic. After losing a lot of weight, it is now at a near normal level. I now use a CGM to keep track of what raises my blood sugar (and reduce my consumption of it).
The most useful comment I've found on the subject is 'there is a lot of controversy about diabetic diet'.
Thank you for the article, it's great! I just had a question - is there a difference between eating the advanced glycation end products, and having them produced on your own tissues in you body? Wouldn't the digestive system break down the ones from food so they are not a worry, or do they somehow get incorporated into the body? Excuse my ignorance if there is an obvious answer to this!
Ah wow, I was once obsessed with Jessie and everything she said. Obsessed with CGM and spikes just led me to a one way street with an eating disorder!
Everything you wrote, the world needs to read and share. Thanks so much.
Thank you so much for covering this. As someone who is battling anorexia and othorexia, navigating recovery is made so much painfully harder by these people. I have become terrified of every, single, thing I eat - terrified (and everything around eating - the timing of when I eat, cooking method etc). I have made myself so unwell by trying to follow every food rule put out there by these 'experts'. I don't even seek them out, they just appear everywhere - and once I've heard it, I can't unhear it.
I have worked very hard to curate a feed of folk who are actual experts and who believe in enjoying food and establishing a good all round relationship with it, but these folk, as yourself is having to, then have to talk about the nonsense to be able to debunk it, so I am exposed to it that way - but at least I have the truth, with evidence, to replay to myself. Anyway, thank you for all that you do to debunk the nonsense.
Superb!
Thank you for this!
I’ve said this lots of times in lots of places, but as a person who monitors their blood glucose out of necessity (and please don’t get me wrong - I love my CGM deeply - it changed my life and you’d have to pry it out of my cold dead hands etc etc) I find this stuff hard to forgive.
For people who have to, it’s obviously better than the alternative, but watching blood glucose levels every minute of every day is HARD work - it’s necessarily obsessive, it’s tiring and it 100% changes your relationship with food, activity and everything else.
It is not a thing I would wish on anyone - and to see people like the “glucose goddess” convincing people that it’s something they have to do is just horrible.
People doing this should be stopped - and they certainly shouldn’t be lauded, revered and given column space in national (international) newspapers. It is truly grim.
I absolutely love this, Doc!!! I was wondering how the whole glycation process worked. Everything you write is so awesome and valuable. I love you!
So helpful! Many thanks.
Brilliant! As you say, these folks always pepper their output with nuggets of truth, exhausting to counter all the pseudoscience 🙄
You obviously have your own biases. Improving the quality of your food will affect the whole body. Sugar, in all forms, should be eliminated from our nutrition and you seemed to have missed that point. How do you lower your blood pressure? Most doctors say to do it with drugs because discussing nutrition can't be done in the 10 minutes allotted for patient care, not to mention that most doctors aren't trained in good nutrition because their education is bought and paid for by Big Food/Big Pharma. Do your research better before accepting the food pyramid as truth.
This is so interesting, thank you. The whole glucose level thing has become a bit much hasn’t it? (I speak as a keen eater and a non-medic who has been quite into it all). I haven’t heard this particular podcast but I know her work. Can I ask, aside from AGEs, is there therefore no evidence for the other benefits she suggests of keeping glucose levels low and non-spiky (reduced inflammation etc)? Thanks.
Invaluable... thank you!
Thank you for taking the time to write this. I got a CGM recently and wore the first one for two weeks, then put a second one in. I accidentally tore it out early and realized I didn't like my obsession with tracking everything. I was becoming overly concerned and it was taking the pleasure out of eating, which has always been a great joy. I'm fairly healthy and I don't have much reason to be concerned. I say ditch 'em unless crucial.
I have a pal who is stuck down the whole Zoe rabbit hole and has been continuously wearing a CGM for over a year now. They are constantly posting GG bollocks. I wish I could get them to read your blog.
Excellent piece as always, and I particularly like the angle about poor science at best wasting people's time and at worst causing great anxiety.
🔥
After getting an HbA1c reading of 66, I was advised by various medical professionals that I was now T2 diabetic. After losing a lot of weight, it is now at a near normal level. I now use a CGM to keep track of what raises my blood sugar (and reduce my consumption of it).
The most useful comment I've found on the subject is 'there is a lot of controversy about diabetic diet'.
Thank you for the article, it's great! I just had a question - is there a difference between eating the advanced glycation end products, and having them produced on your own tissues in you body? Wouldn't the digestive system break down the ones from food so they are not a worry, or do they somehow get incorporated into the body? Excuse my ignorance if there is an obvious answer to this!