"The Fruit You're Eating Is Fake!"- The Dangers & Truth Nobody Tells You | Jessie Inchauspé

1. 0:00 – 0:54

   Why modern supermarket fruit isn’t truly “natural”

   1. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee0:00

      Fruits versus dried fruits

   2. JIJessie Inchauspé0:02

      Oh my God, I think this is one of my favorite topics.

   3. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee0:04

      Okay, let's go.

   4. JIJessie Inchauspé0:05

      Okay. So you know how people say, um, "Well, it's fruit, so it's natural"? Yeah, okay. So I have a scoop for you. The fruit that we have today in our supermarkets is not natural. Just like humans bred gray wolves into Chihuahuas for their entertainment, humans have been crossing and breeding fruit for millennia to make them more appetizing for humans, to make them sweeter, to make them have fewer seeds, less fiber. If you look at an ancestral banana, it's tiny, it's full of seeds, it's quite dense, and it's not very sweet. If you look at a banana today, it's very sweet, very little fiber, very little seeds, super easy to eat. Humans have been creating these fruits-

   5. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee0:54

      Mm

2. 0:54 – 1:25

   Whole fruit still matters: fiber as the built-in ‘spike buffer’

   1. JIJessie Inchauspé0:54

      ... to be extra juicy and extra sweet and extra full of sugar. So that's one thing to note. The fruit you see today in the supermarket is not natural. However, a piece of fruit still has fiber in it, and fiber is protective, as I explained at the beginning. Fiber helps reduce the glucose spike of a meal-

   2. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee1:12

      Mm-hmm

   3. JIJessie Inchauspé1:12

      ... because it creates that mesh in the intestine. So if you wanna eat something sweet, eating fiber is still the best th- sorry, eating a piece of whole fruit is still the best thing to do because of that fiber blunting the spike from the sugar.

   4. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee1:24

      Mm.

3. 1:25 – 1:49

   How juicing and drying ‘denature’ fruit and concentrate sugar

   1. JIJessie Inchauspé1:25

      The problem arises when we denature that piece of fruit. So maybe we're gonna juice an apple.

   2. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee1:31

      Mm-hmm.

   3. JIJessie Inchauspé1:31

      As a result, we're removing all the fiber from the apple, and we're concentrating the sugar that was already being concentrated for centuries by humans in that whole apple. When we dry our fruits, we take away all of the water, so we concentrate the sugar, and we eat way more pieces of dried fruit than we would of regular fruit.

4. 1:49 – 2:24

   Kids, snack marketing, and the ‘empty stomach’ problem

   1. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee1:49

      Yeah, and what's, I think, particularly concerning about that is there's quite a few companies now which are targeting children with dried fruits, and I think many parents are... Again, um, I, I, I always say this, and I wanna reiterate this point. I genuinely believe that all parents are doing the best that they can in the context of their life situation, the context of their knowledge.

   2. JIJessie Inchauspé2:14

      Mm-hmm.

   3. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee2:15

      But I'm not sure that [laughs] those dried fruit packets are the best thing to be giving our kids, particularly on an empty stomach.

5. 2:24 – 3:10

   A practical upgrade: pair dried fruit with nuts (‘clothes on carbs’)

   1. JIJessie Inchauspé2:24

      Yes, although you could argue that dried fruit is better than, like, candy because at least it has some fiber in it. Though what would be even better, if you really wanna give dried fruit, would be to pair it with some nuts, for example.

   2. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee2:34

      Yeah.

   3. JIJessie Inchauspé2:34

      So you make a little snack with, like, a few, like, dried apricots and then some pecans or whatever. That's better 'cause you're putting some clothes on the [laughs] on the carbs, right?

   4. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee2:41

      Yeah. I get it, and that, that's what I love about all your suggestions. They can be applied by anyone in any situation, no matter what diet they're following.

   5. JIJessie Inchauspé2:49

      Yes.

   6. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee2:50

      Little hacks, little tweaks just to make things a little bit better than they would've otherwise been, right?

   7. JIJessie Inchauspé2:55

      Exactly. We're not talking, like, big overhaul-

   8. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee2:57

      Yeah

   9. JIJessie Inchauspé2:58

      ... of your life, of your food habits. No, no, no. Small tweaks, big impact.

   10. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee3:02

       Yeah. Adding those nuts into the dried fruit-

   11. JIJessie Inchauspé3:04

       Yeah

   12. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee3:04

       ... you can see how it could be really tasty-

   13. JIJessie Inchauspé3:07

       Yeah, absolutely

   14. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee3:08

       ... and change the blood sugar response.

   15. JIJessie Inchauspé3:09

       Absolutely.

6. 3:10 – 4:19

   Fruit before vs after meals: modern glucose science meets ancient wisdom

   1. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee3:10

      Now, just, I had a thought there, Jessie. A lot of the time, the cultural wisdom that's there, we're now learning the modern science going, "That's why that works." Now, the only place where I think your recommendations don't match up with certainly the ancient wisdom that I'm aware of is with fruits on empty stomachs.

   2. JIJessie Inchauspé3:33

      Mm.

   3. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee3:34

      Because I know in Ayurvedic medicine, for many years they have been talking about if you're having a piece of fruit, have it before your meal-

   4. JIJessie Inchauspé3:41

      Yeah

   5. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee3:42

      ... because then it's digested, uh, really easily-

   6. JIJessie Inchauspé3:45

      Yeah

   7. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee3:45

      ... and it doesn't then sort of fester on top of your meal afterwards. Now, first of all, I, I'd welcome your thoughts on that. But just a, a little a- addition there, based on what you've just said about the fact that the way fruit is bred now compared to how fruit is bred in the past, maybe two or three thousand years ago-

   8. JIJessie Inchauspé4:07

      Maybe

   9. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee4:08

      ... the fruit that we were getting, lower in sugar, not quite as sweet, maybe that worked then.

   10. JIJessie Inchauspé4:14

       Mm-hmm.

   11. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee4:14

       Maybe it doesn't work so well now. I don't know, but what, what's your sort of perspective on that?

7. 4:19 – 5:37

   Debunking ‘fruit rots in the stomach’ and adopting a personalized approach

   1. JIJessie Inchauspé4:19

      Well, this is a very common question.

   2. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee4:21

      Is it?

   3. JIJessie Inchauspé4:21

      And I was fascinated by it. I was like, "Okay, where does this come from?" Like, why do we think that fruit rots in the stomach if it's eaten last? And through my research, I found that there was a doctor in the Renaissance who said that fruit ... And this is a separate branch from the Ayurveda stuff, but this doctor said that if you eat fruit after a meal, it's gonna rot and putrefy in your stomach and create all these vapors and stuff. Um, that doctor just said that. I mean, I don't know where he pulled that out of, but it just is not true. Like, nothing actually rots or putrefies-

   4. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee4:51

      Mm

   5. JIJessie Inchauspé4:51

      ... in the stomach. So that particular thing about the rotting is just not true. Nothing can rot in the stomach, actually.

   6. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee4:57

      Mm.

   7. JIJessie Inchauspé4:57

      So there is this ancient wisdom about having the fruit on an empty stomach or at the beginning of a meal, and to that I say, well, we have two opposing views, right? We have the glucose science which says if you wanna eat something sweet, the best time for your glucose is at the end of a meal. And we have ancient wisdom that could also, you know, have some really good sources. So maybe where we land is if you don't feel any discomfort-

   8. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee5:23

      Mm

   9. JIJessie Inchauspé5:23

      ... by eating fruit after a meal, maybe you do that. And if you're somebody and your body's like, no, it's not working, maybe it gives you bloating or whatever, then you switch it up, you know? It's up to you to sort of tailor these recommendations to other things going on in your life.

8. 5:37 – 6:20

   Anti-diet philosophy: principles, not extremes

   1. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee5:37

      So what you're recommending is we take a pragmatic, nuanced approach to our health.

   2. JIJessie Inchauspé5:42

      [laughs]

   3. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee5:42

      Mind-blowing.

   4. JIJessie Inchauspé5:43

      [laughs]

   5. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee5:44

      You know, it's 2023. That's not the way it goes.

   6. JIJessie Inchauspé5:46

      Yeah. I know. I know. And I think this is also why, um, you know, my work has been so well received, is that it feels fresh and nice, and it's no longer an extreme diet.

   7. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee5:55

      Yeah.

   8. JIJessie Inchauspé5:55

      It's not like cut out entire food groups. It's like, okay, guys, I think we're over diets. Like, personally, I would rather we never, ever have any diets ever again. So what about we use all this recent science, and we find these principles that are easy, that have a big impact on our physical and our mental health, that are not very hard, don't cost any money?

   9. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee6:14

      Yeah.

   10. JIJessie Inchauspé6:15

       And, uh, how about we do that? And people seem to, to be quite happy with that approach.

9. 6:20 – 7:12

   Handling backlash at scale: separating unhelpful vs useful criticism

   1. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee6:20

      People seem to like that. Now, Jessie, it's almost impossible now to have the audience size which you have-And not get pushback.

   2. JIJessie Inchauspé6:28

      Mm-hmm.

   3. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee6:29

      Okay? I'm sure it's technically possible, but I would say it's almost impossible.

   4. JIJessie Inchauspé6:33

      Yeah.

   5. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee6:34

      If and when people push back against your work, what is the common thing they say and how do you respond?

   6. JIJessie Inchauspé6:41

      Hmm. So I've, I've experienced, like, multiple waves of this.

   7. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee6:45

      Okay.

   8. JIJessie Inchauspé6:46

      Um, and I sort of categorize pushback or criticism in two camps. So there's, like, the stuff that really I can't do anything about. For example, um, people who don't wanna hear any information about food because it... No, but, you know, because maybe they had an eating disorder in the past.

   9. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee7:01

      Yeah.

   10. JIJessie Inchauspé7:01

       Maybe they're just like, "No." So for those people, my work is like, they just, they just hate it because I'm talking about food. Those things I don't really pay attention to because, you know-

   11. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee7:11

       It's not for them.

10. 7:12 – 8:22

    CGM controversy: respecting the Type 1 diabetes community while using the tool

    1. JIJessie Inchauspé7:12

       Exactly. And then you have the useful criticism, and from the beginning of The Glucose Goddess project, I've always really listened to feedback, whether it's in comments or in DMs or in real life. Like, because my purpose here is to make science accessible, to make it inclusive, to make sure that I'm serving the people that I wanna give this information to. So I would say the biggest criticisms have been from people with type 1 diabetes, maybe this was a year ago that it started happening, that they didn't like that I was using a glucose monitor as a n- as a person without diabetes. And I really listened very carefully to this because, um, a lot of people were sharing with me how, um, saddened it made them that I was, like, showing my glucose monitor like, "Hey, I'm wearing a glucose monitor," and for them it was a device that they need to survive. And so I really took that to heart, and I started thinking a lot about my glucose monitor approach and, you know, whether I think it's for everybody. I stopped also posting photos of myself with the device being like-

    2. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee8:12

       Mm-hmm

    3. JIJessie Inchauspé8:12

       ... "Hey, glucose monitor." Now I really am just like, I'm using it to make the illustrative graphs, but I no longer, um, use it as, like, a fashion statement.

    4. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee8:22

       Yeah.

11. 8:22 – 11:56

    Risks of taking ‘clothes on carbs’ too far and the eating-disorder concern

    1. JIJessie Inchauspé8:22

       You know? So that was really, really helpful. I think another thing that people, uh, push back on is the clothes on carbs thing. They say, yes, but if you take it to an extreme it could be harmful. Like, as I explained at the beginning, you could put two pounds of butter on a piece of bread-

    2. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee8:38

       Mm

    3. JIJessie Inchauspé8:38

       ... and that would reduce the spike, but you need to have more nuance. And that I think I really address it in the book quite well. So...

    4. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee8:47

       I think you do address it really well.

    5. JIJessie Inchauspé8:49

       Yeah.

    6. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee8:49

       I think, you know, I've read both books, and I think you're really clear that this is not to stress you out, right?

    7. JIJessie Inchauspé8:57

       Mm-hmm.

    8. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee8:57

       This is not necessarily to be applied in every situation.

    9. JIJessie Inchauspé9:00

       Yeah.

    10. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee9:00

        This is to try and help you.

    11. JIJessie Inchauspé9:02

        Yeah.

    12. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee9:02

        Right? Yeah, sure, in an ideal world we'd all eat an exclusively whole food diet-

    13. JIJessie Inchauspé9:07

        Mm-hmm

    14. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee9:08

        ... that was naturally stabilizing our blood sugars, but the reality is most people, or at least many people, are going to struggle with that.

    15. JIJessie Inchauspé9:16

        Yes.

    16. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee9:16

        And I think particularly in this second book, this new book, the testimonials, I just love reading them. You know, yous mentioned eating disorders.

    17. JIJessie Inchauspé9:25

        Let's talk about that.

    18. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee9:25

        There is a testimonial, right?

    19. JIJessie Inchauspé9:27

        Yeah.

    20. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee9:27

        There's a testimonial, I, I can't remember which book it's in, about bulimia-

    21. JIJessie Inchauspé9:31

        Yeah

    22. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee9:31

        ... and how a, a young lady, I think, with bulimia-

    23. JIJessie Inchauspé9:34

        Mm-hmm

    24. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee9:34

        ... said your method has really helped them. And before you answer, I've quite a lot of thoughts on what you just said. And, you know, I've been trying to communicate health messaging to the public since maybe 2014 now, through TV shows, books, podcasts, whatever it might be, right?

    25. JIJessie Inchauspé9:52

        Yeah.

    26. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee9:52

        And you simply cannot anymore communicate health information and not get pushback, and the reality is not all information is for everyone.

    27. JIJessie Inchauspé10:01

        Mm-hmm.

    28. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee10:02

        Right? I try, I think like you do, to be as compassionate as possible when putting out that information, and now I can be relatively detached when, if and when pushback comes-

    29. JIJessie Inchauspé10:12

        Yeah

    30. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee10:12

        ... and, and, and go, "Yeah, I can actually learn from that. That's a good point," or, "I actually disagree with that," or, "I can see that that person's being really, really triggered by something. This ain't about me, this is about them," right? So I think taking a compassionate approach to that has been really helpful.
12. 11:56 – 14:07

    Communicating health responsibly: caveats, compassion, and ‘not for everyone’

    1. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee11:56

       Yeah. You, you get this, um... I've, I've definitely had it when we've done podcasts on fasting before.

    2. JIJessie Inchauspé12:01

       Mm.

    3. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee12:02

       And sorry to interrupt. If you're enjoying this video and want to dive deeper into the topic of nutrition, I have created a free special guide which contains the five most important changes I think we all need to make when it comes to our diet. If you wanna get hold of this free guide, all you have to do is click on the link in the description box below. I've thought long and hard about this. Is this irresponsible? Should I be doing it? And where I've landed is, you know, I try and caveat it. I try and make sure in the introduction to each podcast we say, "This may not be suitable-

    4. JIJessie Inchauspé12:38

       Yeah

    5. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee12:39

       ... for people who are recovering from or suffering with eating disorders."Having said that, some people with eating disorders find fasting incredibly useful.

    6. JIJessie Inchauspé12:48

       Yeah.

    7. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee12:49

       I know that 'cause people have fed back. And also, let's just look at what's going on around us. You know, in America, what is it? 88 or 90% of people may be metabolically unhealthy.

    8. JIJessie Inchauspé12:59

       Mm-hmm.

    9. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee12:59

       Right? Stabilizing their blood sugar is going to save their life.

    10. JIJessie Inchauspé13:03

        Yeah, exactly. [laughs]

    11. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee13:03

        Right?

    12. JIJessie Inchauspé13:04

        Exactly.

    13. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee13:04

        That, so... A- and I think we all, and I know it's hard, 'cause I know sometimes it's parents of kids who are struggling. They've got, like, a 12-year-old or a 14-year-old who's really struggling with an eating disorder, and then they get often, and I can totally understand it, feel very defensive and upset when they see certain posts. But I'm not sure I have the solution to it, apart from trying to approach these things with compassion.

    14. JIJessie Inchauspé13:29

        Yes.

    15. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee13:30

        Uh, I don't know, because not everything is for everyone.

    16. JIJessie Inchauspé13:34

        Absolutely. And then, you know, you also have to remember that of the people reading your books, listening to your podcast, reading your content, like 99% of people are so thrilled and happy.

    17. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee13:43

        Yeah.

    18. JIJessie Inchauspé13:43

        And then there are a few people who are triggered or upset that will comment, and that's what we see, right?

    19. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee13:48

        Yeah.

    20. JIJessie Inchauspé13:48

        That it's really, it's really not representative of the reality. That being said, I think, you know, I'm on, in the same boat as you, which is I try to learn and be as respectful and mindful as possible. And, um, then once you feel like you've done the right thing, if somebody still doesn't like it, well, you know, so be it.

13. 14:07 – 16:28

    Wrap-up: where to start, core glucose ‘hacks,’ and mood/mental health link

    1. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee14:07

       Jessie, it's been such a pleasure talking to you. It really has. I mean, we've not even scratched the surface over what's in your two books.

    2. JIJessie Inchauspé14:15

       Yeah.

    3. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee14:15

       Uh, and I can see why so many people follow you online. So many people have been moved by your work. It's making a real material difference in their lives, and therefore the lives of the people around them.

    4. JIJessie Inchauspé14:29

       Mm-hmm.

    5. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee14:30

       Right? That's something I'm so passionate about. If you can change one person, you don't just change them. They've got more energy. They're less moody. They're less cranky. That impacts how they parent. That impacts how they are with their partners, how they are with their work colleagues, right? So I think the work you're doing is so, so important. This podcast is called Feel Better, Live More. When we feel better in ourselves, we get more out of our lives.

    6. JIJessie Inchauspé14:54

       Mm.

    7. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee14:54

       I think you would probably add when we have stable blood sugars-

    8. JIJessie Inchauspé14:58

       [laughs]

    9. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee14:58

       ... levels, we get more out of our lives.

    10. JIJessie Inchauspé15:00

        Absolutely.

    11. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee15:01

        For people who are feeling inspired by what they've heard-

    12. JIJessie Inchauspé15:04

        Mm

    13. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee15:05

        ... and want to start making changes right now, do you have any final words of wisdom for them?

    14. JIJessie Inchauspé15:12

        [sighs] I would say get The Glucose Goddess Method, my new book. It's gonna be your partner in helping turn these hacks into lifelong habits. And if you can't afford it or you don't wanna buy a book, just go on my Instagram and start looking at the graphs that I share. Savory breakfast, veggies first, vinegar, movement, close on carbs, and there's many more things you'll discover. But those can become your best friends in your daily life.

    15. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee15:38

        And for someone who's saying, "Jessie, I hear you. I hear what you're saying. But I cannot see how my mood or my mental health has got anything to do with my blood sugar levels," what would you say to them?

    16. JIJessie Inchauspé15:51

        I would say look at the studies. It really, really does. Or just try the 10-minute calf pushup at your desk after your next meal and see if your mood doesn't improve. See it for yourself. I would say test it, and, um, you know, your body will speak for itself.

    17. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee16:08

        If you enjoyed that short clip, I think you are really going to enjoy the full conversation, which you can check out here. [outro music]

Episode duration: 16:29