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Published on: Oct 03, 2025 06:21 pm IST

Sitting down and relaxing immediately after meals can spike glucose levels. Instead, Jesse Inchauspé recommends 4 daily activities to help balance spikes.

Glucose-rich meals can cause sharp spikes in blood sugar, leaving the body struggling to bring levels back to balance. While many people instinctively sit down or relax after eating, this habit can actually worsen the problem. Simple physical movement – even light daily chores – can make a significant difference in curbing these spikes and supporting healthier glucose control.

Jesse recommends performing daily household chores like cleaning the house after meals to balance blood glucose spikes.(Unsplash)

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Jessie Inchauspé, a French biochemist, NYT bestselling author, and health activist popularly known as the Glucose Goddess on social media, highlights why moving after glucose-rich meals is key to balancing out blood sugar spikes. In an Instagram video posted on October 2, she explains how physical activity impacts blood glucose levels, recommending simple movements – even everyday household chores – that can help lower both glucose and insulin levels.

Why moving helps balance glucose spikes

According to Jesse, your muscles contract due to movement, and this helps them absorb glucose faster. She explains, “When your muscles contract, for example, if you’re walking, you’re squatting, you’re cleaning your apartment, after you eat something high in glucose, your muscles will uptake the glucose from that meal without needing insulin.” She stresses that it is important to keep your insulin levels low in order to prevent spikes. “So, just 10 minutes of movement after a meal can help you reduce your glucose spike of the meal without increasing your insulin levels, which is two birds, one stone,” Jesse adds.

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Recommended movements

Glucose and insulin spikes can be avoided by performing simple movements, and even daily household chores can help. Besides chores, activities like walking and performing air squats are effective in lowering glucose spikes. Jesse recommends the following:

Walking for 10 minutes.
Calf raises (also known as soleus push-ups).
Household chores like vacuuming, folding laundry, washing dishes, cleaning the bathroom.
Air squats.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. It is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.

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News / Lifestyle / Health / French biochemist reveals how movement helps balance glucose spikes after meals, shares 4 tips: ‘Household chores like…’

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How to do calf raises to lower glucose

“Just eaten a donut or a big bowl of pasta? Try this: Feet on the ground, lift your heels up and down. This makes your soleus muscle (hiding in your calf) contract, helping soak up the glucose from your bloodstream. And boom, smaller glucose spike,” Jessie wrote in the caption.

In a video, Jessie explains, “The soluup pushup or the calf raise, imagine you’re at your desk, at work, or at school, wherever you’ve eaten something really high in carbs. Here is the easiest and most discreet way you can lower the glucose spike at that meal. You simply put your feet on the ground and go up and down, keeping your shoes on, for 5–10 minutes.”

Jessie shares the benefits of this exercise: “Your calves contain a muscle called the soleus, which studies have shown is especially good at soaking up glucose from the bloodstream after we eat.”

What are the benefits

Quoting the study, she explains, “The study, called ‘A Potent Physiological Method to Magnify and Sustain Cellulose Oxidative Metabolism Improves Glucose and Lipid Regulation,’ asked participants to do calf pushups or raises for five hours. That’s a lot, of course, but here’s what they found: five hours of calf raises reduced post-meal glucose spikes by 52% and lowered extra insulin levels by 60%.”

She clarifies, “We don’t have to do this for 5 hours. Even doing 10 minutes can have a strong impact. In my own test, I compared a pain au chocolat with and without 10 minutes of calf raises. The glucose spike was much smaller with the exercise, and it’s very discreet. It’s very, very easy. I recommend you test this out.”

Note to readers: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.

This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice.