Do everyday blood sugar spikes actually age you?

Jessie InchauspéMSc biochemistry · science communicator and founder; not a clinician, dietitian or nutrition scientist

Yes. Spikes drive glycation, and glycation is ageing.

What it rests onHer stated mechanism chain is oxidation, inflammation, insulin release and glycation, presented as the reason higher glucose damages cells and systems even inside the normal range, and applied to skin ageing and chronic disease risk across her catalogue. She supports it with observational associations between fasting glucose, glycemic variability and cardiovascular, mortality, cognitive and symptom outcomes.

Nicola GuessPhD, MPH, RD · academic dietitian, type 2 diabetes

No. The glycation that follows a normal meal is reversible, and the advice is pointless.

What it rests onAn acute rise in glucose after a carbohydrate-containing meal produces reversible early-stage glycation rather than the irreversible advanced glycation end-products the ageing claim requires, because glucose returns to baseline before that stage. She concedes glycation is real, is linked to tissue damage and ageing, and that Inchauspé's descriptions of metabolism, fibre and physical activity are correct. Her charge is futility plus a counterproductive path: people avoiding carbohydrate to limit spikes eat more meat and dairy, which carry actual dietary advanced glycation end-products rather than theoretical ones. Her general position, published 18 months before she wrote about Inchauspé, is that "there is no data I am aware of... that GV per se is relevant to any health outcome in people without diabetes".