Creamy macaroni and cheese. Piping hot pizza. Warm chocolate chip cookies. Crunchy potato chips. Mmmmmm.
Now don’t go salivating, even though these are some of our favorite comfort foods. Although tasty and welcoming, these foods can cause high blood sugar, moodiness and fatigue, and can become an issue if we use these foods as a replacement for […]
Sometimes I feel that I am a sales person. Although I was trained to educate my patients to control their diabetes, I find myself using every possible tactic to sell them good health.
“I can’t. I won’t. I shouldn’t. I want to.”
I often wonder what to say to my patients who have a legitimate story about why they won’t, can’t or shouldn’t follow health advice. One example was a man who was a holocaust survivor. When I was recommending to him to curtail his portions, he looked at me […]
"My doctor has told me I have pre-diabetes for the past 25 years. My A1c is 6.6% and I've been on Metformin twice a day". OK?, I think to myself. An abnormally high 3-month blood sugar average (A1c) plus she's on 2 doses of medication - but still the "D" word won't be admitted, only the "PD" word.
Today marks the 21st Annual American Diabetes Alert Day. The statistics are staggering: 8% of our population has diabetes. Approximately 90-95% of those with diabetes have Type 2 and 5-10% have Type 1. However, due to the prevalence of obesity among children, 45% of the youngsters with diabetes have Type 2 (previously known as “adult diabetes”). […]
It’s time to love your heart with great tasting food! A healthy diet is always important for a healthy heart. However, for those at a greater risk for heart disease, like people with diabetes, the stakes are even higher. Fortunately, one of the most significant ways to reduce your risk for heart […]
“America’s Diet: Too Sweet by the Spoonful” was this week’s New York Times Personal Health article by Jane Brody. The bottom line of the article says that we are over-eating sugar and high fructose corn syrup in many, many, of our foods and it is leading to obesity and heart disease.
Believe it or not, studies are finding […]
New day, new patient. Fasting glucose is 124 mg/dL. Triglycerides are 560, HDLs 28. Patient is 50 pounds overweight. Does she or doesn't she? Is it or isn't it? The difference between having NO diabetes, pre-diabetes and diabetes can be so minor, a fine-line.
I can’t decide if my left brain is stronger than my right brain? Yes, I’m a diabetes educator who wants to save everybody from the disease and from themselves. At the same time, I realize that we’re all only human and knowing what we need to do and actually doing what we need to do may […]
Yesterday I had a “young” patient – a mere 46 years (my age!) who was just diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. His doctor called me to make sure I’d be able to see him this week and sent me his blood work. His glucose was 638 mg/dL!! The man stated that he felt extremely weak and […]