So the takeaway from this sort of final segment actually is that hyperglycemia isn't just a consequence or isn't just relevant to the blood glucose and the insulin, that there's a direct modification of molecules like LDL, not to mention the glycocalyx and not to mention the inflammation, which is putting the immune cells in a heightened state of alert anyway, but it's all contributing to this kind of perfect cardiometabolic storm. And the paper that I have linked. for this segment refers to this process of glyco-oxidation, or perhaps to be a little more precise, it could have been glyco-peroxidation, but that doesn't sound quite as good.
And I'm all about things sounding good. And again, that's not my term that's in that paper that I've linked. So to finally wrap things up, hyperglycemia isn't just, oh, my glucose levels are high. There are...
meaningful consequences to spiking blood sugar now i don't mean to say that we can never spike spike blood sugar but i do think it's important to not um minimize this that where we have the ability to mitigate that um of course avoiding carbs avoids the glucose spikes full stop um As much as people like to post pictures of their CGM results when they're exercising, that's a pretty slow and steady climb. And by the way, if you're in the sauna and you see a big spike, that's an artifact of the CGM overheating. It's not an actual artifact of your hyperglycemia. That's not happening. Maybe very, very modestly, but nothing like what you see on the CGM.
That is, again, just a consequence of the heat affecting the measurements. But there are consequences. And so...
to hyperglycemia. So when we do enjoy something that's going to spike our glucose, I do think it is incumbent on us. It may be prudent to embrace any strategies we can in order to mitigate that.
Like if you're eating glucose, then there's value in focusing on fiber with that glucose. The more a person is eating carbs that spike glucose, I would say the more important fiber becomes. The less a person is eating. carbs that spike glucose, the less important fiber becomes.
There are other things like allulose. Of course, we have published a paper in animals on that effect. We're about to publish a study on humans documenting the same.
Allulose has a tremendous ability to blunt hyperglycemia. Also, yerba mate has been shown to chlorogenic acid, which is a key molecule in yerba mate. That has also been shown to mitigate hyperglycemic excursions.
in response to glucose consumption. And of course, apple cider vinegar, water extracted cinnamon, the best one of which is, I actually get one from Costco there. So water extracted cinnamon is also a strategy. And then one of the most effective of all is just going on a walk. If you can go on a walk after you've eaten that glucose spiking food or carbs or drinking them, then that really blunts that curve as well.
So a handful of interventions, some very convenient, some a little less convenient, but all generally effective at mitigating the glucose spikes, which do in fact have, I would say, meaningful consequences, including inflammation and oxidative stress, damage to the endothelium, modifying the LDL, that I think we ought to keep in mind and perhaps use that as some motivation. to stay the course when we're thinking about diet and indulgences.