What You Should Know: Understanding Glucose & Why It Matters
Recipe: Spice Mix Mini-Recipes from our live cooking class!
Welcome to Modern Women’s Nutrition!
Empowering the busy modern woman to understand her hormone & metabolic health, and how to eat to thrive at every step of her journey—from fertility to perimenopause and beyond.
⭐️ Did you catch last week’s post? My team and I were particularly excited about this one — the research was fascinating! Check it out:
French Lessons: Why French Bread Has 4 Ingredients and Ours Has 40
And: Wildflower Focaccia Recipe
—> Plus: Jump to today’s recipes: Spice Mix Mini-Recipes
Hello wonderful women,
I hope your weekend has been lovely so far!
As I sat sipping my morning tea yesterday, I reflected on a recent conversation with my husband Spencer — why should I care about glucose, and how does it really work in our body? What do you mean why when it’s “stored”?
Let’s just say that he wasn’t satisfied with my answer. So, with my recent focus and theme on balancing glucose levels (specifically alongside my recently launched course thebloodsugarmethod.com with
), I thought I’d do a deep dive for you here so we can all be on the same page.More specifically:
What exactly is glucose?
How does it affect our body?
Why should we care about it?
And my favorite (from my convo with Spenc): What's the difference between glucose that's stored and glucose that's actively used for energy?
Is it harmful when stored?
Given that these questions keep popping up, I thought it would be helpful to dedicate this week's post to simplifying the science behind glucose.
It's fundamental to understanding your overall wellness, energy levels, and hormone balance, and a topic we’ll keep building on in upcoming weeks—including an upcoming post about quick, impactful 5-minute wellness routines (stay tuned for that one!).
Your Body’s Main Fuel
Glucose is essentially your body's primary source of energy. It’s a simple sugar that your body uses to power everything from breathing to running marathons. When you eat carbohydrates (like whole grains, fruit, pasta, starchy veggies), they break down into glucose, which enters into your blood stream, providing immediate fuel to your muscles, brain, and organs. (Source: National Library of Medicine) At this stage, blood glucose is also known as blood sugar.
But what happens if your body doesn't immediately use all this energy?
Great question!
What’s the Difference?
When you eat a balanced meal, your body first uses glucose for immediate energy needs. Any leftover glucose is cleverly stored for later, primarily in your liver and muscles as something called glycogen.
Think of glycogen as your body’s emergency pantry: it provides quick access to energy when you're between meals, working out, or fasting. This storage system helps keep blood sugar stable (think happy mood & a clear mind) and ensures consistent energy throughout your day.
But there’s a catch:
If your glycogen stores are full (for example, from excessive sugar or refined carbs over a long period), any extra glucose can be converted into fat for longer-term storage, potentially leading to unwanted weight gain or metabolic imbalances over time. (Source: Cleveland Clinic)
And with metabolic imbalances and excess fat, you not only don’t feel great, but your organs and brain don’t function properly — for today and the long term.
Keeping glucose levels stable is critical, not just for immediate energy and mood stability, but also for your longevity and wellness. Unbalanced glucose levels can contribute to:
Short-term issues: mood swings, energy crashes, cravings, headaches, brain fog, anxiety.
Long-term challenges: inflammation, insulin resistance, hormone imbalances (like PCOS), metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimers and heart disease. (Source: American Heart Association)
A lot of unwanted stuff!
That’s why: Understanding and balancing our blood sugar is one of the most powerful, proactive ways to take care of your health. But, because of some of the confusion surrounding the body process, isn’t something that a lot of people prioritize in their everyday lives.
So all in all: It’s in all of our best interest to pay attention.
And within many of my weekly posts, I discuss glucose and blood sugar along with easy actionable tips to balance it in your everyday life. Here are a few you might find interesting to follow this newsletter:
And a few delicious recipes that are also fantastic for balanced glucose:
Let’s Chat!
I’d love to hear your thoughts:
What questions do you still have about glucose?
Is there something specific you'd like to see addressed in future newsletters or inside The Blood Sugar Method?
Drop a comment below—I can't wait to hear from you!
As always, thank you from the bottom of my heart for being part of this amazing community. I’m so grateful for YOU and your support!!
Here’s to stable and thriving health!
Warm wishes,
Anja 💕
Modern Women’s Nutrition
✨ A Gentle Reminder: The Blood Sugar Method is Live!
We hosted a launch-day-celebration cooking class this week and had a blast (to say the least). Thank you to those of you who joined! (Not shown in photo: 250 other people who signed up!) Feel free to check out the class recording of Your One Pan Blueprint here.
As I’m sure you’ve realized by now, I'm truly passionate about empowering you with tools, clarity, and easy-to-understand guidance for optimal wellness.
If you've been looking for clarity on how blood sugar truly impacts your body, energy, mood, and overall wellness you're not alone!
I know firsthand how overwhelming it can be trying to piece together all the science around glucose, energy storage, and insulin sensitivity. That’s exactly why Beth Bollinger (from Nest Wellness) and I created The Blood Sugar Method.
Since our launch, we've been overwhelmed with joy by the sign-ups and participation we’ve received so far. We’ve seen some amazing people diving into the program, including scientists and nutritionists doing research for their own programs. People are already gaining clarity, and reclaiming control of their metabolic and hormone health.
If you haven’t checked it out yet, or you're still curious about how better blood sugar management could support your personal wellness journey, now’s the perfect time.
The Blood Sugar Method includes:
Simple science-based explanations about glucose, insulin, and metabolism, minus the confusion.
Practical, actionable strategies to stabilize your energy levels, mood, and hormones.
Delicious recipes specifically designed for balanced blood sugar.
Step-by-step guidance to support your unique journey, whether it’s fertility, perimenopause, or general vitality.
This is exactly the kind of resource I wished existed years ago. Our goal is to keep all things Blood Sugar straightforward, practical, and empowering.
Spice Mix Mini-Recipes
This week is a special one — in honor of our launch of The Blood Sugar Method, and the virtual cooking class we taught called Your One Pan Blueprint (get the recording!), here’s a snippet from our class: Spice mix options.
Use this matrix below to create your own spice and herb mixes to your liking at home. Feel free to play around with them and create mixtures that are perfect for you!
We used these to pair with our chosen protein + vegetable + sauce to make a perfect one-pan meal in about 30 minutes.
Download & Print
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‘Understanding and balancing our blood sugar is one of the most powerful, proactive ways to take care of your health.’ 🤌🏻