This is probably the most asked question I get from a person with diabetes.  Or more likely it comes as the statement “I am going to get off these medicines”.     I get it- nobody wants to be reliant on a medicine for the rest of her life.  And if there is something that can be done to avoid it, we all want to know what that is.   The trouble is, the answer to that question depends on a lot of things.  Of course, diet and exercise are going to play a part, but there are a few other things that are just as (if not more) important predictors of ..read more

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When I was working on my dietetics degree in the mid 90s, the Diabetes Exchange List was the recommended meal planning program for people with diabetes.  I remember sitting through a day long class on how to use and teach the Diabetes Exchange Lists for Meal Planning and thinking “no wonder diabetes nutrition is such a thorn in everyone’s side”.     If you’re not familiar with it, the American Diabetes Association's Exchange Lists for Meal Planning groups together foods according to their common nutritional content based on calories, carbohydrate, protein, and fat (fo ..read more

I have a friend who approached me with this question.  Her husband Jack had been for a yearly physical.  He came home and reported that everything was good but his blood sugar was “slightly high.”  When my friend inquired how high, Jack responded “the Dr said it was no big deal.” Jack was definitely trying to downplay the problem.   My response to her question was a definite YES!  It is a huge deal!  Blood sugar high enough to be considered pre-diabetes is a warning sign, a cry for help from the beta cells that make insulin. If we ca ..read more

​​I remember vividly my first encounter with diabetes.  I was walking through the kitchen of the busy home I grew up in in small town Arkansas.  And out of the corner of my eye I see my Aunt Jo, who was visiting from up north, fiddling with something strange.  I stopped to see and was intrigued as I watched her pull out a syringe, and a bottle of clear liquid and inject herself.   My mom’s sister Aunt Jo was a special person.  She was loud and boisterous- unlike myself- and she was fun.  Things always seemed a little more exciting when sh ..read more

This is probably the most asked question I get from a person with diabetes.  Or more likely it comes as the statement “I am going to get off these medicines”.     I get it- nobody wants to be reliant on a medicine for the rest of her life.  And if there is something that can be done to avoid it, we all want to know what that is.   The trouble is, the answer to that question depends on a lot of things.  Of course, diet and exercise are going to play a part, but there are a few other things that are just as (if not more) important predictors of a person’s need for diabetes medicines.  Things ..read more

[...] ..read more

When I was working on my dietetics degree in the mid 90s, the Diabetes Exchange List was the recommended meal planning program for people with diabetes.  I remember sitting through a day long class on how to use and teach the Diabetes Exchange List for meal planning and thinking “no wonder diabetes nutrition is such a thorn in everyone’s side”.     If you’re not familiar with it, the American Diabetes Association's Exchange List for Meal Planning groups together foods according to their common nutritional content based on calories, carbohydrate, protein, and fat (food groups). Diabetes Exchan ..read more

I have a friend who approached me with this question.  Her husband Jack had been for a yearly physical.  He came home and reported that everything was good but his blood sugar was “slightly high.”  When my friend inquired how high, Jack responded “the Dr said it was no big deal.” Jack was definitely trying to downplay the problem.   My response to her question was a definite YES!  It is a huge deal!  Blood sugar high enough to be considered pre-diabetes is a warning sign, a cry for help from the beta cells that make insulin. If we catch problems in the pre-diabetes state and take care of the ..read more

​​I remember vividly my first encounter with diabetes.  I was walking through the kitchen of the busy home I grew up in in small town Arkansas.  And out of the corner of my eye I see my Aunt Jo, who was visiting from up north, fiddling with something strange.  I stopped to see and was intrigued as I watched her pull out a syringe, and a bottle of clear liquid and inject herself.   My mom’s sister Aunt Jo was a special person.  She was loud and boisterous- unlike myself- and she was fun.  Things always seemed a little more exciting when she and uncle Bugs were around.  They had three children ..read more